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    Home » Beef Jerky Recipes

    Sweet Cherry Beef Jerky

    Published: Dec 28, 2015 · Modified: Nov 29, 2018 by Will · This post may contain affiliate links.

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    This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my privacy policy.

    This beef jerky recipe has a fantastic sweet cherry flavor with every bite!

    This beef jerky recipe has a fantastic sweet cherry flavor with every bite | Jerkyholic.com

    I actually got the idea for this cherry flavored beef jerky from a stop I made while driving back to Austin from Corpus Christi, TX. I stopped to get gas at a HUGE (Texas Sized!) gas station / market/ convenient store called Buc-ee's. (These stores are VERY popular in Texas) They have all types of foods, snacks, chocolates, knickknacks, etc.... Anyways, I tried several samples of their jerky and really liked their cherry beef jerky. So, I decided to make my own!

    Sweet Cherry Beef Jerky Sliced

    Like the Smiley face? Ha. That was my wife's artistic input into this Sweet Cherry Beef Jerky recipe post. Thanks Linda! The cherries were picked up at my local grocery store, sweet cherries of course!

    The cherries had the seeds taken out of them and blended with a blender with the other ingredients to make a smooth marinade. They were then marinaded for 20 hours and dehydrated in my Excalibur dehydrator for 5 hours.

    Sweet Cherry Beef Jerky Dehydrator

    You can see small bits of cherry all over the jerky strips. These helped give the jerky that great cherry taste.

    This cherry jerky was a lot of fun to make! I love making new recipes and LOVE when they come out tasting great. So what are you waiting for? Grab some cherries and get to work!

    Sweet Cherry Beef Jerky Finished Close-up

    For more in depth directions on how to dry your beef jerky, visit my page Jerky Making Methods

    Sweet Cherry Beef Jerky

    This beef jerky recipe has a fantastic sweet cherry flavor with every bite! Use either fresh cherries or cherry pie filling, both ways turn out great.
    3.6 from 22 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate Recipe
    Prep Time: 1 hour
    Cook Time: 5 hours
    Total Time: 6 hours
    Course: Snack
    Cuisine: Beef Jerky
    Type: Beef Jerky
    Flavor: Sweet
    Servings: 5
    Calories: 204kcal
    Author: Will

    Ingredients
     

    Lean Meat

    • 1 lb Beef Top Round or Venison

    Marinade

    • 1 cup sweet cherries (seeds removed)
    • 2 tablespoon granulated sugar
    • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
    • ¼ teaspoon Almond Extract
    • ¼ cup cold water

    Optional

    • ¼ teaspoon Curing Salt (Prague Powder #1)

    Equipment

    Excalibur Dehydrator
    Excalibur Dehydrator

    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 cherries, sugar, lemon juice, almond extract, and cold water in a blender and blend well.
    • Remove the meat from the freezer and slice ¼" strips with the grain. Cut against the grain for an easier chew. If sliced with the grain, tenderize with a meat mallet if you want a softer 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.
    • Pat dry the 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.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 70g | Calories: 204kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 70mg | Sodium: 33mg | Potassium: 262mg | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 20IU | Vitamin C: 2.3mg | Calcium: 9mg | Iron: 2.3mg
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

    For more in depth directions on how to dry your beef jerky, visit my page Jerky Making Methods

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. william folk says

      December 25, 2021 at 4:05 pm

      I tried your recipe, and it was good, but I was hoping for a more intense flavor. I was a little bland. Now I'm a 72 year old 100% disabled vet, so my taste buds are a little worn out. I've eaten things you wouldn't believe. I used maraschino cherries, Would another cherry work better, or maybe letting it marinate longer?

      Reply
      • Will says

        December 26, 2021 at 4:20 pm

        I have found that using those cocktail cherries and then replacing the 1/4 cup of water with the cherry juice really gives it more flavor. Hopefully that will give those old taste buds a little bit of help!

        Reply
    2. Linda Pelz says

      June 19, 2021 at 8:38 am

      Could you use Chicken Breast for this recipe?

      Reply
      • Will says

        June 19, 2021 at 2:04 pm

        Yep. Just make sure to heat the chicken to 165°F when drying. Check out my post on making chicken jerky for more information.

