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Over the last little while, we’ve shared a handful of delicious homemade beef jerky recipes. We’ve had recipes for red wine-infused beef jerky and even Szechuan style spicy beef jerky. Today I’ll be sharing yet another great recipe for making your very own beef jerky from scratch. It’s one of my secret recipes and it makes an incredibly addictive sweet and sour homemade beef jerky. As with all of the other beef jerky recipes we’ve shared, it’s nice and easy to make, requiring only about 20 minutes of prep work to prepare the sweet and sour sauce and then all you have to do is marinate and cook the beef.
Sweet and Sour – Sometimes Classic is the Way to Go
Whenever you’re making homemade beef jerky, the “secret sauce” of the recipe is literally always going to be the sauce you marinate your beef in. So with that in mind, in order to make an addictive beef jerky snack, you’re going to need to make quite an addictive marinade sauce. This recipe pulls that off effortlessly by combining Worcestershire sauce, honey, soy sauce, black pepper, onion powder, red pepper flakes, and liquid smoke to create a mouthwatering sauce that’s bursting with flavor.
For the Worcestershire sauce, you can either use a store brand sauce or make your own – both options work equally well. Providing a great umami taste (the so-called fifth flavor, along with sweet, sour, bitter, and salty), Worcestershire sauce serves as a great base to build your marinade around. Adding a bit of honey helps to give the sauce a delightful naturally sweet taste as well, while also offering some great nutritional benefits. Not only is honey a great source of essential nutrients, it also contains some rather potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that help to reduce your risk of developing diseases like cancer. (1)
Adding even just a single teaspoon of onion powder goes a long way in making your marinade sauce taste so addictive as well. In addition to adding a ton of flavor, onion powder is also another ingredient that’s great to use for its health promoting properties. Numerous studies have found that onions contain sulfur compounds that provide most of their health benefits, some of which include anticancer properties, antithrombotic activity, and antibiotic effects. (2) Likewise, the addition of one teaspoon of red pepper flakes helps to further enhance the flavor of the sauce while simultaneously providing even more great health benefits thanks to the capsaicin content. Capsaicin is great for everything from relieving inflammatory pain to helping prevent heart disease. (3)
The sauce is rounded out with a nice smoky flavor by adding both ground black pepper and liquid smoke. Offering the same great taste as cooking with wood smoke, liquid smoke is a fantastic condiment to use when preparing all kinds of different beef dishes, including beef jerky. And speaking of beef, you’re going to want to use grass-fed beef when following this recipe. If you need a reliable way to buy grass-fed beef due to it being unavailable in your area, then check out ButcherBox. I’ve been using them for a couple months now and I’m extremely impressed with their service – they provide monthly deliveries of high quality cuts of grass-fed beef at a great low price.
After marinating your beef overnight, cook it according to the directions below to finish off the beef jerky. Once finished, the beef jerky can be kept in the fridge for up to one month so long as it’s stored in an airtight container.
More Homemade Beef Jerky Recipes:
Sizchuan Beef Jerky for Spice-Lovers
Authentic Gourmet Teriyaki Beef Jerky Recipe
Homemade Sheet Pan Black Pepper Beef Jerky
Best Simple Beef Jerky Recipe
How to Make The Best 5-Ingredient Beef Jerky at Home
Gourmet Wine-Infused Homemade Beef Jerky Recipe
Easy Homemade Beef Jerky Marinade
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Addictive Sweet and Sour Homemade Beef Jerky (My Secret Recipe)
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- Author: Evelyn - HealthySubstitute.com
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 hours
- Total Time: 4 hours, 20 minutes
- Yield: 10 1x
Scale
Ingredients
2 pounds top round steak (or eye or flank steak), trimmed from any fat and thinly sliced against the grain
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp onion powder
½ tsp liquid smoke
1 tsp red pepper flakes
Instructions
- In a bowl combine soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, honey, black pepper, onion powder, liquid smoke and red pepper flakes.
- Add the steak and toss until the steak is evenly coated.
- Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 8 hours or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 175°F.
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a wire rack over the foil.
- Lay the beef strips out in a single layer on the wire rack.
- Sprinkle with extra coarsely ground black pepper.
- Bake the beef in the preheated oven until dry and leathery, about 4 to 6 hours, flipping the beef once about halfway through. (see note*)
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
- Transfer in a container and refrigerate for up to 1 month.
Notes
The total time is dependent on the thickness of the meat.
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FAQs
Making beef jerky at home brings with it some risks of not ensuring bacteria are killed, which could lead to illness from Salmonella or Escherichia coli (E. coli). Drying the strips in a food dehydrator (typically at 130 to 140 degrees F) does not adequately kill these bacteria.
