Doña Blanca is a brand that specializes in Carne Seca / Machaca, a Mexican-style dried (and shredded) beef known for its traditional flavor and simple ingredients. Their product is made using just two ingredients (beef and sea salt), which lends it authenticity and appeals to clean ingredient and low carb diets. Doña Blanca produces its carne seca with USDA approved cuts of beef, using kosher sea salt, and markets the product as gluten free, sugar-free, keto and paleo friendly, and rich in protein.
Their packaging and positioning emphasize its heritage: the recipe is presented as one that has been passed through generations, with ties to traditional Mexican machacado and carne seca practices. Due to its texture and flavor profile, Doña Blanca’s carne seca works well snacked straight from the bag or used in Mexican cooking, in dishes like machacado with eggs, tacos, tamales, flautas, and other authentic recipes. Overall, Doña Blanca stands out by combining heritage and simplicity, honoring traditional dried beef methods, using minimal ingredients, and delivering a product that suits both modern dietary trends and authentic Mexican style eating. This Doña Blanca jerky brand is distributed under the name of Productos Doña Blanca, located in Laredo, Texas.
The first review on Doña Blanca will focus on a 4 ounce/113 gram bag of Original flavored beef jerky. This flavor is described as containing only two natural ingredients, beef and salt, ensuring a great tasting carne seca with the best health benefits. The bag was purchased online from Amazon.
Ingredient Review
The beef used is not guaranteed to be free of growth hormones or additional antibiotics. Also, the beef is not guaranteed to have at least partial free range access to graze on grass. As a result, the highest ingredient rating that can be awarded is a Good (8/10) rating.
There is no liquid marinade used. Only sea salt and beef are used.
The sugar level is perfect at 0 grams of sugar per 28 grams of jerky. The salt level is very high at 780mg of salt per 28 grams of jerky. However, the salt level is ignored because healthy, minimally processed sea salt is used.
This jerky qualifies to have no sodium nitrite or any other similar unhealthy preservatives. Instead, the main preservative used is salt. Admirably, there is no MSG added.
Good (8/10) – Ingredient Rating
Taste Review
DOÑA BLANCA – CARNE SECA DRIED BEEF
Written by guest jerky reviewer Paul Rekker
When I open the bag I smell next to nothing. The jerky is in shreds, it is very dry and chewy, just exactly as our forefathers intended. The only thing our forefathers might frown upon is that it is not jerky strips, but rather jerky shreds, therefore, it leaves no oily residue on your fingers.
When I ingest the jerky shreds, I taste intense salt, a big hit for me, no sweetness, also a big hit for me, and not much else. The natural beef flavor is coming through in spades, and I am personally enjoying the salt. Not exactly a “Wow”!! factor, but still a solid treat, a definitive 9/10. Gentlemen?
Here is what Mark had to say about this Original beef jerky flavor from Doña Blanca: “Thanks Paul for the candid taste review. It would be hard to disagree with anything stated, as the only ingredients used are sea salt and beef. I would state the saltiness as intense, but more at a moderate level. These shreds on their own taste good, where I have no grounds to be critical. The natural beef flavor is at a good level with no hint of tasting processed. I did experiment with these shreds in two dishes.”
“One recipe suggested on the back is to cook these beef shreds with onion and garlic on the stove for three minutes. While olive oil was suggested, I substituted it with grass fed beef tallow. The end product tasted very good. I also experimented with adding these beef shreds to my homemade chicken vegetable noodle soup. While it tasted good, I wouldn’t say they added all that much to the overall taste profile. The possibilities of adding these beef shreds to various dishes seem almost endless, which is a great way to get a source of protein. With Paul at a 9 and myself at an 8, a Very Good (9/10) taste rating will be awarded.”
This 4 ounce/113 gram bag of jerky sells online for $11.98, which equates to $3.00 an ounce. That rates as a borderline cheap price.
Very Good (9/10) – Taste Rating
Bag Review
This plastic resealable bag has everything imprinted on the bag, both the front and back. There is an illustration of a woman on the front and back.
A slogan printed on this bag could be “Over 100 Years of Tradition”. Some facts printed are “Gourmet Dried Beef”, Machacado”, “22g of Protein”, “Texas Insp. & Psd. 1459”, “Go Texan”, “Packaged in the USA”, and “Gluten Free”.
Some missing bag categories are a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) stamp and an establishment number. A great blurb about Doña Blanca is printed on the back in both English and Spanish. There are suggested recipes on the back to use. You are encouraged to follow Doña Blanca on Facebook and Instagram. To the credit of Doña Blanca, a phone number is provided for customer inquiries.
Leave a Comment