This post may have affiliate links, which means I may receive commissions if you choose to purchase through links I provide (at no extra cost to you). Thank you for supporting the work I put into this site!
This Cajun Beef Jerky recipe will excite your taste buds! With flavors that come straight from New Orleans, you can’t go wrong with this tasty recipe!
Making the Jerky:
A lot of my recipes come about by searching the internet, cook books, restaurant dished, etc. This one came from several Cajun marinades and seasonings I found while looking through some cook books. The flavors turned out great and work very well with beef jerky.
I love using Beef Eye of Round when making jerky and that is what I used when making this batch. The strips were sliced with the grain giving this Cajun Beef Jerky some good chew.
Several years ago I lived in New Orleans for a little while and LOVED the food there. I love spice and that is exactly what Cajun food is known for.
I didn’t like the heat and humidity of the city, but sometimes you have to sacrifice to eat good food!
The cayenne pepper, seasoning salt, and paprika just go so well with the vinegar based marinade.
I mixed up all the ingredients well and marinated the beef for 20 hours in the fridge. Anywhere between 6 – 24 hours of marinating time will be just fine.
After patting the strips dry with a paper towel, dry using your favorite jerky making method. These bad boys were dried using my Nesco Dehydrator for about 5 hours.
This Cajun Beef Jerky had a spicy kick with a great herb taste from all the thyme and oregano. I really liked how this recipe turned out.
So if you are looking for a taste of New Orleans and ready for a little spice in your life, you NEED to make a batch of this Cajun Beef Jerky! Let me know how yours turns out in the comments below!
For more in depth directions on how to dry your beef jerky, visit my page Jerky Making Methods or click on the pictures below.
Old Pro Tips:
- Use a sharp knife or partially freeze the meat before slicing. Here is my Slicing Meat Page for more information.
- Using a ziplock bag allows you to use less ingredients, saving money on marinades. Put meat in the ziplock bag and roll it up expelling all of the air inside. This allows all the meat to be covered by a relatively small amount of marinade.
- The longer you marinate, the more flavor the jerky will have. If I have time, 18 hours in the minimum I marinate my meat.
- Take jerky strips out of dehydrator and allow to cool for 5 minutes before checking to see if it’s finished. It should bend and crack but not break when finished. You should also see white fibers in the meat when bent.
Click here for dozens of great tasting Beef Jerky Recipes!
Cajun Beef Jerky
Ingredients
Lean Meat
Marinade
- 1/2 cup cold water
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp seasoning salt
- 2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp horseradish
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
Optional
- 1/4 tsp Curing Salt Prague Powder #1
Instructions
- Trim all visible fat from the beef and place in freezer for an hour or two to partially freeze.
- While the meat is in the freezer, combine the white vinegar, cold water, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, seasoning salt, cayenne pepper, paprika, black pepper, horseradish, and red pepper flakes in a bowl or ziplock bag and mix well.
- Remove the meat from the freezer and slice ¼" strips against the grain for an easy chew. Cut with the grain for more chew. Or skip the freezing phase and use a Jerky Slicer for even sliced strips.
- Add sliced beef to the mixture in a ziplock bag or bowl and marinate for 8-24 hours in the refrigerator.
- After the meat has finished marinating, remove from refrigerator and strain excess marinade and pat dry the beef strips with paper towels
- Dry with your favorite jerky making method. I used my dehydrator and dried for 5 hours at 160 degrees.
- The jerky is finished when it bends and cracks, but does not break in half.
Recipe Notes
Old Pro Tips:
- Use a sharp knife or partially freeze the meat before slicing. Here is my Slicing Meat Page for more information.
- Using a ziplock bag allows you to use less ingredients, saving money on marinades. Put meat in the ziplock bag and roll it up expelling all of the air inside. This allows all the meat to be covered by a relatively small amount of marinade.
- The longer you marinate, the more flavor the jerky will have. If I have time, 18 hours in the minimum I marinate my meat.
- Take jerky strips out of dehydrator and allow to cool for 5 minutes before checking to see if it's finished. It should bend and crack but not break when finished. You should also see white fibers in the meat when bent.
For more in depth directions on how to dry your beef jerky, visit my page Jerky Making Methods
I put a thin coat of BBQ sauce on the jerky and then sprinkled cajun seasoning on it before putting it in the dehydrator. Great flavor
Just checking what the degrees is set at are you using Fahrenheit or Celsius?
Fahrenheit
Hola will
I’m a newbie. I’m heading up to the states to California to get my dehydrator so I can start making jerky. I haven’t seen any here in Baja so I’m going to give it a shot
I have a question I see that you have the Prague Powder as optional can you explain why it’s option and what it does to enhance the flavors and when do you use it in the recipe. For example I was reading one of the recipes and you had it as optional but in the instructions you didn’t mention when you should add this I’m assuming(but you know what they say about assuming) that it’s added (if you wanted) to the marinade mix. Is this correct?
