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
Ingredients
- 2-3 lbs ground beef (or venison, elk, bison, etc.)
- 1-3 TBSP salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 TBSP coconut aminos
- other spices to taste (optional)
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!
Notes
Nutrition
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Ever made jerky? Were you successful? Let me know below!
Thank you for your site. I search and search for recipes and always end up back here. You have everything!
I’ve had good results making this in the dehydrator. I usually make it with one pound at the time and add onion powder as well as garlic powder, about a half teaspoon or so of the onion powder, along with sea salt and a little other spice sprinkled in. I form the pieces with my hands, first making a small ball usually, and try to make them fairly small and thin. I put the dehydrator on 105 degrees or less for a few hours so that it’s not so hard and chewy. I’ve found that you don’t really need the liners on the trays and it dries better without them. Of course, it doesn’t last long, so I should probably be making bigger batches at one time and storing them in the frig. I like the fact that they’re basically raw, so we get more of the enzymes, etc.
what temp do you put it on for the majority of the time?? 105 at the end or the whole time??
Thank you! I’ve been putting this off, thinking I needed some way to extrude the meat (and didn’t want to go buy something to do that). This is great. Here’s a great ingredient to try: smoked paprika. Awesomely smoky.
Actually just an hour ago I used the rolling pin method to prepare ground beef for jerky. I still want a jerky gun however, it would make my job much easier.
would a manual trigger or electric cookie press work with one of the flat dies? that would make long strips and it becomes a multitasker vs. a one use wonder 😉 This sounds interesting. I made jerky for my kids from a roast that I thin sliced and dried in my dehydrator. Would a dehydrator work for this as well? I’m not sure what the max temp is (Excalibur) but probably up around 150 or so.
did you cook the roast before dehydrating it?
I never cook the roast before dehydrating my beef jerky. I slice it, then marinate overnight with the spices and aminos in the frig. Spread it on the dehydrator racks and season with different things like lemon pepper, or cayenne and Himalayan salt, garlic salt, etc. The dehydrator is basically “cooking” the meat at a low temp.
I make pemmican from 96/4 ground beef (I don’t have easy access to grass-fed beef): I dry the beef, put it in a blender and grind it down into almost a powder. I weigh the dried beef and add about 40% BY WEIGHT of grass-fed tallow, salt to taste, and chipotle chili powder. It keeps longer than jerky. (I read an article several years ago some archeologists found pemmican in a cave in France and decided the pemmican was about 100 years old and was still a viable product.) Native Americans would add various berries and such to theirs.
how’s it taste? I just made some pemmican from ground up home-made jerky and tallow, 50/50 by weight. Kinda hard to get down. Needed something to make the tallow not taste like tallow.
I made my pemmican and added dried blueberries and coconut oil as I didn’t have tallow. It’s delicious, the kids even eat it like candy.
What are coconut aminos?
They are similar to soy sauce, but fermented from coconut instead. I
can’t find them locally where I am, but there are available several
places online… just do a search
They are similar to soy sauce, but fermented from coconut instead. I
can’t find them locally where I am, but there are available several
places online… just do a search
Is it best to use 2-3 lbs of ground beef or will 1 lb work? I ask because I have 1 lb. thawed right now. Thanks!
One pound would work. I’ve always just made it in bigger amounts
because it takes so long.
this sounds like such a great idea!! I will definitly be trying this out. Must this be refrigerated and how long can they keep?
Doesn’t need to be refrigerated unless it will take you longer than a
week or two to eat it. If it will, just keep in the fridge for up to
4 weeks and the freezer indefinitely.
Made it last night! Fantastic!!
Thanks for sharing this recipe!
I’m curious about the texture. Is it very tough? Chewy? Not that I know that much about regular beef jerky, but how is it different?
It is a little easier to chew than regular beef jerky, though if it
cooks too long, it can get a little harder. It isn’t tough, but hard
enough to seem like jerky.
Wow!!!!! I have been wanting to make my own homemade beef jerky for months. You just made that more possible then ever. I new knew it could be so simple! I am actually thawing a lb. of ground beef as I type this…. I think I might make some beef jerky with it. THANK YOU!!
I’ve been looking for something like this! I’m so impatient with cutting meat for homemade jerky. This looks like the solution!