Homemade Southwestern Pork Rub

Homemade Southwestern Pork Rub is perfect to have on hand in your pantry. It features a mix of brown sugar, garlic powder, oregano, chili powder, cumin, pepper, smoked paprika, onion powder, salt and pepper for a flavorful spice rub.

This post may include affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

Creating this Recipe for Pork Rub

This Homemade Southwestern Pork Rub quickly adds a ton of flavor to pork when you don’t have the time to let meat soak in a liquid marinade. 

And that is something that often happens to me because I’ll get busy doing other things and then forget that I didn’t thaw the meat…much less marinate it.

So, I have started to rely on quick fixes like rubs to add a boost of flavor to meat before I throw it on the grill or in the slow cooker. 

Save this Pulled Pork Rub Recipe to Pinterest!

Using this Pork Dry Rub

I have used this Homemade Southwestern Pork Rub on a pork shoulder, put it in the slow cooker, and then shredded it up for nachos. The meat was super flavorful and took all of 5 minutes active time for me to prepare.

Related: Go check out that recipe for Slow Cooker Southwestern Pulled Pork.

Homemade spice mixes, like this Southwestern Pork Rub, are simple to prepare and customize according to your personal preferences. 

Most recently I used it as a pork rub on a big pork shoulder that I smoked on our Traeger for pulled pork sandwiches. It was so good!

It gave the meat a lot of flavor and provided a nice crust on that smoked meat.

What I Love About this Homemade Pork Rub

• Customizable according to your preference.
• It is so easy to make!
• Homemade rubs are often cheaper than purchasing premade alternatives.
• Homemade spice blends, like this pork rub, are great homemade pantry staples and serve as a homemade gift for the BBQ lover in your life.

Save this Pulled Pork Rub to Pinterest!

Southwestern Pork Rub Ingredients 

To make this homemade pork rub recipe, you need several different spices – most of which you might have on hand at home already. This pork seasoning recipe gets its bold and smoky flavor from the following simple ingredients: 

• Sea Salt or Kosher Salt
• Brown Sugar
• Garlic Powder
• Onion Powder
• Smoked Paprika
• Black Pepper
• Cumin
• Chili Powder
• Mexican Oregano

For the complete ingredient list and detailed instructions to make this pork dry rub, scroll to the bottom of this post for the FREE printable recipe card.

Save this Pork Dry Rub to Pinterest!

How to Make Pork Rub at Home

This dry rub for pork is easy to prepare and you can customize it according to your personal preferences.

To make this homemade pork rub:

1. First gather all the ingredients. 
2. Measure them out into a mixing bowl.
3. Then stir to combine. 
4. Transfer to an airtight container for storage, and that’s it! 

The above is simply a quick summary of this recipe. Check out the full recipe in the free printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for all the detailed instructions.

Save this Dry Rub for Pork to Pinterest!

Tips for Making the Best Dry Pork Rub

• Make sure your spices are fresh before using — Spices can lose flavor over time, so for the best flavor you’ll want to make sure you’re using fresh spices. Smell the individual spices before adding them to the dry rub for pork. If the spices are difficult to smell and have been in your pantry for a while, you may want to consider purchasing a new bottle. (Check out my Spice Cabinet Inventory Checklist)
• Use fresh ground black pepper — It has so much more flavor than the pre-ground stuff, so I definitely recommend investing in a pepper mill and buying whole peppercorns.
• Make only as much as you’ll use within a few months — Don’t make a batch so large that you won’t use it all before it gets old and the flavor becomes less potent.
• Store in an airtight container — This helps keep the seasoning blend fresh and protects it from moisture. A mason jar works great!  
• Label your jar  — Make sure to label the jar you store your homemade pork rub in so that you don’t forget what it is. This is my favorite label maker – I use it on all my jars in my spice cabinet now.

How to Use this Pork Dry Rub Recipe

This bbq rub can be used to make so many different pork dishes, such as a pork shoulder rub or a pork rib rub. Here are some ideas using various cuts of pork to get you started:

• Use it to make this recipe for The Best Smoked Pork Shoulder next time you want to make Pulled Pork!
• Pork Ribs – spare ribs or baby back ribs
• Pork Loin or Pork Tenderloin
• BBQ Pork Chops
• Pork Roast
• Pork Butt

How to Store Homemade Pork Rub

I love that this Southwestern Pork Rub stores well in a jar so that you can make a large batch ahead of time and use it throughout the year.

