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Homemade Pemmican Recipe (with Organ Meat)

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This Homemade Pemmican Recipe always goes in my bag when we go camping, traveling, and on long hikes. It is the ideal food for taking on the go outdoors because itโ€™s lightweight, nutrient-dense, and doesnโ€™t need to be refrigerated. Plus, itโ€™s easy to make pemmican at home!

These protein bars are a satiating mix of protein and fat, making them a great option for anyone on a keto diet or carnivore diet. Adding hidden organ meats takes the nutritional quality to the next level. There are many easy keto recipes and savory carnivore diet recipes in which you can add hidden beef liver or beef heart.

Homemade pemmican recipe. Long-term survival food by Primal Edge Health.

What is Pemmican Made Of?

Pemmican is the combination of dry, ground lean meat and animal fat. Most people make pemmican with beef and beef tallow. Game meat like elk, moose, or venison and corresponding animal fat can also be used. Sometimes, dry berries or honey are added.

Webster‘s Third New International Dictionary, 1967, defines pemmican as

A concentrated food used by North American Indians consisting essentially of lean buffalo meat or venison cut in thin slices, dried in the sun, pounded fine, mixed with melted fat, and packed in sacks of hide.

The technique of combining meat with fat is a Native American food preservation method. Traditional pemmican would typically be made with bison. Tribes would fill 100-pound sacks made of the hide and have ample food stores for a very long time. Each sack was referred to as a โ€œpieceโ€ of pemmican.

History tells us that adding dry berries to the meat and fat became popular during the American fur trade. Pemmican was an important item of trade for European trappers, and overall, they seemed to prefer the food with fruit mixed in for more flavor and sweetness.

Honey may be added in also. Our children love this version! Honey is also a preservative, so thereโ€™s no risk of spoilage. I usually add a few heaping spoonfuls of honey, up to one-third of a cup, to the meat and fat mixture. Taste it as you go and stop when itโ€™s sweet enough for you.

I always add salt to my homemade pemmican recipe for flavor and electrolytes.

Long term storable survival food collage of three recipes.

Is Pemmican Healthy?

Homemade pemmican is free of preservatives, fillers, artificial flavors, and food dye. Itโ€™s a simple combination of whole foods without any extra food-like ingredients.

Often called โ€œthe bread of the wilderness,โ€ pemmican is a healthy high-energy, high-protein, emergency and trail ration that can sustain diverse peoples in any environment.

If you are interested in learning more about this historically important food, the wars fought over it, and how it was traditionally used in daily life, Vilhjalmur Stefansson wrote Not By Bread Alone, which contains a fascinating account of the pemmican trade and subsequent pemmican wars occurring at the height of the North American fur trade.

We include this book in our recommended reading list.

On the utility and function of pemmican, Stefansson states:

[Pemmican] was a travel food, and journeys were usually made in summer. Its most impressive record as the exclusive diet, or nearly so, of large numbers of men for long periods is from transportation crews of the fur trade working twelve to eighteen hours a day and straight through the noon period with its scorching or steaming heat.
The extreme supporters of pemmican recommend it as the most concentrated food known to man or possible within modern concepts of physiological and chemical science. They say that is is a complete food in the sense that it will keep a hard-working man in top form for any length of time in any climate. They maintain, indeed, that it is the only concentrated food whichever has been tried out by large numbers of men for long periods.

Not by Bread Alone

On April 28, 1947, Dr. L. L. Savage of the University of Chicago started a 40-day trial of an all-pemmican diet. Two months after the study was initiated, he concludes:

Pemmican came as close as any to the ultimate ideal of a concentrated โ€œpill” diet. He never felt any need for additional salt and he never felt any distaste for pemmican. He did note that smaller and smaller amounts satisfied his hunger as the experiment progressed. He lost 24 lb. of body-weight from his original weight of 214 lb. during the 40-day trial.

Pemmican
E. F. BInkerd, O. E. KOlari AND C. TRACY
Armour Food Company

Why add Organ Meat?

The great thing about a homemade pemmican recipe is that you can customize it exactly how you want to. Adding organ meats to the meat is something I started doing years ago and continue doing to this day.

Organ meat recipes have been a fundamental part of my familyโ€™s diet because there are many health benefits of organ meat, they are very affordable, and we donโ€™t want any part to go to waste.

