All Purpose Dry Rub for Pork, Chicken or Beef

He said it was the best chicken he ever had.
Hmmmm, I've been married to him for 26 years, not sure if I should be flattered or a little miffed that this is the best.  Do you know how much chicken I have made over the years?  I will tell you this, that dude isn't much of a chicken fan, but neither is he an exaggerator either! I thought it was pretty darn good too.
It was the spice rub.
Such a simple thing, but so good. 
The spice rub is spicy, but not hot.  If you are worried about the spiciness of it, then leave out the chili powder.  I might even add in cayenne pepper next time and make another version. You could customize it to your liking, it would be good with cumin too.  I'm going to try it next on a Pork roast, or steak or beef ribs, or salmon... frankly, it will be good on any meat.  Here's a pretty great picture of a pork chop, if I don't mind saying so myself!

The trickiest part of making the rub is having the quantities of spices on hand.  I went to the store today and bought what I was missing.  If your grocery store has 'bulk' spices that you can put into tiny ziploc bags, use that, it's so much cheaper.  I bought the smoked paprika at Costco, I thought I would never get through that big jar. I was wrong, I know I'm going to need another jar of it soon.  Yum!

This would be a cute hostess gift, or a holiday gift for another cook, use smaller 1/2 pint jars, add a custom label or a hanging card and tie a cute ribbon on it. It would be fun to give, and get!!!

(Left to Right: Garlic powder, chili powder, smoked paprika, brown sugar,

onion powder, black pepper and kosher salt in the green pot!)

1/2 cup smoked paprika
1/4 cup brown sugar (white would work too)
1-2 Tbsp kosher salt (I used 2 Tbsp)
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp fresh ground pepper

Find a good size jar with a lid, I used a pint jar, and it filled it about 1/2 full.
Add all the ingredients, I layered them so they looked nice!

Then I shook it up until it was all mixed, but you could use a spoon.  Shaking it is more fun though.

When I was ready to make dinner, I took the boneless chicken breasts, patted them dry and then thoroughly sprinkled both sides.  The I put it back in the fridge for 3 hours.  I bet it would be great if it sat over night even!

I was too lazy to go outside and grill them, so I just baked them in a pan that I had sprayed with oil.  Bake at 350F degrees for 20-25 minutes, until they look done.  
I had one small teaspoon of butter to the top before serving so that they would glisten and look super yummy! It worked.