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Ground Beef Jerky Recipe

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Ground Beef Jerky Recipe
Wellness Mama » Blog » Recipes » Beef Recipes » Ground Beef Jerky Recipe

My kids really like beef jerky, and actually I do too. For a long time, we never had it in the house because a) it’s expensive and b) unless its full of sugars and nitrates, it is really expensive!

When a road trip left me desperate for some kind of portable protein, I tried an idea a friend had recommended: making jerky from ground beef. It was surprisingly easy, much cheaper, and the kids loved it. I now keep this on hand for daily snacks and make big batches for trips.

I’ve also found that ground venison and other game meats can be prepared this way and are excellent! Usually, we just use grass fed beef though.

Some Notes:

The jerky will harden up more after taking it out, so don’t let it get too dry in the oven. It also shrinks a lot as the moisture leaves it, so make more than you think you will need. My kids actually like this dipped in guacamole or salsa, but we also eat it plain or with raw cheese slices.

Ground Beef Jerky Recipe

Ground Beef Jerky Recipe

Make healthy, nitrate-free, beef jerky at home with ground beef. Easily customize the flavor with natural spices…
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 10 minutes
Calories 161kcal
Author Katie Wells

Servings

8 servings

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to its lowest setting. On my oven this is 170°F.
  • Lightly rub olive oil over the bottom of a large baking sheet with a lip. (It is ok to use olive oil here because we aren’t heating to high temps!)
  • In a medium size bowl, mix together the ground meat with desired spices.
  • Using the bottom of a glass baking dish or a rolling pin, roll the meat evenly around the baking sheet to ¼ inch thickness. If it is too thick, use a second baking sheet.
  • Use a butter knife to lightly score the meat to make the sizes you want for the jerky. You can also skip this step and use kitchen scissors to cut into strips when it’s done.
  • Brush with coconut aminos or fermented soy sauce if desired and sprinkle with a little extra sea salt.
  • Place in the oven and cook for 8-12 hours or until hardened. It is a good idea to flip it once, but not necessary at all. I usually stick this in at night and it is ready to flip in the morning and done a few hours later.
  • Store at room temperature for up to a couple weeks, or keep in the freezer if you aren’t going to use it before then.
  • Enjoy!

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Ground Beef Jerky Recipe
Amount Per Serving (2 oz)
Calories 161 Calories from Fat 45
% Daily Value*
Fat 5g8%
Saturated Fat 2g13%
Cholesterol 70mg23%
Sodium 1031mg45%
Potassium 396mg11%
Carbohydrates 1g0%
Protein 24g48%
Calcium 10mg1%
Iron 2.7mg15%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Notes

You can easily mix up the flavors in this recipe with different spices. I’ve made a Mexican type flavor with cumin and cilantro; a Chinese variation with ginger and coconut aminos; and an Italian version with oregano, basil, marjoram, extra garlic, and pepper.
Make sure you use lean ground meat for best flavor and longest lasting jerky.

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Ever made jerky? Were you successful? Let me know below!

This ground beef jerky is easy to make and customize and is much cheaper to make than traditional jerky.

Katie Wells Avatar

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

76 responses to “Ground Beef Jerky Recipe”

  1. Jennie Avatar

    5 stars
    I’m looking forward to trying this. I typically make jerky using High Mountain brand jerky seasoning, but I’m in a wellness challenge and can’t eat sugar or preservatives or grains. So I would like to try this recipe with just salt and seasoning and ground beef. The problem is after searching several sites I’m freaked out about what is “safe.” I’ve made jerky a dozen times with High Mountain and we will eat it unrefrigerated for up to a week, but for this jerky, I’m wondering if we have to do anything different with this to keep it safe since it doesn’t contain the .85% sodium nitrite that seems common with the commercial seasons.

    1. Angela Avatar

      It’s my understanding the leaner the better- the more fat the quicker it will go rancid.

  2. rabbijo Avatar

    Our Amish friends preserve many meats naturally. Here are a few of their tips,
    1) Meat has a saturation point – fresh cut beef stops absorbing marinades after 8 hours, ground at about 6. Drying meat naturally concentrates marinade flavors.
    2) Try using pure Cane Syrup instead of sugar. Note: Cane Syrup has a strong molasses type flavor, so start with small amounts.
    3) You may want to try a dry rub instead of marinade. It only absorbs into the outer layers, however with thin sliced or ground meat that’s sufficient and quicker.
    4) Turkey meat fibers are different from beef. Adding 1/2 tsp of cinnamon opens the fibers so marinade absorbs better. (try it next Thanksgiving)
    5) It is necessary to dry at no less than 170. Lower temps can actually accelerate bacteria growth instead of killing it, causing your Jerky to spoil quickly.
    6) High oven temps can be lowered by venting the oven. Propping it open with a wooden spoon also allows the moisture to escape faster. [Warning: otherwise honest kids and spouses can be turned into thieves by the escaping aroma.]
    Hope some of that helps!!

  3. Meredith Avatar
    Meredith

    I was wondering the same thing. I want to make this for my SO as he loves jerky so much he would eat it every day if he could! I’d also like to try it as Katie mentioned this is a bit softer/ less chewy than commercially made jerky, which is why I didn’t like jerky for many years. His other favorite flavor besides teriyaki is barbecue. I was worried about putting anything with sugar on the ground beef with it being in the oven so long. I’m afraid the sugar would burn even at such a low temp and make the final product inedible. Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

  4. Beth Avatar

    My kids love jerky. THey go on alot of hikes an mission trips and it is a staple for them. I would love to try this and you have some great ideas for variety, but do you know how I could make it teriyaki flavored? THat is there favorite.