Plus, pemmican and organ meat are so nutritionally dense that they are amazing food sources for the whole household, even the family dog! In fact, this recipe is one of the first ways I introduced organ meats to my dog, and she loved it on the first try.

After learning about the health benefits of liver and experiencing how good it makes me feel, I add it to many different recipes.

These are just a few recipes with hidden liver to get you started:

For personal use, I make pemmican by mixing both the heart and liver with the meat. 

Liver is much easier to dry and grind into a fine powder. Heart has a great flavor but does not grind up as smoothly, producing a more noticeably crunchy texture in the finished bar. 

In the recipe below, I only include liver in the ingredient list, but if you want to add heart also there is a note on how to do so.

Easy pemmican recipe in a green molder.

How to Make a Homemade Pemmican Recipe

If you prefer to make pemmican without organ meats, follow my traditional pemmican recipe instead.

Pemmican is a very adaptable recipe and easy to make in any amount.

Follow a 1:1 ratio of dry meat to fat by weight. You can fill any mold or roll balls by hand.

Measure the meat; measure an equal amount of tallow. Put the meat in a bowl and add salt.

If you want to use herbs and spices, I highly recommend Mesquite Seasoning by Mountain Rose Herbs. Itโ€™s my all-time favorite for pemmican.

Combine all ingredients together. Working quickly, before the tallow solidifies, transfer the mixture to an 8×8-inch baking dish or other container and fill evenly. Score into individual pieces once firm.

Would you prefer to purchase pemmican before making it? We affiliate withย brands that value quality raised animals and highly recommend their products.

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Homemade pemmican in a bowl.

How to Dry Meat in a Dehydrator or Oven

Use a food dehydrator on the meat setting at 155ยฐF (68ยฐC) or dry in the oven at the lowest setting. Either way, spread the meat as flat and thin as possible.

Six pounds of raw meat makes one pound of dry meat powder.

Once the top is fully dry, flip it over and continue until the entire piece has no moisture. When in doubt, dry longer. Since we grind the meat up anyway, there is no harm in making it brittle, although you donโ€™t want to cook it.

Working with lean ground beef and ground liver is extremely easy. As an alternative, thinly slice a lean cut of meat and liver instead. Spread the material flat on a tray or baking sheet.

It will take a few hours for the meat to dry. Once done, break it into smaller pieces and grind into a fine powder in a blender. You can use any ratio of liver to meat you like. I tend to do either 50/50 or 25/75 liver to meat.

How to Store Pemmican

Other than being properly prepared and kept in an airtight container, pemmican requires no special storage. It may be safely kept at room temperature for many years.

The US Army used pemmican as an MRE from the late 19th century until World War II. Some of the original units still remain. A US Army emergency ration from 1906 is tested on video and found to be a well-preserved storable food that lasts the test of time.

I keep pemmican on the shelf in my pantry as part of our keto emergency food stash. Both store-bought pemmican and homemade pemmican are remarkably compact, shelf-stable, and may be eaten with or without further preparation.

It is possible to add pemmican in hot bone broth for something like a soup. You can also fry it in tallow or bacon fat. I often make a quick prep pemmican meal with steamed vegetables, sauerkraut, and avocado. Itโ€™s very easy to put together and has minimal clean up after.

A woman and a man hiking in the woods.

The Best Keto Camping Food

Pemmican is ideal for traveling, camping, hiking, and backpacking. This is a nutritionally complete food that will not melt, spill, or make a mess while out on the go. Pemmican doesnโ€™t spoil or smell. Itโ€™s also lightweight!

Treated like a protein bar, this is also a great food to take out with children at an amusement park, nature park, or just on errands. Our children like it mixed with avocado or topped with cream cheese. Both ingredients are portable and easy to bring into your bag. Slice an avocado open, crumble the pemmican into the hole where the pit was and mix it up on the spot.

If you can think of a better food than this, leave your suggestion in the comments.

A list of keto-friendly camping foods usually includes canned fish, boiled eggs, salami or dry sausage, aged cheeses, and nuts or seeds.

More Delicious Homemade Keto Camping Recipes

Pack some of these foods next time you head out to the great outdoors and you’ll never miss the carbs!

