The Best Homemade Beef Jerky Recipe
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This is the best homemade beef jerky recipe, and it’s easy to make without any special equipment.
After road tripping with my family and sampling jerky from gas stations along the way — and spending a small fortune on it — I resolved to come up with a good homemade beef jerky recipe. The good news is that beef jerky is surprisingly easy to make and doesn’t require any special equipment other than a standard oven, baking sheets, and wire racks. However, most homemade jerky isn’t nearly as tender as the store-bought kind. That’s because commercial jerky producers use special equipment and curing preservatives to make their signature jerky.
Finally, after falling down an internet rabbit hole of pitmaster video tutorials, I learned the secret to making tender jerky at home: adding plenty of sugar to the marinade. The extra sugar not only helps preserve the meat but also locks in moisture. This recipe makes a salty-sweet, smoky jerky with a chewy yet tender texture, similar to the well-known brands.
What You’ll Need To Make Homemade Beef Jerky
When making beef jerky, it’s important to start with a well-trimmed, lean cut of meat, as fat does not dry out and accelerates spoilage. An eye of round roast is ideal; it’s affordable, accessible, lean, and easy to trim. Before slicing, pop it in the freezer for 1 to 2 hours; it will be much easier to cut.
The marinade contains soy sauce, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, seasoning, and unseasoned meat tenderizer. Meat tenderizer contains bromelain, an enzyme that breaks down meat tissue. You can find it in the spice section of your supermarket (I use McCormick).
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Slice the Meat
Slice the meat between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick with the grain. If the roast is too thick to slice easily, cut it in half horizontally before slicing.
Step 2: Make the Marinade
In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, smoked paprika, meat tenderizer, black pepper, red pepper flakes, onion powder, and garlic powder. Whisk until evenly combined and the sugar is dissolved.
Step 3: Marinate the Beef
Add the meat to the marinade and toss until all of the pieces are evenly coated. Cover with plastic wrap (or transfer to a large ziplock bag) and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours or overnight. Toss the meat (or flip the bag) once or twice to be sure the meat marinates evenly.
Step 4: Dry Out The Meat
Line two baking sheets with aluminum foil for easy clean-up. Place a wire rack over each pan. Preheat the oven to 175°F and set two oven racks in the centermost positions.
Arrange the marinated meat on the wire racks in a single layer.
Bake, rotating the pans from front to back and top to bottom midway through, until the meat is dried out, 3 to 4 hours. To determine if the jerky is thoroughly dried out, take a piece out of the oven and let it cool to room temperature. It should be dry to the touch, leather-like in appearance, and chewy but still somewhat tender.
Store the jerky inside an airtight plastic container, Ziploc bag, or airtight glass jars. Properly dried jerky will keep at room temperature for about one week.
video tutorial
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The Best Homemade Beef Jerky Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 (3-lb) eye of round roast (see note), trimmed of fat and silver skin
- 1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
- 1 cup soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon unseasoned meat tenderizer (see note)
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Slice the meat between ⅛ and ¼ in (3 and 6 mm) thick with the grain. (If the roast is too thick to slice easily, cut it in half horizontally before slicing.)
- Make the marinade: In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, smoked paprika, meat tenderizer, black pepper, red pepper flakes, onion powder, and garlic powder. Whisk until evenly combined and the sugar is dissolved.
- Add the meat to the marinade and toss until all of the pieces are evenly coated. Cover with plastic wrap or transfer to a large ziplock bag and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours or overnight. Toss the meat (or flip the bag) once or twice to be sure the meat marinates evenly.
- Line two baking sheets with aluminum foil for easy clean-up. Place a wire rack over each pan. Preheat the oven to 175°F (79°C) and set two oven racks in the centermost positions.
- Arrange the marinated meat on the wire racks in a single layer. Bake, rotating the pans from front to back and top to bottom midway through, until the meat is dried out, 3 to 4 hours. To determine if the jerky is thoroughly dried out, take a piece out of the oven and let it cool to room temperature. It should be dry to the touch, leather-like in appearance, and chewy but still somewhat tender.