  5. natasha Avatar
    natasha

    5 stars
    when I first told my husband I was going to try this he said, “I can think of 100 better ways to use that ground beef”, it made me question what I was doing. We are on a tight budget so I almost felt bad for making this but it was already in the oven. We watched and waited all night as this recipe started to take shape. My husband still skeptical also stated I’d be the only one who would end up eating it. This morning I pulled this outta the oven and tried my first bite. Not too bad I thought. 10 min after pulling it out of the oven my husband and 10 year old had the entire batch gone!!!
    I will say you made a believer out of my husband wellness mama!
    And we will be making this again very soon!
    FANTASTIC

  6. thanat Avatar

    We like to have beef jerky cut into small pieces rather than taking a long piece. This is good when travelling, etc. as it’s easier to reach into a baggie and pick out one piece.

    What is the proper way to handle this…cut the meat in pieces, then marinate, and follow with dehydrating, or cut the meat into small pieces after the hydrating is complete.

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar

      I prefer to cut it up into whatever size pieces after it is done dehydrating because the meat shrinks, and it is hard to tell how small it will get if you cut it up beforehand. It is not difficult to cut once dried.

  7. ken Avatar

    I made jerky with ground elk. Mixed in seasoning add water set in frige overnite. Rolled out between two sheets of wax paper. Cut into 1 in strips with wet table knife, placed on backing sheet 200 degrees two hours . Still adjusting the seasoning for next batch.

  8. Lara Avatar

    i made this tonight with maple smokehouse spice and ground turkey (hubby is allergic to beef, pork, and chicken). So yummy!
    Made citrus basil beef last night, but left it in the oven too long. Tastes wonderful, but a little dry. I’m going to use it as ‘instant soup’ on a plane trip. I’ll break it up into a cup of hot water.

  9. Angel Avatar

    I have a lot of year old ground deer meat, a little freezer burnt, and I’ve been trying to figure out something to do with it (besides cook it for my 115 puppy) I thawed out 4 lbs and followed this recipe to make up a batch of jerky…now granted there’s three cookie sheets in my oven right now, but my house smells wonderful!! I didn’t have smoky flavor spice, so I used the next best thing, smoked paprika. Added a bit of chili powder for good measure, some worchshire, some soy sauce, some balsamic vinegar, some siracha, onion and garlic powder, salt, pepper, white pepper, seasoned salt (hey I didn’t have curing salt so figured a little extra wouldn’t hurt!) mixed it all til I had a nice mild smell, not overly strong, it’s looking so good, I just drained and flipped, I can’t wait til it’s done! My oven starts at 200 but a bit under that so it still kicks on prob 150-175 F

  10. Kara Avatar

    I used one of the Breakfast Sausage recipes from Real Life Paleo on ground venison and added a little extra salt. Then followed your instructions for dehydrating. It’s delicious!! I recommend trying one of their breakfast sausage recipes if you’re looking for a new taste for your jerky.

  11. Katie Avatar

    As usual, EXCELLENT recipe! We have yet to try one of yours that we don’t love.

  12. Laura M Avatar

    Thank you very much for the easiest recipe for jerky I have come across. My 21 year old daughter said I had the perfect blend of spices in it… I tried the Chinese variation with ginger. I plan on taking batches on road trips in the future!

  13. Larry d Avatar

    Planning on making some deer hunter sticks in my dehydrator with ground meat 80/20 mixture, my question is after I add my seasoning can I add small cheese pieces to my mixture and would it come out ok dehydrated? Thanks for any help

  14. Belinda Avatar
    Belinda

    Although this post is old hoping to get a response so I can figure out if I should eat my jerky or not :). Made ground turkey jerky last night in my dehydrator. Put it in around 10pm then flipped over in trays at 7am. The underside was still raw-is this normal? Flipped one of them again and it’s still a bit raw on one side. Concerned since it’s been cooking for that long that bad bacteria may have formed. Am I being overly concerned? Should I just keep cooking it? I stuck one of the layers in the oven on 275 for 10 minutes per a review from another site but don’t know if that was necessary and now it’s even chewier. Any thoughts would be SO helpful. Thanks!

      1. Belinda Avatar
        Belinda

        K thanks Katie! I ended up eating it and all is well. Going to try in the oven as the cleanup seems easier :).

  15. Catherine Avatar
    Catherine

    I made this with 80/20 beef. I had to press it out by hand. Roller did not work. Oven at 175 for 12 hours. 1 hour into it I noticed that the meat had started to shrink and was sitting in a pool of fat. I pulled the tray out, tipped the sheet to drain the fat, placed a cooling rack upside down on top of the meat, then sandwiched a separate baking tray on top. I flipped the whole thing over and removed the used baking sheet so that I now had the meat on top of a cooling rack, on top of a fresh baking sheet. Worked great for elevating the meat out of its own grease and catching any extra drippings. I also blotted the jerky with a paper towel after the 12 hours to combat any extra greasiness. My husband has been enjoying the jerky in his lunch!

  16. Chris Avatar

    My lame apartment oven only goes as low as 200°. Is this workable or should I try to use someone else’s?

  17. Curtis steinhour Avatar
    Curtis steinhour

    I made this receipt and I can see how children would love it. For me it was the worst so called Jerky I have ever had. Guess I will just stick with Wild Joe’s.

  18. Chelsea Avatar

    So excited to try this! I recently started buying the organic ground beef from Costco, and have been searching for good, clean jerky instead sugar loaded junk from the store!

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