Pemmican Recipe
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This traditional
It is one of my easy keto recipes that is a long-lasting option for backpacking, hiking, camping and other forms of travel because it won’t spoil, smush or spill. It is also part of my collection of 100% zero carb carnivore diet recipes!
Table of Contents (click to view)
How to Make Pemmican
Simply put, you make
The final combination is long-lasting, nonperishable food.
Traditionally, Native Americans and American fur traders sun-dried the meat and pounded it into a fine powder. Fortunately for us, a blender or food processor can do the job to the same extent but with much less effort on our part.
Ingredients for Pemmican
It doesn’t take much for a good batch of
- Meat, dried and ground
- Salt
- Optional herbs and spices
- Tallow (render beef tallow at home or buy online)
Beef meat and beef tallow are the most common choices, but elk, venison, bison, lamb, and mutton are other options.
I have another recipe that adds organ meat to pemmican for a nutritional boost.
Instructions for Pemmican
Measure equal parts of meat and fat by weight. We will use 454 g (1 pound) each of meat and tallow in this recipe.
Begin to melt the tallow in an oven-safe container or double boiler over medium-low heat.
Combine the meat, salt, and optional herbs and spices in a bowl.
Check the tallow is not too hot before pouring over the dry material. Combine well.
There should be just enough tallow to moisten all the meat but not make puddles. If the mixture is too crumbly, add more tallow.
Transfer into an 8×8-inch baking dish to set. Then, score into squares and store in an airtight container.
Rolling the mixture in your hands like a meatball and forming small balls is possible.
Silicon chocolate or soap molds and standard or mini muffin-size pans are also useful for forming uniform-shaped pieces.
Would you prefer to purchase
Make Pemmican with Ground Beef
Ground beef is always in my freezer because I make a lot of carnivore ground beef recipes. I also like using it for
You probably have never had to think about how to make dry, ground meat before. It is understandingly perplexing.
I approach this by taking ground beef and drying it in a food dehydrator.
If you don’t have a dehydrator, dry the meat in an oven. Arrange the meat in an even layer on a cookie sheet and dry at the lowest temperature (155°F / 70°C). Once the top is dry to the touch, flip over to expose the second side.
Tips for drying meat
Ground beef is a suitable choice for
- Six pounds of fresh meat makes one pound of dry meat powder.
- Use raw meat. Nothing is cooked before drying.
- Powderize with a blender, food processor, or mortar and pestle.
If you choose sirloin or something similar, cut it into thin slices and dry it in a food dehydrator or oven.
The meat dries in about 12 hours in a food dehydrator, flipping once halfway through the time. Oven-dried meat will take less time, about 2 hours per side. Keep an eye on it and adjust as needed.
Is pemmican keto?
Pemmican is approved for the keto diet. It is a low-carb, high-fat food. Each serving is 50% tallow and 50% meat by weight.
Pemmican will last indefinitely if made correctly. Tallow is shelf-stable at room temperature. There is no risk of spoilage because all water content is removed from the fat and meat. This is an excellent survival food and for backpacking trips, as well as hiking and camping. Pack it in your bag with the best water bottle and you’ll be good to go.
Pemmican macros
This recipe can be divided into 8, 16, or 32 servings, depending on what is most helpful for you.
With 16 servings, each piece is 50 grams.
There are 388 calories per piece, with 28 g of fat and 34 g of protein. This is almost a 1:1 ratio of fat to protein.
Carbs are negligible here, coming only from the small amount of added herbs and spices.
If you desire more fat, increase the ratio accordingly. Once the meat reaches its saturation point, the tallow will settle on the top of the
Carnivore pemmican recipe
Make a zero fiber, zero carb
Follow the same recipe below, but don’t add any herbs or spice seasonings.
Take a flip through The
How do you make pemmican taste good?
The value of adding optional herbs and spices is to allow for a variety of flavors and enhance the taste and texture. All types of seasoning blends work well in
I favor Mesquite Seasoning because it is a robust combination of paprika, onion, garlic, cumin, mesquite, chili pepper, and other flavors. Herbs De Provence is another favorite of mine.
