Homemade Turkey Rub Recipe (Not Spicy!)

Looking to add a burst of flavor to your Thanksgiving turkey or other savory dishes? Look no further than homemade turkey rub. By making your own turkey rub, you have complete control over the ingredients, ensuring a delicious blend without any artificial additives or preservatives.

Crafting your own dry turkey rub allows you to customize it to your taste. And our recipe doesn’t have any ingredients normally found in rub seasonings that are too spicy (we’re looking at you cayenne and chili powder)! So say goodbye to overpriced store-bought spice blends with this easy-to-make and highly versatile seasoning.

Our DIY turkey rub seasoning can be made in 2 minutes or less. It’s that easy!

What Spices Are Used in a Turkey Rub?

Turkey seasoning rubs can be made with a variety of ingredients, with variations for smoked turkey, deep fried turkey, roasted turkey and air fryer turkeys. Homemade turkey rubs can be spicy (such as cajun turkey rubs), smoky or slightly sweet.

Our basic turkey rub has these savory ingredients:

• Salt (Be sure to use coarse sea salt! You don’t want to use iodized table salt because it will taste too salty!)
• Black Pepper (Fresh cracked pepper is always going to add more flavor than the pale ground pepper found in most spice jars.)
• Thyme
• Rosemary
• Garlic Powder
• Onion Powder
• Paprika (either sweet or smoky)

Variations can include other spices such as:

• Cayenne Pepper
• Chili Powder
• Sage
• Brown Sugar

Our savory turkey rub seasoning sticks with the basics for a flavorful meat without the heat of spice.

Helpful Tips

• The paprika is more for the color of the cooked turkey rather than the flavor. It gives the bird a nice dark color. You can skip it if you would like and you will get more of a deep golden color.
• For the best results with this rub, cover the entire turkey well with the mixture and then let it rest for about 30 minutes before taking the next steps in the cooking process. Ideally you will want to add the rub under the skin for more flavor. You can cook right away, but that flavor will have a bit longer to sink in.
• This entire turkey rub seasoning mixture with our recipe should cover 1-2 whole turkeys, depending on the size of the turkey. 
• For the best flavor, you do want to use quality spices and herbs. I often use Simply Organic spices for my seasonings, however you can find other quality brands at the supermarket. Just keeping it real, I usually wait for the Buy One, Get One Free sales to stock up on Simply Organic or McCormick Organic spices!

DIY Turkey Rub Recipe

Ingredients

Directions

Combine all the ingredients in a small mixing bowl and stir until combined.

How Do I Store Turkey Rub Seasoning?

Store in a sealed container in the pantry up to a year. Do not store in a cabinet next to the stove or above your stovetop because the heat and humidity from the oven can affect the flavor of any spice mix.

We love these glass spice jars with bamboo lids. They are wonderful to have if you plan on making your own spice mixes.

Ways to Use Turkey Dry Rub

This savory spice mix has an earthy herb flavor which is perfect for these foods:

• Turkey Obviously a rub for turkey is ideal for cooking the protein! In addition to a Thanksgiving turkey, you can use this seasoning to make turkey tenderloins, turkey legs, turkey burgers and any other dish with turkey.
• Poultry This savory spice mix works just as well with chicken and duck as it does with turkey. Consider roasting a chicken with this rub, or using on baked chicken breasts.
• Pork Thyme and Rosemary taste so good with pork, so use this rub for a pork tenderloin or pork chops.
• Veggies This dry rub isn’t just for meat. Add some color and flavor to vegetables when roasting, steaming or sautéing when you sprinkle on some of the seasoning on squash, potatoes, greens, etc.

Why Make Your Own Dry Rub For Turkey?

Many store-bought spice blends contain anticaking ingredients such as silicone dioxide, artificial colors or preservatives.

When you make your own homemade turkey rub, you do not add any preservatives or fillers that are often found in store-bought seasonings. You will know exactly what each ingredient is.

Love homemade spice mix recipes? Be sure to see these DIY seasonings, as well: