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This Soy Free Barbecue Rub is fantastic on burgers, chicken, pork, steak, pretty much everything! Best of all, this rub is soy free and gluten free without any preservatives or fillers.
When I first started eliminating soy from my diet, I was amazed at how many seasoning blends and season salts contain soy. I’ve been making different versions of this rub for years now so it was a no brainer for me to whip some up. This rub is awesome as is, however, it is also a great starting point for customizing your own blend!
Make it your own
Change up the seasonings to suit your taste. Some ideas to get you started:
- Salt-change the types of salt. Try hickory smoked or mesquite smoked salt, Kosher, Himalayan Sea Salt, etc
- Chipotle-try switching out some of the smoked paprika for Chipotle Powder
- Heat-If you like it spicy, increase the Cayenne pepper or try other powdered peppers
- Mustard-Mustard is often used in barbecue sauces and rubs, try adding in some mustard powder
- Paprika-This recipe does use a lot of Paprika so I have often had to alter the quantities based on what I have on hand. We tend to prefer a blend of about 50% Smoked Paprika to 50% regular Paprika but you can certainly play around to suit your tastes.
Ways to use Soy Free Barbecue Rub
There are so many ways to use this Soy Free Barbecue Rub. Here are a few of the ways we have tried in the past:
- Barbecue Sauce-This rub is always a component of my homemade Barbecue Sauce
- Smoked Brisket~There is nothing like slow smoked, juicy, tender beef brisket.
- Beer Can Chicken~ For a 4-5 lb whole chicken use 2 tbsp rub total. First I would rub down the chicken with a little bit of Olive Oil. Then sprinkle the entire bird and cavity and rub it in. Reserve about 1/2 – 1 teaspoon to put into the beer. Be cautious when you add the rub to the beer as it can cause it to fizz and overflow. Add it slow and easy. Then slow smoke the bird over indirect heat for about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hour or until cooked through.
- Pork Loin~ Before developing the allergy to soy, I would buy the store bought mesquite barbecue pork loins. You know the kind you just pull out of the package and toss on the grill. Well, they never really had the right flavor to me so we would sprinkle some of this rub all over the loin before grilling. Grill over medium heat for about 40-45 minutes, turning every 10 minutes. If I had some homemade Barbecue Sauce made up, we would put some on during the last 5 minutes of grilling. YUM!!! And so easy for a weeknight. Put it on, set timer for 10 minutes and keep doing other things.
- Hamburgers~ Just sprinkle it on to taste like you would seasoning salt.
- Chicken~Breasts, thighs, drumsticks. You get the idea, just sprinkle it on like seasoning salt. 🙂
Really, the sky’s the limit with this one. I think ribs, smoked fish, and vegies would all be good with a little sprinkle of Soy Free Barbecue Rub.
Storing your Soy Free Barbecue Rub
Soy Free Barbecue Rub can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container. A mason jar would work fine. If you start having a bit of clumping from the brown sugar, just give it a good shake or use a fork/whisk to break it up. Another trick would be putting a saltine cracker (soy free, of course) in the jar with the rub. Basically, it will keep fresh about six months or so.
We will usually go through a couple batches a year. When we are going to grill, I just get it out and get to sprinkling. 🙂

Soy Free Barbecue Rub
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup brown sugar firmly packed
- 2 Tbsp smoked paprika
- 2 Tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp pepper freshly ground
- 3 Tbsp Kosher Salt any coarse salt will do
- 1 Tbsp applewood smoked salt hickory or mesquite would work well too
- 1 Tbsp granulated garlic
- 1 Tbsp ground onion powder
- 2 tsp celery seeds
- 1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl and mix thoroughly. Use a whisk, fork or your hands.
- Store in an airtight container away from heat and light. Will last approximately 6 months.
Notes
I really hope you enjoy this rub and make it your own. Please let me know what you think in the comments below. If you make this recipe, please post a pic on instagram #naturallyliz.
~Naturally yours~
Liz The form you have selected does not exist.
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