1 bag frozen Chicken (tenders work best)

You will need a dehydrator for this recipe. I use a Nesco Professional Food & Jerky Dehydrator that I purchased off Amazon. It’s affordable and does the job great.

Start with a bag of frozen chicken. I prefer the “tenders” because it will mean less cutting on my part to get the size I’m going for. I usually let it thaw in the fridge overnight before I plan to prepare the dog treats. Some recipes say partially frozen chicken is easier to cut up but if you get tenders you won’t have a whole lot of cutting to do so you can let them completely thaw if desired.

Take out a cutting board and some kitchen shears and lay out the tenders. Cut off any excess fat and then flatten out the chicken pieces. You can cut them smaller but it really isn’t necessary unless you have really thick tenders. I shoot for no thicker than 3/4 inch, the thicker the pieces the longer it will take to dehydrate. Place the tenders on the dehydrator trays spaced out evenly to allow the air flow necessary to dehydrate the meat. I set my dehydrator to the Meat heat setting and then set it aside and forget about it.

I wait a minimum of 12 hours before checking the chicken and it’s usually still got more moisture to dehydrate. You want the jerky to snap when bent, not just flex. I will usually go for 18 hours to get that snap. It probably varies between different brands of dehydrators so check your instruction booklet for suggested times on poultry.

When they are done, simply take the pieces off the tray and place in an airtight container and refrigerate. If properly dehydrated they shouldn’t spoil when left out but to be safe I just keep them in the fridge. As far as how many servings you can get from one bag of frozen chicken… depends on how often you give them as treats and what size you cut them down to. I usually give 3 or 4 small pieces a day and one batch will last me at least 3 weeks.

Variations: You can break up the pieces after they are done to make them last longer as treats. I use kitchen shears to cut them into inch sized pieces.

You can also marinate the chicken to add more flavor but I’ve never had my dog turn away a “plain” chicken jerky.

I’ve also tried this with beef (the pre-cut “stir fry” strips) and it took much shorter time to dehydrate, less than 12 hours.

Submitted by: Jennifer