Every dried meat snack claims to be healthy. Most of them are sugar, soy, and preservatives wearing a protein costume. So it's a fair question to ask before you buy: is biltong actually good for you, or is it just jerky with a better story?

Here's the honest answer, with our actual label numbers — including the parts most brands leave out.

The short answer

Biltong is one of the more nutritionally straightforward snacks you can eat: high in complete protein, very lean, and with zero sugar and zero carbs. It's air-dried rather than cooked, so it keeps more of what was in the beef to begin with.

The one thing to pay attention to is sodium — salt is part of how biltong is cured, and it always will be. We've put the real number below rather than making you hunt for it.

Brave biltong: the actual numbers

Per 1oz (28g) serving:

Calories	90
Protein	16g
Total fat	2.5g (3% DV)
Saturated fat	1g (5% DV)
Total carbohydrate	0g
Total sugars	0g — including 0g added
Sodium	370mg (16% DV)
Cholesterol	40mg (13% DV)
Potassium	225mg (4% DV)
Iron	1mg (6% DV)

A 2oz pouch is two servings: 180 calories and 32g of protein.

The number worth sitting with is the ratio. About 74% of the calories in Brave biltong come from protein — 16g of it for 90 calories, roughly the protein of three eggs at less than half the calories. There is very little else in there.

Why air-drying matters nutritionally

Jerky is cooked. It's heated to at least 160°F, usually for hours — and because that process strips flavor, manufacturers add it back with sugar, soy sauce, and smoke flavoring.

Biltong is never cooked. Whole cuts of beef are cured in vinegar and salt, then hung in moving air for days — ours for a full seven. The acid and salt do the preserving; time does the flavoring. Nothing needs to be masked, so nothing needs to be added.

The practical result: more protein per ounce, no added sugar, and a much shorter ingredient list.

Protein: what you're actually getting

16g per serving is complete protein, which is the part that matters. Beef contains all nine essential amino acids your body can't make on its own, including leucine — the one most directly tied to muscle repair.

It's also lean. At 2.5g of total fat and 1g saturated per serving, biltong delivers that protein without much riding along with it. That combination — dense, lean, shelf-stable, no refrigeration, no fork — is why it ends up in gym bags and jersey pockets.

Is biltong raw?

This is the question we get most, and the answer is no — but it isn't cooked either.

Biltong is cured. The beef is submerged in vinegar and packed in salt, which lowers the pH and draws out moisture. Both are hostile to bacteria. It's then air-dried for days, dropping water activity low enough that nothing harmful can grow. This is the same preservation logic behind prosciutto, bresaola, and every other dry-cured meat people have eaten safely for centuries.

So it's not raw in any meaningful sense — it's preserved by acid, salt, and time instead of by heat. The texture surprises people who expect jerky: biltong is tender and slightly crumbly, closer to prosciutto than to shoe leather.

The sodium question, answered honestly

Salt isn't an additive in biltong. It's part of the preservation method — without it, you don't have biltong, you have spoiled beef.

Brave biltong contains 370mg of sodium per 1oz serving — 16% of the daily value. That's real, and if you're managing blood pressure or on a sodium-restricted diet you should count it like you'd count any cured meat.

For context, that sits at the lower end of the dried-meat aisle: many popular beef jerky brands run 500–600mg per ounce, because jerky adds soy sauce and brine for flavor on top of the salt used for preservation. Biltong's salt is doing a job rather than covering for a fast cook.

Our droëwors is saltier at 550mg per serving (24% DV) — sausage takes more salt to cure than whole muscle does. Worth knowing if sodium is something you track.

We use Baja Gold sea salt, which is unrefined and carries trace minerals, but we won't pretend that makes it sodium-free. It's salt. It's supposed to be.

What biltong is — and isn't — a good source of

Plenty of brands will tell you biltong is loaded with iron, zinc, and B12. We'd rather show you our panel.

Iron: 1mg, or 6% DV per serving. That's real but modest — below the 10% threshold the FDA uses to call something a "good source." The iron in beef is heme iron, which your body absorbs far more efficiently than the iron in plants, so it punches above its number. But we're not going to call biltong an iron supplement.

