Dr. Pepper Jalapeno Beef Jerky
On October 04, 2022 (Updated May 16, 2024)
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
My Dr. Pepper Jalapeno Beef Jerky is legendary! This post includes steps on how to make beef jerky and the best beef jerky recipe ever. I mean, really. This post is so full of beef jerky knowledge, it should probably be a book. We are going to be talking cuts of meat, slicing tips, marinating basics, and dehydrating vs. smoking.
Dr. Pepper Jalapeno Beef Jerky
This jerky is by far one of my most popular posts on the site. It’s equal parts sweet and spicy and you can adjust the heat to whatever level you prefer.
I’ve had friends and family rave about this jerky. It’s become a popular office treat or neighbor gift during the holidays. I cannot emphasize this enough. You’ll likely need to make a double batch because this jerky will not last long.
How to Make Dr. Pepper Jalapeno Beef Jerky
Alright folks, as promised let’s walk step-by-step through the whole process of making this awesome jerky. From selecting the right meat all the way to getting that perfect dried jerky, you’ll have a tasty snack in no time flat!
Step 1: Select the Meat
Let’s start with the best cuts of beef for jerky-making. I try to pick a nice roast with very little fat marbling. My first choice is an eye of round roast. After that, I think a top round, sirloin roast, or rump roast would also work well. These cuts do have a bit more fat/gristle, but a lot of times the price is right so I don’t mind.
This recipe calls for 2-3 pounds of eye of round roast. I easily got this from my butcher and asked them to cut the meat for me. Need to know more about slicing? Read on to the next section!
Step 2: Slice the Beef
Once you have selected your meat, it’s time to get that perfect jerky-thin slice. The first option is to ask your butcher to slice the meat for you. I recommend asking for a few sample slices to help you determine how thick or thin you want your jerky. I usually ask the butcher to set their slicer to an X for jerky.
If you are slicing your own meat at home, put your roast in the freezer for 30-60 minutes before slicing. The chilled meat will be easier to slice. Next, grab a sharp knife and get started. Try your best to slice the beef nice and even so all the jerky dries evenly.
At this point, you can choose whether to slice your meat with or against the grain. I prefer to slice my jerky against the grain, as it makes the jerky easier to chew and eat. I’ve got a bunch of little kiddos who would eat their weight in this Dr. Pepper Jalapeno Beef Jerky if I let them, and I don’t want to worry like crazy that they are going to be choking on unchewable chunks of jerky.
If you slice with the grain you get those nice long strands of jerky that you can tear off and work through. If you like that more stringy, tougher texture for your jerky, go with slicing with the grain.
Step 3: Marinate the Beef
Next, let’s chat marinades! My favorite part! There are a million jerky marinades out there, plenty that you can buy pre-made and just dump on your sliced meat and go. There are some good ones and some not-so-good ones, and I am mad every time I waste money on a pre-made marinade AND a big pile of meat.
The sweet, savory, heat flavors from this Dr. Pepper Jalapeno marinade are a perfect balance. The real basis for any great marinade, in my opinion, is a good combo of flavors. You’ll get all that and more from this marinade.
For this marinade, I want to emphasize the importance of the reduction step. Take the time to reduce the marinade properly. If you don’t, the final result can be a little bland. Also, this isn’t super spicy as prepared. If you want more jalapeño flavor, slice your jalapeños very thin or even add a third jalapeño to the marinade. Some readers have also substituted habanero peppers to up the spice factor.
Step 4: Dehydrate the Dr. Pepper Jalapeno Beef Jerky
The last step in making jerky is to dry it all out in a smoker, oven, or dehydrator. I have several smokers at my disposal and my favorite for jerky is my Camp Chef SmokePro pellet grill. I can maintain temperatures around 160-180 degrees F. This allows the jerky to slowly cook through while smoking.
Here’s how to smoke this tasty jerky:
- Preheat. Preheat your smoker to 170 degrees F. While the smoker is preheating, remove the jerky from the marinade and use a paper towel to pat off the excess marinade. Once dry, dust with additional black pepper, if desired (this gives it an extra kick of heat!)
