This all purpose coffee rub is our all-time favorite dry rub that we use on everything. It’s earthy, flavorful and great to use on anything you want to quickly cook up on the grill. Quick to make – you can double, triple or quadruple the recipe so that you only need to make it once and have plenty leftover.
Every Spring, I clean off my BBQ and am super stoked for the warmer weather and grilling season. Whenever I do grill something, I normally just throw together a spice rub on the fly but this time I thought I would actually document it so I could share it to anyone in search for all purpose coffee rub.
My coffee rub doesn’t contain a lot of salt or sugar in it. My main reason for doing this is so that the rub gives the meats a good foundation of flavor but will not conflict with any sauces (if you choose to brush on any at the end of cooking). I don’t want the end products to be too salty or too sweet. The rub should be enhancing the food not overpowering it.
This all purpose coffee rub that you can use on any type of meats (chicken, beef or pork) and it is not limited to just for grilling. I have used this rub on chicken and pork that I have roasted in the oven and it turned out just as fantastic.
What Does ‘Coffee Rub’ Taste Like?
Not like coffee, oddly. It has a dark earthy flavour combined with a nice balance of garlic and onion notes with a background flavour of cumin. The rub is low in sugar and salt so that you don’t get an overly salty or overly sweet result, which won’t overpower your BBQ sauces. We added a bit of cayenne for a spicy kick but that is completely optional and can be omitted.
INGREDIENTS
For this coffee rub recipe, all ingredients can be found at your local grocery store.
You may wonder, “Coffee grounds? Really? Isn’t that bitter?”
I can assure you it’s not! 🙂 That was also my first reaction as well as I was doing some testing as black coffee is usually very strong and very bitter but the spices meld very well with the coffee and instead it provides a subtle dark earthy flavour to the rub.
Tip #1 : Please do not use ‘used’ coffee grounds. There’s no flavour in it.
Optional : Cayenne for a bit of a spicy kick is also quite nice.
HOW FINE DO YOU GROUND UP THE COFFEE?
This one is a personal preference but I’ll list off some of our findings.
FINE GROUND – We found that grinding it up too finely, made it stick to the meat *too* much and it doesn’t give the other spices a chance to latch on to the meat since it falls right off because the fine coffee kind of just takes over.
MEDIUM GROUND – Just right. Has enough surface area to have a subtle coffee, earthy flavour. It also matches the consistency of the other spices. This is our preference.
COARSE GROUND – Not enough surface area for flavour and doesn’t stick to the meat as well since it sticks on last because of the size. Depending on how coarse you grind it up you may even start noticing that you are actually chewing on the grounds and having them stuck to your teeth.
You can use any type of coffee for this rub (light, medium or dark roast). The darker the roast the stronger the flavour.
…but maybe refrain from using flavoured coffee 😛 unless “Creme Brulee Toffee” chicken is totally your thing.
Tip #2 : To make this an even simpler and quicker rub, we sometimes just buy pre-ground coffee for this.
PUTTING IT TOGETHER
Grind up the coffee (or use pre-ground coffee) and mix the ingredients together! This is a very versatile rub. You can use this on ribs, chicken, beef, pork, lamb – pretty much anything! If you make a large batch, keep it in a well sealed container and store in a cool dry spot away from the sun. Sunlight damages spices and takes away the flavour with time.
Happy Spring! Time to hit the grills!
All Purpose Coffee Rub
Ingredients
Instructions
- Combine together in a large bowl and mix.
- Store in a well sealed container away from direct sunlight. Sunlight damages spices and takes away the flavour with time.
Notes
- Do not use pre-used coffee grounds, it doesn't have any flavour
- This recipe scales very well, create more to have it on hand to easily have it available
Nutrition
All calories and info are based on a third party calculator and are only an estimate. Actual nutritional info will vary with brands used, your measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
Jim says
I notice you left pepper out. Any reason or it tends to mess up the flavor?
Joyce says
Hi Jim!
I left the pepper out of this recipe because I find that depending on the type of pepper you use (in my case, freshly ground pepper) it can be a very strong and overpowering flavor, which I wanted to avoid since I tend to use this on a lot of different things like veggies and I don’t want to dominate it with the pepper flavor. If you enjoy pepper, then definitely add it in! 🙂
Henrik Thomas-Poulsen says
Can you use it, as a dry cure for making bacon?
Joyce says
Hi Henrik,
Dry curing meat requires a lot of salt to draw out the moisture and keep bacteria levels low and unfortunately this recipe does not have enough salt for that purpose.
However, I don’t see why you cannot use this recipe for dry curing if you increase the salt. Just make sure you increase the salt amount by a lot (ie. instead of 1 tablespoon of salt like in the recipe, I would increase the salt to 1/2 – 3/4 cup or a bit more) You can even increase the sugar a bit more too.
I personally have not tried this recipe for dry curing so if you decide to do it, let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Joyce
[email protected] says
I’m so excited that it is finally warm enough to start grilling again! Great tips on coffee grind texture too! This coffee dry rub is going to be an excellent addition to our seasoning mixes and rubs. Can’t wait to make it and try it out!
Joyce says
Awesome! 😀 I hope you like it Marie! and YES I am so excited about the warm weather tooooo! But Alberta winters are a lot more harsh than here :O so yea! haha 🙂
Marie | Yay! For Food says
We made your coffee rub a few days ago! It tasted amazing on our grilled ribs! So easy and really flavourful; love the earthy flavour and spicy heat!
Joyce says
YAY! I am so happy you enjoyed this! 😀 Yay for BBQs! 😀 haha
Erica says
This coffee dry rub is just in time! I’ve been using this recipe that always tastes like straight salt for my dry rub, crazy. I’ve never heard of a coffee dry rub but I can’t wait to try it now, thanks for a wonderful recipe!
Joyce says
Aye, it’s nice to control the salt and sugar right? 🙂 It’s a versatile rub, so if you like garlicky (like we do) you can also up the garlic content! 🙂
romain | glebekitchen says
Great advice on the spices. Don’t leave them out where the sun can get them. I’ve used coffee in chili but I’ve never tried it in a rub. Funny, I’ve seen recipes for ancho coffee rubbed steak but never managed to make the connection in my head. Thanks for closing that loop! This rub looks spot on. Not too sweet, not too fussy, just my kind of rub. I’m thinking I can get to my grill today as well (I hope). How much cayenne should I go for? I like a bit of kick.
Joyce says
Aye, I have done it one too many times (spices in the sun) and it just wastes your spices since it makes them flavourless. Hope you have fun with the grilling! I usually put 2 tbsp of cayenne in the spice rub when I do put it in, but you can always cut it down as well depending on how spicy you like it 🙂
Alyssa @ A Bite of Inspiration says
Coffee dry rubs are the best! So, so flavorful! I love your tips and observations about how finely the coffee should be ground. I agree– medium grind is the best, but it’s all about personal preference. We just bought some beautiful steaks the other day. Now, I know how I’ll be serving them. Can’t wait! 🙂
Joyce says
Hope you enjoy them! I love giving suggestions out, since not everyone may have the same tastes! 🙂 ..but gosh, I am so excited about the warmer weather! 😀
Alison @ The Sunday Glutton says
I can’t wait to use this! I’m so excited for grilling season now that the whether is getting nicer and nicer everyday. I should make a big batch and keep it in the pantry because it looks like it goes well with almost any protein, too! Mmmm….coffee rubbed steak…
Joyce says
Yes! 😀 I couldn’t wait and used it on an oven roasted chicken 😀 haha Yay for warmer weather!