My favorite jars for this Homemade Southwestern Pork Rub are these cute Weck Jars!

How to Customize this Recipe

Homemade dry seasoning mixes, like this pork rub recipe, are simple to prepare. When you make your own dry rub you have the ability to customize according to your personal preference. 

• If you don’t like a particular flavor, you can leave it out. 
• Do you want something more garlicky? You can add more garlic. 
• Would you prefer a spicier seasoning blend? Try adding some cayenne pepper.
• Or if you’re watching your sodium intake, you can use less salt.

My advice when customizing spice blends it so start with changing one ingredient at a time and only in small amounts.

A good rule of thumb is to increase or decrease an ingredient by no more than 1 teaspoon at a time.

Try this Pulled Pork Rub at Home!

Next time you’re looking for an amazing dry rub for pork, give this homemade pork rub seasoning a try!

Did you think it made the best pulled pork? Leave a comment below and give it a review for others to see what you thought of this great recipe.

On Instagram? Share your photo and tag me with @goodlifeeats and #goodlifeeatsrecipes. I’d love to see a photo of what you used this great recipe for!

More Homemade Spices

Looking for more tasty homemade seasoning blend recipes? If you want to try your hand at making a few more homemade spice mixes for your pantry or gifting purposes, here are a few recipes that you might want to check out:

Spicy Taco Seasoning is perfect to keep on hand to make taco nights super quick. Perfect for making a batch of taco meat for this taco salad in a jar.

I like the idea of this Homemade Ranch Seasoning. I would sprinkle it all over my Homemade Microwave Popcorn! Or maybe on some Kale Chips.

Try this delicious Homemade BBQ Chicken Rub on your favorite cut of chicken. I recommend chicken drumsticks, a whole chicken, or skin on bone in chicken breasts. I love it for making Smoked Chicken!

Add this recipe for homemade garlic herb salt to your spice cabinet and you’ll never need to purchase garlic herb salt from the grocery store again. Sprinkle your Oven Baked Seasoned Fries with some of this seasoning mix.

Zesty Italian Seasoning Mix would go great on a variety of meats. I’m also thinking it would make some really delicious herbed dipping oil! So good to use with this Rustic Rosemary Bread.

I think this Cajun Spice Mix would be really good on chicken!

Don’t see what you’re looking for here? You can always head over to check out the recipe index to look for more recipes.

Get More Recipes via Email

Did you love this recipe for pulled pork rub? Sign up to receive Good Life Eats Email Updates and never miss another recipe!

Have you ever made homemade pork rub?

Homemade Southwestern Pork Rub

Yield: about 14 tablespoons

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Homemade Southwestern Pork Rub features a mix of brown sugar, garlic powder, oregano, chili powder, cumin, pepper, smoked paprika, onion powder, salt and pepper for a flavorful spice rub.

Print

Ingredients

• 4 1/2 teaspoons Salt
• 4 tablespoons Brown Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Garlic Powder
• 2 teaspoons Onion Powder
• 1 tablespoon Smoked Paprika
• 1 tablespoon Black Pepper
• 4 teaspoons Cumin
• 2 tablespoons Chili Powder
• 2 teaspoons Mexican Oregano

Instructions

1. To make the Homemade Southwestern Pork Rub, measure all of the ingredients out into a medium sized bowl.
2. Using a wire whisk, mix until well combined.
3. Alternatively, you may sift the spices together with a fine mesh strainer or flour sifter.
4. After combining, transfer the mixture into a clean, dry container that has a lid (such as a glass jar).
5. Store the Homemade Southwestern Pork Rub covered in a cool, dry place.

Notes

You can use this on any meat that you personally like, however I prepared it to pair with pork.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• 
  Measuring Spoons
• 
  Measuring Cups
• 
  Mixing Bowls
• 
  Whisk
• 
  Weck Tulip Jelly Jar, SET of 6
• 
  Traeger Pellet Grill

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 20 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 16Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 501mgCarbohydrates: 4gFiber: 1gSugar: 2gProtein: 0g

GoodLifeEats.com offers recipe nutritional information as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although GoodLifeEats.com makes every effort to provide accurate information, these figures are only estimates.

Did you make this?

I’d love it if you let me know what you think! Snap a photo and tag me on Instagram at @goodlifeeats with the hashtag #goodlifeeatsrecipes so I can see what you’re cooking up in your kitchen!