Cranberry sauce gives this jerky a bright fruit coating, and jalapeño adds a green pepper note with adjustable heat. Cooking With Ry’s holiday-inspired tutorial makes a fresh cranberry sauce before marinating eye of round. This version uses prepared whole-berry sauce for a shorter ingredient list and a smaller batch.

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Video by Cooking With Ry · Watch on YouTube

Ingredients

Starting batch: 3½ lb raw trimmed beef; finished yield varies.

• 3½ lb lean beef eye of round, trimmed
• 16 oz prepared whole-berry cranberry sauce
• 1 jalapeño, seeded and finely diced
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1/8 tsp kosher salt

Equipment: sharp knife, cutting board, kitchen scale, covered food-safe container, oven, oven-safe racks, thin-tip food thermometer, clean tongs, and an adjustable-temperature dehydrator.

Allergens: Soy sauce commonly contains soy and wheat. Dijon contains mustard. Check the cranberry sauce and all labels for additional allergens.

How to make this jerky

Step 1: Trim and firm the beef

Start with cold, lean beef. Trim away exterior fat and silver skin, then briefly firm the roast in the freezer if it is difficult to slice. Keep raw beef refrigerated at 40°F or below while preparing the other ingredients.

Step 2: Cut even strips

Using a clean sharp knife or a slicer according to its instructions, cut across the grain into even strips about 1/8 inch thick. Keep the thickness consistent and return the sliced beef to the refrigerator while mixing the marinade.

Step 3: Make the marinade

Stir the prepared cranberry sauce, diced jalapeño, soy sauce, Dijon mustard and salt until combined. Break up large cranberry clumps with a spoon so the mixture coats the strips evenly. Keep it cold until the beef is ready.

Step 4: Coat and refrigerate

Turn the beef strips through the marinade until both sides of every piece are coated. Cover in a food-safe container and refrigerate overnight at 40°F or below, turning occasionally. Separate any slices stuck together so the coating reaches every surface.

Step 5: Heat to 160°F, then dry

Before drying, place the strips and marinade in a saucepan, adding enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and check with a thin-tip thermometer that the thickest strips reach 160°F internally. Work in batches if necessary. Drain with clean utensils and discard the used liquid. Arrange heated strips in a single layer on clean dehydrator racks, leaving air spaces between them. Dry at 145–155°F and check periodically. The dryer air temperature does not verify the temperature inside the meat.

Step 6: Check, cool and refrigerate

Cool a test strip before bending it. Look for a dry center and small cracks rather than a soft, wet middle; return moist pieces to the dryer. Cool the entire batch completely on clean racks before packing. Refrigerate finished jerky and freeze extra portions. A texture test does not establish a safe room-temperature shelf life.

Why this flavor works

Cranberries bring tartness as well as sweetness, so they create a different result from a honey-based hot-pepper marinade. Whole-berry sauce leaves small fruit flecks on the strips. Remove jalapeño seeds for a milder start, and use gloves when handling the pepper.

Serving and storage

Serve a small refrigerated portion with a simple lunch or fresh fruit, keeping the remainder chilled.

Keep the finished jerky refrigerated. Pack only fully cooled strips, keep hands and containers clean, and freeze portions you will not eat promptly. Moisture, thickness, and handling affect keeping quality; this home method does not establish commercial shelf stability.

A ready-to-eat option between batches

For a convenient jerky snack when you are not making a batch, explore BULK Texas Style Original Beef Jerky. Its seasoning and production process differ from this homemade adaptation.

Browse every published BULK jerky recipe.

Sources and further reading

• A Special Treat For Christmas - Cranberry Jalapeno Beef Jerky — Cooking With Ry
• USDA: how to make meat or poultry jerky at home
• National Center for Home Food Preservation: jerky

Original BULK adaptation after reviewing the source video’s automatic captions and ingredient discussion. Source footage and creator credit belong to Cooking With Ry. Photographs are timestamped source-video stills. Use the full written method for details.

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