Add that popular smoky chipotle taste to your cooking today with this easy chipotle seasoning. Use it as a rub on meat or a salad for a great spicy. Make your custom mix modified for your needs.
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Introduction and My Rating
This is another of my "breakout" rub/seasoning recipes. I created this for my wife's favorite salad, Chipotle Chicken Salad, and I needed seasoning for the chicken with a little heat but not much.
Since it is a great taste that can be used in many places, it makes a great seasoning you can have on hand for many seasonings.
While I used this on a baked chicken, it would be good for almost any meat. If used on a grilling recipe, I would add a tablespoon of brown sugar. I like a little char on my grilled meat.
My Rating
A very, very nice rub. A high 4 to low 5. I like the taste, so I went with the five.
🌶️So What is Chipotle?
Simply stated, it is smoke-dried jalapeño. So it adds some smokey heat.
Jalapeno is not the hottest of peppers, so the heat is tolerable for most of us gringos. While many recipes will call for canned chipotle, I tend to use dried since I frequently can not find the cans or there is more in the can than I need for a "cooking for two" size recipe.
🌶️Chipotle Pepper Grind
Chipotle pepper grind is not the same as chipotle chili powder. While the chipotle pepper grind is just dried chipotle peppers, the chipotle chili powder can be like other chili powders with multiple other ingredients. Read the ingredients.
Various brands will be called by other similar but not the same names. Chipotle pepper grind is the Penzeys name.
🧂Other Ingredients
And as an interesting note. During the research, I found several chipotle recipes that had no chipotle of any type, very interesting.
The included ingredients are fairly typical—garlic and onion powder, cumin, some chili powder, paprika, cumin, along with salt and pepper.
There is not sugar. But if you are going to use this as on rub on ribs or something where some crusting would be good, add the optional brown sugar.
👨🍳Uses
Use it as a rub for chicken, pork, and seafood most commonly but also seafood and roasted veggies. It can be sprinkled on almost any food you want for a spicy boost.
✔️Tips
This is a very tasty mild heat, but add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper to spice it up to your taste.
If you are using this as a rub on something like ribs, add some brown sugar to produce some crusting. Use an equal amount to the volume of other spices.
While on the topic of sugar, if you are storing this with the optional sugar, do not freeze and be very careful to store air-tight.
📖Other Spice Mixes
All Purpose Seasoning - 7:2:1 and 7:2:2
Marlowe's Black Magic Seasoning
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📖 Recipe
Chipotle Dry Rub
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons chipotle pepper ground
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
Optional
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar - if using as a rub
Instructions
- Mix well
- Store in an airtight container.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- Chipotle pepper grind is not the same as chipotle chili powder.
- When I use this on a grilling recipe, I add the optional brown sugar. I like a little char on my grilled meat.
- The heat is mild but tasty. Increase the heat with the optional cayenne pepper.
- Store in the dark and air-tight. 2-3 months should be fine. Be careful if you add the brown sugar to keep it air-tight.
Nutrition
Originally Published August 16, 2015. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Linda
Hi DrDan, I’m looking for a Chipotle rub with ranch. It is a dry rub/season that I order when I get wings. I just can’t seem to find a recipe. So, if I use this one how much ranch season should I use and should I adjust the other seasons? Or if you could come up with one, but not ranchy flavored. It’s to expensive to get them all the time so I’d like to make at home... any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanx
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Linda,
Welcome to the blog.
I don't know the exact taste you are going for let's guess... I'm fairly good at that.
The Hidden Valley Ranch powder is what I have used before in a taco chili recipe. It had a fairly good punch of cool taste. I looked at the nutrition on that and it is mostly salt.
So my first try would be to just sub it in for the salt maybe 2 teaspoons of the seasoning for the one teaspoon of kosher salt in the recipe. You have to start someplace. That would decrease the sodium a bit.
It might be too much ranch if what you are aiming for is just a touch of ranch. So than decrease the salt to half and try one teaspoon.
Those are my best guesses.
If you try it, please post back.
Dan
Margaret Shawyer
Is there a substitute that I can use for the salt in the recipe or would it be okay just to leave it out?
DrDan
It is not much salt but leave it out if you want. There will be some taste loss.
DrDan
Laura R
This sounds really good and I am definitely trying it soon. I have used the canned chipotles in things like barbecue sauce or wet marinades, but for a dry rub on something like chicken I am sure the powder may be better. I live in Texas and there are mexican food options all over the grocery store, I can't imagine not finding them! But then again, I spent some time in Pennsylvania and greatly miss all the great true Italian options they had there.
Lara
This sounds like it would be delicious swirled into a little mayo and used on a grilled chicken sandwich. Mmmmm. :-)
DrDan
Actually it would be good like that. The combination balances out the flavors very nicely.
Thanks for the note.
DrDan
Joan
Canned chipotle peppers can be found in a Mexican grocery usually. I buy a can and blend the contents which can be kept refrigerated a long time. The taste is a little different from the spice which I noticed is from Penseys and I do have it in my spice cupboard. So if you want the canned chipotles, try shopping where the Mexicans shop.
DrDan
There are none in my normal shopping areas. And I forget when I'm elsewhere. Just has not been a high priority item for me. I need to make a trip and just stock up on things. For this one I would still use the powder.
Thanks for the comment.
DrDan