Sriracha Chicken Jerky

Today, I’m sharing one of the first recipes I designed for Porter - Sriracha Chicken Jerky!

That man uses Sriracha - a spicy chili sauce from Thailand - like some people use ketchup. Clearly, when coming up with homemade chicken jerky recipes for him, one would need to have Sriracha as the main flavour profile!

This one is less complex than a lot of our more recent jerkies; it’s a very specific flavour, but it’s on that he loves.

He says it’s “kind of addictive - one of those flavours that you can just keep munching on!”.

Also, it’s really just mixing the ingredients together - there’s no chopping, pureeing, or anything else needed for this homemade jerky recipe.

It takes me less than 10 minutes to mix everything together, set up the jerky gun, pipe out the strips, and pop it in the dehydrator.

4 hours later - boom - our own chicken jerky!

It’s a great snack for camping, road trips in general, and is an excellent high-protein snack to bring along on hiking trips.

What’s not to love?

Anyway, enough chatter, let me show you how to make it!

Equipment

There are two specialized pieces of equipment that I use for making jerky, beyond basics like spoons, bowls, and measuring cups:

A Food Dehydrator

While you can apparently make Sriracha chicken jerky in a regular home oven, I’m not a fan of running one for hours on end.

I’ve had food dehydrators before - the basic kinds with no time or temperature controls, - and I’d always been too nervous to try making jerky in them. I need more control over - and knowledge of - the drying process, when meat is concerned.

I’ve since upgraded to a Cosori 6 Tray Food Dehydrator, and LOVE it.

It was only like $200 Canadian, and it’s paid for itself MANY times over, between all the Maple Cinnamon Apple Chips and Jerky Recipes I’ve been making!

Think of it this way - The same size of jerky that I tend to make goes for about $4 in a gas station. I get about 10-15 strips out of a batch (varying by recipe)- let’s average that out to 12.

That’s $48 worth of jerky, for $8 or less. Make 5 batches, that’s your $200 in savings!

Anyway, we’re using a dehydrator a LOT more, now that we have a nice one. Having the control over the temperature really opens up the possibilities.

A Jerky Gun

Also known as a “jerky cannon”, this is basically a nice quality caulking gun (NOT an actual one - keep it food safe!) that you use to pipe out strips of jerky onto your parchment paper.

Mine is the XINQIAO Jerky Gun Food Grade Plastic Beef Jerky Gun Kit . Regular $35 (Canadian) on Amazon, but it had a coupon for something like 25% off, when I purchased it.

Worth every penny, even if I’d paid full price!

I’ve heard of people making jerky by spreading the mixture out, flattening it with a rolling pin, then cutting it with a pizza cutter, but to be honest, that sounds fussy.

The very first time I used my jerk gun, I was HOOKED. I had no idea that the jerky making process could be so quick and easy!

I’ve never been one for single-function, special equipment in the kitchen... but I LOVE it.

Ingredients

With a couple of exceptions, this homemade jerky recipe uses really simple ingredients. As far as those other two ingredients, they’re things you’ll use for pretty much any jerky you’ll make - so they’ll definitely be good to have on hand!

I have a few ingredient notes for you:

Lean Ground Chicken

Use the highest quality ground chicken you can when making chicken jerky.

While fresh or frozen will usually work in my jerky recipes, I recommend using fresh in this one, just due to the amount of liquid ingredients we’re adding.

If you want to make your own ground chicken, trim some boneless skinless chicken breasts - plain chicken - and run them through a food processor or meat grinder until well broken down.

Lean chicken breast meat will have a better shelf life than higher fat dark meat will - fat can go rancid.

Finally, if you want to make turkey jerky, feel free to use the same amount of lean ground turkey.

For that matter, you can swap the meat out for whatever kind of ground meat you prefer!

Soy Sauce, or Soy-Adjacent Sauce

As with most of my jerky recipes, I developed this Sriracha Chicken Jerky recipe using Coconut Aminos, which is what I use for myself - it’s gluten free and paleo/AIP friendly.

