Smoked Chicken Thighs With Homemade Beer BBQ Sauce and Dry Rub

These Smoked Chicken Thighs are going to be one of the most moist chicken thighs you have ever bitten into! Tender, moist and sticky all in one bite!

Our local grocery store had a killer sale on chicken, and I picked up ten pounds for just a few dollars.  It was time to make some smoked chicken thighs with homemade dry rub and Beer BBQ sauce.

How to Make All Purpose BBQ Rub 

This is going to be your “go to” BBQ rub that you can use on just about anything you want. The rub makes a little over one cup, so there is enough for a couple recipes, depending on how much you need to use. 

When making this one, you’ll notice that we used one tbsp of smoked paprika and two tbs of regular or sweet paprika. If you want your rub to be a bit more smoky, swap that ratio. For this recipe, our chicken thighs are already smoked, so to add more smoked paprika would just have been too much. 

This rub can be made in about five minutes, including finding all the ingredients! 

Step One: Combine all the ingredients into a bowl and stir. 

Step Two: Use the appropriate amount needed for your recipe and store the remaining in glass jars or you can choose to store it in the freezer in a freezer safe ziploc bag for up to three months. 

How to Make Simple Beer BBQ Sauce 

This sweet and tangy bbq sauce makes me so excited to pour over the smoked chicken thighs. The sauce isn’t too sweet and it isn’t too tangy…it’s just RIGHT! There is a balance here. If you want a tad more sweetness, add more ketchup or brown sugar. If you want a tad more tang, add in a bit more yellow mustard or apple cider vinegar. You seriously have control over the recipe by just playing with a couple ingredients. I like to taste test mine and see if I want to add or delete. Our taste buds have evolved and what we loved five years ago doesn’t always work now. 

Step One: Heat up a small saucepan on medium heat with olive oil for a few minutes and then add in onions until they brown.

Step Two: Add in minced garlic and stir to cook for 1-2 minutes. You don’t want it to burn. 

Step Three: Add in the remaining ingredients and simmer on low for 25-30 minutes. Stir every 3-4 minutes so the sauce doesn’t try to stick on the bottom of the pan. 

Note: I like my BBQ sauce chunky, so I did not run it through a blender. If you prefer the smooth sauce, pour it into a blender and blend until it is the consistency you prefer. Always do this when it is cool or it will explode in the kitchen!

How to Smoke Chicken Thighs

Rub the chicken thighs liberally with the all purpose BBQ rub.  Make sure to coat both sides.

Set up the grill for indirect heat.  I used the plate setter on the Big Green Egg.  They call it a convEGGtor now, which is silly. I prefer the term plate setter.  

Set the temperature to 225 degrees.  When the temperature has stabilized, add a few pieces of your favorite hardwood.  Hickory is my go-to.  

Set the chicken thighs on the grill for about 2.5 hours or until the internal temperature is 165 degrees.  I used my favorite remote grill thermometer to keep track of the temperature.

When it reaches 165 degrees, baste the top of the thighs with the BBQ sauce.  Make sure to completely cover the top and sides. Let it continue to smoke for another 10-15 minutes.

Pull the chicken off the grill and let them rest for 15 minutes before digging in. 

Word of Warning: This is one of those cases where a little goes a long way!  You do not need a huge puff of billowing smoke to do the job. It might look good on Instagram, but the taste of that much smoke will be a bit overwhelming.  Instead, just use a little bit of hardwood. The chicken will be on the grill for almost three hours, which is plenty of time for it to collect the smoke flavor.  

If you like to make your own rubs and sauces, make sure to check out these others! 

Java Rub This Java Rub is so good and is a favorite of ours to give as gifts for Christmas! No need to buy those expensive coffee rubs you see in the store when you can quickly make your own at home.  

Roast Rub This roast rub can be used on chicken, steaks or roasts! This rub is to-die-for delish! Hands down one of our favorites!  

Sweet and Spicy BBQ Sauce This would be another “go to” sauce for Smoked Chicken Thighs is you want a sauce that doesn’t have the beer taste! The spiciness of this sauce only comes from the ground red pepper so you have the control how powerful you make the spicy. 

Delicious All Purpose Dry Rub This is our first All Purpose Rub we ever made about 10 years ago and has been one of our mainstays for years. This is the one I use all the time on Beer Can Chicken and we love it so much we haven’t ever strayed from it, crazy as that sounds! 

Easy Cherry Bourbon BBQ Sauce This is simple sauce to make in under 30 minutes for a great addition for wings or chicken thighs! You can use it as a dipping sauce or you brush on wings before they come off the grill. If you haven’t seen us use a “dunking technique” before, we pour sauce in a bowl and take wings off the grill and swirl them around so they are totally immersed in the sauce and then put them back on the grill to caramelize. I love this, as it gets into every crevice and groove of the chicken. If I have enough sauce, I tend to gravitate to that method.