You asked for it, so we made it. The comments kept begging for Baja Blast beef jerky, and here's the twist: our Test Kitchen guy had never even tasted Baja Blast. So we grabbed some from Taco Bell, boiled it down into a concentrate, piled on fresh lime and orange zest, and let the taste testers decide.
Spoiler: it's a bright, citrusy jerky that's a lot less sweet than you'd think. Want to know what the panel said? Watch the video below.
The story behind this one
This flavor came straight from you. We kept getting request after request for Baja Blast beef jerky, and there was just one tiny problem: our Test Kitchen guy had never had Baja Blast. As far as we know, you can only get it at Taco Bell, and Mountain Dew describes it as a tropical, citrusy take on the original. So we went in blind, grabbed the soda and figured out how to get a fountain drink into a piece of beef.
Why these ingredients
Reduced Baja Blast
Soda straight from the cup is mostly water, and water is the enemy of flavor in a marinade. So we boiled it down until about 75% of the liquid was gone. What's left is a strong, concentrated version of the drink that can actually stand up to beef.
Fresh lime and orange zest
To push the citrus even harder, we added fresh lime juice and orange zest. The zest is the secret weapon here. It carries the bright, oily punch of the peel, and it turned out to be the first flavor you notice when you bite in.
A savory backbone
Sea salt, black pepper, granulated garlic and onion powder keep this from tasting like candy. They're the same simple building blocks we lean on in a lot of our recipes, and they make sure it still eats like jerky.
How we made it, and why each step matters
Start with pre-sliced eye of round
We keep bags of pre-sliced eye of round in the freezer, about 2 pounds each, so we can thaw one and run a test batch whenever an idea hits. This bag came in just under 2 pounds. Eye of round is lean and slices evenly, which is exactly what you want for jerky.
Boil the soda down first
This is the step that makes the recipe different from our usual process. Bring the Baja Blast to a boil in a pan and let it reduce to about a quarter of where it started. Skip this and you'll be marinating your beef in sweet, fizzy water.
Mix like you mean it
Pre-sliced meat loves to stick to itself when it's lying flat, so pull every piece apart before you mix. Then work it until two things happen: every bit of powder dissolves into the liquid, so the marinade is consistent, and every side of every piece is coated. Do not half-ass this step. It's the difference between even flavor and bland patches.
Give it time in the fridge
Seal it up tight and let it go about two days. That long soak gives the citrus and concentrated soda time to work into the meat.
Rack it right
Two rules. Nothing touches, so air can move around every piece. Everything lies flat, with no folds, so it dries evenly. Our dehydrator holds about 3 to 5 pounds, so a 2-pound batch had plenty of breathing room.
Check it early
This is a pretty light marinade, so we expected it to dry faster than usual and started checking at 2½ hours at 140°F. It needed a bit more, about 3 hours total, then an hour resting at room temperature, which is when the jerky settles into its final texture. The result had a good rip to it, just a touch on the dry side.
What the taste testers said
Our first impression: great texture, and the orange zest hits first, followed by lime. The Baja Blast shows up on the back end, but this isn't a Baja Blast-forward flavor. And it was way less sweet than we expected. We figured that syrupy reduction would come through sticky and sweet. It didn't.
Then we dragged the panel in:
- Tester one picked up lime and lemon notes but couldn't really find the Baja Blast. Their idea: add sugar or honey to make it taste more like the soda. Verdict: a no, because it didn't live up to the name.
- Tester two got mostly orange and was surprised it wasn't sweeter, since it started as a soda boiled down to syrup. Called it a good attempt that could use a sweeter dimension. Verdict: likes it.
- Tester three, not much of a soda drinker, loved the zesty, rind-y citrus and called it more complex than expected. Said if you're into Baja Blast this could be your speed. Verdict: a pass, but "aptly named and executed pretty well."
Make it your own
- Want it to taste more like the soda? Our panel's top suggestion was a little sugar or honey in the marinade.
- Like it softer? Pull it earlier. We checked at 2½ hours for a reason, and ours ended up a hair dry for our taste.
- Track your changes. Write down what you tweak, so you can repeat a great batch or fix a not-so-great one.
Serving and storage
This one's a fun conversation starter for game day or a road trip. Bring it to the next Taco Bell run and let your friends guess the flavor. Let the jerky cool completely before you bag it, then keep it in an airtight container or zip bag.
Made a batch? Tell us in the comments what you changed and how it turned out. Who knows, your version could be the next one we make.
Watch us make it
Test Kitchen RecipeBaja Blast Beef Jerky Recipe
Taco Bell's Baja Blast boiled down to a concentrate, plus fresh lime juice, orange zest, sea salt, pepper, garlic and onion. Marinate about 48 hours, then dry at 140°F for about 3 hours.
Equipment
- Dehydrator
- Mixing bowl with a tight lid
Ingredients
Steps
- Reduce the sodaPour the Baja Blast into a pan, bring it to a boil and reduce it to about 25% of where it started. Boiling off about 75% of the liquid gives you a strong, concentrated Baja Blast flavor.
- Build the marinadePut the sliced beef in a bowl and add the reduced Baja Blast, the juice of 2 limes, the zest of an orange, the sea salt, black pepper, granulated garlic and onion powder.
- Mix thoroughlyPull every piece of pre-sliced meat apart so nothing sticks together, then mix until the powders dissolve into the liquid and every side of every piece is coated. Do not half-ass this step.
- MarinateSeal it tight and refrigerate for about 48 hours.
- Rack it upLay the strips flat on the dehydrator trays with no folds and no pieces touching, so air can move all the way around each one.
- DryDry at 140°F. This is a light marinade, so start checking at about 2 1/2 hours. Ours took about 3 hours.
- RestLet the jerky sit at room temperature for about an hour to set its final texture, then dig in.
Tips & storage
Yield: Our just-under-2-lb batch came out at 15 oz, a little under 50%.
Sweetness: The reduced soda added less sweetness than we expected. One taster suggested adding sugar or honey to make it taste more like the soda.
Doneness: We liked it with a good rip, just a touch on the dry side at 3 hours plus an hour of rest.
Not into reducing soda? Let us do the drying.
Browse our jerky