  • Low-carb trail mix with cranberries, nuts, and coconut. There are 10 g of protein per serving!
  • Homemade keto granola made not one but four different ways. I would first go for the chocolate peanut butter combo, although Almond Joy is a close second.
  • Copycat Keto Cracker Jacks will surely be a win for the children, too. If youโ€™re a pecan fan, youโ€™ll love this recipe.
  • Keto Seed Crackers are a dairy-free, grain-free, egg-free keto camping snack. These would be great with canned salmon and cucumber slices on top!
  • Easy Low Carb Granola Bars, another great grain-free alternative made with nuts, seeds, coconut, and a tasty combination of cinnamon, vanilla, and almond butter for flavor. Bake them in the oven, and youโ€™ll be ready to go.
  • Keto Avocado Chips are a nut-free option to pack. The cumin and chili powder give a fun kick and recreate a healthy version of nacho cheese-flavored chips.
Huskies pulling a sled through the snowy landscape.

Pemmican Recipe for Dogs

Not only was pemmican eaten by fur traders and Arctic explorers, but their dogs ate it also.

The paper “The Physiology of Sledge Dogs” by R. J. F. Taylor, 1956, tells us dog pemmican has been the basis of sledding rations for dogs since it was first tested by H. G. Watkins in 1930. Made slightly differently than pemmican for man, dog pemmican is 2:1 ratio protein to fat.

Beef was a very expensive food source to use in the Arctic, so many expeditions chose to feed the more economical options of whale pemmican. There were no significant differences found between the effects of feed.

Whale pemmican might not be the option for you, nevertheless, pemmican is a viable food source for dogs if you choose.

Pemmican is recommended by CSJ K9 for hard-working dogs, stressed show dogs, and can help build up underweight dogs as well as for gundogs, agility dogs, sled dogs, and rescue dogs.

This is not the first time Iโ€™ve wondered if our dogs eat human food or we eat dog food.

Pemmican with hidden liver organ meats in a white bowl.
Easy homemade pemmican recipe squares on the table.

Homemade Pemmican Recipe (Optional Organ Meats)

Homemade Pemmican should always be in your camping, hiking adn travel bag. It is the ideal food for taking on the go because itโ€™s lightweight, nutrient-dense, and doesnโ€™t need to be refrigerated!
4.98 from 34 votes
Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Course Snacks
Cuisine Traditional
Servings 16 pieces
Calories 411 kcal

Ingredients
 
 

Instructions
 

  • Combine the dry meat, liver, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Add optional herbs and spices, mix well.
    300 grams dry, ground, lean meat, 100 grams dry, ground, beef liver, 1 tablespoon salt, 2 tablespoons herbs and spices
  • Melt tallow in a double boiler over medium heat.
    400 grams beef tallow
  • Pour over the dry ingredients. Stir well until thoroughly combined. Break apart all clumps. Tallow should fully incorporate into the meat. If still crumbly, add more melted fat.
  • Spread the mixture evenly in an 8×8-inch baking dish and leave to harden at room temperature or place in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes. Once firm, score into squares. Alternatively, you can roll the โ€œdoughโ€ into balls with your hands.
  • Store pemmican in an airtight container in the pantry. If made correctly, it is shelf-stable and will never spoil. You may also store it in the refrigerator if that makes you more comfortable.

Notes

Use any type of liver (beef, sheep, goat, etc) in combination with any meat (beef, bison, lamb, etc).
To add heart, adjust to 200 g dry, ground meat, 100 g dry, ground heart, and 100 g dry ground liver.
To make pemmican without liver, follow my Traditional Pemmican Recipe instead.
I highly recommend Mesquite Seasoning by Mountain Rose Herbs. Itโ€™s my all-time favorite for pemmican.

Nutrition & Macros

Serving: 50gCalories: 411kcalCarbohydrates: 2gProtein: 36gFat: 28gSaturated Fat: 16gSodium: 728mgNet Carbohydrates: 2g

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.

Tried this recipe?Please leave a review and share with me!

Featured in 12 Pemmican Recipes: Legendary Keto Survival Food

Originally published August 28, 2015. Updated July 15, 2020 with more details and images.

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59 Comments

  1. I love this recipe however….I’d like some advice about how people are grinding their dried meat. I was able to roughly grind the ground beef in my Cuisinart but not the dried liver. And it was totally dried and crunchy. I ended up starting the process in a coffee grinder until I could borrow a friend’s Vitamix. So it was pretty labor intensive. What are ya’ll using for a grinder? Also, I had another thought which was to blend the ground beef and liver into a puree, spread out until rather thin and then dry that – then grind in the Cuisinart. Thanks!

