This easy vegan jerky is gluten-free, full of flavor, and packed with plant protein! It works great for camping or backpacking, in school lunches, or as a quick and filling high-protein plant-based snack.
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❤️ Why make this recipe
This vegan jerky is perfect for hiking and backpacking! (I would have loved to have this when I was backpacking the Appalachian Trail many years ago! Instead, I had a few packs of dehydrated tofu, which was not nearly as tasty as this stuff!)
My family and I also love to take it on road trips since vegan protein is hard to find when traveling.
🙋 What is vegan jerky made from?
This vegan jerky is simple to make with Butler Soy Curls. Soy Curls are made from dehydrated soy much like textured vegetable protein, except they come in large pieces about the size of chicken strips. When rehydrated, they have the texture of meat.
When I first started using Butler Soy Curls, I knew that there had to be a way to make them into plant-based jerky. I tested out a bunch of different flavor combinations until my family finally agreed that the recipe was perfect!
💰 Inexpensive vegan jerky
Compared to store-bought vegan jerky, this homemade jerky will save you a ton of money. My family loves store-bought vegan jerky, but it gets expensive to buy it regularly. You can make this recipe for a fraction of the cost of store-bought vegan jerky!
🧾 Ingredients and substitutions
- Bragg’s Liquid Aminos - or tamari. You can also use soy sauce, but just note that soy sauce is not gluten-free.
- Black Strap Molasses - this gives the jerky a rich sweet flavor. If you don't have it you can swap it out for 1/2 teaspoon of maple syrup or another sweetener.
- Liquid Smoke (hickory flavored) - I use the Colgin brand. Note that other brands can be stronger in flavor. You can also swap this out for smoked paprika if you don't have liquid smoke.
- Sea Salt - for flavor
- Onion Powder - for flavor
- Garlic Powder - for flavor
- Cayenne - optional for a little spice.
- Cooking Oil - any neutral flavored oil like canola oil or light olive oil will work or you can leave it out for fat-free jerky. The oil helps the texture stay soft and chewy and gives you the mouth feel of jerky.
- Butler Soy Curls - you can also use any other TVP chunks or dehydrated soy product that you want.
🔪 Helpful tools
- Medium-sized saucepan - to heat the homemade marinade in.
- Sheet Pan - a metal baking sheet for dehydrating the jerky in the oven and allowing good airflow.
🥄 How to make vegan jerky
A full printable version of this recipe with ingredient measurements is available at the bottom of this post.
It couldn’t be much easier to make this jerky! Simply heat a marinade made with spices and water, then pour the soy curls into the marinade and give it a stir.
Allow the soy curls to soak up the flavor for about 5 minutes -giving them a stir every minute or 2 making sure they have soaked up as much marinade as possible.
Once the soy curls are re-hydrated, put them on a cookie sheet and place them in the oven at 225° F for about an hour until they become chewy and have the texture of jerky.
You can dehydrate them a little more or a little less depending on your taste. I like them slightly dry and crispy, and my kids like them soft and chewy.
👩🏻🍳 Pro Tips
The vegan jerky pieces will continue to dehydrate slightly once you take them out of the oven while they are cooling, so take them out when they are still a little softer than you want your final product to be.
❓ What is vegan jerky good for?
I make a large batch of them at least once or twice a week. My kids love them in their school lunches! Once they cool, I store them in a sealed jar or put them in snack-sized bags, so they are ready to grab and go snacks.
They are also great as car food on long trips or just to take along anywhere that it is hard to find a good source of vegan protein.
Don't forget to bring along a bag on your next camping or backpacking trip too!
🏪 Where can I buy soy curls?
I can find them at my local natural foods store, but I go through so many soy curls now we had to start buying them by the 12-pound box! If they don’t sell them at your local stores, you can find them on Amazon or order them directly from the Butler Foods website.
🥡 Storage
Since they are still slightly moist, I store them in the fridge to make sure that they stay fresh for up to 3 weeks. They are fine to leave out of refrigeration for up to 5 days to take camping or on a trip.