Any seasoning that pairs well with meat will make the
Some blends to try are
- Mesquite Seasoning
- Herbs de Provence
- Garlic or Lemon Pepper
- Cajun Seasoning
- Italian Seasoning
- Grilling Herbs
- Mexican Seasoning
You can find all these and more at my favorite place for organic herbs, teas, and essential oils, Mountain Rose Herbs. Read my Mountain Rose Herbs review of their product, quality control, and sustainable business practices to learn why I highly recommend them.
Dried fruit and honey are sometimes used to sweeten
Pemmican Recipe
Ingredients
- 454 grams dry, ground meat
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 tablespoons herbs and spices optional
- 454 grams beef tallow melted
Instructions
- Melt the tallow in an oven-safe container or double boiler over medium-low heat. At 350 °F/175° C, it takes about 10 minutes in the oven454 grams beef tallow
- Combine the meat, salt, and optional herbs and spices in a bowl.454 grams dry, ground meat, 1 tablespoon salt, 2 tablespoons herbs and spices
- Once the tallow is melted, but not too hot, pour over the dry material and combine well. There should be just enough tallow to moisten all the meat but not make puddles. If the fat does not completely incorporate the dry meat, add a little more. Mix well.
- Transfer into an 8×8-inch baking dish to set. Then score into squares and store in an airtight container.
Notes
Nutrition & Macros
To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in a given recipe, please calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients and amounts used, using your preferred nutrition calculator. Under no circumstances shall the this website and the author be responsible for any loss or damage resulting for your reliance on the given nutritional information.
Recommended Products
As featured in 12 Pemmican Recipes: Legendary Keto Survival Food
Check out Healthy Snack Recipes for Weight Loss for more keto-friendly snack recipes.
Hi, Jessica, I made this recipe, thanks!
I found this to be way too much work for a prepper food. I see this more of a way to extend the shelf life of fresh meat during/after the apocalypse. And I wouldn’t even do that, but just make jerky and mix the tallow/fat into grains or the with beans.
Face it, if I’m on the run after the bombs drop, I’d rather have a gallon of dried beans, than seven pounds of pemmican. The beans will feed me for a whole month, while the pemmican is going to only feed me for a week. Also, seven lbs. of pemmican would cost ME >$140US to make, while the seven lbs. of beans cost only $8.50.
Several studies are published as far back as the 1920’s that show short term (years) high carbohydrate diets are OK for humans, especially if you happen upon the occasional rabbit or fish or squirrel; ‘found’ as the cowboys used to say.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Betty. Definitely good to keep options in mind and choose what is best for you.
Would bacon grease work for this as well? I eat a ton of bacon so its in plenty of supply
Hi Bruce, bacon grease would work in the sense that you can preserve dried meat in it. But it wouldn’t work for forming the same structure and texture. Adding lard or bacon grease instead of tallow will result in a spread, not a block. You’ll need to keep it in a jar or container instead of cutting into pieces.
Check out the ‘Townsends’ yt channel, specifically for ‘potted meat’…..
These days, I always put lots of meat fat in soups and stews. When cooled the pot forms a grease crust (potted) and is safe for at least a week at room temp. We grew up with always having a pot of soup on the stove for snacks. Now I just leave the pot on the stove 24/7 until done, because it’s safe, even overnight and in Summer…..
Your bacon fat solidifies at a colder temp than the beef, so it may work well during the colder months?
Hello, Betty. Your method for preserving soups and stews with meat fat is intriguing. Thanks for sharing it with us.
So you cook your ground beef before dehydration
Hi Kerry, No, the beef is not cooked before dehydrating.
I have made this twice. It’s excellent. However my challenge is it will not stay in a solid “Bar” form. It gets too soft at room temp for trail use. Thoughts on reducing fat content. I have tried it with rendered beef suet and also straight rendered lard one buys from the store.
Hi Dave, I’m really surprised you’re having this problem. Even after making pemmican countless times, I haven’t had a problem with it being too runny. Are you sure your proportions are correct? Are you using a 1:1 ratio of ground dry meat to fat BY WEIGHT? Is the tallow you use firm at room temperature? If it’s not, that could be why. In that case, use a different type. I’m very interested in hearing more. This is quite a puzzle.
I like to dehydrate fried burger which makes a nice crunchy snack. I think it would work well to make pemmican and the hamburger grease could be used as part of the tallow requirement (as long as all of the juices have been cooked out). Just a thought!
How very clever Jan! This is a new concept for me, and it sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing.