While it feels odd to blog a simple spice rub recipe, when I think of what we make most often in our kitchen, this recipe is top ten. When I removed nightshades from my diet years ago to reduce inflammation and improve autoimmune symptoms, seasoning our food became a challenge. We relied so heavily on hot peppers for flavor like cayenne, paprika, and crushed red pepper.
Over the years we’ve tried a LOT of variations, and this one has become so beloved that guests always ask “what did you put on this?!” Followed by lots of num num noises when dining with us. There’s something magical about being able to dupe people into not realizing they’re missing something traditional, like chili powder on a smoked piece of meat. Thus, I present to you, our Magical Smokey Spice Blend.
We recommend this for roasting or grilling, on nearly all proteins – but especially salmon, pork, and even your Thanksgiving bird! If you’re not familiar with how to use spice rubs, you can learn more in
our tutorial here. Key takeaways:
- Buy mid-grade spices and dried herbs for daily use, because the ingredients are cleaner and flavors are richer than the cheaper versions.
- Use your herbs and spices until they no longer flavor your food as strongly as you’d like. For whole spices, that may be as long as 4 or 5 years. Dried herbs will keep for 1 or 2 years and ground spices may last 2 or 3.
- Once you find a spice blend you like and find yourself using often, make a batch of a couple of servings and put it in a small jar to save time.

Magical Smokey Spice Rub (No Nightshades)
Ingredients
Instructions
- Combine all spices in a mason jar.
- With an airtight lid, may last up to 2 years. Use on pork, salmon, or poultry, preferably. From your roast turkey to grilled salmon, it's super versatile!
Notes
*if you sub for other granulated sugar, such as palm or raw organic cane we suggest adding a little molasses when applying the rub to add back in the nutrients, depth of flavor, and tackiness it adds from the brown sugar.
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https://realeverything.com/magical-smoky-spice-blend-no-nightshades/
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Stacy Toth blogs with her husband (Matthew McCarry). They co-host and produce the top rated syndicated podcast, The Whole View, and have authored 3 bestselling family-friendly cookbooks. She been featured in several national publications, television, radio shows, podcasts and online.
Stacy & Matt are well-known for their candor and openness from everything from the ups and downs of two decades together, parenting, pop culture, and lifestyle changes that saved their health. With multiple autoimmune diseases and a lifetime of gaining and losing hundreds of pounds, Stacy focuses on finding health and wellness - inside and out - through self love, respect, and acceptance at any size.
It may all be held together with duct tape and lots of love, but we focus on reducing stress, finding joy, and spending quality time together. Most recently, they became a Foster Resource family (foster parents). Stacy quit her executive career in 2018 to work full-time online and share the mission of clean living and safer skincare.