Smoked Chicken Breasts with Dry Rub

Name: Smoked Chicken Breasts
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 65 min
Ingredients: 2 ½ pounds chicken breasts (- or about 5 medium breasts); 3-4 Tablespoons dry rub (- see my recipe for homemade bbq rub); a drizzle of olive oil (- to serve (optional))

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Try these simple Smoked Chicken Breasts for a dinner filled with flavor. These require a simple dry rub seasoning and are very simple to make! Bookmark this one now!

Try my Smoked Pork Tenderloin for another delicious smoked recipe!

Overhead view of a plate of dinner, including smoked chicken, asparagus, and mustard potatoes.

Best Smoked Chicken Breasts

Let’s take summertime grilling to an all new level with a hands-off main course. You don’t even need to flip them!

While I love making a Smoked Spatchcock Chicken, these are far simpler. Trust me. Just a quick seasoning and a low and slow cook on a smoker (or a grill with some flavored wood chips).

Why This Recipe Works

Hands Off. Like I said, this one is SIMPLE. While the chicken is smoking, you can whip up the sides or just hang outside with a Strawberry Mojito (or two)!
Moist. Cooking low and slow adds flavor and a delicious texture. This is NOT dry chicken.
Smokey. Depending on the wood chips/pellets that you use, you’ll develop a super smokey flavor. So good.
Great meal prep. I recommend making extra so you can add chicken to your lunches for the week!

We used our Memphis Smoker with apple flavored pellets. If you don’t have a smoker, you could use a regular charcoal grill (at a low temp) and add some smokey wood chips.

A baking sheet with five just smoked chicken breasts.

Ingredients Used:

Chicken – I used 2.5 pounds of chicken breasts for this recipe.
BBQ Rub – Use my homemade recipe for the best homemade BBQ rub! It’s a simple combo of brown sugar, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, smoked paprika, kosher salt, and black pepper.
Olive Oil – To finish, I like to drizzle a bit of olive oil over the chicken breasts.

How to make Smoked Chicken Breasts:

Step 1
Make the rub. Combine the seasonings and store it in a mason jar. You’ll use 3-4 tablespoons of the rub for this recipe.

A black bowl of the ingredients for the smoker rub, sectioned off by seasoning.

Side view of a jar of the best smoker seasoning.

Step 2
Pat dry the chicken. Remove chicken from the package and use paper towel to pat it dry on all sides.

Step 3
Add the rub. Add a generous amount of barbecue rub to the outsides of the chicken breasts (on both sides), using your hands to press it on.

A pan of six raw chicken breasts with a plate of the best smoker rub.

A pan of six raw chicken breasts with a small plate of seasoning.

Step 4
Light smoker/grill. Light a smoker or grill to 225 degrees.

Step 5
Place chicken on to cook. When ready, place the chicken on the grates to cook. This will take approximately one hour (or slightly more), depending on the thickness of the breasts. When the temp reaches about 160 degrees F, remove the chicken and count on another few degrees of carry-over cooking.

NOTE: Chicken is done when it reaches 165 degrees F on a digital thermometer. I always take it off at around 160 to allow for a few more degrees of carry-over cooking.

A smoker with the chicken breasts on the grates.

Step 6
Rest. Let the chicken rest for about 15 minutes before serving. This will ensure that the juices stay INSIDE the chicken resulting in tender, juicy chicken.

As an optional step, add a drizzle of olive oil over the finished chicken to serve!

Five smoked chicken breasts with a grilling tongs, on a baking sheet.

Recipe FAQs

How long does it take to smoke chicken breasts?

There are many factors to consider including size of breasts, temperature of grill, temperature outside). But if you smoke your chicken breasts at 225 degrees, it should take approximately one hour (or a little more) to be done.

Do I need to flip the chicken breasts while smoking?

If you use a smoker to make the chicken breasts, you won’t need to flip them. But if you use a grill with wood chips, you’ll need to flip them halfway through.

How do I keep the chicken from drying out?

Watch the chicken closely toward the end of the cooking time. Try to remove them at around 160 degrees and allow for a little bit of carry-over cooking.

How do you know when smoked chicken is done?

Chicken is considered to be done when it registers 165 degrees F on a digital thermometer.

Side view of a plate of chicken breasts, mustard potatoes, and roasted asparagus.

What to Serve with Smoked Chicken

We love to enjoy this chicken with so many different things. You can see my Mustard Roasted Potatoes and Roasted Asparagus with Prosciutto and Parmesan in these pictures. But I also suggest the following:

Closeup on a plate of smoked chicken breasts, potatoes, and asparagus.

Kitchen Tools Used: (affiliate links)

xoxo ~Sue