The Best Keto Beef Jerky Recipe
This is the best keto beef jerky recipe! Simply delicious, easy to make, sugar free and perfectly low carb.
Beef jerky makes the ideal road trip snack or easy to pack camping food. I love to have a batch of beef jerky ready for the spring and summer months! It’s way easier to make at home than you would think, let me show you how…
We discovered that there are very few recipes for simple keto beef jerky. I have been following a ketogenic lifestyle for nearly three years – check out my keto beginner guide to see how I lost 85lbs – so it was important to me that this recipe be sugar-free.
Making beef jerky at home is so much better than store bought because you know exactly what is going into the recipe. Many smoked and processed meats contain a ton of hidden sugar and therefor added carbohydrates. This keto beef jerky recipe doesn’t! It’s totally low carb and keto friendly.
How to make keto beef jerky:
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Directions:
- Begin by gathering your ingredients. You will need 6-7 pounds of beef, diet Dr Pepper, lemon juice, brown sugar Swerve, coarse black pepper, coarse salt, rosemary, garlic cloves and steak spice. Note: you can easily make this recipe using regular Dr Pepper and brown sugar for a non-keto version.
2. Add the marinade ingredients to a 9×13″ aluminum pan or large baking dish.
3. Cut the beef to 1/4″ thickness, be sure to trim off excess fat and tendons. Layer this in the marinade and allow to rest for 12-24 hours in the refrigerator. We purchased a whole sirloin from Costco when it was on sale and made two batches of beef jerky with it.
Tip: use Costco sirloin when on sale!
4. Remove the beef from the marinade, pat it dry with paper towel, sprinkle with salt and pepper (if desired) and place in a single layer on the smoker. We used our Traeger grill but this can easily be done in a traditional smoker like our Keto Smoked Salmon recipe or in an oven.
5. Cook at 160 degrees for 4-6 hours, flipping the beef once half way through. Keep an eye on any hot spots (our Traeger is hotter at the front) and thinner slices of beef that may smoke faster.
Remove from the smoker and enjoy! I can tell you that we will be making this keto beef jerky all the time. It’s perfect for all of our camping and backpacking trips this summer and is absolutely delicious.
This recipe is NOT a sweet beef jerky contrary to the added brown sugar sweetener. It just gives the meat a yummy rich flavour.
I chose to use Swerve sweetener because it is made with Erythritol. It is low on the glycemic index and will not spike blood sugars.
A note on keto sugar alternatives:
- Stevia is made from the Stevia leaf, I like to use both the granulated and powdered version of this in my recipes.
- Monk Fruit extract is made from Monk fruit, this is another great alternative that is low on the glycemic index.
- Erythritol is a sugar alcohol and another popular low carb sweetener that can be used in baking.
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Kitchen essentials for smoking:
- Traeger 780 Pro Smoker Grill – this is our Traeger model, it’s the perfect size for families who like to entertain! Be sure to check out all of our must have Traeger products.
- Meater Thermometer – we love this wireless meat thermometer. It connects to an app that tells you exactly when your meat is done!
- These silicone tongs are perfect for flipping and grasping food.
- This Henckel Knife is my favorite for slicing and dicing in the kitchen.
- I love using this non-stick bakeware for all of my baking.
Be sure to check out these 20+ Best Smoker Recipes on a Pellet Grill too!
If you love this keto beef jerky recipe, please give it a five star review and help me share it on Facebook and Pinterest!
The Best Keto Beef Jerky Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 litre diet Dr Pepper
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 3/4 cup brown Swerve
- 1 Tbsp coarse black pepper
- 2 Tbsp coarse salt
- 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
- 2 garlic cloves thinly sliced
- 1/2 tsp steak spice
Instructions
- Begin by gathering your ingredients. You will need 6-7 pounds of beef, diet Dr Pepper, lemon juice, brown sugar Swerve, coarse black pepper, coarse salt, rosemary, garlic cloves and steak spice. Note: you can easily make this recipe using regular Dr Pepper and brown sugar for a non-keto version.
- Add the marinade ingredients to a 9×13" aluminum pan or large baking dish.
- Cut the beef to 1/4" thickness, be sure to trim off excess fat and tendons. Layer this in the marinade and allow to rest for 12-24 hours in the refrigerator. We purchased a whole sirloin from Costco when it was on sale and made two batches of beef jerky with it.
- Remove the beef from the marinade, pat it dry with paper towel, sprinkle with salt and pepper (if desired) and place in a single layer on the smoker. We used our Traeger grill but this can easily be done in a traditional smoker like our Keto Smoked Salmon recipe or in an oven.
- Cook at 160 degrees for 4-6 hours, flipping the beef once half way through. Keep an eye on any hot spots (our Traeger is hotter at the front) and thinner slices of beef that may smoke faster.
- Remove from the smoker and enjoy. We store this for up to a month in the fridge or longer in the freezer.
Video
Nutrition
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Will be trying this today. Purpose of the diet Dr. Pepper? We don’t drink soda. I have the brown Swerve. I also use curing salt in my jerky. Will let you know results.
The diet dr pepper helps to flavor and tenderize the meat. Another carbonated beverage of choice would work :) Looking forward to your review!
You say it’s keto friendly but do you know how many carbs per serving?
1 serving, about 45 grams is 1 net carb.
Hold you do this with a dehydrator
We have not tried this recipe in a dehydrator.