Nitrate & Nitrite Free Coconut Aminos Beef Jerky
Beef jerky is one of those snacks that seems impossible to enjoy when you're avoiding curing agents, since nearly every commercial bag relies on sodium nitrate or sodium nitrite to preserve color and extend shelf life. This recipe sidesteps all of that by using a marinade built entirely from whole, recognizable ingredients — coconut aminos, apple cider vinegar, honey, garlic, ginger, turmeric, and a touch of sea salt — with no preservatives in sight. The low-and-slow oven method does the real preservation work here, drawing out moisture over several hours until the strips are deeply browned, chewy, and shelf-stable without any chemical shortcuts. Coconut aminos bring that savory, umami-rich depth you'd expect from soy sauce, while the ginger and turmeric add a warm, slightly earthy complexity that makes each strip genuinely interesting to eat. Partially freezing the steak before slicing is a small trick that pays off big, giving you clean, even strips that dry uniformly on the rack. The result is a snack you can feel confident about — bold flavor, satisfying chew, and nothing on the ingredient list you'd need to look up.
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Learn more →Ingredients
6 servings
For the jerky
- 2 lb flank steak or top round, trimmed of visible fat
For the marinade
- ⅓ cup coconut aminos
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp honey
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- ¼ tsp ground ceylon cinnamon (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Place the flank steak in the freezer for 30–45 minutes, until it is firm but not frozen solid — this makes slicing much easier. Using a sharp knife, slice the beef against the grain into strips about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Pat the strips dry with paper towels.
- 2
In a zip-top bag or shallow dish, whisk together the coconut aminos, apple cider vinegar, honey, garlic, ginger, turmeric, onion powder, salt, and Ceylon cinnamon, if using, until combined.
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