You can also freeze the soy curl jerky for up to 3 months in a sealed container.
🌟 More soy curl recipes
You can learn more about soy curls in my complete guide to soy curls, but here are a few of my favorite recipes that use them.
- Soy Curl Fajitas
- Vegan Buffalo Chicken
- Vegan Chicken Noodle Soup
- BBQ Soy Curl Sandwich
- Vegan Popcorn Chicken
📌 Be sure to follow me on Pinterest for new vegan recipes!
📋 Vegan jerky recipe
Easy Vegan Jerky
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Bragg’s Liquid Aminos or tamari
- 1 tablespoon black strap molasses
- 1 tablespoon liquid smoke (hickory flavored)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne more or less to taste
- ¼ cup canola or other neutral tasting oil
- 1 cup boiling water
- 4 cups Butler Soy Curls (dry)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 225°F (110°C).
- Put all the ingredients except for soy curls into a medium-sized saucepan, stir well, and bring to a boil.
- Once the marinade boils, turn off the heat and immediately add the soy curls stirring them to coat them with the marinade.
- Let the soy curls sit for about a minute then stir them again.
- Continue to do this for about 4-5 minutes until most of the liquid is absorbed and soy curls are soft.
- Drain off any remaining liquid and spread soy curls onto a cookie sheet.
- Bake at 225°F (110°C) for 45 minutes to 1 hour flipping every 15 minutes.
- Allow them to cool then store them in sealed containers or bags.
Notes
- Bake for 10 minutes less for chewier jerky or 10 minutes more for crunchier jerky.
- Variations in oven temperature and humidity will change the bake time slightly.
- Watch the jerky closely at the end of the cooking time so as to not over-dry or burn.
- Store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 weeks or at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Nutrition
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Click the stars above or leave a comment! I'd love to hear from you!
Amazing! The first batch was too crispy as I had too many curls and not enough liquid, but I increased the marinade by 3 for an 8oz bag and it was perfection. Thank you so much for the answer to my plant based oil free jerky prayers
Glad that you enjoyed it. You can also reduce the cook time to make them softer.
These are so good and are super close to the store bought ones in flavour and texture.
Used the AF sub with great resutls.
Thank you for sharing.
You're welcome! I'm so happy that you like the recipe! 🙂
Made as suggested for an upcoming backpacking trip and they turned out so yummy! Perfect texture. Someone suggested subbing aquafaba for the oil so I will try that and maybe play around with seasonings when I make this again…and I definitely will. So good! Thanks for the recipe.
I'm so happy that you liked the recipe, Shiela! 🙂
I did these using a very basic dehydrator (off, low, medium, high). I did tofu jerky at the same time. I plan my jerky making so I'm home all day. A little attention, some rearranging, some experience with knowing when it's done. Your soy curl jerky was very good. Thank you for blazing the trail.
I'm so happy that you liked the recipe, Tamara!
Hi Monica!
Guess i forgot to hit the Pots Comment, because i don't see my comment that i wrote yesterday haha!
This recipe look so good!
Can i skip the oven part and use my Excalibur dehydrator instead?
If so, what temperature should i set it?
After perfectly dehydrated, i could store the curls in a air tight container.
Thank's
You can make it in a dehydrator. You put it in the oven to essentially dehydrate it. I don't have an Excalibur dehydrator, so I'm not sure the temperature on your appliance that will work best, but I'm guessing about 200° F? Yes, you will want to store them in an air-tight container. Enjoy! 🙂
Is there a substitute for liquid smoke that I could use?
Melissa, You could use about 1/2 tsp of smoked paprika instead. It would still give the jerky a smokey flavor.
Hello,
How much grams or onces is 4 cups Butler Soy Curls (dry)?
Thanks a lot.