- Smoke. Place the strips of jerky on the grill grates of your smoker and cook for 2-3 hours (or up to 4-5 hours depending on the thickness of the beef). Your jerky is done when it reaches 165 degrees F measured with a meat thermometer. The meat should be slightly pliable without breaking when you bend it in half.
- Steam. Once your jerky is fully cooked, remove it from the smoker and place it in a clean gallon-sized zip-top bag while it is still warm. Do not seal the bag all the way to allow the jerky to steam slightly to keep it moist.
- Enjoy. Dig in! Let’s hope you made a double batch because this stuff is addicting!
Alternative Dehydrating Methods
If you don’t want to make this jerky in the smoker, there are two other methods you can try out!
- Oven. If you’re without a smoker, you can still dehydrate your jerky in your oven by laying out your jerky on a cooling rack before cooking. Follow the same time and temperature listed in the recipe, but leave the door of your oven slightly cracked so the moisture can escape and your jerky can dry properly.
- Dehydrator. If you are using a dehydrator, follow the instructions provided with your machine. Every dehydrator works differently and the timeline will be unique to your machine.
Curing the Jerky
If you prefer to use curing salts in your jerky, use 1 level teaspoon of Prague Powder #1 or instacure #1 in the marinade recipe. The recipe If you cook the recipe as is, it will last in your fridge for up to two weeks in a zip-top bag (if you don’t eat it all before then). If you use curing salt, it will last up to two weeks on your counter.
More Beef Jerky Recipes
Looking for more delicious beef jerky recipes? Check out these other popular ones from the site!
Dr. Pepper Jalapeno Beef Jerky Recipe
There you have it! You made it through my jerky novel! You may very well now be an expert jerky maker. If you have any questions beyond what we talked about above, feel free to leave a comment here or jump on over to find me on Facebook or Instagram.
This post was originally published in February 2018. We recently updated it with more information and helpful tips. The recipe remains the same.
Dr. Pepper Jalapeno Beef Jerky
Video
Ingredients
- 1 2-3 pound beef eye of round roast thin sliced against the grain
Dr. Pepper Jalapeno Marinade
- 2 cups Dr. Pepper
- 2 jalapenos sliced
- 2 Tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
Instructions
- Make the marinade. In a medium saucepan, combine all of the ingredients for the marinade. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the mixture has reduced by half. You should have just over a cup of marinade. Chill the marinade completely.
- Marinate the beef. Transfer the sliced beef to a gallon sized zip top bag and pour in the marinade. Massage the marinade into the meat and refrigerate for 8-12 hours, or overnight.
- Preheat the smoker. Preheat your smoker or oven to approximately 170 degrees F. I recommend maple or cherry (or a combo of both!) for this recipe.
- Smoke the meat. Remove the meat from the marinade and dry each strip thoroughly by laying on paper towels or patting dry. Transfer the strips to the grill grate, jerky rack, or cooling rack and smoke/cook for 2-3 hours (depending on the thickness of your slices, some thicker pieces can take 4-5 hours). Check often after the first hour to be sure your jerky is drying evenly. You are looking for jerky that is firm and still slightly pliable, but not soft. If you bend your jerky and it breaks, you've cooked it a little too long.
- Steam and enjoy! Place the finished jerky in a gallon zip top bag while it is still warm. Don't seal closed all the way. The jerky will steam in the bag slightly and this step will make the jerky moist. The jerky will last 3-4 days on the counter or 2 weeks in the fridge.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
We made this today and it is in the Little Chief smoker. It has been smoking now for about 5 hours and still doesn’t seem to be done. It’s not a red colour either. We are using cheery chips. What are we doing wrong??
You’re not doing anything wrong. Sometimes those vault smokers retain quite a bit of moisture in the chamber and it can take a little longer. The color also can vary by smoker type. Sometimes those types of smokers don’t make the same smoke color, but the flavor is still there.
