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South Texans love their Jalapenos, and this jerky will satisfy that craving! If you like spicy jerky with the zing of a fantastic flavored pepper, this is the jerky for you.
Original Post Date: April 8th, 2015 *Recipe updated with more pictures and step by step instructions*
Texas takes their jerky pretty serious, and for good reason. Beef jerky helped the cowboys cross long distances between towns with some great protein stashed in their pockets. Jerky wasn't always a nice snack, it was vital in the Lone Star State in the not so distant past.
Slicing The Meat
Start with a great cut of beef when making this jerky. I used Beef Eye of Round, but you can find a complete list of the best cuts of meat to make beef jerky with by clicking here!
The first step of slicing meat for jerky is to trim the cut of meat of all visible fat. You can see the white fat in the picture below, just trim that off BEFORE you start slicing the meat. Fat spoils faster than meat, so the more you get off now, the longer your jerky will be shelf stable.
Slice the meat with a very sharp knife either with the grain for a more chewy jerky or against the grain for a more tender jerky.
Slice even strips so they will dry evenly and be finished at the same time. You can wrap the roast in plastic wrap and partially freeze for 1-2 hours to make slicing easier.
I didn’t use it on this recipe, but a jerky slicer is a FANTASTIC piece of equipment to help get even strips when slicing jerky.
Not sure what way the grain runs? Need more information on slicing meat for jerky? I have put together a page on Slicing Meat for Jerky where you can find EVERYTHING you need to know when slicing meat for jerky.
Making The Marinade
There are a lot of great ingredients that go into this recipe, however, the star ingredient is the Jalapeno! I love a spicy jerky, that's why I kept the seeds and veins in my jalapenos giving this meat snack an extra kick.
Here's an article from The Atlantic that explains where the heat and spiciness resides in a pepper. That way you know what to remove if you want a less spicy jerky!
To get the most flavor out of those fresh jalapenos, make sure to bring out the blender and add all of the ingredients. I used my VitaMix Blender; these blenders are SUPER expensive but totally awesome.
Blend until all of the ingredients are mixed well and the jalapenos are as small as you can get them. The smaller the pieces, the more they will stick to the marinated jerky strips. *If you don't want a spicy jerky, remove the seeds prior to blending*
Related Page: Dozens of Great Tasting Jerky Recipes – Click Here
Add the earlier sliced meat strips to the marinade and mix around so all the strips are evenly covered. Allow the strips to marinate for 6-24 hours in the refrigerator. The longer the better! Do NOT marinate the meat at room temperature, always marinate in the fridge to prevent the meat from spoiling.
Don't those small bits of jalapeno look so good?!
Drying The Jerky
Once the meat has finished marinating, strain any excess marinade in a colander. I marinated this beef for a total of 20 hours before straining. The longer the marinade process, the more intense flavor the jerky will have!
Before adding the meat to your dehydrator, oven, or smoker; lay out paper towels placing the meat strips on top. Pat dry the strips to remove even more of the excess marinade. This step will help speed up the drying process and prevent the meat from being ‘sticky’ after it has finished drying.
Place the strips on your dehydrator trays, oven trays, or smoker rack to dehydrate/dry the jerky. For more in depth instructions on drying your jerky, check out my Jerky Making Methods Page.
I dried them in my Excalibur Dehydrator, like the one seen below, for a total of 3 hours at 165°F and 1 hour at 145°F.
Make sure the meat reaches an internal temperature of 160°F to kill any potential bacteria. The 3 hours at 165°F in the dehydrator does the trick. You can also pre-heat the meat in an oven before drying if your dehydrator does not heat up to 160°F. Check out my page on jerky safety for more information on this process.
Related Page: Dehydrator Reviews – Click Here
Testing For When The Jerky Is Finished
While drying the jerky, you want to start testing to see if it has finished at about the 3-4 hour mark. Take a piece of jerky out of the dehydrator, oven, or smoker and allow it to cool for 5 minutes to room temperature. Bend the jerky in half; it should bend and crack but not break in half. You will also see white fibers in the meat. The fibers are really visible when a piece is ripped in half.
If the jerky is not finished, continue drying for another hour and repeat the same process until the jerky is finished. 90% of the jerky i make is finished within 4-6 hours when using a dehydrator or oven and 6-9 hours when using a smoker. If pre-heating the meat in the oven, drying time can be as little as 2.5 hours.
Using my favorite cut of meat, eye of round, this South Texas Jalapeno Jerky recipe was made straight from the deep depths of my mind. Adding fresh jalapenos to the marinade is what gives this recipe that authentic South Texas Jalapeno flavor. It is topped off with dried ground jalapeno powder which gives it that extra kick. Remember, If you are looking for even more of a kick, leave the seeds in the marinade!
Storing Jerky
To make the jerky last as long as possible, curing salt will really help along with keeping in air tight containers. I have put together a page on storing jerky and steps you can take to make your jerky have an extended shelf life. Check it out!
