The Most Underrated BBQ Seasonings You Should Buy On Amazon

I'm a firm believer that, regardless of whether you prefer your barbecue dry or sauced, it all starts with a good seasoning. And sure, if you want to try something simple, you can opt for a three-ingredient dry rub that hits all the major flavor components: salty, sweet, and spicy. But if you're looking for something a bit more complex, you're going to want to take a trip to Amazon to purchase a more complex and tasty seasoning to keep on hand for when the barbecue mood strikes.

In order to find which barbecue rubs are worth buying, I ordered an array of different products off Amazon. They include selections outside of the major players, like McCormick and Penzeys, as well as ones not connected to grill or smoker brands, like Weber. Once they arrived, I sampled these products solo, as well as on ribs and chicken, to see which were the tastiest. I was looking for an all-purpose rub with a good balance of sweet, spicy, and savory notes, as well as a brand that offered something unique so that it would stand out among other seasonings.

Head Country's original championship seasoning stood out immediately because it was more coarse than the other rubs I purchased. Now, that's not necessarily good or bad, but it's definitely a unique feature. Right off the bat, I was keen to see if the various sized grains did anything for the flavor or texture of the meat.

This is definitely the rub for you if you have a penchant for garlic, and, despite paprika being the only "spicy" ingredient listed, it provided a decent punch and stood out among the other spices. It's also good to note is that the primary ingredient listed is salt — which some barbecue experts agree is the key for perfectly-seasoned meat. That savoriness absolutely comes through in the final product. Moreover, while sugar is listed on the label, I did not find that sweetness to play a dominant role in the seasoning's flavor profile.

In the end, I found that Head Country's seasoning worked better on the chicken than the ribs — but this all-purpose seasoning would surely get the job done with just about any meat. In fact, the label says it even goes well with casseroles and salads — though I did not confirm this myself. Another top selling point is that this was the second-most affordable of the seasoning blends I tried. At 12 ounces per container, you get quite the bang for your buck.

Of course Amazon sells its own barbecue seasoning. While I didn't expect it to be the best of the bunch, I included it for posterity's sake. The good news is that like Head Country, Amazon's Happy Belly smoked BBQ rub is very affordable (even more so, in fact). It is also available in 25-ounce container, meaning is will last you quite a bit. 

The rub included major ingredients such as salt, paprika, and sugar, but it also included the likes of cinnamon, allspice, thyme, celery, and cloves. While some of these may take a bit of a back seat to those top three ingredients, this rub still deserves some love. The seasoning blend was very finely-ground, though I found this didn't really have a positive or negative impact on the final product. 

While this rub alone will not win you any competitions, it will do plenty good at your next backyard barbecue. When I tasted it, I found that it was better served on the ribs than the chicken, but in both instances it had a sweet, smoky flavor. It was also — not surprisingly — the most cost-effective seasoning of those I tried. But cost aside, I thought the Happy Belly brand held its own among some of the more, let's say, "qualified" brands I tested. 

Foodie influencer Jack Mancuso has his own line of seasonings, among them is Cuso Cuts Great Tasting Dust BBQ seasoning rub. While the brand encapsulates a variety of seasonings, I thought the "Dust" option would be a compelling addition to this review. Its ingredient list, grain size, and versatility all led me to me adding it to my cart.

As for the taste test, this was probably the sweetest of the rubs that I tested — brown sugar is the first ingredient — but that absolutely has its place in barbecue (just make sure it's fresh, as old brown sugar can ruin your barbecue). Like the Happy Belly seasoning, I felt this worked better with the ribs than chicken. I would also advise you to use a heavy coating when using this rub. 

This was, by far, the most expensive of the seasonings I tried. It also came in the smallest container. This isn't a super economical combination if you need to use a heavy hand to properly season your protein. But, if you're simply looking for a good barbecue seasoning, then this one absolutely needs to be a consideration.

Okay, first things first: How can a product made by a successful celebrity chef, who is known as the "winningest man in barbecue," be considered "underrated?" Well, unless you're very into the barbecue competition scene, you might not be familiar with the name Myron Mixon. Either way, I haven't seen this on shelves in grocery stores and felt this still fit in the "underrated" category. 

Since I knew of Mixon's success, I was excited to try this rub. The good news: It holds up. I found the Myron Mixon original BBQ rub to have the most balanced flavor profile of any of the seasonings I tried. It's definitely on the sweeter side (brown sugar is the primary ingredient) but it was balanced by paprika and red pepper, as well as citric acid, which helped bring that sweetness level down a bit. This seasoning, I found, worked well with both the chicken and the ribs, meaning it lives up to the all-purpose billing. The container even claims it can be used for vegetables!

While it's not on the cheaper end, the Myron Mixon rub was also not among the most expensive either. I say it's definitely worth adding to your cart, regardless.

Kinder's Rub The BBQ Blend has a brilliant, bright-orange color that made me super excited to try it. While color, like grain size, doesn't play a large role in the final product, everyone eats with their eyes first. 

As I did with each of the seasonings, I tried the seasoning right out of the container. Nothing really stood out to me during this first taste test. Perhaps it was simply too fine and I didn't try enough. But, alas, once the chicken and ribs were well-seasoned with it, I was pleasantly surprised to find this Kinder's offering had a nice kick.