What is the secret to good jerky? ›
Top tips for making jerky
The instructions are really quite simple, but here are a few tips to ensure you have the best possible jerky results: use the freshest meat possible. use lean cuts like top or eye of round. pat the jerky dry from any marinade before dehydrating to accelerate the process.
How long does homemade dehydrated beef jerky last? ›
Generally, if stored properly in a cool, dry place, homemade beef jerky can last 1-2 months, making it a reliable and flavorful addition to any emergency food kit. Refrigeration or freezing can further extend this period, ensuring your preparedness pantry is well-stocked with long-lasting sustenance.
Why do you put sugar in beef jerky? ›
Sugar is a natural preservative which can help keep a jerky fresh for longer. It marries with the salt in the jerky formulation to create a more robust product, less likely to spoil. Sugar is also hygroscopic which allows it to retain moisture from the air. This helps create a softer, moister jerky that lasts longer.
Is it OK to eat beef jerky everyday? ›
The American Cancer Society recommends limiting your intake of red and processed meats like beef jerky. That's because the World Health Organization has concluded that eating 50 grams of processed meat every day (about 2 to 3 large pieces of jerky) increases your risk for colon cancer by 18%.
What is the downside of beef jerky? ›
Consuming beef jerky in moderation is key since processed and red meats can increase the risk of health complications. Beef jerky often has high sodium content to preserve the meat. Excess sodium may lead to bloating and weight gain.
Why add vinegar to beef jerky? ›
The acidic properties of vinegar work to weaken the meat's collagen tissue, making it less tough. Collagen is what gives meat its structure, but it's also responsible for making it chewy. By breaking down some of this connective tissue, vinegar makes your jerky easier to bite into.
How do you prevent botulism in jerky? ›
Using a jerky cure will inhibit bacteria growth and prevent botulism or other foodborne illnesses, as jerky is dried at low temps, not cooked. Cured jerky will also lengthen the shelf-life of your product.
How long should I marinate jerky? ›
Place the whole bag into the fridge to thoroughly marinate for up to 24 hours, but no fewer than 4 hours. The longer you marinate, the deeper your flavor and tenderizing action. The most convenient process is to simply refrigerate overnight and start your next step, the drying process, on the following day.
What is the best cut of meat for beef jerky? ›
Top round is considered to be one of the best cuts of meat to use for jerky. In fact, this is the cut that many commercial jerkies are made from. This is a good cut because it comes in large pieces, is a lean cut of meat, and is economical. Top round can also be referred to as London Broil or inside round steak.
Curing Salt #1 (with sodium nitrite) is intended for any product where the processing time is less than 30 days such as jerky, sausage, and corned beef. Curing Salt #2 (with sodium nitrate) is used for any product where the processing time is more than 30 days such as salami and prosciutto.
How did Cowboys make beef jerky? ›
When it was not possible to build a smoke hut to cure the beef jerky, cowboys would use the power of the sun and wind to dry their meat. However, the preparation process was far more efficient when fire could be used to dehydrate the meat.
Is homemade jerky healthy? ›
In short, though beef jerky is a healthy snack, its best consumed in moderation. Most of your diet should come from whole, unprocessed foods. Though beef jerky is healthy, avoid eating too much of it, as it's high in sodium and may come with the same health risks that are linked to eating processed meats.
Does sugar make jerky more tender? ›
Adding sugar to your standard recipe will help maintain more moisture in the meat and improve the tenderness of the finished jerky. The sugar will envelop the water molecules and limit the growth of bacteria. The sugar will also prevent the moisture from cooking out of the meat.
Do you lose nutrients when making jerky? ›
Jerky, fruits, and other dried snacks are tasty and are easy to store and eat. Drying or dehydrating is one of the oldest ways to preserve foods. It makes them last longer and keeps them safe to eat. Nutrition-wise, food stays mostly the same, although the drying process can destroy vitamins A and C.
Is it worth it to make homemade jerky? ›
Savings: Is it cheaper to make your own jerky? Making homemade beef jerky allows you to choose the type of meats and spices that goes into the snack. This way, you can source cheaper cuts of meat and use flavourings you have lying around the kitchen (like brown sugar, soy sauce, garlic powder, and onion powder).
Is homemade beef jerky considered processed? ›
Simply put, it's thin slices of meat that have been marinated for flavor and then dried to remove moisture. This preservation method is one of the oldest and simplest forms of processing meat. But, yes through this definition we can see that beef jerky is in fact processed.
Does beef lose protein when made into jerky? ›
Say you start with 100g of beef that has 30g of protein. After dehydrating, you are left with 50g of beef jerky. This resulting 50g of beef jerky has about 30g of protein.
