The Mouthwatering-Guide To Vegan Jerky

The concept of vegan jerky might sound a little odd, but trust us – it makes for a delicious plant-based treat. Now, that’s something to chew on.

What is vegan jerky 

Jerky is historically a technique of meat preservation practised by native South American tribe, Quechua, in the 1500s to stop food spoiling over long periods of time. The idea of cooking something at low temperatures for long stretches of time in order to dry it out and lock in flavour can be applied to many foods that are vegan-friendly, just look at this post on dehydrating foods.

Vegan jerky from the shelves

Here’s a selection of our favourite plant-based jerky you can buy that will power you through your afternoon:

This selection of vegan jerkies from Plantiful is the perfect snack to keep in your bag for a post-workout or even post-meeting hunger pang – we love the rich, smoky flavours from their BBQ mushroom bag.

Photo credits: Plantiful

If you love deep, umami tastes then King’s black bean sauce flavoured veggie jerky will be the hero of your snacking dreams.

Photo credits: Kings

Something a little more unexpected is this range of fruit-jerkies from Snact that’s entirely made from surplus ‘ugly’ fruit – we’re borderline obsessed with the apple and mango flavour.

Photo credits: Snact

Homemade vegan jerky   

This is a filling snack that’s entirely achievable to recreate at home with minimal effort – which leaves all the more time for chewing! One of the most common ways to make vegan jerky is by using mushrooms, leaving us to question… is there anything mushrooms can’t do?

Mushroom jerky recipes

This slow-roasted mushroom jerky recipe from Food 52 is not only perfect for snacking but is also a great addition to wraps, or chopped up and tossed on top of your next tofu scramble.

Photo credits: Food 52

The use of Shiitake mushrooms in this vegan jerky recipe from Mushroom Council adds so much extra texture to each bite. 

Photo credits: Mushroom Council

We love chewing on the long strips of portobello mushrooms in this vegan jerky recipe from Drop Recipes – they’ll easily take you through to your next meal.