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
Save the hassle of making pemmican yourself and buy it online from Steadfast Provisions. Their bars are made with ingredients sourced from family-owned grass-fed beef ranches in Oregon, USA.
Use the coupon code PRIMALEDGEHEALTH for 5% off the entire order.
This is the ultimate nutrient-dense adventure or survival food, reliable anytime, anywhere.
- Great taste
- Shelf-stable, grass-fed ingredients
- Convenient portions
- Travel-friendly nutrient-dense food
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
Save the hassle of making pemmican yourself and buy it online from Steadfast Provisions. Their bars are made with ingredients sourced from family-owned grass-fed beef ranches in Oregon, USA.
Use the coupon code PRIMALEDGEHEALTH for 5% off the entire order.
This is the ultimate nutrient-dense adventure or survival food, reliable anytime, anywhere.
- Great taste
- Shelf-stable, grass-fed ingredients
- Convenient portions
- Travel-friendly nutrient-dense food
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 — two questions:
1) What exactly do you mean when you say “dry” ground meat…something you put through the dehydrator or similar?
2) Can one use (beef) suet for the tallow or does that mess anything up vs. general beef fat?
Hi Joe, In regards to your first question: “dry ground meat” is dry meat powder. I usually take fresh lean ground beef, dry it in the food dehydrator, and then grind it in a high-speed blender. The result is “dry ground meat”. I think you’re on the right track by considering suet. I render tallow from suet rather than fat scraps because it produces better quality fat.
Hello, I just fixed a roast in the crockpot and would like to know if all the liquid that came from the roast is Tallow? And could it be used as Tallow for making pemmican?
Thank you,
Scott
Hi Scott, I recommend 100% pure rendered tallow for pemmican because you avoid the risk of having liquid leftover in the tallow which will cause spoilage over time. Based on my experience with tallow from making roasts and bone broth, it does not preserve the pemmican the same way as traditionally rendered tallow.
Instead of rendered fat, would unrefined coconut oil work?
Hi Lori, coconut oil won’t work as well mainly because it’s so soft at room temperature. The result would be a spoonable paste, not a firm travel-friendly bar.
Do you cook the ground beef, drain the fat and then dry it? My ground beef is very fatty.
Hi Sabrina, I use lean ground beef and don’t cook it ahead of time. You might want to save fatty ground beef for cooking and make pemmican with lean meat instead.
This is great! Thanks for sharing. Just out of curiosity, could one use store bought jerky? Also, would adding oats be a good idea?
Yes, I’m sure you can use jerky. That would be a great short-cut 🙂 I haven’t tried adding oats before, but assuming they are dry (uncooked) I think it will preserve for a good amount of time still.
Hi, I’ve been making my own beef jerky. Thinking I could use the jerky and just grind it down. BUT, some of the peeps in my family like Teriyaki jerky. Guessing that should be avoided and just stick with the dry rubs or possibly the Worcestershire jerky… Thoughts?
p.s. Thanks for this. I’ve been wanting to make pemmican for quite some time!!
Hello Kathleen! I think if the jerky is preserved well and shelf stable then it should be fine to use in pemmican also. You can store your pemmican in the fridge and be sure to eat it in a timely fashion if you’re concerned about it spoiling over time. I’m ready to make another batch myself! Hope you enjoy 🙂
Hi Jessica and Tristan,
I am preparing pemmican for a thru hike of the Appalachian Trail. I usually use eye round which works great but am experimenting with ground beef. I used 95/5 ground beef and put in the dehydrator overnight for 16 hours. There was a lot of grease present on the outside which I wiped off with a paper towel. My question is.. do you think the presence of this grease will compromise the quality and/or longevity of the pemmican? I would like to hear you opinion on this. Thank you for all of the great work.
– Tom
Hello Tom! As long as there isn’t any water remaining in the food, it won’t spoil. I don’t think the grease would be an issue, but if you’re worried, use the eye round instead or a leaner ground beef instead. Hope you had a great hike!
Hi Jessica,
Apologies if you’ve already addressed this question. I am doing a six day trek in the Sahara next year and really struggle to find very low carb or ketogenic foods that are portable. I will have to carry all my food for the duration of the trek/race and obviously intense heat is the issue…….If I vacuum pack the pemmican do you think it will survive?
