Best Brisket Recipes - Cooking Light

Brisket with Olives and Preserved Lemons

Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner

Tender beef brisket is comfort food at its finest and yet elegant enough for entertaining. Here, we've rounded up some of our favorite recipes, from beer-braised and coffee-rubbed to barbecue brisket sandwiches.

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Slow Cooker Barbacoa Brisket

Photo: Jennifer Causey

View Recipe: Slow Cooker Barbacoa Brisket

Traditional Mexican barbacoa involves wrapping meat in banana or avocado leaves and slowly cooking it over hot coals, partially steaming the meat to tender perfection. This slow cooker version replicates the flavors and a bit of that traditional method: Chipotle chiles, ground cumin, and oregano offer bold, smoky flavor, and the beef brisket steams to tenderness as it cooks gently in the slow cooker. For tacos, serve the saucy barbacoa in tortillas with green and red onion, cilantro leaves, jalapeño slices, and fresh lime wedges. Or build yourself one awesome burrito bowl with those same components by putting them over brown rice or quinoa instead of in tortillas.

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Texas-Style Chili with Brisket

Photo: Iain Bagwell

Texas chili is purely beef-driven: no beans allowed. This version boasts smoky, complex, deep flavor from a mix of dried chiles and chili powders, while corn flour gives it extra body.

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Beer-Braised Brisket with Onion Jam

Photo: Johnny Miller

View Recipe: Beer-Braised Brisket with Onion Jam

The secret to a succulent grand finale for this brisket recipe starts with low, moist heat. After braising, the meat is chilled in the cooking liquid overnight; then the brisket is sliced and reheated in the rich, meaty cooking liquid to guarantee that every savory bite is juicy.

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Buffalo-Brisket Sliders with Special Sauce

Photo: Greg Dupree

View Recipe: Buffalo-Brisket Sliders with Special Sauce

This is the burger everyone will be talking about and wanting the recipe for. It’s OK, you can demure and tell them it’s your secret recipe—we won’t tell. The mayo-based “special sauce” gets heat and sweetness from red pepper jelly; a briny edge from dill pickle relish; and a little lemon, onion, and garlic to balance it all out. Buffalo (also called bison) has a sweet and rich flavor and is a low-fat, nutrient-dense food. We mix in rich and flavorful brisket to maximize this burger’s taste and juiciness. Pressing each patty once it hits the hot pan helps develop a good sear that will lock in the burger juices.

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Zinfandel-Braised Beef Brisket With Onions and Potatoes

Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner

View Recipe: Zinfandel-Braised Beef Brisket with Onions and Potatoes

Fruity zinfandel wine adds a unique, sweet flavor to this hearty brisket dish. This flavorful main dish has truly got it all: a tender, herbaceous serving of meat with potatoes and browned vegetables. Unlike many meat and potato dishes that sometimes blend together into one, ominous concoction, the flavors of this dish blend just enough that they're complementary and cohesive, without being stew-like and mushy.

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Texas-Style Smoked Brisket

Photo: Randy Mayor

View Recipe: Texas-Style Smoked Brisket

Try barbecue Texas style, which is the beef brisket—if there is any sauce, it is a thin, spicy pan sauce made from the meat drippings. Look for a flat-cut brisket, which will be a fairly even thickness, and leave the fat layer on for the best results.

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Knife and Fork Barbecued Brisket Sandwiches

Photo: Oxmoor House

View Recipe: Knife and Fork Barbecued Brisket Sandwiches

This make ahead open-faced sandwich recipe is a must have during the hot summer months. Some barbecue sandwiches are meant to be picked up; this one is meant to be savored.

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Coffee-Rubbed Texas-Style Brisket

Photo: Charles Masters

View Recipe: Coffee-Rubbed Texas-Style Brisket

With larger cuts like pork shoulder or brisket that need to smoke for hours, maintaining an even temperature is critical to prevent overcooking or drying out your meat. On a gas grill, you can regulate temperature easily via the burners and monitor it from the built-in thermometer in the lid. But charcoal grills require a little more finesse.

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Brisket Burgers

Photo: Oxmoor House

View Recipe: Brisket Burgers

For a truly perfect burger, grind your own beef or ask your butcher to do it for you. Ground beef from the supermarket is often made from trim and scraps, which can mean inconsistent flavor.

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Beer-Braised Brisket

Photo: John Autry

View Recipe: Beer-Braised Brisket

Grab a six-pack of pale ale, such as Sierra Nevada, for this recipe. Enjoy the other five with your guests and use one to lend delicious flavor to this brisket. Serve this rich beef over mashed potatoes or egg noodles; leftover brisket makes tasty sandwiches.

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Sweet and Tangy Slow Cooker Brisket

Photo: Randy Mayor

View Recipe: Sweet and Tangy Slow Cooker Brisket

This brisket is a slow-cooked combination of vegetables, spices, and divine flat-cut brisket roast that is sure to please the whole family on a chilly night.

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Easy Braised Brisket

Photo: John Autry

View Recipe: Easy Braised Brisket

Forget your aunt’s boiled shoe leather brisket, this brisket is simmered until meltingly tender in tomatoes and kalamata olives. With only 5 ingredients, it’ll be a go-to favorite.

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Barbecue Brisket Sandwiches

Becky Luigart-Stayner

View Recipe: Barbecue Brisket Sandwiches

Beef brisket is tender and flavorful when prepared in a pressure cooker. Whip up the zesty barbecue sauce, and you have the makings for hearty sandwiches to serve at your next gathering.

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Beef Brisket with Beer

Oxmoor House

View Recipe: Beef Brisket with Beer

Yes, beef brisket is one of the toughest cuts out there, but it’s also the most delicious. As it turns out, the easiest cooking method for this cut is also the best: add it to your slow cooker with some sautéed onions and a bottle of beer, then return eight hours later to meltingly tender meat and a sauce you'll want to dunk everything in. Another brilliant addition? A shot of balsamic vinegar. It perks up the flavor and adds a little bit of sweet and tang to the sauce. Serve with any simply cooked vegetable or sliced and piled on a sandwich.

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Beer-Braised Brisket with Honey-Lime Glaze

Photo: Jose Picayo

View Recipe: Beer-Braised Brisket with Honey-Lime Glaze

To make ahead, prepare through step 2, cool slightly, and chill. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes, and proceed with step 3.

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Brisket with Olives and Preserved Lemons

Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner

View Recipe: Brisket with Olives and Preserved Lemons

Look for oil-cured olives in the deli section of a gourmet grocery. With Moroccan Preserved Lemons, they add a pleasant briny, bitter finish to the dish.

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16 Best Brisket Recipes

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Slow Cooker Barbacoa Brisket

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Texas-Style Chili with Brisket

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Beer-Braised Brisket with Onion Jam

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Buffalo-Brisket Sliders with Special Sauce

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Zinfandel-Braised Beef Brisket With Onions and Potatoes

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Texas-Style Smoked Brisket

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Knife and Fork Barbecued Brisket Sandwiches

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Coffee-Rubbed Texas-Style Brisket

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Brisket Burgers

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Beer-Braised Brisket

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Sweet and Tangy Slow Cooker Brisket

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Easy Braised Brisket

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Barbecue Brisket Sandwiches

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Beef Brisket with Beer

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Beer-Braised Brisket with Honey-Lime Glaze

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Brisket with Olives and Preserved Lemons

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