Barbeque Seasoning and Dry Rub

I love grilled, flavorful meat. But, I almost always forget to marinate my meat beforehand. And marinating meat 30 minutes before you grill it?? It just never seems to work out for me. There is just never enough flavor from 30 minutes of marinating. Meat is meant to lounge and soak in a pool of flavorful goodness. For at least 8 hours. Or longer. Which always brings me to a dilemma come dinner time (unless I've prepped well in advance). What do I need to do to this meat to pack it full of flavor in the next 20 minutes??

Dry rub is my answer. And luckily, if you already have the dry rub prepared and on hand, it actually takes 5 minutes to pack your meat full of flavor :)

Now this dry rub in particular is great on its own. Very versatile in flavor and will allow your meat to go with a variety of different side dishes. Another plus side is that this recipe makes quite a bit. I have used it 6 times in the last month and have still not run out. Another thing to take note of is that a little goes a long way. So, when you rub it on your meat, you still wanna see your meat peek through. There's a little bit of sweet, a little bit of salty, and a little bit of spice. Also, if you baste your meat with some BBQ sauce while you're grilling (or even after), it will add another element of flavor. But it's totally not necessary.

Barbeque Seasoning and Dry Rub

3 Tbsp paprika (smoked or sweet would be fine)
1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
3 Tbsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp kosher salt
2 Tbsp onion powder
1 Tbsp fresh ground black pepper
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cayenne (for additional heat, but totally optional)

Combine all ingredients in an air tight container. To use, sprinkle one side of your meat with seasoning and rub in. Flip meat and repeat. Grill accordingly (based on your meat and preference).

I personally use about 1 tsp of rub per boneless, skinless chicken breast (1/2 tsp per side). And I recently used this on pork baby back ribs, where I used approximately 2 Tbsp of rub per rack (1 Tbsp per side). I find it easiest to sprinkle the rub over the top of the meat with one hand and rub it in with the other, preventing raw meat contamination of the remaining rub.

Source: Adapted from Buns In My Oven