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This original ground beef jerky recipe is rich and flavorful as well as easy and quick to make! No marinating required. Everyone will love these meaty protein snacks.
I have had several questions lately about making beef jerky out of ground meat. There will soon be a page on here dedicated to making ground meat jerky (How to Make Ground Beef Jerky); but in the meantime I thought I would share a great, quick, and easy recipe that you can whip up anytime.
Most of the ingredients are ones that you will have hanging out in your pantry. The only ingredient that you might not have and can see in the picture above, is curing salt (It's the pink salt in the white ¼ tsp).
If you decide not to use curing salt, substitute with ½ tsp of table salt and make sure to heat your jerky to 160°F to kill any potential bacteria.
When making ground beef jerky, liquid ingredients have to be kept to a minimum. I did add a tiny amount of soy sauce and worcestershire sauce to round out the taste of this jerky, but most ground jerky recipes will have 2oz of liquid ingredients per 1lb of meat. (2oz of liquid ingredients = ¼ cup)
I used my super fantastic LEM Jerky Cannon to squeeze out and form my jerky strips for this recipe . I REALLY love this jerky gun. I feel like everything we buy now a days is made completely of plastic and lasts for about 3 uses before it breaks and finds its way to the trash.
Well, not this jerky gun. This baby is made to last and I love it for that. Super easy to use and comes apart easily too, making clean up a breeze.
Mix all the ingredients into one pound of lean ground beef, at least 90% lean. I used 96% lean 4% fat ground beef when making this jerky.
Mix well and refrigerate for 4-24 hours to help the meat bind together. Take out of the fridge and pack into the jerky gun making sure there are no air pockets.
Shoot strips of jerky onto your dehydrator trays or on baking sheets if using an oven.
Dehydrate for about 3 ½ to 5 hours at your dehydrators highest setting until beef jerky has reached 160°F and has dried. I used my Excalibur Dehydrator which took me only 3 ½ hours to dry this batch.
If using an oven, heat the strips for 10 minutes at 300°F with the oven door closed. Then turn the temperature down to the oven lowest setting (normally about 170°F), crack the door and "cook" until it has dried.
The ground jerky will be a lot easier to chew and has a totally different texture than whole muscle jerky. The only way to see whether you like ground jerky is to make a batch and eat it! Let me know how it turns out.. Enjoy!!!
For more in depth directions on how to dry your beef jerky, click on the pictures below.
Ingredients
Lean Beef
- 1 lb Lean ground beef (10% fat or less)
Marinade
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp ground lemon pepper
- 1 tsp curry powder (red)
- 1 tsp ginger powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp coriander
- 2 tsp liquid smoke (optional)
- ¼ tsp curing salt (optional)
Equipment
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine the 1lb of ground beef with the other ingredients
- Mix the ground beef and seasonings thoroughly
- If using a jerky gun, load the gun with the ground beef mixture & shoot 4-5" long strips onto a dehydrator tray or on a baking sheet
- If not using a jerky gun, spread the ground meat on a baking sheet, cover with wax paper, and roll with a rolling pin until meat is ¼" thick
- Slice the pan of beef into jerky strips 4-5" long and 1" thick
- Dry with your favorite jerky making method. I used a dehydrator at 160F for 3 ½ hours
- Ground jerky is finished when it first starts becoming dry to the touch. It should bend without breaking in half. If it cracks in half when bent a little bit, it was over dried
Pro Tips
- Ground jerky is going to have a different texture than whole muscle jerky, it will be more brittle.
- Using an oven and dehydrator are the best ways to make ground jerky
Nutrition
For more in depth directions on how to dry your ground beef jerky, visit my page Ground Beef Jerky
Here’s a tip if you don’t have a jerky gun, go to your local paint and hardware store and get a few paint stir sticks. Place wax paper down over the sticks put the meat mixture between the sticks put another wax paper over the meat and roll out. Depending on how thick you like your jerky you might want to double up on the sticks(4,2 for each side).
Can you use minced garlic and onion instead of powder?
Definitely! Nothing better than fresh ingredients.
With the above recipe using the 'Pink Salt' at 1/4 tsp, would you triple that if grinding a 3 pound London Broil for the recipe? I know that using curing salt can be a bit tricky. Thank you.
Yep! Just triple it and you will be good to go.
Can I substitute ground turkey for ground beef using a dehydrator?
Sure can!
Will this keep on the counter or does it need refrigeration. And how long can it be stored?
It will last longer if refrigerated. If keeping out of the fridge, keep it in a cool dark place like a pantry. Check out my storing jerky page for more information.
I attempted this recipe using a Jerky gun, it did not bind together, it just crumpled, any idea what went wrong, I use a LEM dehydrator at 155
Did it not bind together when you extruded it from the jerky gun? Or was is crumbly after you were finished drying? If it was after drying, it more than likely was over dried. Make sure to take a piece out of the dehydrator or oven and allow it to cool for 5 minutes before testing whether it is finished or not. Don't test if it's finished while it's still warm. If you are going to make a lot of ground jerky, using corn syrup solids in your marinade will help the jerky bind together very well.
Hello - thank you for all the great guidance and recipes....one thing, you have been very clear about keeping liquid to 1oz=2T/pound of meat ....yet this reciipe starts with 2T Soy and 2T Worcheshire...and then in the Pro Tips suggests adding an add'l 1T of Soy...should this recipe start with 1T of each?
Thanks for pointing that out Christopher. I had updated this recipe a while ago, but apparently didn't change everything. I have found that 1/4 cup of liquid ingredients or even a tad above that works just fine with ground jerky. Make the recipe as it is stated in the card. I'll change the writing I forgot to when I updated the recipe.
My husband loved these!
So delicious! Will make again!