Easy, Slow-Cooked Pulled Brisket Recipe
This Pulled Brisket recipe is melt-in-your-mouth tender. It's fantastic for meal prep but is also an easy, crowd-pleasing recipe for holidays and gatherings.
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Servings: 12 people
Calories: 165kcal
Equipment
- 1 Large oven-safe pot with a lid
Ingredients
For The Brisket And Spice Paste
- 2.2 lb beef brisket (1kg)
- 1 yellow or brown onion, thinly sliced
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- ½ tbsp cumin
- ½ tbsp garlic powder
- ½ tbsp onion powder
- 1 tsp chipotle powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp water
For The Rich Tomato Sauce
- 14 oz can of tomatoes (400g)
- ½ cup chicken or beef stock
- ⅓ cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp chipotle powder
- ½ tsp salt
- Plenty of black pepper (to your taste)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F/160°C.
- Mix the brisket spices, mustard and water together in a small bowl until they form a paste. Set aside.
- Add all the tomato sauce ingredients to a small blender and whizz briefly to combine then set this aside too.
- Heat a large heavy-based saucepan (make sure it has a lid!) over a medium-high heat and add the olive oil. I used my 28 inch Le Creuset pot for this, which is perfect.
- Once warmed through add the brisket. Brown on all sides (3-4 minutes per side) finishing with the fat side up.
- Lift the brisket out and place it on a plate while you cook the onions.
- Add another tablespoon of olive oil to the pot and once heated, add in the sliced onion, Cook until softened and slightly browned – about 5 minutes.
- Switch off the heat, and place the brisket on top of the cooked onions.
- Spread the spice paste all over the top and a little down the sides of the brisket then pour the tomato around the sides of the meat. Not over it.
- Put the lid on the pot and place it into the oven to cook for 3-3.5 hours. Baste some of the cooking liquid over the brisket 3-4 times as it cooks and check there is still sufficient liquid in there. If not add half a cup of beef/chicken stock or water (see note 1).
- At the 3 hour mark remove the lid, baste one more time and cook for another 15 minutes to half an hour (see note 2).
- Remove from the oven, shred with two forks and toss through the juices left in the pan.
Video
Notes
Note 1: Cooking time for brisket can vary depending on the thickness of the meat, whether your oven runs very hot etc. If you find it’s still difficult to shred after 3-3.5 hours, pop it back for another half hour. Check again and repeat until the meat starts to shred easily.
Note 2: Taking the lid off the brisket helps to thicken the sauce and create a crust out of the spice paste. It is essential that you keep an eye on the volume of liquid as you do this because it can evaporate rapidly. If it looks significantly reduced at the 15 minute mark remove from the oven and shred the brisket into it. If not, leave the full 30 minute for an ultra thick and rich sauce.
Other notes:
If you don't have a pot with a lid cover the top of your pot tightly with two layers of aluminium foil.
See the Tips For Success and Substitutions sections above for other handy info should you need it.
Steps for cooking pulled brisket in an instant pot or slow cooker are also in the post above.
Nutrition
Serving: 85g | Calories: 165kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 53mg | Sodium: 194mg | Potassium: 345mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 5IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 8mg | Iron: 2mg
