Juniper Rub Recipe for Goat, Lamb, and Wild Game

If you’re looking for something to complement and bring out the flavors in your lean, but delicious goat, lamb, or wild game, we have the perfect homemade rub recipe for you! Mix together sugar, salt, and spices for tantalizing aromas and a savory crust on your meat. Tips for slow cooking are also provided.

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Around here, we take pride in growing our own food, cooking it well, and enjoying every bite.

We raise Boer goats on our farm and have grown to love the rich flavors of goat meat. If you haven’t tried goat meat yet, you are missing out! You can learn more about how goat compares to beef in this article.

While you can substitute goat for beef in any recipe, we are always looking for ways to tailor ingredients or food preparation methods to complement the unique flavor, texture, and composition of goat meat. Goat meat tastes like beef, but is lean like venison and other wild game.

Cooking Lean Meats

In our opinion, lean meats like goat, lamb, and wild game are best prepared slowly. Slow cooking produces meat that is tender and falls right off the bone. Plus, prolonged cooking times result in the most flavorful foods because the ingredients have time to penetrate and combine with one another.

We use our Crock-Pot often, but our favorite way to slow-cook goat is in the smoker. We have two electric smokers, but my husband just built a DIY smoker out of a trailer and propane tanks. The authentic flavors that are imparted from the traditional, offset barrel smoker are unmatched!

For detailed instructions on using this rub to smoke a whole goat leg, click here to read our other article.

Rubs for Lean Meats

A rub for lean meats like goat should complement the natural flavors of the protein. Our homemade rub features sugar, salt, and spices that create tantalizing cooking aromas and a complex taste experience.

We chose to use wild foraged juniper berries in our rub to add a piney, citrusy flavor that enhances the taste of the goat meat. For more on identifying and using juniper berries, click here.

A rub provides a savory crust on your meat that helps lock in moisture so that the final product is tender, juicy, and delicious. The caramelized crust is a feast for your eyes as well as your tastebuds! Using a rub will ensure your meal will look as good as it tastes.

Materials Needed for Making Juniper Rub

• Mortar and pestle
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Bowl
• Wooden spoon

We use a mortar and pestle to crush the juniper berries and coarser spices to help release their flavor. This rub can be used dry or combined with olive oil to make a paste to apply to your meat. The pictures show the rub used wet for smoking a whole goat leg.

Juniper Rub Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons oregano
• 2 tablespoons thyme
• 2 tablespoons rosemary
• 1 teaspoon juniper berries (crushed)
• ¼ cup Kosher salt
• ¼ cup garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons coarse ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons onion powder
• 5 tablespoons paprika
• 1-2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• Olive oil (enough to make a paste)

This recipe makes plenty of rub for one whole bone-in goat leg, the one pictured weighed 3-4 lbs. We store our rubs for later use in 32 ounce spice containers.

Directions for Making and Using Juniper Rub

1. Measure out the oregano, thyme, rosemary, and juniper berries and place into the mortar
2. Use the pestle to gently crush and blend the spices
3. Transfer the mixture to your bowl and add all the other dry ingredients
4. Stir to combine with a wooden spoon
5. Use as a dry rub with a binder applied to the meat such as yellow mustard or apple cider vinegar, or add enough olive oil to make a paste.
6. Trim your meat to remove any excess fat or silver skin, don nitrile gloves, and apply the paste generously. Rub on all sides of the meat to ensure complete coverage.
7. Then, take a sharp knife and poke the meat all over. Stuff a little bit of the rub mixture in as many of these holes as you can to help the rub get into the meat a bit more than just the surface.
8. Now let it sit. This will help the rub set and allow time for the salt to absorb and redistribute juices throughout the meat. You can place it on a tray, uncovered, in the fridge 12-24 hours.
9. Finally, it’s time to cook! Fire your smoker up and get it to 250 degrees. Once its humming along at temperature, throw that leg on the cooker. For full smoking directions, click here!