Smoked Paprika Rub is the perfect dry rub recipe for pork, chicken and even seafood. This homemade BBQ rub is one of those spices everyone should have on hand for grilling season.

This smoked paprika rub has a wonderful smoky flavour which makes it the ideal dry rub for grilling. I’m obsessed with smoked paprika so I had to develop a rub dedicated to this amazing spice.

Having smoked paprika rub in your dry rub spice arsenal is like having a secret ingredient that you aren’t sure whether to tell the world about or not. One of those things you almost want to keep to yourself because it’s so good. But that would be wrong. Things this good need to shared with the world. Shouted from the rooftops. Used in every dish you can find reason to use it in. It’s my secret weapon when grilling, and cooking in general. The flavour this imparts is beyond words. You need to try it for yourself to see why I sing its praises so loudly, and publicly.

When I cook indoors I whip out smoked paprika often. It has such a smoky, earthy flavour to it. So, it lends itself perfectly to grilling as well. It’s not only great in rubs, but it’s also amazing in barbecue sauces. It really is a wonderful spice.

I generally have a hard time finding it locally. I ended up scoring a bottle when my daughter went shopping state-side. She goes over about once a month. I mentioned I wanted a bottle this past spring and she surprised by remembering and picking me up some. She’s cool like that. Always looking out for her mom.

To be clear, I suggest starting with less and making sure you like the taste. It’s one of those spices that a little goes a long way. I happen to love it so I use quite a good amount of it in this rub. You could dial that back and start with 1/2 to 1 tablespoon to make sure it’s not too intense for you. I’d hate to put you off loving smoked paprika by giving you too much of it on your first go with it. But I also write my recipes the way we use them, and we like a lot of this stuff. You’ve been warned.

Grill Tip:

With any rubs or spice blends you need to use your judgement about your own taste. It’s okay to adjust the amounts to your own needs. I am constantly playing around with measurements and will adjust based on lots of variables. If we have young kids visiting I’ll dial back the heat a lot. You always need to keep your guests in mind when entertaining. While I love heat and smoky flavours, I tend to lighten up when we have other people here. It’s just the right thing to do. Always put your guests first and think about their palates as well as your own.

Are you a heat lover or a more mild spice type of person?

We always thought we had a high heat tolerance. Then last year we went on our annual trip to St. Jacobs, Ontario. They have an olive oil/sauce tasting bar there that will blow your mind. It’s set up like a bar and instead of alcohol it’s all oils, sauces and condiments. You get to taste test them before buying. It’s a spectacular place to visit. We did a heat test to see what our heat tolerance levels were. Both myself and my daughter thought we had a real high tolerance. Turns out we are both sissies and our heat scale is pretty low. It was cool to find that out and play around with different heat levels. I thought for sure we’d both be really high on the heat scale. Not so much! Total sissies!

I really hope you get to try this one out. Smoked Paprika is an amazing thing. I want you to fall in love with it just like I did.

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Smoked paprika rub is scattered on a blue-grey counter with a blue spoon on it that has the spice inside of it.

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