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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Well…. You knocked that outta the park! I’ve been making jerky for years and never really settled to standardize. I make a different recipe (however slight) every time. This is quintessential beef jerky 101. You nailed it! Thank you for sharing.
I’d be interested in your thoughts on a “jerked” jerky.
Johnny Klink
So glad you liked it Johnny! I’m not familiar with jerked jerky. If you want to elaborate, I can try to weigh in.
Jamaican jerk. I’ve toyed around but haven’t locked it up. I used chicken and beef. Great flavor, just does not pop like the recipe you put together. Thanks for getting back. 🙂
Hi Johnny, I’d use my recipe and add the following to the marinade: 1 to 2 Scotch bonnet or Habanero chili peppers, stemmed (and seeded, if desired) and roughly chopped, ½ teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder, ¼ teaspoon allspice, ¼ teaspoon dried thyme, and ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg. Hope you enjoy if you try it!
Awesome easy recipe. I put 1/4 cup teriyaki instead of soy sauce. Best tip is prefreezeing meat for even slices. Get your hands into the meat to make sure all meat is getting marinade.
I made this and it turned out perfect, so good. When I took the meat out of the marinade, I put it on paper towels and blotted it a little to get some of the wetness off. Made a huge difference and dried out nicely.
I use a recipe very similar to this. The only differences are I use pineapple juice for the bromelain. It gives it a slightly fruity taste. I also add a teaspoon of liquid smoke. Turns out great every time.
Great Idea with the Pineapple Juice! Thanks!
I like the ingredients that were in it thinking it would be great. I was not impressed. I did add a teaspoon of liquid smoke as I like smoky meat. Everything smelled good. Marinated about 36 hrs then smoked it in smoker with Hickory smoke chips. I don’t know what happened but there wasn’t much smoke to it.
I always use a dehydrator, which is the best way to make consistant beef jerky. I also am surprised that this recipe says to cut your beef with the grain?? Against the grain will provide you with a more tender piece of jerky, just like cutting any quality steak. I use about 1/3 of the brown sugar that it calls for, add hot sauce with the liquids and use a decent amount of cayenne pepper along with the other seasonings suggested here. All in all this is a good recipe to get you started and one that can be easily tweeked to the individuals taste and heat tollerance. I also use low sodium soy sauce to decrease the amount of salt in the recipe and it turns out great everytime. I made the mistake of sharing and now I get asked to make it all the time!! It’s fun but it is a process!!
Too sweet, not enough spice. Maybe next time cut back on brown sugar, add some cayenne pepper.
I agree. Way too sweet!
Wayyy too sweet. Will halve the sugar next time.
Delicious