Chicken Seasoning Recipe
by Sommer Collier — last updated on Jul 30, 2025 
We’re all tired of bland, boring chicken, but these three Chicken Seasoning Recipes change the game, and add the most delicious and bold flavors. Whether you’re grilling, baking or smoking your favorite cut of chicken, make sure you give these seasonings a try.
Sommer’s Recipe Notes
We love all things chicken! BBQ chicken, chicken thighs, fried, stewed, shredded, and spatchcocked … If it involves fowl, we are fans. So it seemed only fitting that we feature a simple Best Seasoning for Chicken recipe, too!
Today, we’re sharing a post on our favorite 3 spice blends for chicken. Of course, you can put just about any seasoning on chicken and it will taste good, yet we do have some favorite herb and spice blends we’d like to share. These are my go-to seasonings for chicken that my family absolutely loves!
Our all-purpose chicken seasoning is great on all sorts of chicken-focused meals and can be used in a multitude of dishes. However, we’re also sharing our favorite all-purpose Mexican and Italian blends for when you’re cooking more of a specific style of chicken to go with a meal.
Why You’ll Love These Recipes For Chicken Seasoning
- Budget friendly – Each of these seasonings are made with simple, pantry spices that are easy on the wallet.
- Great for meal prep – I love to make batches of these seasonings ahead of time, and keep them on hand for easy weeknight chicken dishes.
- Versatile – Whether you’re cooking chicken breast, thighs or wings, these spices work on every part of the chicken.
We hope you enjoy these 3 simple chicken seasoning blends and they make your midweek dinners much more tasty!
Ingredients and Tips
All-Purpose Chicken Seasoning – You’ll need lemon pepper seasoning, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and dried dill.
Mexican Chicken Seasoning – Use ancho chile powder, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, ground cumin, dried oregano and cayenne pepper.
Italian Chicken Seasoning – For this, use homemade Italian seasoning, salt, garlic powder, onion powder and crushed red pepper flakes.
How To Make Best Seasoning for Chicken
Making these blends for Chicken Seasoning are so incredibly easy. Just gather your pantry spices and start blending!
Find the full Chicken Seasoning recipe with detailed instructions and storage tips in the printable form at the bottom of the post!
Storage Notes
- Storing Leftovers – Place the homemade chicken seasoning in an airtight container like a jar, and store them in a cool, dry place, like in a pantry. Use them within 6 months.
Ways To Cook Seasoned Chicken
We love to grill chicken, particularly during the spring and summer. There is just nothing quite like that extra bit of smoky flavor and lightly charred grill marks!
For perfectly grilled chicken, first preheat the grill to medium heat, about 350-400°F.
- Cook boneless and skinless breast and thigh pieces for approximately 4-6 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness.
- Bone-in skinless thigh and breast pieces must cook for 12-15 minutes per side.
No grill? No problem! If you don’t have a grill – or don’t want to use one – nothing else beats juicy and tender oven-baked chicken. Bonus: You don’t even need to flip the chicken! Place the seasoned pieces on a lined baking sheet or baking dish, and pop them into the oven.
First, preheat the oven to 400°F for boneless or 425°F for bone-in chicken breasts or thighs.
- Cook thighs or breasts for 20-25 minutes, depending on meat thickness.
- Bake bone-in chicken breasts or thighs for approximately 40-45 minutes.
For more cooking details and recipe ideas, check out our complete Temperature for Chicken (Chicken 101) Cooking Guide!
Best Seasonings for Chicken
Video
Ingredients
All-Purpose Chicken Seasoning –
- 1 tablespoon lemon pepper seasoning
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon dried dill
Mexican Chicken Seasoning –
- 1 tablespoon ancho chile powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Italian Chicken Seasoning –
- 1 ½ tablespoons Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Set out a small bowl. Measure and mix the herbs and spices together.
- Sprinkle over boneless chicken pieces or bone in chicken pieces.
- Cook chicken as desired. See links below for suggestions!
Notes
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
The key to making the most perfectly flavorful, moist, and tender chicken is to A) season thoroughly and B) cook properly.
Chicken meat is rather mild on its own. So you want to be very generous with adding spices, and coat the meat evenly and entirely.
The internal temperature of chicken breast and thigh pieces needs to be 165 degrees F to safely eat. Any lower than that, and you run the risk of raw chicken, which is, of course, both icky-tasting and potentially harmful. However, overcooking results in dry and tough meat. Not so icky, but definitely unpleasant. So cook according to recipe instructions, and always use a meat thermometer to check the temp on the low end of the cooking time.
Yes, you always want to liberally apply spices to the meat before cooking chicken.
thank you for each of these, was running around the other day trying to find Mexican marinaded chicken but a dry rub would have worked just as well, and can use the other 2 as well, so much appreciated
I tried this with some of the chicken I was making and it turned out to be the best I have ever made.
This is perfect!! Thank you so much for sharing this!! We cook a lot of chicken & these make the chicken so tasty!! Love the variations!!
This is such a good recipe to have on hand! I love how versatile this chicken is for everything.