If you are looking for anything real healthy and pure to add to your diet, I assure you, there is no matching for low sodium beef jerky. And today you are going to get the best low sodium beef jerky recipe to try at home.
Jerky is immensely popular all over the world. People of all ages and all walks of life enjoy it with great pleasure. It is acceptable as a snack, special treat, and even a side meal at any time of the day. That’s why you will find lots of beef jerky recipes all over the internet, but it is indeed hard to find one with low sodium or without excess salt.
Traditionally, people make the jerky using preservation techniques, which require a high amount of salt by nature of the process. So, if you really want to know how to make beef jerky without excessive salt, you are at the right place. If time permits, you can also try my favorite side dishes, Dunkin donuts hash browns recipe, KFC Green Beans, or Olive Garden meatball recipes too!
Ingredients of beef jerky recipe
- Lean cut beef, preferably top-round roasts. (Leave the meat in the refrigerator for a few hours to be frozen)
- Onion powder (1/4 teaspoon)
- Garlic powder (1/2 teaspoon) or garlic clove (1 piece)
- Sage leaves (2 pieces)
- Thyme leaves (1/4 teaspoon)
- Pineapple juice (1 cup)
- Cayenne pepper (1/8 teaspoon)
- Salt (1 teaspoon)
Directions for cooking sodium beef jerky
- Take the frozen meat out of the refrigerator, and it should be easy for slicing effortlessly. Use a sharp knife to make ¼ inch thin slices against the grain. Cutting with the grain will result in tough jerky. Remove all the fat and ligaments while making thin meat pieces. Then set the meat aside.
- Now, chop the fresh herbs and garlic finely. Take any large container or a big bowl and add all the spices, including pineapple juice, to the bowl.
- Stir to get a perfect combination of the ingredients. Then place the meat strips in this marinade, cover the bowl or container and refrigerate it overnight.
- Take the marinated meat out, drain well, and lay the meat strips on the racks of the dehydrator. Make sure to keep enough space between the meat strips for sufficient air circulation. Set the dehydrator to 165 degrees Celsius to dehydrate the meat slowly.
- Keep dehydrating for 3 hours. Flip over the meat strips and keep dehydrating for another 3 hours. Meanwhile, set the dehydrator temperature back to 130 degrees Celsius, the lowest range for the last one hour.
- It should not take more than 6 hours to ideally dehydrate the meat strips and finish your low sodium beef jerky recipe.
- Check the doneness of the strips carefully. If you bend the jerky, the center of the jerky should remain connected while snapping. And if the jerky bends even without any snapping, you have to dehydrate the meat for some more time.
- Once the jerky is ready, take the jerky down from the dehydrator and place it on paper towels. The paper towels will absorb the moisture.
Use an airtight jar to refrigerate the meat jerky. The meat jerky remains good for up to 14-15 days in the refrigerator. So, enjoy it within this period. Utilize extra sauce and seasoning before serving the jerky every time.
Tips and Tricks
- If you want more tender and comparatively softer meat jerky, make sure the meat is well frozen and cut against the grain very carefully. To be more accurate, always try to bring perfection in cutting against the grain in the first step.
- Make sure to remove all the fat efficiently while cutting the meat. Otherwise, it will spoil the meat while cooking.
- If you want to dehydrate the meat using an oven, use tin foil to line the bottom of the oven. Otherwise, there will be an unwanted mess and smoke inside the oven produced from the drippings from the meat.
- Always tend to use any low sodium beef jerky recipe dehydrator. It is perfect for making jerky.
- Do not over dehydrate the jerky. Over dehydrating will fossilize the meat strips. Then if you bend the pieces, they will break down into two pieces.
Nutritional Information
Low sodium beef jerky is a low-calory food item. As there is a little use of salt, it contains a minimal amount of sodium as well. The dehydrator or dehydrating process dominates the health benefits chart.
| Nutrient Fact (Per 1 ounce serving) | Value | Daily Value |
| Calories | 80 (336kJ) | – |
| Protein | 15g | 77% |
| Alcohol | 0g | – |
| Carbohydrates | 3g | 15% |
| Dietary Fiber | 0.8g | 1.4% |
| Sugars | 3 g | – |
| Total Fat | 1g | 11% |
| Saturated Fat | 0.003g | 0% |
| Cholesterol | 20 mg | 7% |
| Iron | 19mg | 8 % |
| Potassium | 0.05mg | – |
| Sodium | 310 mg | 34% |
FAQ
Can you make beef jerky without salt?
Yes, it is possible to make a tender and soft beef jerky recipe without using any salt. You can quickly season the meat jerky in any way of your liking. The only two major components you will need are the dehydrator and meat. The process is pretty more straightforward than you might think.
Can you dehydrate jerky without curing salt?
Yes, there is no need to curing salt for dehydrating meat jerky. You will need a standard set of spices along with regular salt, a maximum of 1 teaspoon. You just need to ensure that the temperature reaches 165 degrees Celsius real fast and the drying process begins swiftly.
So, as you can see, the low sodium beef jerky recipe is pretty simple to make with a handful of ingredients and a steady dehydrator. Even an oven can do the work of the dehydrator.
On top of that, it a complete food item, which can also be used as a perfect side dish in any meal of the day….