        Reply
    3. BDH says

      July 23, 2020 at 2:41 pm

      I just pulled a trial run off the dehydrator. I couldn't help but sample a piece before letting it cool. It turned out great. I followed the recipe for the most part except substituted a tablespoon of soy sauce for the almond extract and just used the juice from an entire lemon (instead of just a tsp).

      My next run will be larger now that I'm confident that I can do it. Thanks Will.

      Reply
      • Will says

        July 25, 2020 at 1:42 pm

        Nice! Welcome to the world of making great tasting jerky!!!

        Reply
    4. Debbie Blick says

      March 05, 2019 at 7:56 am

      How do I store this? Is it shelf stable like the stuff you buy in the stores? Thanks

      Reply
      • Will says

        March 08, 2019 at 11:01 am

        There are a lot of different aspects that go into storing your homemade jerky. Check out my page on how to store jerky for more information Debbie!

        Reply
    5. Beveerly says

      October 04, 2018 at 2:10 pm

      Can you use marathon cherries in place and cut back on the sugar

      Reply
      • Will says

        October 04, 2018 at 8:34 pm

        Marathon cherries? Never heard of them...

        Reply
        • Ann says

          October 14, 2018 at 8:57 am

          4 stars
          Wonder if they mean maraschino cherries.

          Reply
          • Will says

            October 15, 2018 at 10:35 am

            Thanks Ann! I am sure that is what was meant. Those would work well I would think. Even using some of the juice that comes in the jar. I would taste the recipe w/o the sugar before adding the meat to see if it is too sweet or if the sugar still needs to be added.

            Reply
    6. Drew Miller says

      January 07, 2017 at 3:23 pm

      Hi Will!

      I just got a 30" MES for Christmas and used your site to help me make the basic jerky for my first ever batch. It was a huge hit!

      How do you think the cherry jerky would do smoked with cherry wood?

      Thanks for the site! I can see myself spending a lot of time here…

      Reply
      • Will says

        January 07, 2017 at 6:57 pm

        Nice on the smoker! I think that it would be great with the cherry wood. I have been wanting to try it with cherry pie filling and see how that turns out! You can see a comment above where David tried it. Let me know how it turns out.

        Reply
        • Drew Miller says

          February 28, 2017 at 3:14 pm

          So I didn't try it with the filling, but I did make it per your recipe, and then made the jerky in my smoker with cherry wood.

          Brought it to work and 2.5 pounds (pre smoked weight) is gone in a day.

          Reply
      • Kelly says

        January 12, 2019 at 11:48 am

        5 stars
        Tastes amazing with cherry wood smoke! Smoky sweet taste. Mmmmm. It's my fave way to make jerky.

        Reply
    7. David says

      December 28, 2016 at 7:54 pm

      5 stars
      I just made this jerky but instead of fresh cherries, I used cherry pie filling and it was AWESOME !!! It is my wife's favorite.

      Reply
      • Will says

        December 28, 2016 at 10:33 pm

        Interesting! Cherry pie filling... Probably easier and full of flavor. Glad your wife enjoyed it!

        Reply
      • Linda says

        May 13, 2017 at 9:41 am

        Since there is alot of sugar in cherry pie filling, did you cut the sugar out?

        Reply
        • David says

          May 13, 2017 at 6:24 pm

          No, I kept everything the same, but I have worked on this and I now add some 2 tablespoons of Teriyaki to it also. This has become very popular with the guys I work with.

          Reply
          • Matt says

            January 02, 2018 at 9:57 pm

            So how much pie filling

            Reply
    8. Jessica Sharp says

      September 08, 2016 at 11:15 pm

      2 stars
      I found this jerky to be a little bland. I followed the recipe to a T and marinated for over 24 hours. Won't be making this one again. I like the other recipe I tried here. Thanks for the great "go to" jerky site!

      Reply
      • Rich says

        August 03, 2017 at 9:53 pm

        I agree I just made it following the directions and it is plain. I even used the cherry pie filling. What's a good jerky recipe like a typical beef jerky.

        Reply
        • Will says

          August 04, 2017 at 12:21 pm

          I'm sorry to hear that it was plain. As you mentioned, several people have had this result. Not sure what is going on... If you are looking for a typical beef jerky, I would try Dos Pepper Jerky or Original Jerky.

          Reply
        • tibbs says

          April 18, 2018 at 5:13 pm

          There's no cherry pie filling in the recipe.

          Reply

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