Potassium: 225mg, 4% DV. Modest.

B12 and zinc: beef is naturally a strong source of both, but they aren't declared on our panel, so we're not going to put a figure on them.

Cholesterol: 40mg, 13% DV. Worth stating plainly. Dietary cholesterol is no longer considered the concern it once was — the federal dietary guidelines dropped the daily limit in 2015 — but the number is on the label and we're not hiding it.

Where biltong genuinely stands out isn't micronutrients. It's the macros: a lot of complete protein, very little fat, and no sugar at all.

Biltong and weight management

Protein is the most satiating macronutrient, and biltong is close to pure protein — 74% of its calories — with no sugar to spike insulin or trigger a crash an hour later. Ninety calories a serving keeps most people full for hours.

That's why it tends to replace the snacks that weren't working. We're not going to tell you a meat snack is a weight loss plan. But swapping a candy bar for biltong is an obviously better trade.

Not all biltong is equal

"Biltong" on the front of a bag doesn't guarantee much. Turn it over and check for:

• Added sugar — some imported and mass-market biltong sneaks in sugar or maltodextrin
• Preservatives and nitrates — sodium nitrite, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate
• Soy and gluten — usually via soy sauce or Worcestershire
• MSG and "natural flavors" — a flag that the drying was rushed
• Sodium per serving — compare like for like, per ounce

Here is our entire ingredient list: grass-fed beef, Baja Gold sea salt, Bragg's organic apple cider vinegar, organic coriander, organic black pepper, organic tomato powder.

No sugar. No preservatives. No nitrates. No soy. Naturally gluten-free. Made fresh weekly in small batches, air-dried seven days.

Try it for yourself

Brave Purist – 2oz · $10 — the traditional cut. Sea salt, vinegar, coriander, pepper. Sliced and ready.

Brave Bold – 2oz · $10 — same clean label, plus campfire chipotle smoke.

The Purist Slab – 8oz · $35 — the whole muscle, uncut. Slice it thick or thin.

Slab + Stash · $45 — one 8oz slab to carve and one 2oz pouch to grab. Both formats, one order.

Common questions

Is biltong healthy?

For most people, yes. A 1oz serving of Brave biltong has 90 calories, 16g of complete protein, 2.5g of fat, and zero sugar or carbs — about 74% of its calories come from protein. The main thing to watch is sodium at 370mg per serving (16% DV), since salt is essential to curing it.

How many calories are in biltong?

Brave biltong has 90 calories per 1oz serving, so 180 calories in a 2oz pouch. Our droëwors is 100 calories per ounce.

How much protein is in biltong?

16g of complete protein per 1oz serving — 32g in a full 2oz pouch. That's roughly the protein of three eggs per serving, at less than half the calories.

Is biltong raw?

No. Biltong is cured in vinegar and salt, then air-dried for days until its water activity is too low for bacteria to grow. It isn't cooked with heat, but it isn't raw either — it's preserved the same way prosciutto and bresaola are.

Is biltong high in sodium?

Brave biltong contains 370mg of sodium per 1oz serving, or 16% of the daily value. That's meaningful but sits at the lower end of the dried-meat category — many beef jerky brands run 500–600mg per ounce because they add soy sauce and brine on top of curing salt.

Is biltong healthier than beef jerky?

On most measures, yes. Biltong has no added sugar where most jerky has 5–10g per serving, delivers more protein per ounce, and typically has a far shorter ingredient list and less sodium. See the full comparison here.

Is biltong good for weight loss?

Biltong is high in protein, low in fat, and contains no sugar or carbs, which makes it filling and unlikely to cause an energy crash. It's a strong swap for sugary snacks, though no single food drives weight loss on its own.

Can you eat biltong every day?

Many people do. As with any cured food, keep an eye on total sodium across your whole diet — one 1oz serving is 16% of the daily value, so a serving or two a day sits comfortably for most people.

Is biltong keto and carnivore friendly?

Yes — our biltong has 0g sugar and 0g carbs, so it fits keto, carnivore, paleo, and Whole30. More on the zero-sugar side here.

New to biltong? Start with What is Biltong? or browse the FAQ.