Best Salmon Jerky (Including Teriyaki!)

After tasting eight different types of salmon jerky and a few flavors of tuna jerky, I now understand why fish jerky isn’t super prevalent—outside of Alaska at least. Most of it is very fishy. And that’s coming from someone who happily scarfs down a whole can of sardines with little care for the feelings of the general public. Most salmon jerky tastes like a stick of fish food. And that goes double for tuna jerky. But there are two brands making some genuinely good stuff.

What we looked for in the best fish jerky

• A not-too-fishy flavor. Even the best salmon jerky or tuna jerky is going to taste fishy. Of course! It’s fish! But it shouldn’t taste or smell too fishy. You shouldn’t tear open a bag and immediately get a whiff of dirty aquarium. Instead. We wanted fish jerky that tasted like nice, cooked fish. 
• Good texture. Like any good jerky, the best fish jerky should have a pleasant chew and a little bit of toughness. 
• Nothing wet. Seriously. I know this is fish jerky and fish comes from the sea but I would think any moisture would disappear in the drying process. Some of the salmon jerky I tried was legit wet. 

Here are the two best salmon jerky brands to buy. (Sorry, no tuna jerky made our list—we’ll keep looking! And if you have suggestions, please drop them in the comments!)

Best Salmon Jerky, Ranked

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Best Flavored Salmon Jerky

Kaimana Teriyaki Salmon Jerky

Amazon

If you like salmon skin sushi, then you’ll love this Hawaiian made salmon jerky. Made with wild caught salmon, it’s gluten free and claims to be low in sugar with 6g of sugar per serving (though other salmon jerky brands are lower in sugar). It goes heavy on the teriyaki—it’s sweet and a little smoky—which helps mask some of the fishy flavor while still letting that essential salmon quality shine. And it has a really great texture. It has just the right amount of resistance. If you’re looking for salmon jerky but don’t only want to taste fish, this is the best salmon jerky to buy.

Credit: Merc / Amazon

Rating:

7.5/10

Sporks

Best Smoked Salmon Jerky

Seabear Smoked Wild Salmon Jerky Traditional

Amazon

Like Kaimana, Seabear uses wild caught salmon. Then, they smoke it with cherry and alder wood. And you really get a lot of that tasty smoke at first, which gives it a real classic jerky flavor. The smokehouse has been puffing away since 1957 in Anacortes, Washington. And those many years of experience show. This is about as good as packaged smoked salmon jerky can get.

Credit: Merc / Amazon

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

Other fish jerky we tried: 

Epic Maple Glazed & Smoked Salmon Bites, Epic Maple Strip, Kaimana Spicy Salmon Jerky, Kaimana Original Salmon Jerky, Kaimana Tuna Teriyaki, Kaimana Tuna Original, Kaimana Tuna Peppered, Kaimana Tuna Sriracha, Kaimana Tuna Lemon Salt, Seabear Smoked Wild Salmon Jerky Spicy Heat, Seabear Smoked Wild Salmon Jerky Peppered