Citrus Basil Beef Jerky Recipe

I’m so excited to tell you about a recipe that I concocted in my kitchen for Citrus Basil Beef Jerky! This came out so, so good! My youngest, who is the pickiest beef jerky critic, insisted I name this recipe after her! This shall now be call Melanie’s Favorite Beef Jerky recipe!

This recipe was created without much thought. I made a bit of regular Dr. Pepper Beef Jerky but decided on a whim to venture out with new flavors. Citrus basil is a favorite combination but I didn’t have the fresh basil from the garden that I normally have. I also didn’t have any lemons, lime or oranges on hand. I did have the dried basil in my spice cabinet though. I looked over at my bin of essential oils and totally forgot that I have lemon, lime and orange oils! I have many different essential oils. I used to be hooked on Young Living essential oils but I have found many different brands that are really good quality.

Why does it not come as a first thought to use essential oils in food? Seriously? Why? I’ve had these oils for months now and I always forget I have them. My brain has not been programmed to think these are useful, but guess what, they are! I can never keep lemons or limes in the refrigerator for a long time. They always go bad. This is why I never have them on hand. I usually plan out my recipes but this one was not planned. This is where my experiment begins…

I took notes just in case this experiment went well and thank God for that! I’m writing this recipe up from a marinade stained hand written piece of paper. I attempted 4 different flavors when I did this experiment: Citrus Basil, Teriyaki, Lemon Pepper, Dr Pepper and Sweet & Spicy mix. Every single concoction was AMAZING! The sweet and spicy recipe needs a bit of tweaking because it was way too spicy and not sweet enough to off set it. Can’t win them all.

Citrus Basil Beef Jerky Recipe Ingredients:

1/4 Cup of soy sauce
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic (or you can use garlic powder)
5 drops of Orange Essential oil
5 drops of Lime Essential oil
5 drops of Lemon Essential oil
3 tablespoons of dried basil
1 teaspoon of salt
1 pound of Round Top thin sliced steak

Citrus Basil Beef Jerky Recipe Instructions:

There are a few different beef cuts you can use for beef jerky. I prefer to purchase the thin sliced round top steak. I’ve used sirloin (trimming the excess fat), London Broil and Flank Steak too. Be sure to slice it against the grain when you are cutting the strips.

The strips of steak should be cut at about 1/8 inch or 1/4 inch thick. If you are cutting the meat yourself instead of purchasing the thin sliced, place the meat in the freezer just to slightly freeze it. This will make it easier to cut into the thin slices you need. Or you can ask your butcher to slice it for you.

The recipe ingredients above is for 1 pound of beef. You can double or even triple this recipe if needed.

Combine all the ingredients in a medium size bowl. Add the strips of beef into the marinade.

Place the ingredients in a ziplock baggy.

Refrigerate the beef strips for at least 4 hours. I’ve marinated it up to 8 hours and I feel the longer you marinade it the better it gets. I’m impatient though. My friend tells me you can cut this marinade time down to only 2 hours when you use the Foodsaver machine to marinade it! Love that!

There are a couple different ways to make beef jerky. I have a fancy dehydrator with 11 metal trays. I make it often so it was well worth the investment for me. If you are just starting out, you might just try the oven method first. You can cook this jerky at 180 degrees for between 2 1/2 to 4 hours depending on the texture you like.

I cooked mine in my dehydrator at 155 degrees for 4 hours exactly. It came out with a slightly softer texture which I love. If you like a tougher texture you should cook it for another hour. Cooking time general goes between 4 and 5 hours in the dehydrator.

Once it’s done in the dehydrator, my family usually devours it. I don’t think it lasts a day let alone a whole week. I’ve been told that it will keep in a zip lock baggy for a week if needed. It’s a great way to make snacks ahead of time for the week.

I want to give you the Dr Pepper Beef Jerky Marinade Recipe we use all the time. It’s amazing. I don’t ever want to use this recipe.