I have always loved jerky. Even the little vacuum packs in service stations 40 years ago. Due to numerous health issues I have to follow a sodium free or very restricted diet. Is there any way to eliminate or greatly reduce any added sodium? I know of a lot of recipes for other foods (not jerky) that you just eliminate any added sodium from because it is used just as a flavor enhancer. Thank you for any information.
Hmmm…I think you could go with a low sodium Worcestershire sauce and leave out the Kosher salt or cut it in half.
I love Jerky but am allergic to Jalapenos, do you know another recipe?
You should try my Teriyaki Jerky recipe. I do have other jerky recipes on my site, just search ‘jerky’ and you will find them. https://heygrillhey.com/teriyaki-beef-jerky/
always looking for a new recipe for jerky we made one up years ago (haha) and its the one I always use no real recipe just worchestershire, soy sauce, tabasco, and liquid smoke then spices you really have to like it some what salty using the soy sauce but its good looking forward to trying yours
I made this with a smoker and at temp of 165, I used mesquite wood chips and my batch came out more brown then red, and do you smoke right from start? It tastes great but I did not get the reddish color of yours that I’m looking for. My cut where from slicer at 1/8. Is there something I did wrong, I did only smoke for 20 min at 190 then back down to 165 till done. Could your mixture of wood chips create the reddish tinge I’m looking for?
Mesquite smoke doesn’t always add that same bright color. I found that cherry wood makes it the most red, and maintaining the lower temperatures while possible so you have more smoke before cooking the meat through.
I have a pellet smoker. Do I not add pellets to the smoker for making this jerky? I just put the meat I. The smoker, correct?
You will need to add pellets to the smoker to smoke the jerky as well. It can go right on the grates.
I’ve been making jerky for my twin sons for 25 years and about 30 different marinades. They all were great. But never read of one made from a soft drink. After reading and enjoying all of the comments I can’t wait to try your Dr Pepper recipe.
I’m excited to hear what you think!!
I am using a Little Chief and can’t be sure that it will hit 170 F , so could I finish it off in the oven at 170 F after drying it out in smoker for 3-4 hrs first or should I cook in the oven first and then finish it off in the smoker ? Love the idea of the recipe , it makes my mouth water reading it …….TIA
I would smoke first and then finish off in the oven just to be sure it absorbs some smoke.
K thanks , I will give it a try and let you know …..
I’m an trying this with about half the salt. I got some London broil on sale and cut it thick to marinate. I plan on running it through a grinder and dehydrating . I have a jerky shooter and will be using that.. I will let you know.
Excited to hear how it turns out!
First, insted of regular Dr. Pepper, I used diet. I also added the tablespoon of hicory liquid smoke, as I was going to use a dehydrator, and not a grill or smoker. Also, (on SWMBO recommendation) I used about half the salt. I sliced the meat and marinated it on the fridge overnight. The next morning I drained it in a strainer, and got most all the liquid out. I like a touch of spice so I left the peppers in, and ran it through a KitchenAde grinder attachment. The output was not too juicy, and held together OK. SWMBO doesn’t like tough jerky, and the shooter using ground meat gives it a consistency she likes. Happy Wife, happy life. following the recipe, I got 5 good trays that I ran through my dehydrator (145* for about 5 hours. I like mine a bit ‘dry’) Half of the batch I did recipe as written and the other half i kicked it up a notch by adding about 2 TBS of course crushed black pepper.
The verdict: I liked it. I like the spicy (extra pepper) and will do that again. The chunks of Jalapeno pepper in the jerky is not overpowering but adds a nice touch of heat. The Dr. Pepper taste was too subtle. I mean I can tell it’s there, but i would have preferred a deeper taste. I blame that on using diet, as I think the regular has enough sugars to bind to the flavors more. That will be next time (which will be this weekend)
Overall, I liked it, and I know it won’t last to the weekend.
What if you tried footwear instead of Dr. Pepper ??
If its the comments sorry I didn’t see it.
Thanks
I’m not sure what kind of footwear would work with this recipe? 🙂