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This beef jerky recipe has a fantastic sweet cherry flavor with every bite!
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!
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.
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!
For more in depth directions on how to dry your beef jerky, visit my page Jerky Making Methods
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
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
For more in depth directions on how to dry your beef jerky, visit my page Jerky Making Methods
Todd Laviolette says
Instead of fresh cherries can you use frozen with pits already removed?
Will says
Definitely. That would probably be a lot easier and should still have a great taste.
Shawnee says
Hi I made the jerky and it had no flavor. I wasn't sure if maybe when I was using paper towels to dry the jerky if I took too much of the marinade out. This is my first time making jerky, so I thought the strips needed to have no excess moisture when being cooked. Should I just barely pat dry with a paper towel before putting in the dehydrator or oven? Or does this have something to do with using no salt?? I want a low sodium jerky with lots of flavor
JE says
Used cherry filling and followed the recipe to a T. Marinaded for 16 hours. No flavor at all. 🙁
william folk says
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?
Will says
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!
Linda Pelz says
Could you use Chicken Breast for this recipe?
Will says
Yep. Just make sure to heat the chicken to 165°F when drying. Check out my post on making chicken jerky for more information.
BDH says
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.
Will says
Nice! Welcome to the world of making great tasting jerky!!!
Debbie Blick says
How do I store this? Is it shelf stable like the stuff you buy in the stores? Thanks
Will says
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!
Beveerly says
Can you use marathon cherries in place and cut back on the sugar
Will says
Marathon cherries? Never heard of them...
Ann says
Wonder if they mean maraschino cherries.
Will says
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.
Drew Miller says
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…
Will says
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.
Drew Miller says
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.
Kelly says
Tastes amazing with cherry wood smoke! Smoky sweet taste. Mmmmm. It's my fave way to make jerky.
David says
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.
Will says
Interesting! Cherry pie filling... Probably easier and full of flavor. Glad your wife enjoyed it!
Linda says
Since there is alot of sugar in cherry pie filling, did you cut the sugar out?
David says
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.
Matt says
So how much pie filling
Jessica Sharp says
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!
Rich says
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.
Will says
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.
tibbs says
There's no cherry pie filling in the recipe.