If you’re diabetic, or pre-diabetic, and love beef jerky, then this will be the best thing you read all day!

Now I’ve eaten probably hundreds of pounds of beef jerky in my life. But ever since I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes in January, I’ve been finding ways to swap out traditional ingredients and foods for diabetes-friendly versions.

And if I never told you, you would never guess that this has nearly zero sugar. It’s that good!

The key here is to buy the most lean ground beef you can find, or grind it yourself. You want at least 7% or lower, otherwise the fat can turn rancid while dehydrating.

There’s almost zero carbs, and the entire recipe for 1 pound of ground beef has only about 3g of sugar (There’s about 1g of sugar in a teaspoon of Worcestershire, and Colgin’s liquid smoke nutrition label says there’s zero sugar however, it does have molasses - either way, it’s minimal as this entire recipe uses only about 1T - see below).

I used a brand called Serve as the traditional brown sugar replacement. I found it for about $1.50 cheaper on Amazon than I did at my local grocery store, which you can get here.

This recipe is super simple as it requires just mixing everything up, letting it marinate overnight, and then using a jerky gun to lay strips out on the dehydrator.

Alternatively, you could also smoke this on a smoker, but I find that none of them get to the low temp required, which is around 145°F/63°C - 155°F/68°C. If you do choose to use a smoker, just be sure to watch it as it may get done sooner or get too dark.

I like my jerky “bendable.” If you like it on the crispier side, just dehydrate it for longer.

This will hold well in an airtight container for 3 - 5 days.

Lastly, you will need a jerky gun to achieve the flat jerky end product.

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Prep Time: About 10 minutes + 8 hours marinating
Cook Time: 4 - 5 hours
Servings: About 14, 6-7 inch long pieces

Notes:
T = tablespoon
t = teaspoon

Ingredients

• 1lb ground meat (chuck roast, bottom round, brisket, deer, elk, etc.)

• 2T soy sauce or coconut aminos

• 1T liquid smoke (check ingredients, some contain molasses).

• 1T Worcestershire

• 1T Swerve Sweetener (or sweetener of choice)

• 1t salt

• 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground pepper

• 1/2t onion powder

• 1/2t smoked paprika

• 1/2t garlic powder

Directions

• Add everything to a mixing bowl, cover, and refrigerate overnight or at least 8 hours

• Using a jerky gun, pack the meat in and try to remove as many air pockets as possible and squeeze out the meat onto the dehydrator tray - length is your preference

• Most dehydrators have various temps for various foods. I set mine to 155°F/68°C and dehydrated it for about 4 1/2 hours, flipping them over about 2/3 of the way through.

• Enjoy!

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Tips

• “Knead” the meat mixture with the ingredients for a few minutes. Just like bread dough, the salt in the mixture will help dissolve the proteins, making the mixture stickier and tighter, resulting in a firmer texture.

• Remember, this is just cooking, it’s not rocket science so enjoy it and have fun!

• Tweak this recipe for your own tastes.

Tools

• Chef iQ Smart Wireless Meat Thermometer or Meater Smart Wireless Meat Thermometer

• Jerky gun

• Food dehydrator

• Pit Boss Pellet Grill & Smoker

If you want to check out other items I personally use and recommend, you can do so by clicking here.

Some links in this article may be affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission for sales at no additional cost to you.

Notes:
T = tablespoon
t = teaspoon
Cooking temp: about 145°F/63°C

If you love beef jerky then you’re gonna love this recipe!

Don’t buy that crap in the store that’s filled with a bunch of ingredients you can’t pronounce and make this instead with just a few ingredients.

I bought a 3lb steak and used 2lbs of it for this recipe and the remaining 1lb for my own with added red pepper flakes (I’m the only one in my family that likes spicy things). The measurements below reflect a 2lb steak.

Top round is a great choice for jerky but you can also use bottom round or flank because they’re lean and full of flavor.

As always, use these measurements as a base. Adjust them to your preference.

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Prep time: 1 hour
Cook time: 3-5 hours
Servings: 1 - just you but you may have to fight everyone else off

Ingredients

• 2lb top round steak

• 1/4c coconut aminos

• 1/4c Worcestershire Sauce

• 2T Meat Church Holy Cow (sub salt, pepper, garlic)

• 1T honey

Directions

• Trim the steak of fat the best you can. Fat won’t render very well in the dehydrator and it’ll be chewy and gummy. Don’t worry about all of it, just get the big chunks of fat off

• Slice meat into small, very thin slices.

• Add everything to a bowl and mix thoroughly ensuring the marinade coats all of the meat

• Let it sit in the fridge for at least an hour. This is thinly cut meat, no need to marinate it for hours or until your next birthday

• Remove from the marinade and pat dry as best you can then place on dehydrador trays

• Set temp to 145°F/63°C and let it go for 3 - 4 hours. Keep checking back around 3 hour mark until desired doneness is achieved

Because this has no preservatives you’ll want to refrigerate this for up to 5 days.

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Tips

• Remember, this is just cooking it’s not rocket science!

• Thickness is your preference, but remember the thicker it is the longer it will take to dehydrate

• No dehydrator? An oven works just fine! Just be sure to check it often after the one to two hour mark since ovens circulate dry heat.

• Leaving a lot of marinade on the jerky will result in a longer dehydrating time so to ensure they all get done around the same time do your best to pat it all dry as much as possible

• If you want it softer, go with a shorter time. If you want it drier and more “breakable” then opt for a longer drying time. For this I went just over 3 hours and it came out soft and bendy, my daughter’s preference

Tools I Use

Click an item to learn more info

• Dehydrator

• Meat Church Holy Cow Seasoning