Old Pro Tips:
- Trim all fat from the meat before marinating for longer lasting jerky once it’s finished drying
- Use curing salt or celery juice powder to extend the life of the jerky
- Marinate closer to 24 hours for the most intense flavor
- Using a blender really helps incorporate the jalapeno flavor in the recipe
- Keep the seeds in the jalapeno for more of a spice
For more in depth directions on how to dry your jerky, visit these pages:
How to make beef jerky in a dehydrator
How to make beef jerky in a smoker
How to make beef jerky in an oven
Ingredients
Lean Beef:
- 1 lb eye of round
Marinade:
- ¼ cup worcestershire sauce
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup beef broth
- 1 diced jalapeno
- 2 teaspoon liquid smoke (mesquite)
Optional
- ¼ teaspoon Curing Salt (Prague Powder #1)
Topping:
- ½ tablespoon ground jalapeno pepper
Equipment
Instructions
- Pick a lean cut of beef and trim off all visible fat. After trimming the fat, place the beef in the freezer for an hour or two to partially freeze.
- While the meat is hardening in the freezer, add worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, garlic powder, black pepper, salt, beef broth, liquid smoke, and jalapeno in a blender and blend until jalapeno pieces are very small. Pour marinade into zip lock bag.
- After meat has hardened, but is not fully frozen, take out of freezer to slice. Using a sharp knife, slice the meat ¼" to ⅛" thick.
- Add beef strips to your marinade and shake the bag coating meat evenly. Allow 6-24 hours to marinate the jerky. Shake/mix the bag every couple hours to allow the marinade to evenly soak in to each piece of meat.
- After the meat has finished marinating, remove from refrigerator and pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle on ground jalapeno pepper (optional). Add heavily for a real kick, or light for a nice spice.
- Dry with your favorite jerky making method. A dehydrator was used when making this recipe. The slices were placed on dehydrator racks so they were not overlapping or touching. Dried for 3 hours at 165 degrees and another 1 hours at 145 degrees.
- Jerky will be finished when it bends and cracks, but does not break in half. Allow to cool for several hours before storing in air tight containers.
Pro Tips
- Trim all fat from the meat before marinating for longer lasting jerky once it’s finished drying
- Use curing salt or celery juice powder to extend the life of the jerky
- Marinate closer to 24 hours for the most intense flavor
- Using a blender really helps incorporate the jalapeno flavor in the recipe
- Keep the seeds in the jalapeno for more of a spice
Nutrition
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Christian
Hey Will ! You are amazing !!! My wife and I are working from home since march 2020 and we decided to buy a deshydrator (Excalibur, 9 tray). Hooooo what a great kitchen toy ! I'm a rookie in beef jerky but I'm definitively in love now 🙂 So thank you for taking time to share those great receipe with the world (I'm from Québec, Canada) and for sure I'll continu to try your splendid jerky !!
Will
That's a good dehydrator! Glad you are enjoying making some jerky. Hope you are holding up well this winter in Canada.
Spicy lover
Seeds do not have any capsaicin in them and do not add any heat. The capsaicin is in the white pith in the middle of the pepper. If the seeds had capsaicin in them a serrano would have a lot more seeds than a jalapeño and a Carolina reaper would have millions of seeds.
Here's an interesting article about the location of the capsaicin in different peppers.
Study: What Makes the Ghost Pepper So Spicy? - The Atlantic
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/03/ghost-pepper-heat-research/473361/
Will
Thanks! I updated my recipe post to represent this and also included a link to the article.
Joshua McCarty
Mine turned out really tough. I didn’t have curing salt. It there a way to make more editable? I basically have to chew it and suck out the flavor.
Will
Once it's finished, there isn't too much you can do about the texture. What type of meat/cut did you use? Did you cut with or against the grain of the meat? Is it over dried?
Leo
Will,
Thanks for all the recipes on your site. I have been trying a lot of them.I have done this recipe before but also added 12 oz of dark beer ( I used Sam Addams black lager) .Really has a good taste. I use my smoker for all my jerky and this in-hanses the flavor even more. Keep up the great site.
Will
Thanks for the heads up on using some dark beer with the recipe Leo. I will have to give that a shot!
greg
Will,
So does the curing salt just go in with everything else for the 24 hour marinating time?
Will
Yep, just add it with all the other ingredients at the same time.
Michael Scott
I just bought 4 extra trays for my Nesco dehydrator. I've made a ton of Jerky and just now found your site. This recipe looks great but a few questions.
1) Have you tried it with lean ground beef? Obviously taking out some of the liquid and finely mincing the jalapenos would be necessary.
2) For the jalapeno powder, is there a specific brand you use? Or do you dehydrate the jalapenos and grind it up?
Appreciate the work you've put into this site and the knowledge that you share!!
Will
Hey Michael, glad you are enjoying the site. I have not made this recipe with ground meat. I would just omit the water and it should be good to go. I used McCormick ground jalapeno pepper, but any brand should work just fine. Let me know how your jerky turns out!
Jonathan
Just made this recipe today, but with top round milanesa. Amazing! Before I stuck it in the dehydrator, I topped it with the diced jalapeno from the marinade, and a jalapeno puree I made in a blender. I can't stop eating it.
Will
Awesome!
Darren
If the recipe calls for 1 pound of meat but you use 2 pound of meat do you double the ingrediants or do you just make the 1 pound amount?
Will
Just double the ingredients. The only thing you might want to not double right away and taste the marinade are peppers or hot sauce. It might not require twice the amount, so adjust the spice as needed.