It is the size of an 8 oz bag of soy curls, so 1 bag will make 1 batch. (I buy them by the 12 lbs. box since my family goes through so many, so I measure them by the cup). Hope you enjoy them! 🙂
Thanks for posting how to make Vegan Jerky. Having a histamine intolerance, I'm told Soy, legumes, lentils and nuts aren't good for me. I'm at the stage where I have to find my histamine tolerance level. Hopefully I will be able to get Soy back into my diet. If I can't, I'll be forced to not be Vegan. 😛 I react to Quinoa. I want to try making Tofu Jerky. I'll have to make it mostly nightshade free, but can have fennel and garlic. I'm hoping that if I did green smoothies every day, that I can defeat the histamine intolerance so that I can tolerate more histamines as I am anaphylaxic to all poultry and meats, but not fish or eggs. I wanted to be Vegan ever since I found out that hamburger came from Cows at the age of 3!
Kytriya, I hope that you are able to figure out your health issues and are able to move to a vegan lifestyle! 🙂
these are soo good! and definitely won't last very long! I love how easy they are to make and now I have a post-workout snack. I'll definitely be making these again. Also, I was thinking that the crumbs and smaller pieces could be used like 'bacon' bits.
thanks for another awesome recipe!
Thanks Sarah! So happy that you like them! Yes, they do work great for bacon bits too. I actually have a recipe for bacon bits on my site too. 🙂 You can find it here https://thehiddenveggies.com/vegan-bacon-bits-gluten-free-dye-free/
Hi Sarah, I agree, these are so good! I use two bags of curls and pick out the bigger ones for the jerky. I usually save the bits for ground burger recipes but when I do my next batch, I'll make the whole bag and then use the bits for savory salad sprinkles. Great idea, thank you for the inspiration! Be good!
Can you use a dehydrator?
Yes, I'm sure that you can use a dehydrator. I haven't done it that way yet, so I can't give you the exact amount of time it would take. A dehydrator only heats at about 130° F, so I would guess that it would take about twice as long. Let me know if you try it! 🙂
I want to try this, can the oil be eliminated - make it low fat?
You can simply leave out the oil for a low-fat version, however, it will be a little crunchier, and not as chewy as regular jerky. (I like the crunchy texture though, so it's just up to your personal preference).
I replaced the oil with aquafaba, the water from canned garbanzo beans or white beans. It worked perfectly!
Great to hear! So glad that you liked it! 🙂
Thanks for this suggestion! Trying to avoid added oils. Will try this next time.
Excellent. I've made 3 batches so far and will be bringing some backpacking next week in the Grand Canyon. I've always wanted to make tofu jerky, but figured it would take forever to dry out. Brilliant solution using soy curls.
I'm so happy to hear this Ryan! Enjoy your trip! It doesn't get much better than backpacking in the Southwest! 🙂
These were AMAZING! I added a touch of maple syrup. Question, can one freeze them?
Thanks so much! I'm glad that you liked them! I have never frozen them, but I think that it would be fine to do so. Just squeeze out as much air as possible and make sure they are seal tightly. Enjoy 🙂
Thanks, I'm so happy that you liked them! Yes, you can freeze them, just be sure to seal them in an air tight container. I also keep them in the fridge for about a week. They usually don't last that long in my house though. Many times they don't make it off the cookie sheet in my house. 🙂
These things are awesome! I made them for lunches, but my family at the whole try before they even cooled! I'll have to start buying soy curls by the case! 🙂
Thanks Gabby! I'm so happy that your family loves them! 🙂
Sorry to hear that you didn't like the soy curls. My dogs do love them and this Jerky! 🙂 You can defiantly use the same recipe with tofu (but omit the water)and then bake it at about 300°F for about 1 1/2 hours. We make tofu jerky frequently as well and it is very good!
Hello Monica!
Can you please double check your recipe to make sure that the oven temperature is actually set at 225 degrees? I am only asking because in your narrative, 275 degrees is mentioned as the oven temperature to prepare the jerky.
Thanks,
Wayne
Oh wow, thanks for catching that! It should be at 225° F. I will fix the narrative to reflect the correct temperature. Thanks for letting me know.
WOW!!!!!! These are amazing. My family and I are very thankful for you and your yummy recipe.
Thanks so much Ianella! So glad that you like them! One of my family's favorite snacks!
So easy to make and tastes amazing!
Delicious!