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The best homemade beef jerky recipe made with Habanero Peppers is the last and only recipe you will ever make from now on! Learn how to make great tasting beef jerky with this easy to make recipe.
The spicy kick of the peppers and the saltiness of the Sea Salt really makes this the top jerky recipe ever!
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📋 Why this recipe works
This is a great tasting jerky because of the original flavor it has beneath the heat from the habaneros. The sugar and worcestershire help with that original flavor and also balance the heat of the peppers. I love spicy jerky, and I really love the flavor of habanero peppers, and this beef jerky recipe checks both of those boxes!
🔪 Slicing the meat
Start with a great cut of beef when making this jerky. Making sure to choose a lean cut of meat is important, the cuts below have little fat and are great for jerky.
Best meat to use
- Beef Eye of Round Roast
- Top & Bottom Round Roast
- Flank Steak
- Sirloin Tip
- Ground Beef (10% fat or less)
I used Beef Eye of Round, but you can find a complete list of the best cuts of meat to dry beef jerky 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 beef 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.
🧂 Making the marinade
This beef jerky recipe has some great ingredients including: garlic powder, sugar, fresh cracked black pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and of course some fresh Habaneros! To make the marinade, just combine all the ingredients that are listed on the recipe card below in a blender and add the fresh Habaneros.
Readers Tip: Substitue 1/3 cup of the water for 1/3 cup of soy sauce for a more salty intense flavor.
Blend until the peppers are fully incorporated into the marinade. Smelling this marinade made me say "Oh Wow!" after blending these habanero peppers you see in the picture above. It was a STRONG smelling of fire, heat, and goodness! Ha.
Combine the jerky slices and marinade in a bowl or ziplock bag and marinate for 6-24 hours. I like using a ziplock bag as it seems to allow the marinade to fully coat the meat. Mix the bag up a couple times during the marinading process to also make sure each piece gets an even amount of these great tasting spices!
⏲️ Dehydrating
After marinading, strain the jerky strips in a colander to remove any excess marinade. Place the strips on a paper towel and pat dry to remove even more of the excess marinade that is sitting on the surface. Doing this will help speed up the drying process.
Transfer the strips to your dehydrator trays, oven rack, or smoker racks to dry. I used a dehydrator, but you can also use an oven or smoker when making this jerky.
The beef marinated for a total of 18 hours before I dried them in my Excalibur Dehydrator 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.
🌡️ Testing for when it's finished drying
The jerky will be finished when it bends and cracks, but does not break in half. You will also see white fibers within the meat when bent. Make sure to check the beef jerky when it is room temperature, bending when warm will appear to be unfinished and result in over drying.
🥡 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 beef jerky have an extended shelf life. Check it out!
💭 FAQ
Yes you can! Choose a ground meat that is 10% fat or less and simply omit the water. Keep everything else the same.
No, you can substitute any pepper or decide to leave the peppers out totally and have more of an original flavored jerky. Feel free to change things up!
No, curing salt does help extend the life of the finished jerky and prevents bacteria but it is not needed. Just make sure the finished beef jerky is heated to an internal temperature of 160°F. Curing salt does give the jerky that classic red color and a distinct taste, so if you decide not to use it, the finished jerky will look and taste different.
👨🏽🍳 Old Pro Tips:
- Trim all fat from the meat for longer lasting jerky
- Use fresh Habaneros for the best flavor, and cut the stem off each pepper. Use 0 peppers for no spice, 1 pepper for mild spice, 2 for medium, and 3 for HOT!
- Use a blender to blend the peppers into the rest of the marinade for more spice and even flavor.
- Use gloves when handling spicy peppers.
📖 Learn more about making jerky
Ingredients
Lean Meat
- 1 lb Eye of round
Marinade
- 1 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp cracked black pepper
- 2 tsp granulated sugar
- 2 whole habaneros (3 if extra hot is wanted)
- 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
- 3/4 cup cold water
- 1/4 tsp curing salt (optional)
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 marinade ingredients in a blender and blend until the peppers have been chopped into very small pieces. Place in a bowl or ziplock bag.
- Remove the meat from the freezer and slice ¼" strips against the grain for an easy chew. Cut with the grain for a more chewy jerky.
- Add sliced beef to the mixture in the 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 in a colander and pat dry with paper towels.
- Load dehydrator trays with jerky strips leaving room for air to circulate I used my Excalibur Dehydrator and dried for 3 hours at 165°F and 1 hour at 145°F
- The jerky is finished when it bends and cracks, but does not break in half.
