The joys of the best beef jerky hardly need repeating — salty, chewy, beefy goodness in a size anatomically perfect for snacking. The platonic ideal of a road trip bite hardly needs anyone’s praise, but more sub-par takes on jerky have muddied the waters. Excess is the primary offender, typically, whether that means too much salt, too much pepper, too much sugar or all of the above. These things obscure not only the taste of jerky, they dull its natural health positives as well — lots of protein and zinc, low in fat and carbohydrates, respectively.
Though a fool’s errand, we set out to identify — through eating, comparing, arguing and overanalyzing — a collection of beef jerkies that were actually worth picking up. From scores of brands and bags at the start, these five remain the best beef jerky you can buy today.
People’s Choice Orange Honey Teriyaki
Operating since 1929, People’s Choice out of Los Angeles makes absurdly good and cheap jerky. Thought its classic line of jerkies are great themselves, the Tasting Kitchen small-batch series takes the cake. Along with the other flavors in this line, the orange honey teriyaki variety is the antithesis to much of the garbage peddled at gas stations — it tastes like actual beef, it’s got just enough fat streaking through it and it delivers on its advertised flavors. The first bite is bright with orange zest, followed by a deep, rich soy and teriyaki flavor.
