Boston Butt Dry Rub
I came up with this dry rub for Boston Butt many years ago! I love seasoning meat and this rub recipe is so good on pork. I mainly use it for pulled pork but it could work for BBQ chicken legs, pork tenderloin, or burgers, too!
If you’re making pulled pork – I always get Boston Butt at Sam’s Club. For this recipe, I used about 20 lbs of meat and it was less than $30!! That’s such a steal for a hunk of meat that will last for 4-5 meals for my big family 🙂
Boston Butt Dry Rub
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup salt
- 1 tbsp. dry mustard
- 1 tbsp. cumin
- 1 tbsp. celery seed
- 1 tbsp. chili powder
- 2 tbsp. paprika
- 2 tbsp. onion powder
- 2 tbsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. pepper
- 1/4 - 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients and store in an airtight container until ready to use.
Always start with your ‘base’ of the rub – sugar and salt. In a medium mixing bowl, measure out 1/2 cup brown sugar – I think using brown sugar gives a richer flavor to the rub than just using white. Then, add 1/4 cup of white sugar and 1/4 cup of salt. You can always taste test and see if you want to add more salt. I recently cut back on the salt, but feel free to add more or less (maybe a couple teaspoons) if you want. Whisk that together to make sure there are no brown sugar lumps.
Now add all the wonderful spices – dry mustard, cumin, celery seed, and chili powder, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. If you like spicy, then by all means add more red pepper flakes! Not everyone in my family likes spicy food, so I try not to make it too spicy 🙂 But I do think a little spicy with the sweet is what really makes pulled pork!!
I normally use all of this rub at one time on a Boston butt, but if you are only using half of it or so, store the rest in an airtight container, Mason jar, or sandwich bag, and use it within a couple weeks or so.
Check this post on how to get the perfect pulled pork using this dry rub!
You might be wondering:
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How long do I leave dry rub on a Boston Butt?
- Ideally, leave the rub on for at least a couple hours. I rub mine and let it sit in the fridge overnight up to 24 hours. I also rub mine with mustard before I add my dry rub so that the meat is super tender.
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Do I rinse off the dry rub?
- Noooooo!! Do NOT rinse off the dry rub. You’ll want all that sugar to caramelize and the spices to stay on there during the cooking process.
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What are the best spices for pork?
- Cumin, paprika, and chili powder all complement pork very well. For a more refined pork dish, use earthy spices such as rosemary, thyme, sage, and coriander. Brown sugar is a great way to balance the meatiness of pork with some sweetness. Here’s a great pork chop seasoning recipe.
Going to try this over holidays
Thanks for sharing.
How do you cook it? Can I put it in a crock pot?
I made a Boston butt pork shoulder roast today in the crockpot using this rub recipe. It was truly delicious. We usually pull the pork using two forks and drain three quarters of the liquid followed up by sweet baby rays BBQ sauce. We skipped the sauce and just put cole slaw on the bun. So,so good! I just put the rub ingredients together, put some olive oil on the roast and put it all over. I simply put it in the crockpot for eight hours on low. My kitchen is being renovated so I have no stove or oven right now. This was a blessing to turn out so well. Thank you, sisters!
WOW this was so good! I halved this recipe for a smaller butt, and used another technique I saw that has you rub mustard on the roast to get the rub to stick, then smoked it on the grill. Ended up with a thick, flavorful, crunchy crust. There’s barely any leftovers. Using this rub again ASAP!
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Do I really need to add the celery seed? I’m not a big fan of it.