Buffalo Chicken Dry Rub

A buffalo chicken dry rub can take your wings from boring to blazing and amazing. It only takes a few ingredients and about 2 minutes of time to create an unforgettable homemade spice rub you can use the next time you have a hankering for wings.

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We take spicy things very seriously in these parts.

Things like buffalo wings.

There’s nothing worse than a wing that relies solely on the wing sauce for flavor.

Or for that matter, a soggy hot wing.

Our buffalo chicken rub is an essential part of wing night because it adds two very important things: flavor and crispiness.

The flavor comes from the blend of spices in the hot wing rub.

And the crispiness comes from baking powder, which gives your wings that deliciously crunch when you take a bite without deep frying or air frying your wings!

Ingredients and Kitchen Supplies

Here’s what you need for a super simple buffalo chicken dry rub:

• Cayenne Pepper – This provides the heat and some color to the rub. You can increase the amount or decrease it to help adjust the level of heat.
• Black Pepper – Adds more heat and a bit of a distinctive flavor.
• Baking Powder – No matter what you do, DO NOT substitute baking soda. Baking powder helps add the crispiness to baked wings.
• Garlic Powder – Garlic powder adds some earthy flavor to the wings and compliments just about any sauce you might add later.
• Sea Salt – This is an optional ingredient that can help enhance flavor, but you can skip it if you prefer.
• Paprika – This adds a little bit more flavor to your wings and will also compliment most sauces.

For kitchen tools, you really just need:

• small bowl
• measuring spoons
• empty spice jar

How to Make Buffalo Chicken Dry Rub

1. Measure and mix.

Honestly, it does not get easier than this.

Measure out each spice and the baking soda, dump them in a bowl or spice jar, and then either stir with fork or put the cap on and give it a good shake.

Once it is fully mixed, the rub is ready to go to use on your favorite wings or drumsticks.

Serving

We don’t know what the kids are into these days, but do yourself a favor and do not eat this on its own.

While we stand firm that our buffalo chicken dry rub will make your wings that much more delicious, eating it out of the spice jar is just a bad idea.

You can spice up our grilled buffalo wings recipe with this rub.

Another good use is top any skin-on chicken recipe, like these chicken drumsticks, or baked chicken.

Storing

If you have them or want to pick them up, we highly recommend empty spice jars.

But you can store the dry rub in just about any air tight container.

The hot wing rub should last as long as any other spice on your spice rack.

Tips and Tricks

• You can adjust heat levels by reducing the amount of cayenne pepper you use. You can also omit the black pepper if you want it slightly cooler. For even hotter rubs, you can use additional dried hot peppers.
• Storing the spice in a small jar helps to keep it dry. If you are using one you clean out, make sure it is completely dry before adding the dry rub to it to help prevent clumping.
• Add or substitute the hot wing dry rub for added heat in recipes with chicken wings, drumsticks, or skin on chicken breasts.
• If you plan to use the blend for non-skin chicken recipes, like breasts, omit the baking powder. It will not have the same effect on skinless chicken.
• This recipe coats 4 pounds of wings. To use it, pat the wings dry and toss them with the rub to coat them. Bake the wings on a cookie rack over a cookie sheet for 30 minutes at 250 followed by 40 minutes at 425.
• This Buffalo Wing Sauce Recipe pairs very well with this spice rub!

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