Tamari is another gluten free option (USUALLY GF, anyway!), or you could use plain old Soy Sauce.

Regular soy sauce tends to be saltier than Coconut Aminos, though. For best results, I recommend using low sodium soy sauce, if possible - otherwise, you might want to cut back the salt (regular, NOT the curing salt) amount.

Whichever you use, it brings some umami - savory flavor - to the Sriracha chicken jerky.

Liquid Smoke

As with almost all of my jerkies, you’ll need some Liquid Smoke - a little goes a lot way!

I only use a small amount in this recipe, to give it a traditional “jerky” flavour - it’s not at all overpowering, just an accent.

Prague Powder

Prague Powder is one of a few different curing salts out on the market.

I use Prague Powder #1 Cure, same as I use for my Montreal Smoked Meat Recipe, Back Bacon Recipe, Homemade Corned Beef Recipe, and Peameal Bacon Recipe, and ALL of my jerky recipes.

This is a bright pink curing salt that’s a mixture of salt and sodium nitrite. It’s commonly used in cured meats - like pepperoni or summer sausages - and is what gives the jerky its characteristic red colour.

Beyond aesthetics, it also contributes to giving dehydrated meat that iconic jerky flavor, AND helps ensure that your homemade meat snack will be good to eat for a long time. It does this by preventing the growth of bacteria, during and after the drying process.

A couple of things to note:

1. Prague Powder is pink, but it is NOT the same thing as Himalayan pink salt!

2. Prague cure is only to be used in small amounts for curing meats, and should never be consumed as-is. The measurements are important - if you want a saltier Sriracha chicken jerky, add some regular salt, rather than increasing the curing salt.

Everything Else

Rounding out this recipe, you will need:

Sriracha Chili Sauce
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder

... I just don’t have anything to add, for any of these ingredients. You could probably use Sambal Oelek or Jeow sauce in place of the Sriracha, but that’s about it!

How to Make Sriracha Chicken Jerky

The full recipe is in the printable recipe card at the end of this post, here is the pictorial walk through:

Cut 2 or 3 squares of parchment paper slightly smaller than your dehydrator trays, set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl - using freshly washed or gloved hands - combine ingredients well. REALLY well - for best results, it’s better to overhandle it, than to under-mix it.

Line your dehydrator racks with the cut parchment paper, then pipe your jerky strips out onto them, leaving some space in between each.

It should feel dry to the touch and be able to bend to 90 degrees without breaking. (A bit of cracking or crackling is ok!)

Sriracha Chicken Jerky Storage

Allow sriracha chicken jerky to cool COMPLETELY to room temperature before packaging.

Chicken jerky will keep at room temperature (in a cool dark place) for a week so, or a few weeks in the fridge.

If sealed into an airtight container WITHOUT OXYGEN, it should be good for a month or so in a cool dark place, a couple months in the fridge, and 6 months or so in the freezer.

Once you open your vacuum sealed bag of chicken jerky, it should be eaten within a couple days - or a week, if put in the fridge after opening.

More Homemade Jerky Recipes

Are you someone who loves a tasty, unique, gourmet jerky? Here are some of my go-to recipes for homemade jerkies!

Basic Ground Beef Jerky
Blueberry Bison Jerky
Buffalo Wing Chicken Jerky
Chipotle Chicken Jerky
Ginger Beef Jerky
Ground Venison Jerky
Homemade Salmon Jerky
Honey Garlic Chicken Jerky
Jalapeno Chicken Jerky
Jerk Chicken Jerky
Lingonberry Elk Jerky
Mango Habanero Chicken Jerky
Maple Bacon Jerky
Mushroom Jerky, 2 Ways
Pumpkin Spice Chicken Jerky
Rosemary & Blueberry Beef Jerky
Shawarma Chicken Jerky
Spicy Garlic Chicken Jerky
Spicy Orange Chicken Jerky
Tofu Jerky, 2 Ways
Pepperoni Jerky