- Store the jerky inside an airtight plastic container, Ziploc bag, or airtight glass jars. Properly dried jerky will keep at room temperature for about one week. Refrigerate or freeze for longer storage.
Notes
- Pop the meat in the freezer for 1 to 2 hours before slicing; it will be easier to cut.
- Meat tenderizer contains bromelain, an enzyme that breaks down meat tissue. You can find it in the spice section of your supermarket. (I use McCormick.)
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I have made this jerky several times now and I am hooked. I love it, and so does my family. Thanks for a very simple and great recipe!
Cut the brown sugar in half and added about 3/4 cup of organic ACV. Tenderized the meat and provided a move savory – less sweet jerky. The marinade recipe was a good place to start.
The recipe says cut meat with the grain. Shouldn’t it be against
The grain?
Hi Sue, Normally beef is sliced against the grain, but in this case I cut with the grain for the best jerky texture.
great recipe!
with or across the grain..done it both ways..its personal preference, wont affect the taste at all..across the grain may be a little less chewy to some;
The jerky was so tough I couldn’t eat it! I think cutting with the grain makes it tougher than across the grain. I’ll try it that way next. The marinade was very good.
Awesome recipe! I do have to say that if you add about 2 Tbsp of honey it makes it just a little better than it already is. Im so happy I found this recipe!
Made it..was delicious…didn’t get much, everyone else grabbed it first..made about 2lb..will make a larger quantity next time..thanks
Excellent!
Adding sugar? Thats a good way to injure your body over the years. Completely unnecessary and a sign of how screwed up our knowledge of nutrition really is.
Thanks for your worthless comment
I made this using the Sukrin Gold brown sugar replacement instead of regular brown sugar, and it turned out great! As with some of the other reviewers, I didn’t have the meat tenderizer, so I added ACV for a similar effect and the added savoriness. I’ve made this recipe several times now, and the picky kids keep asking for more. Home run, Jenn.
I used this recipe guide and it was the best beef jerky I’ve ever had. (although I used a proper food dehydrator machine I had just bought the day before to kick it’s tires.
But I have to admit, finding a lean reasonably priced cut of meat was a tall order. My local Publix had a very limited selection, so I drove to the local Amish grocery store that always has top notch beef, even aged beef.
Detweiler’s Amish butchers were also struggling to meet the meat demand due to Memorial Day, but this retired soldier was making beef jerky hell or high water.
…….So I bought several pounds of tenderloin, as it was priced about the same as the lesser meats. Never seen that scenario.
I also made dog jerky with a lesser humongous steak I got at Publix. With that, I didn’t use a recipe as I wanted to make my neighbor’s dogs jerky with no spices, I did add a little sweet potato as that dog loves sweet potatoes. Next on my list is trying to see if I can make beef jerky my two cats will like, as I’m tired of giving them cat treats with to many preservatives and ingredients.
Superb flavor, But a little tough. I used bottom round. Any suggestions for my next batch?
Hi Susan, sorry to hear it was a little tough. For the best results, I’d stick with the eye of round. If you’re not able to find eye of round and use bottom round again, I’d cut it against the grain.
Family has been making jerky for 30 years.
London broil! I know expensive.
Side note.
Slice the meat against the grain.
Fill a tub or cleaned sink with cold water and vinegar, redwine or white. 1/4 or so to two gallons.
Place the sliced meat in the water and squeeze the meat getting all blood out of the meat. Repeat this step until all the blood is out. Two-three times.
London broil, when on sale, is about $3/lb. Can’t buy anything else cheaper! Plan ahead, and buy on sale. I even have the supermarket butcher grind it for burger. Makes a nice, lean, steak-like burger.
It is tough I believe because the instructions were to slice with the grain. You should always slice against the grain. Great recipe though, probably just a small oversight.
This jerky is the exception to the rule when it comes to slicing against the grain. When you slice it against the grain, it almost falls apart. The jerky has a better texture when sliced with the grain.
This is very true ! I am make venison as I am writing this if you cut across the grain it will surely fall apart on you , I always cut with the grain and never have any issues , I am using your recipe for the first time can’t wait it smells incredible I will post pictures when done 👍