Can dehydrated peppers and onions taste like they spent time in a hot skillet? If you've ever had an Italian sausage and pepper sandwich, you know the sausage is good, but the soft, sweet onions and tender, glossy peppers are what you remember. The Jerky.com Test Kitchen set out to bring that skillet flavor to beef jerky: dried peppers and onions that rehydrate in the marinade, bloom and cling to the meat, then a hang-dry for a traditional, slightly drier chew. Like savory, meat-forward jerky? Try our Green Chile Beef Jerky.
Why dehydrated peppers and onions?
We used dehydrated peppers and onions on purpose. They soak up the marinade, swell and soften, so they stick to the meat instead of sitting on top of it. A little olive oil adds the skillet sheen, and the sugar and honey make the surface tacky enough to hold the vegetable pieces through the dry. Just a splash of liquid smoke fakes that hot-pan aroma without turning it into barbecue.
Ingredients:
- Pre-sliced top round (we keep ours in 2 lb bags)
- Just under 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 2 tsp red wine vinegar
- 1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp honey
- 2 tbsp granulated red peppers
- 1 1/2 tsp granulated green peppers
- 2 tbsp dehydrated minced onion
- 1 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 3/4 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp black pepper
- About 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
- A small splash of liquid smoke
Instructions:
Mix the base: In a large bowl, whisk the soy sauce, Worcestershire, olive oil, red wine vinegar, brown sugar and honey until the sugar and honey are fully dissolved. Take your time; this is your foundation.
Add the peppers, onions and spices: Stir in the red and green peppers, minced onion, onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, basil, black pepper, red pepper flakes and liquid smoke until evenly distributed. Let it sit about 10 minutes at room temperature, stirring now and then, so the vegetable pieces soften and swell.
Marinate: Add the beef, peel the slices apart and massage each piece until it's fully coated, with pepper and onion bits plastered on. The surface should feel a little tacky. Cover and refrigerate 24 to 48 hours in these marinade containers. Halfway through, give it a stir so the peppers and onions don't settle at the bottom.
Hang it: Instead of laying the slices flat, pierce each piece with a stainless steel skewer and load as many pieces as fit without touching. Hang the skewers from the underside of the dehydrator racks with stainless steel S hooks so the meat is suspended, spaced and gets airflow on every side. It takes a little more time, but it gives you more control over texture.
Dry it: We dried ours in our Cosori dehydrator at 167°F. We expected 4 to 5 hours, but at 2 hours it was further along than expected. Ours was done at about 3 hours.
Check for doneness: It should have good structure with only a little surface moisture and stickiness. Check the bigger pieces before you pull it.
Love onion-forward jerky? Try our French onion beef jerky recipe. Hang-drying is also how we made our hang-dried jalapeño pepper jelly beef bacon jerky.
Taste test notes: Doug tasted this one on camera. First impression: "definitely the savory side of things. It's more beef forward, very meaty," with soy, Worcestershire and a little black pepper as the base. Did the vegetables bloom? "Surprisingly, kind of. Yeah. They reinforce the savory flavor really pretty well." The onion sweetness came through: "It's not super raw. It's not super sharp. It definitely smells and tastes rounded, not powdery." The chili flakes stayed gentle at the back end. On texture: "It's slightly drier chew, and I think that hang dry really helped." Did it fully replicate a hot skillet? "Not exactly," and it's "not super jammy like it would be if you cooked it in a pan, but it's definitely headed that direction." Next time he'd try fresh blended peppers in the marinade to push the cooked sweetness. If you like our Green Chile, Montreal Style or Pastrami jerky, this one is right in your lane.
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Italian Peppers and Onions Jerky FAQ
Can you use dehydrated peppers and onions in jerky marinade?
Yes. Let the marinade sit about 10 minutes before adding the meat so the dried pieces rehydrate and swell. They'll cling to the meat instead of sinking.
How do you get the peppers and onions to stick to the jerky?
Massage them onto each slice. The sugar and honey make the surface tacky, which holds the pieces on through drying. Stir halfway through the marinade so they don't settle.
Does this jerky taste like Italian seasoning?
It's savory and beef-forward with soft pepper and onion sweetness, not an herb bomb. The oregano and basil sit in the background.
How long does peppers and onions jerky take to dry?
Ours was done at about 3 hours at 167°F, hang-dried. Start checking at 2 hours.
What temperature should I dry peppers and onions beef jerky at?
The USDA recommends heating beef to 160°F (poultry to 165°F) before or during drying. The simplest way is to dry at 160°F. If your dehydrator can't reach 160°F, steam or roast the strips to 160°F first.
Rather skip the work? Try ours: Green Chile Beef Jerky, Montreal Style Beef Jerky or Pastrami Beef Jerky.
Got a flavor idea for the Test Kitchen? Drop it in the comments. Some of our best experiments started there!
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