Pro Tips
- Omit Habaneros if you don't want a spicy jerky
- Wash hands before handling meat
- Make Sure to use a blender to incorporate ingredients
- Adjust the amount of peppers to your liking
Nutrition
This is a great recipe! I dehydrate my left over chilies from my garden, then grind them up in my coffee mill, each variety separately , of course. The dried powder is great, just a pinch is all you need. The jerky came out great, just the right amount of heat.
Great to hear Elaine!
Hi! i'm trying this out right now 🙂 i had 3 lbs of round roast so i tripled the ingredients. When I blended the habanero, some of it flipped into my eye so I kinda cursed you a bit, but then after the firey pain subsided I forgave you. It's marinating right now, but I'm hopeful this is a good recipe 🙂 thank you for making this website with all the great recipes.
Haha. You gave me a good laugh! How did it turn out?!
Gday from Atherton Tablelands west of Cairns north QLD Australia, had a crack at your recipe, i used brown sugar and a bit extra for sweetness 2x habaneros ended up mild to medium heat, marinated for 2 days, i used maple timber and beach wood in my smoker and smoked for 5 hours, family,friends and the jerky connoisseurs among them "love it" and are lining up for more, this recipe is a winner! thanks Will for putting it out there, regards Tony
Thanks for visiting from the other side of the world! Glad it turned out to be such a hit. Cheers!
Holy mola this was good! I used this recipe for my first time making jerky on my oil drum smoker. I started with 3lbs of eye of round and doubled the recipe. I only used 2 habaneros and it still had some strong heat. I think they were some good ones. Going to try this again soon. Thanks for the recipes!
Glad it turned out great! Thanks for checking out my site!
Hello Will I’m thinking about trying your recipe with fish, do you recommend any modifications? I don’t how much salt should I put for fish. Thanks in advanced
I have never made this with fish, but I would stick to the recipe as is. Let me know how it turns out!
Loved the recipe, I used it as my first batch and it turned out better than I expected. I found my flaws after rereading the recipe and will blend the marinade next time. I have question though, 1/4 took about 10 hours to properly dry in my Excalibur at 165, would this be because it has been rather humid lately?
Yeah, anything with peppers is better when blended. 10 hours seems like a really long time for an Excalibur dehydrator. Humidity could add additional time, thick slices adds more as well. 10 hours still seems pretty long. Make sure when you are testing the jerky by taking a piece out and letting it cool to room temperature before testing it. Cool 5 minutes, then bend it to see if it cracks as well as looking for white strands in the meat. If you don't let it cool before testing, it's easy to over dry it. With 1/4" slices and using my Excalibur, 4-6 hours normally does the trick.
I will try the cooling method before bending next time. I have an order of 20lbs top round cut 1/8" to pick up. Im going to make a lot of this as I loved the flavor and now that I know to blend it should be better.
I've made two 3 lb batches of this and really like the flavor. I went a bit conservative on the habaneros in the first batch, using 1 per pound. The result wasn't hot enough for my liking. I think have have this current batch pretty dialed into my taste. I made the following modifications...
- 1/3 cup soy as substitute for 1/3 cup water
- Two habaneros with seeds per lb
- Brown sugar in place of white sugar
- Marinate 15 hours minimum, stirring every 5 hours
- Dehydrate at 150 for four hours.
The heat from the peppers really does mellow substantially during the marinating process, so you cannot judge the heat from the freshly made marinade. Thanks for the recipes. I hope to try more soon.
Glad you liked it Bill. It's crazy how spicy the marinade can be and then the jerky just be somewhat spicy. Sounds like you perfected this recipe to your liking!
Thank you sir...what a great recipe for jerky with a punch of heat. This is my "go to" for jerky. I made a slight tweak and use Minute Made tropical blend instead of the water. I've add 1/2 tsp chipotle chili pepper. I also use 1 tbsp of worcestershire and 1 tbsp of Dale's steak seasoning (instead of the 2 tbsp of worcestershire). I do 3 habaneros but when I double the batch, I use 7. It's amazing how quickly it disappears once it is finished.
This is definitely a great recipe! Glad you have found one that you like. I will have to try it with some juice instead of the water. Good jerky goes fast! Ha.
Love this recipe. With 3 habaneros it’s just right for heat. I’ve started to add a Guajillo chili into the mix for a bit of extra flavour.
This is my favourite recipe but I’ve tried a few from your site and I’m yet to find one I don’t enjoy. Keep up the good work it’s very much appreciated
This is one of my favorites as well! Glad you are enjoying the site!
Hi Will, Making this recipe now with mango instead of the water. Cant wait to try it. Only 4 hours to go. Hey Will, what does the cure stuff do ? Thanks Mike.
Nice. Let me know how it turns out! The cure helps kill bacteria and prolong the life of the jerky.