Any time I go for a road trip, I know I’m going to need snacks. It not only helps keep hunger at bay and keep me on the road, but a good snack helps me stay alert. Ever since I decided to do a ketogenic diet though, traditional snacks were out the window. So what’s a guy to do? Make some bacon jerky!
Bacon jerky is delicious and works with a ketogenic diet. This keto bacon jerky recipe is one I’ve worked hard to perfect. A lot of recipes call for ingredients like syrup and brown sugar, causing the bacon to be full of carbs. Not good for keto at all!
Recipe ingredients
There are a few variations you can do on this recipe. I make a keto diet bacon jerky to meet my own dietary needs, but that’s not the only kind of jerky you can make.
If you want a sweeter bacon, you can use brown sugar or even syrup to give it that sweeter taste. This doesn’t work for me personally, but it might work for you.
Personally, I love having a spicy bacon jerky, which you can achieve by adding cayenne or a favorite hot sauce to your recipe. In any case, you will need:
- Thick sliced bacon
- Brown sugar and syrup (if sweetening your bacon jerky)
- Hot sauce and cayenne (for spicy bacon jerky)
Oven bacon jerky recipe
There are two ways to make bacon jerky – you can make bacon jerky in your oven or in a food dehydrator. My personal preference is with a dehydrator, but if you don’t have one, your oven will do nicely.
- Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit
- For sweet bacon jerky, mix a couple teaspoons of brown sugar with two tablespoons of syrup. Honey works as well. (OPTIONAL)
- For spicy bacon jerky, mix a small amount of hot sauce with a half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper. This is keto friendly, but if you aren’t worried about the carbs, you can add just a little bit of honey or syrup to cut the spicy flavor. (OPTIONAL)
- Place your bacon on an oven-safe rack. You’re going to want to allow the fat to drip off of the bacon and be safely caught by a tray underneath.
- If you’ve made an optional sweet or spicy coating, you may now separate each piece of bacon and coat both sides.
- Once coated, lay each piece on your oven safe baking rack and bake for 3-4 hours.
And that’s all there is to it! This method isn’t the only way of making bacon jerky though. It’s not my favorite because, especially in the summer, I don’t like running my stove at 200 degrees for 4 hours. It’s also a bit of a waste of energy. If you plan to make bacon jerky often, my advice is to purchase a food dehydrator.
How to make bacon jerky in a dehydrator
Making this recipe in a dehydrator is almost exactly the same as above.
- Mix your preferred flavor combination sauce, be it sweet or savory.
- Separate the thick cut bacon pieces from one another and apply the sauce
- Place in your food dehydrator and cook for 4-6 hours
- It’s optional, but I would advise flipping the bacon at about the halfway point.
Smoked bacon jerky recipe
This method is very similar to the oven baking method, but it will give your bacon jerky a rich smoky flavor that can’t be beaten!
- Bring your smoker to a temperature of 200 degrees Fahrenheit. You will need to maintain this temperature throughout the cooking process.
- Mix your preferred sauce as above.
- Separate your pieces of bacon and coat with the sauce.
- Cook in your smoker for 3-4 hours.
- I don’t recommend flipping your bacon for the oven recipe but I do for the smoker recipe. Flip about halfway through the cooking process.
Additional notes on bacon jerky
There are some things to consider about this bacon jerky recipe before making it.
- Bacon jerky is perishable and needs to be refrigerated
- There are almost endless possibilities for flavoring. Pick up a teriyaki sauce, Asian marinade, bbq sauce, liquid smoke, chipotle sauce – really any flavor that you think will jive with the bacon. You can’t go wrong!
I have to admit, after writing this article, I’m pretty hungry! I think I might make myself some bacon jerky.
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