To-die-for Beef Brisket that really makes the most out of this cut of beef! This Slow Cooker brisket is cooked in a simple homemade BBQ sauce until it’s deliciously tender and infused with incredible flavour. Serve with a side of Coleslaw or Macaroni Salad and steamed corn. Or pile high onto rolls and make sliders!
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
Beef Brisket recipe!
I really am not a girls’ girl when it comes to food. I don’t gaze in wonder at stunningly decorated multi-tier cakes. I don’t ooh and aah over pretty little chocolates. I have no interest in learning how to make candy.
But I do go gah-gah over sights like this – a giant hunk of flavour loaded brisket.
I’m all class. All class. 😂
Cooking brisket – in brief
What is brisket? A cut of beef that needs to be cooked slowly to break down the connective tissues. The unique thing about this cut of beef is that it can be slow cooked so it’s fork tender, yet is still sliceable. It also has a better beefy flavour compared to other slow cooking beef cuts like chuck.
Is there another name for brisket? There’s no other name for raw brisket, that is the name of the cut. But you will see it sold in stores already prepared in the form of corned beef, pastrami and silverside which is brisket that’s been brined.
What cut of meat is similar to brisket? There is no cut of beef with the same cooking qualities. For this recipe, the best substitute for beef brisket is rolled chuck, like you use for Pot Roast. Otherwise, try the Beef Ribs or Pork Ribs version of this recipe – both terrific!
How long does it take to cook? 8 to 10 hours in the slow cooker on low, 1 hr 15 minutes in a pressure cooker, or 5 hours in the oven at 320F/160C.
Is brisket supposed to be pink? No. Cooked plain brisket should not be pink, if it is, it is massively undercooked and will be tough. You cannot eat brisket rare. HOWEVER, pastrami and corned beef are pink even after cooking due to the special curing salt they use (like bacon).
How to make slow cooker Beef Brisket
It’s a straight forward beef brisket recipe though there is a fairly long list of spices because we’re making a homemade rub and homemade BBQ Sauce here. Totally worth it – there’s no bottled sauce that compares to this!
Spice Mix – We start off with a spice rub. No need to marinate because we’re slow cooking it – the long cook time essentially has the same effect as marinating. If we were roasting it, I’d recommend marinating it.
Slow Cook – place the ingredients for the homemade BBQ Sauce in the slow cooker (vinegar, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, garlic and spices), add the beef and leave to slow cook for 8 to 10 hours.
Caramelise crust – After this, all that’s required is a few minutes in a hot oven (or even under the grill/broiler) to caramelise the crust;
Reduce sauce – Meanwhile, simmer the liquid in the slow cooker to reduce it down to a syrupy sauce consistency <– This right here is our homemade BBQ Sauce!
What is beef brisket?
Brisket is a cut of beef made for slow cooking, not fast cooking. It’s unique characteristic compared to other slow cooking cuts of beef is that it holds its shape even after hours and hours of slow cooking and can be sliced.
When you slow cook other cuts of slow cooking cuts of beef like chuck (like in Beef Stew), gravy beef (an Australian beef cut) and short ribs, they “fall apart easily because there is more connective tissues running throughout the meat which breakdown with slow cooking.
However, as you can see in the photos in this post, brisket holds together and can be sliced. But the slices are ultra tender and could be shredded easily, see? 🙂
Is brisket suitable for shredding?
Brisket does shred well, but I prefer using chuck beef or ribs for shredding for recipes like slow cooked Shredded Beef Ragu, Shredded Beef Chili and Shredded Mexican Beef.
Those cuts have more fat running through the meat and so the shredded pieces are nice and juicy. Though brisket has a layer of fat on the surface, there actually is not that much fat or connective tissues running through it, so if you shred it then it’s pretty lean.
What to serve with beef brisket
For this particular recipe, I’m keeping this Slow Cooker Beef Brisket whole and slicing it. Serve up a hearty Southern style supper with sides of Homemade Southern Style Baked Beans, Corn Bread (or try my favourite Corn Bread Muffins!), Creamy Corn Casserole, classic creamy Coleslaw or this No Mayo Coleslaw (it’s excellent!), Macaroni Salad, Potato Salad or mashed potato.