Many thanks, Liz
Hello Liz, YES, I absolutely think you have good odds here. The worst case is that it softens or melts, but then you just lick the wrapper 😉
What an interesting recipe! Just what I’ve been looking for. I have a dehydrator and can’t wait to trying your recipe 🙂
I’m following the Paleoketogenic diet (PKD) as advised by the Paleomedicina Nutritional Intervention Centre (Hungary) to heal my autoimmune issues. Their ratio of the fat/protein is strict: 2:1 which they calculate as 35g fat/100g RAW meat with the max amount of combined meat+fat of 400g per day. Any excess amounts often kick people out of ketosis. Nothing else can be consumed until the gut heals.
The dry meat amount confuses my understanding. My calculations are that for a finished 50g portion (25g fat in it) I’ll need to add extra 25g of fat. I wonder if you could confirm that my calculations of the fat/protein ratio in the final dry pemmican are correct. This could be of a great help for those who are also on the PKD diet and on a similar journey.
Hi Irina, you’re right! This is a really cool recipe! The calculations are confusing, I agree. If it helps, 6 pounds of raw meat gives me 1 pound of dry, ground meat. I hope this is useful food on your journey!
What is the texture like? Can you make them crunchy like the carnivore bar?
Hi Sarah, I’m not familiar with the texture of the carnivore bar. Pemmican is firm, but easy to bite into. Reduce the amount of tallow to just enough to bind the meat together. That will make it more crunchy.
I am thinking I’d try some as my dad used to talk about it from his days up north with the Hudson Bay Company.
It is the grinding of the meet that is going to be the hard part I guess, but you gloss over that. I know I grind spices in a pestle and mortar, but grinding dried meat in that will be very hard going I’d imagine
Even a blade in a food blender would be tough work…chop it maybe … or cheese grater attachment?
How do you do it ?
Wondering…, a mincer might work…. like you use to make minced meat for sausages/ burgers ….
What do you use !
Hi Neil! I blend the dry meat in a blender – it works every time 🙂
Hello Jessica,
Thank you for this post! I am definitely going to give it a try. I am curious whether you think it would be possible to use a beef protein powder in lieu of the powdered meat?
Thank you!
That’s a fascinating idea Sayre. I’d say, yes it’s totally ok, assuming you tolerate the protein powder well without cooking it. Most protein powders are just mixed with water, so if that’s how you are already using it, I’d think it would be fine. Make a small batch to test with first. Then let me know how it comes out!
Hi,
I will try making this for my son who is going on a camping expedition. Can I use lard, instead of tallow?
Thanks
I wouldn’t recommend lard, Maritza. They are very different consistencies at room temperature. I’m worried the lard wouldn’t hold together and you would end up with a big mess.
Hi! Great info! Love seeing your videos, too! : )
I have enjoyed making Pemmican, but need advice on storing it—
1) how to store it long-term? I do not have a basement and live in the south (most people seem to suggest using a Foodsaver- vacuum sealer in bags), and
2) how to bring it with you on hikes/trips, etc? Maybe in ziploc bags/plastic containers, etc? Seems they’d melt, right?
Please advise- thanks!
Thank you for the kind words Suzanne! To store it, I keep it in an airtight container in the pantry. I’ve never had a batch go bad on me. After reading more on the history of pemmican, I understand that early American trappers favored it so much because it could even get wet and then still be good (think of a river expedition, a bag goes over but is later saved and consumed). I live in an arid environment, if you are swampy or somewhere with a lot of humidity, you may want to vacuum seal it. It might take some experimenting to find out what works best for you. Depending on what the activity is, I either put it in ziploc bags or in a container. Usually, I used a bag for short trips and a container for long-term travel and air travel. Tallow is a very firm fat, it’s never melted from the heat for me. Nor have I heard of this being a problem for anyone else.
How dry does the beef need to be? I’m using ground beef and it’s been in the oven the whole day so far….
It’s probably dry by now 🙂 The meat should snap apart like a cracker not bend or have any flex to it.
Just a question on the ratios you start with. Are you supposed to have 1 pound of raw ground beef or 6 pounds, to get down to the 1 pound of dried meat ? Also does the ground beef need to be very lean? I usually buy 85/15 from a local farm but wasn’t sure if this was to much fat to dry in oven. Look forward to trying this recipe. Thanks for your hard work and making this website available
Hi Griffin! To be clear, you begin with 6 pounds of RAW meat which will dry down to 1 pound dry meat. I think 85% ground beef would be fine. I’ve never had problems with using that option before. If you a leaner ground is cheaper, you can go for that since you will be adding fat to the recipe.