Thanks for all the great recipes I am excited about adding this to all my other cooking methods…. canning veggie/fruit growing baking and cooking…. I sell all my products here and I’ve had many that ask me if I make jerky. My answer not yet but soon. Plus I want to make dog jerky treats too
Do you think that I could marinate the beef in my homemade bourbon bacon bbq sauce then dehydrate it and is there one ingredient that you always need to use when making jerky or is anything you want to marinate your meat in and the hydrate. I warned you I’m a newbie. Lol
Thank you and hope you and your family are having an amazing day
Beverley
Hey Beverley! The curing salt is optional because as long as you heat the jerky to 160F it will be safe to eat. However, curing salt will make sure the jerky is safe as well as make it last longer. It adds that red color you see in most jerky and other cured meats and has a distinct flavor which is synonymous with beef jerky. When using cure, add it along with the other ingredients of the marinade. I think your bourbon bacon bbq sauce sounds like it will make an AMAZING beef jerky!!! You can use ANY ingredient when making jerky but one that is normally found in all jerky is salt, it helps preserve the meat. Let me know how your jerky turns out!
Andy,
I want to make beef jerky which is spicy. Which kind of marinade would work well to accomplish this? I have just marinaded meat before, using Worcester, cayenne pepper, a little liquid smoke, and salt. Do you have a professional marinade which would work better? Thank you for all your advice.
I made a habanero jerky the other day that was spicy and I really liked. It’s Dragon Fire Beef Jerky. Make sure to blend the habaneros in a blender to make sure the jerky turns out real spicy.
I tried this recipe and must say it was awful! 6 in our house and no one liked it! Way to much thyme etc!!!!!
Hey Stacey! Thanks for trying this recipe, I’m sorry you guys didn’t like it… I hope you give some other recipes a try. You just have to find the ones you guys really like!
Hi Will!
I’m brand new to jerky-making and have a few questions: 1.) How will the bottled marinade, or packaged marinade mixes, from the grocery store, work in marinating your meat? 2.) Can you put two, or more, different flavors of marinade in the dehydrator at the same time? 3.) How do you judge the cooking time? Per pound? 4.) I have a 6-tray dehydrator, should I insert all six trays if I’m only using 3 trays of meat?
The bottled marinades will work fine. I use a lot of bottled stuff all the time. Normally I make three different recipes at a time. I buy a 3lb chunk of meat and make three 1lb batches. I dry them on separate trays on my dehydrator and have never had a problem. You do not need to use all 6 trays, but I like putting 1 empty tray on top to give a little buffer between the dehydrator fan and the first tray of jerky. Cooking time is judged by how thick your jerky is and your drying method. Start checking the meat at about 3 hours. Take a piece out, let it cool 5 minutes, and bend it. If it bends and cracks but does not break in half, it’s done!
I am looking forward to trying this recipe this weekend with my daughter. It sounds fantastic. One of my favorite recipes that I have made so far is Bolgogi jerky. I dont know if you have tried doing it before but here is what I used (found the recipe in Bon Appetite) and would love to see what you think about it :
¼ pear, grated
1 garlic clove, grated
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon gochugaru (coarse Korean hot pepper flakes)
1 tablespoon grated peeled ginger
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
I have not tried that recipe, but will put it on my ‘to try’ list. Sounds pretty interesting…. Thanks!
Alright, here is an update. I made this recipe today and it far surpassed what I had expected. I was worried about the horseradish overpowering the other flavors and surprisingly it did not. I am extremely happy with this recipe and I will now incorporate it into my jerky arsenal. Thanks for the great jerky recipes.
Awesome to hear Keith! Glad you liked it.
We have 4 pounds of venison jerky marinating with this recipe right now. Cant wait to get in the dehydrator tomorrow!
Nice!
Hi i am trying to find a recipe for my dad he lost his recipe book he uses hamburger for the beef jerky and has a dehydrator machine can u please help
So I prepped this and the jalapeño lime recipe, two batches about 30 hours ago and won’t be able to remove from marinade for another 8 hours. Should still be okay with a little longer marinade?
Yeah. Should still be good!
Quick question. Any experience using fresh garlic instead of garlic powder? Or for that matter, onion and ginger instead of the powders?
Thanks! Excited to start trying this jerky journey!
I use fresh ingredients instead of powders sometimes. When I do, I like to use a blender to cut the ingredients very small. I am not sure what the exact substitutes from clove to 1 tsp of powder would be, just do a lot of taste testing!