Or pile it onto sliders – this is the way I usually serve it because brisket is a perfect recipe for feeding a crowd! – Nagi xx
MORE GREAT THINGS TO PILE ONTO SLIDERS
• Slow Cooker Honey Buffalo Shredded Chicken
• Easy Homemade Pastrami
• Chili – and Slow Cooked Shredded Beef Chili
• Cubanos (Cuban Subs with Mojo Marinated Pork, from the “Chef” movie)
• Slow Cooker Pulled BBQ Pork Sliders
PS If you love beef, don’t miss this Beef Pot Roast and Prime Rib / Standing Rib Roast recipes!
Watch How To Make It
This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!
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Slow Cooker Beef Brisket with BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
- 1.5 – 2 kg / 3 – 4 lb beef brisket (Note 1)
- 1 tbsp olive oil (or a neutral oil like vegetable, canola)
Rub:
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp paprika powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin powder
- 3/4 tsp mustard powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
BBQ Sauce:
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1/2 cup / 125 ml apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 cups / 375 ml ketchup
- 1/2 cup / 110g brown sugar , packed
- 2 tsp EACH black pepper, onion powder, mustard powder
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper (adjust to taste re: spiciness)
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Mix Rub ingredients. Rub all over brisket. If time permits, leave for 30 minutes – 24 hours in the fridge, but I rarely do this.
- Combine BBQ Sauce ingredients in a slow cooker. Mix then add the brisket – squish it in if needed, like I did (see video).
- Slow cook in slow cooker for 8 hours (1.5 kg / 3 lb) to 10 hours (2 kg / 4 lb). (Note 2 for pressure cooker and click here for oven)
- Remove brisket onto a tray.
- Pour liquid in slow cooker into a saucepan. Bring to simmer over medium high heat and reduce until it thickens to a syrup consistency (it thickens more as it cools).
- Meanwhile, drizzle brisket with oil then roast in a 200C/390F oven for 15 minutes until brown spots appear. Remove then baste generously with Sauce, then return to oven for 5 minutes. Remove and baste again, then return to oven for 5 – 10 minutes until it caramelises and looks like the photos. (See note for BBQ option)
- TO SERVE: Slice brisket thinly across the grain and serve with remaining BBQ Sauce. This is terrific served as a meal with sides or piled high onto rolls with Coleslaw as sliders. See Note 3 for more ideas.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Brisket recipe originally published July 2017. Updated to improve writing, and created separate recipe card for oven baked brisket directions. No change to recipe – much loved by readers as is, I wouldn’t dare!
Life Of Dozer
So. Much. Sand.
Anyone for a puppy kiss? 😝
Hi Nagi, I’m really looking forward to making this recipe. I watched your video a couple of times and it’s a great visual. This helps me get a good idea and will help me get it right when I’m ready to make it myself. One thing I noticed in the video, and hopefully you can clarify – when you’re making the BBQ sauce, when adding the powders (black and cayenne peppers, onion and mustard powders), the bowl you’re holding has a 5th ingredient in it. This isn’t in the BBQ sauce ingredient list and looks to be either salt or maybe sugar. Is this something that you added as a tweak to your recipe? Please do share. Thanks and keep up the good work!
Hi! I finally found smaller cuts of brisket and can’t wait to get this in my slow cooker tomorrow!! I do have a question: I have a favorite bottles bbq sauce that I love. How many cups of it should I put in with the brisket?
Hi Lisa, use 2 cups 🙂 N x
What did I do wrong? The sauce ended up overly sweet for me. I did use the ketchup and sugar as per the amount in the recipe. The result is too sweet to eat for me. The meat cooked nicely, no problem there.
Hi Arno, the recipe shouldn’t be overly sweet – are you sure you measured correctly here? N x
This recipe is to die for delish!
I only had a cup of ketchup so I subbed in Heintz chili sauce to make the required 1 1/2 cups of the bbq sauce. The brisket was .915 kg cooked in my pressure cooker on high for 60 minutes and 10 minute natural release. I did add the extra 1 cup water and later reduced the sauce, also thickened with a corn starch slurry, while meat was in the oven. This recipe is definitely going in my “make it again” file. Served with roasted carrots, broccoli and potato salad.
Made this yesterday… So impressed. I started at 12:00 and served it up just after 8 on brioche buns with skinny fries, home made chunky coleslaw!
So good and will be doing this again very soon.
YUM! Sounds like you nailed it Rich! N x
Amazing and delicious recipe. I had to use Top Blade as they didn’t have chuck or brisket so it turned out to be more “pulled” than “sliced” and I had to use dijon mustard instead mustard powder since I couldn’t find mustard powder but it was fantastic. I also put some dijon mustard in the bbq sauce as an emulsifier in the BBQ sauce to make the oil mix.
