Artificial Food Coloring Free Ginger & Coconut Aminos Beef Jerky
Store-bought jerky is one of the sneakiest sources of artificial dyes and synthetic additives ā caramel color, red 40, and mystery "natural flavors" show up in the ingredient lists more often than you'd expect. Making your own at home puts you completely in control, and this version leans on a marinade built entirely from real, whole ingredients. Coconut aminos stand in for soy sauce with a slightly sweeter, mellower depth, while fresh ginger, garlic, turmeric, and Ceylon cinnamon layer in warmth and complexity that no dye or flavor packet could replicate. A touch of honey rounds everything out and helps the strips develop that gorgeous, deeply browned finish during the long, low oven dry. The process is mostly hands-off ā a good overnight marinade does the heavy lifting, and a few hours in a low oven does the rest. What comes out is chewy, savory, and just a little spiced, the kind of snack that disappears fast whether you're packing it for a road trip or just raiding the fridge. Once you taste how much flavor real ingredients bring, it's hard to go back to the packaged stuff.
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Learn more āIngredients
6 servings
For the jerky
- 1 Ā½ lb beef top round or flank steak, trimmed of visible fat
For the marinade
- ā cup coconut aminos
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, finely grated
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- Ā½ tsp ground ceylon cinnamon
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tbsp honey
Instructions
- 1
Place the beef in the freezer for 30ā45 minutes, until it is firm but not frozen solid. Using a sharp knife, slice the beef against the grain into strips about 1/8-inch (3mm) thick. For chewier jerky, slice with the grain.
- 2
In a medium bowl, whisk together the coconut aminos, apple cider vinegar, grated ginger, minced garlic, turmeric, Ceylon cinnamon, sea salt, and honey until the honey is fully dissolved.
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