Jalapeño Teriyaki Beef Jerky
Make smoked jalapeño teriyaki beef jerky with thin-sliced eye of round, soaked in a teriyaki-pineapple marinade loaded with fresh sliced jalapeño rings.
Jalapeño Teriyaki Beef Jerky
This recipe comes to us from Danny Dobrzenski, outdoor cook and creator behind Cooking in the Yard and friend of Montana Knife Company.
13
7 hours 15 minutes
3 hours
80
American
Appetizer
After I posted a few beef jerky recipes to Cooking in the Yard, requests for jalapeño teriyaki flooded my comments section. I built this version for that crowd, and it’s been in heavy rotation on my smoker ever since.
My method is straightforward: I slice eye of round thin against the grain, soak it in a teriyaki-and-pineapple marinade with fresh jalapeño rings, then run it over thin smoke for a few hours until it hits proper bend-and-crack texture. My teriyaki beef jerky comes off the smoker with a sweet-savory glaze, gentle heat from the jalapeños, and just enough chew to feel like real jerky instead of soft, oven-dried imitations.
Ingredients
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- 2 lb. eye of round, sliced thin against the grain with a sharp, clean kitchen knife
1 cup teriyaki sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup pineapple juice
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 large jalapeño, thinly sliced
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (optional, for extra heat)
Directions
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I pop the eye of round in the freezer for 30–45 minutes before slicing. A semi-frozen roast holds shape under the blade. The result is cleaner, more uniform strips that dry at the same rate.
- Slice the beef into roughly 1/4-inch strips, cutting against the grain. A freshly sharpened chef’s knife makes this part fast; a dull blade tears the muscle fibers and gives you ragged jerky.
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In a large bowl, whisk together the teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, pineapple juice, and Worcestershire. Stir in the garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, sliced jalapeño rings, and crushed red pepper if you want extra heat.
My teriyaki beef jerky marinade tastes salty-sweet up front, with a clean back-of-the-throat kick from the jalapeño. Taste it before the meat goes in. If you want more heat, add a few more pepper slices.
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Drop the sliced beef into a zip-top bag or other airtight container and pour the marinade over the top. Press out the air, seal the bag, and work the marinade through the strips so every piece gets coated.
Refrigerate for at least six hours; overnight gives the cleanest teriyaki flavor.
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Preheat your smoker to 195°F. Lay the marinated strips in a single layer across wire racks, leaving a small gap between pieces so smoke can move around them.
- Smoke for about three hours, checking at the two-hour mark for doneness. I pull my teriyaki beef jerky when it bends and cracks but doesn’t snap clean in half. Let the jerky cool completely on a rack before transferring to an airtight container.