Really good base for a bachelor who has never made a brisket in his entire life. I love eating them but this is a first. I opted to not do the home made bbq sauce because I would probably have messed that up. I used the rub on a 2.75lb thin cut brisket with baby ray’s bbq sauce. I have never made food that I reheated in a microwave and still enjoyed it for 5 days until I finished it off. This was also a first. Great recipe to point you in the right direction.
That’s great to hear John! N x
Love the sauce! i made it in my IP for 1hr 15min and left it to natural release. tasteeee sooooo goood! i highly recommend this!
I’ve been looking for a brisket recipe to rival my dad’s (who is now gone). I finally found it!! Not too sweet, and oh so tender. Thank you for bringing back precious memories!!
Love this Recipe. It’s our go to for a large group. We make street taco with it. Adding our home made Cole slaw and pick de gallo. Thank you for A great and awesome recipe.
brisket was the best. I let my brisket marinate in rub for 4 hours. No left overs. I will make this again
That’s great to hear Rabiah! N x
I made this twice now, and everyone loved it…I couldn’t get brisket big enough so I used Bolar Blade and it just fell apart! The sauce is to do for, everyone kept wanting more!
Thank you 😊
That’s awesome Sara! N x
Nagi,
I am a bit confused. hoping you can help me out.. I made the brisket for the 1st time and the flavor was great but it burned to a crisp in the pressure cooker. Should additional water have been added to the mixture? You talk about heating a sauce up but I had very little sauce. I added the sauce to the meat (that had the rub and was regrigerated overnight). Then I put it in the pressure cooker. That’s when it burned to a crisp. Did I miss something in the directions? Thanks
I don’t know yet what I’ll hink of the finished product, but had a problem with the PRESSURE COOKER version. Your notes say not change to recipe except specifying the pressure cook time. I was a little worried that the barbeque sauce would not be liquidy enough to pressure cook and sure enoug, I got a burn warning and had to start over! DANG! I’m using an Instant Pot, and for the second go-round put a cup of water in the bottom, brisket on a rack, sauce poured over the top. I except to bneed a lot more reducing of the sauce with all that extra water, but oh well! At least the pot has sucessfully gotten up to pressure…
Thanks for the tip Linda! With non Instant Pot pressure cookers that don’t have the burn notice, you don’t need the extra water. I popped in a note about IP! N x
I’m excited to try this. Not sure if I’ll use the slow cooker or oven method, but I have 2 questions:
1) If cooking by oven method, do I need a roasting pan with rack or remove the rack when baking?
2) My brisket is flat cut 4.5 lbs so may not fit in my slow cooker. Is it okay to cut in half and stack in the slow cooker? Will I need to flip halfway?
Thank you!
Made this a day ahead…(did not read your note about that until after I’d finished it in the oven as in recipe). The next day I simply heated up the sauce and added the thinly sliced meat (easy to do when cold – bonus), dumped it all in the slow cooker on warm – all ready for the gang to serve themselves sliders. Best I’ve ever done. Now I’m going to try it for pulled pork
Perfect Vicki, that’s great to hear!! N x
Omg. First time cooking brisket and first time on your site. I can’t wait to try some more of your recipes because this was AMAZING!
My husband and I really loved the bbq sauce, how would you suggest making it just by itself? I’m thinking about making a large batch and canning it :).
Thanks!
Should I let it rest?
Hi Nagi. I’m referring everyone to your site – it’s by far the best food blog I’ve found! Am making your brisket and wondered if I can use cider instead of vinegar – hubby has a violent reaction to anything with vinegar in it. Thanks!
Made it, loved it. I cooked it in the oven. Would try using slow cooker next time. What slow cooker do you use?
Hi Elham, thanks so much!!! I would use lemon in place of the vinegar for the acidic kick 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi. Love your recipes. I always try your site first because I know they’re always really yum and they’ll always turn out really well. We made your chicken caesar last night and I’m planning on doing slow cooked brisket tomorrow and then fajitas later in the week (I’ve done both types before a few times) and I’ve also made your pulled lamb shoulder a couple of times. Always great.
I did just want to let let you know that when I was looking up the brisket recipe today I’ve had a TROJAN virus warning each time I’ve gone to that page so you may need to do a virus check yourself.
Oh I’ve also done the thai chicken meatballs which a friend always made and are sooo good I finally asked for the recipe, found your site and have never looked back. Love your work. Keep it up. Cheers. Tammy