    1. Hi Michelle, I follow your last point about starting with ground meat and then drying that. This is what I recommend as a first choice in the post text above. I have the best results with grinding it fresh (I buy it ground) and then drying it. Once it’s dry I break it into smaller pieces and blend in a high power blender. I use a Blend-Tec blender which is comparable to a Vitamix. I hope this strategy helps you! It is undoubtedly a labor intensive recipe, especially when you have to render the tallow first. However, I find it yields a large batch that lasts a while, even for my whole family.

    1. Correct, just dehydrated. If you’re concerned about that, I suggest freezing the liver first for 14 days. This will kill any possible parasites. Then, thaw and use it in the recipe.

  2. I really like the idea of liver in the pemmican, and have attempted to dry it in a convexion oven on Dehydrate, 150 degree F. for about 5 hours. It was like leather, but would not crumble in the blender. Should I continue to dry, spreading the sticky meat thin? Help!
    Rendered some beef fat in slow cooker, came out great, smells great.

    1. If this happens again, I suggest flipping the liver half way through cooking time and allowing the second side to dry. You should continue until the meat breaks firmly apart.

  3. Hi, I made this last night but it won’t stay solid. Just wants to melt everywhere. I weighed the ingredients as I made so I know it was 1:1 meats to tallow w some honey. How do I dry the fat out some?

    1. This is very strange to me because tallow naturally solidifies at room temperature. Even if you add too much or too little, the fat will still solidify. Are you in a very warm environment? Was the pemmican kept next to the stove or anything that gives off heat?

  4. Is there a problem, flavor wise, or storage wise using lard rather than tallow? I am very new to this and very curious. I use lard for some recipes, but I noticed that you don’t mention pork meat. Is there a reason? Or just preference?

    1. Hi Riky, I don’t suggest lard over tallow specifically because the lard is soft at room temperate and will not solidify into a firm bar shape. I hope that clears up your question! Thanks for stopping by ๐Ÿ™‚

      1. I searched locally for tallow and couldn’t find anything. I purchased grass-fed beef fat trimmings and followed the directions. It turned out beautiful, smells wonderful and tastes delicious in my pemmican. But it will only stay firm if I refrigerate it. My jar of tallow is like butter on a warm day, soft and will slide if I tilt it. (I’ve never trusted the lard to leave it out.) If the tallow doesn’t stay firm, I probably should refrigerate it also.
        I am taking a trip soon and wanted to use it as snack bars and /or emergency food if absolutely necessary. It won’t travel well as is. I will try again. Any suggestions beyond, store bought tallow?
        I love the videos of the family on your website.

      2. Hearing about semisolid tallow is strange to me because I’ve never experienced that. Do you live somewhere very warm? Popping it in the fridge until solid and then brining it back out might do the trick. Maybe the tallow needs a kickstart to firm up. I’m sorry not to have a better answer.

      3. 5 stars
        It might be better to use suet, as the fat that surrounds the kidneys and organs are a bit more solid and is purer. The suet fat once rendered will harden better than the trimmings of fat. Maybe find a local butcher shop or local farmer to see about buying a large amount of suet.

        Great recipe! I wanted to learn the best ratio for incorporating organ meat. Thanks, Jessica!

  5. 5 stars
    Hi Jessica, Great information! Thanks for sharing. I am curious, have you found that organ meats are good for long term food storage? Do you ever make pemmican purely out of organ meats, or is it recommended to have a mixture of muscle and organs? Between muscle and organs, which one is more shelf stable from your experience?

    1. Hi Xiao, I haven’t noticed a difference between organ meat and muscle meat for long-term storage. However, there are variables of taste, texture, and fat:protein to consider. For me, I prefer a combination as you see in this recipe rather than pure organ meat. Hope this helps!

    1. Hi Winfield, I wouldn’t recommend that. Tallow is a shelf-stable fat, while butter is not. Furthermore, tallow is solid at room temperature, while butter is soft. You finished recipe will be very different between the two fats.

  6. I only have one problem with your recipe. You need to find a way to make a link that will allow printing the whole article for those who need to have All the directions and pictures available. I don’t save the recipes and directions for myself because I can read the recipe and figure out what to do but my daughters and son need the the whole article so that they can figure out what to do.,

    1. I suggest sharing a link with your family and recommending they bookmark it to refer back to later once preparing. Your browser should have a print function located under File > Print. This will allow you to print the entire post and pictures with ease. I hope that helps!

4.98 from 34 votes (18 ratings without comment)

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