If you’re a lover of savory, flavorsome, and chewy snacks like us, you’re going to love jerky snacks! Jerky is an incredibly popular snack because it’s compact, making it easy to carry around and is fabulously healthy.
Jerky such as pork jerky, chicken jerky, and turkey jerky are flavorsome healthy snacks that provide your body with nutritious content including protein and calcium. Jerky is a healthier alternative than other popular snacks like protein bars or yogurt because jerky contains significantly less sugar content compared to other snacks.
Not all jerky are created equal, certain types of jerky are healthier than other groups of jerky because they are more plentiful in protein, calcium, or other nutritious elements while maintaining low levels of cholesterol, sugar, and other elements that aren’t beneficial to your body. In addition, different jerky production processes influence the nutrition level and flavor of jerky. To learn more about how different types of jerky differ in nutrition and taste, explore our blog below!
Is jerky a healthy snack?
Absolutely! Jerky is impressively healthy because it offers an abundance of nutrition such as protein, fiber, and vitamin. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, every ounce (28 grams) of beef jerky also provides similar nutrition.
Other types of jerky such as pork jerky is also highly nutritious. Pork jerky is also abundant in energy, protein, sugars, iron, amongst other fantastic nutritional elements! Turkey jerky also delivers similar amounts of nutrition. Every 1 ounce or 28grams of turkey jerky gives you an abundance of protein, lipid fat (good fat), and iron.
Jerky snacks are comparably more nutritious than other snacks such as chips or candy bars because the jerky provides nutrients including protein and iron. For example, potato chips are higher in calories and less in nutrition, making these snacks culprits for our increased waistlines. Argh!
While jerky does provide nutritional benefits, it’s recommended to eat it in moderation because of jerky’s sodium level. Excessive sodium intake harms several aspects of a person’s health including heart health and blood pressure and increases a person’s chance of stroke risk.
How is jerky made?
With our bare, Hercules hands! Just kidding! Traditionally, jerky is produced from thin strips of meat (beef, pork, lamb, venison, poultry) or formed meat. The steps we take to produce our healthy, impeccable jerky are:
Step 1: Prepare the Meat
Debone, wash, treat, and slice select, high quality, pork, chicken, or turkey jerky meat into squares. The jerky meat is made in the USA and contains no additive hormones. The jerky meat is also antibiotic-free.
Step 2: Produce Ground Meat
Once the high quality jerky meat has been treated and prepared, the jerky meat is placed in a meat grinder.
Step 3: Produce Thin-Layered and Long Meat Patties
The meat grinder grinds the meat to produce ground meat and flattens the ground meat into batches of thin-layered jerky meat.
Step 4: Store the Thin-Layered Patties in the Freezer
Once batches of thin-layered jerky meat are produced, the batches of jerky meat are stored in a sub-zero commercial freezer for 24 to 48 hours.
Step 5: Apply Flavorsome BBQ Sauce on the Patties
The jerky meat is taken out from the freezer after 24 to 48 hours and is applied with our famous BBQ sauces like the Carolina Honeys BBQ sauce or original BBQ sauce.
Step 6: Flame-Grill the Meat Patties
Once the jerky meat has been coated with our scrumptious BBQ sauces, the jerky meat is flame-grilled. The flame grilling process is what makes Tony Roma’s BBQ jerky impeccable and incredibly unique compared to other jerky producers. By coating the jerky meat with our unrivalled BBQ sauces and then flame grilling the jerky meat, the jerky meat is immersed with unbelievably wholesome BBQ flavors. The jerky is rich and has an authentic BBQ taste in every bite.
Step 7: Packaging
Each jerky meat is packaged individually in a vacuum-sealed bag to remove all oxidation and avoid spoilage.
Check out our video of our entire jerky-producing process!
What is the healthiest type of jerky?
We don’t like to boast but pork jerky, chicken jerky, and turkey jerky are the healthiest because they’re lower in calories, cholesterol, sodium, and fat compared to other jerky types like beef jerky or buffalo jerky.
Here’s a comparison between 1 serving (1 ounce or 28 grams) of turkey jerky compared to 1 ounce of salmon jerky.
| Nutrition | Turkey Jerky | Salmon Jerky |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 80 | 90 |
| Cholesterol | 35 mg | 35 mg |
| Fat | 1g | 2.5g |
| Sodium | 270 mg | 720 mg |
| Protein | 7g | 15g |
Is turkey jerky healthier than beef jerky?
Again, we don’t want to boast but turkey jerky is definitely healthier than beef jerky because it provides you with the same amount of nutrition per serving (1 ounce) but significantly less sodium and fat.
Here’s a comparison between 1 serving (1 ounce or 28 grams) of turkey jerky compared to 1 ounce of beef jerky.
| Nutrition | Turkey Jerky | Salmon Jerky |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 70 | 116 |
| Cholesterol | 35 mg | 48 mg |
| Fat | 0g | 7.3g |
| Sodium | 270 mg | 506 mg |
| Protein | 7g | 9g |
| Potassium | 160 mg | 160 mg |
If you’re looking for a healthy snack that’s low in calories and sodium, go with turkey jerky!
Jerky snacks such as turkey jerky, pork jerky, chicken jerky are popular healthy snacks that many Americans enjoy. Jerky snacks and full of nutrition, compact, and incredibly easy-to-eat. In addition, they’re fantastically easy to purchase. To buy healthy jerky snacks, simply visit our online jerky store, and you can buy our famous Tony Roma’s Original BBQ Pork Jerky Bites, Tony Roma’s Carolina Honeys BBQ Pork Jerky Bites, Tony Roma’s Buffalo BBQ Chicken Jerky Bites, and Tony Roma’s Golden Serrano BBQ Turkey Jerky Bites! Once you’ve ordered your favorite healthy jerky snack, sit back and wait for the jerky snack to arrive at your doorstep!