Uncommon ingredients on the label include turmeric and mustard seed, but most others are fairly standard: sea salt, paprika, brown sugar, dehydrated onion, and dehydrated garlic. To be frank, I'm not sure which of these gives this seasoning such a unique taste — perhaps it's simply just the combination of all of them — but this rub really stood out on the taste test. It has a bit of heat, with a little sweetness on the back end. There's nothing wrong with that. Kinder's Rub was also moderately priced, and while I'm not close to running out, I will definitely be buying more when the time comes. 

In my self-proclaimed expert opinion, barbecue spices should have silly, if not over-the-top, labels. Barbecuing is fun — let's not make it too serious. Grill Your Ass Off's Cannibal all-purpose spice fits the bill. Even better, it also had the strongest flavor of the seasonings I tried. When sampling it on its own, I found that it was overwhelmingly garlic and onion-forward. It's a good thing this is designed to go on meats and not to be eaten from a spoon. Still, I do what I must in the name of research.

That strong flavor profile comes through very clearly with the chicken. Whereas some of the other seasonings need to be used with a heavy hand, this one should be used more sparingly than you'd think. Ribs will give you more leeway because pork — like beef — has a stronger flavor than chicken. That said, the Cannibal rub has some heat to it — likely due to the inclusion of chili powder in lieu of paprika. That garlic and onion flavor came through in the finished product, too. Not to mention, Grill Your Ass Off is veteran-owned and a portion of each purchase goes toward non-profit veteran organizations or events. It's one seasoning you can feel good about buying. 

I thought PlowBoy's Yardbird BBQ rub was a pretty solid seasoning blend when I tasted it on its own. When I tried a bite from the chicken and ribs, I thought the same. It was good. But as I continued eating the proteins, I found that the flavor really grew on me. The ingredients are fairly standard — salt, sugar, chili pepper, paprika, dehydrated garlic and onion, celery seed, and mustard seed — but I was continuously more and more excited to try the meats seasoned with it. It was a great blend of sweet, spicy, and savory. I also found it worked especially well with both the chicken and ribs; each bite amplified more of those delicious tasting notes. 

My one qualm with this Kansas City-style barbecue rub is that the container is just 7 ounces. While it's fairly priced, I imagine I will be running out of it quickly. And another thing to note: Although I didn't accompany the seasonings with any sauces for this review, I imagine Yardbird would work perfectly with a thick, sweet, and tomatoey barbecue sauce.

With a name like "The BBQ Rub," you would expect this Killer Hogs seasoning blend to hit all the classic barbecue notes — and it does just that. This medium-grain rub comprises the usual suspects, such as brown sugar, sugar, paprika, salt, dehydrated garlic, and oleoresin paprika (an extract, of sorts). Although, it also includes a more unique addition: dehydrated orange peel.

Not surprisingly, this is on the sweeter side of the seasonings I tried, thanks to the fact that two of its primary ingredients are sugar. The seasoning worked well on both the ribs and chicken, but I would definitely go a little heavy with it. Just be wary of the temperature you're cooking at, as the sugar can burn if the heat's too high. An alternate option is to give any meats coated in The BBQ Rub another layer of seasoning as they finish cooking. In fact, I like to do that regardless of what seasoning or sauce I'm using and I find that typically works pretty well, regardless of the spice you're using. 

A big positive was that this Killer Hogs barbecue seasoning was one of the least expensive of the bunch. It also claims to work well with a variety of meat, including beef, steak, burgers, pork, and chicken.

In doing my research for the most underrated BBQ seasonings on Amazon, I came across Oakridge BBQ, which sells a variety of seasonings for specific uses, such as brisket, chicken and game bird, sweet ribs, and the like. It also offers a "signature" seasoning blend that falls more in line with the others I sampled for this review. Since this was not available, I opted for Oakridge BBQ Texas T-Bone's seasoning for steak, burgers and fries. That's right, a steak and burger seasoning for ... pork and chicken.

I was excited to see how well it worked on the ribs and chicken, but I didn't have high hopes since the seasoning was not specifically designed for these meats. It also had a much lighter color (that looked almost yellow) than any of the other blends. In short, it stood out in more ways than one. 

That said, this has opened me up to a whole new world of barbecue seasoning. With flavorful add-ins like tomato powder, horseradish powder, mustard flour, and dill weed, in addition to familiar ingredients like salt, dehydrated garlic and onion, sugar, and paprika, the Texas T-Bone's seasoning packed a depth of flavor that I don't think any of the others did. It wasn't the typical sweet-heat of most rubs. Instead, it provided a very savory and umami flavor profile. It was great on both the chicken and ribs. If you're open to a not-so-typical barbecue seasoning, give this one a go. 

Many of the brands I tested sell a myriad of seasoning blends geared toward specific types of meats or cooking styles. To make this review more applicable to a wider audience, I tried to opt for each brand's standard, signature, or all-purpose blend. Not only are the selections listed here solid barbecue rubs, but you can use them for a variety of proteins, which makes them all the more economical. 

As for the preparation, I'm almost ashamed to admit that I grilled the chicken and baked the ribs — I didn't actually smoke anything (but you do what you must when you live in a New York City apartment with no outdoor space). I tried every seasoning on a piece of chicken and rib to see how they fared on a variety of meats.

If you try any of the seasonings above, you can be assured that you will be getting something that will make any meat you barbecue (whether it's smoked, grilled, or baked) a step up from very likely anything you've made in the past. They all either hit the major flavor components of a classic barbecue rub or are so interesting and unique that you need to give them a try.