Happy December! The holiday season is almost here, and I can’t believe how fast the end of the year is approaching. Is your holiday menu planned yet?? If not, you should definitely make this BEST beef brisket recipe! Emphasis on “best,” because I’m not kidding around here.
I grew up with my mom making this brisket quite a few times a year. It was most popular when we had friends over, since it was a one pot meal that could feed a lot of hungry swimmers! However, she did make it almost every holiday of the year… because why not?! It’s THAT GOOD. So good, in fact, that people used to invite themselves over whenever it was on the menu.
This recipe seriously makes one crazy tender, fall-apart piece of meat! It originally started with Emeril’s Passover Brisket recipe (anyone else use to watch his show back then?) and eventually evolved so much over the years. We make this to be a gluten free brisket by making sure the ketchup and chili sauce is gluten free, but that’s it! The sauce is mildly sweet, flavored with onion and garlic, and topped with whole carrots and potatoes. Is your mouth watering yet?
Because brisket is a tough piece of meat, you need to cook it low and slow. Pick out a piece of meat that is well marbled, with just a thin layer of fat over the top. You want some fat during the cooking process, so don’t pick a completely trimmed piece of meat with no fat. You can always trim off the excess at the end after the cooking process. I also recommend a few special tools for this recipe: a large 18” roast pan with lid (make sure it’s stovetop-safe), and an electric cutting knife. The electric knife isn’t necessary, but it definitely makes cutting this meat a whole lot easier!
There may be quite a few steps to making this brisket recipe, but trust me… you will be rewarded! The best part is that it can all be serve out of the pot roast pan if you wish, and it can feed about 8-10 people. We always seem to have some leftovers, which can be used to make a fantastic brisket sandwich the next day. One thing is for sure, this brisket is sure to be the highlight of your next family of holiday meal.
The BEST Beef Brisket Recipe
Ingredients
- 7-8 lb brisket, partially trimmed or untrimmed*
- 3 bulbs garlic, peeled and chopped
- 2 large onion, cut into eighths
- 3 lb carrots, left whole with stems cut
- 1 lb baby potatoes
- 1 quart gluten free beef broth
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup ketchup, gluten free
- 1 cup chili sauce, gluten free (we use Organicville chili sauce for reference, see notes below*)
- 2 Tbsp Emerils Original Essence seasoning, get the recipe here*
- 2-3 tbsp oil
Instructions
Special Tools:
- Large stovetop-safe roast pan with lid (I use an 18” roast pan). You could try using a large, deep casserole dish instead, though I haven’t tried myself.
- Electric cutting knife, optional but highly recommended!
Prepare the Brisket:
- Preheat oven to 350℉
- Rinse and pat dry the brisket. Cover each side with 1 Tbsp of seasoning mixture, so that everything evenly coated. Set aside.
- Place a large stovetop-safe roast pan over medium-high heat. Sauté onion in 2 Tbsp of oil for a few minutes until translucent, stirring occasionally. Remove from the pan, placing on a separate dish. Add additional tablespoon of oil to the pan if needed, then place the brisket in the roast pan fat side down. Sear for 2 minutes on each side, ending with the fat side up. Turn off heat.
- Whisk together brown sugar, ketchup, and chili sauce until smooth. Add this sauce mixture directly over the brisket. Pour 1.5 cups beef broth over and around the sides, gently lifting the up the meat so that some of the broth flows underneath before setting it back down in the pan.
- Add chopped garlic and some of the sautéd onion (about 1/4 of it all) on top of the brisket, then add leftover onion around the sides. Lay the whole carrots over the onion and garlic on top of the brisket. Finish by adding the potatoes around the sides of the pan.
Cook and Serve:
- Cover the roast pan with the lid, then place in the oven and cook for 4 hours (do not open the oven!). Remove from oven, then turn down oven temperature to 250℉. Take lid off roast pan and let cool for 10 mintues. Remove onion, carrots, and potatoes in a large bowl.
- Remove brisket onto a large cutting board, fat side up. Using an electric knife (recommended) or a large cutting knife, trim any excess fat off (to preference) and discard. Slice the remaining brisket meat on an angle, against the grain.
- Add remaining beef broth to the roast pan and mix to combine with the rest of the pan liquid and sauce. Place the sliced brisket back in the roast pan with onion, carrots, and potatoes and spoon some of the pan liquid over the top. Cover with lid, then place back into the oven for no longer than 30-40 minutes until ready to serve.*
Notes
- For the brisket, the amount of trimming needed before starting or after cooking may vary. Some fat is needed for cooking, so do not buy a completely trimmed brisket with no fat. We generally buy a partially trimmed brisket, or one that is untrimmed with a lesser amount of fat, and do not do any additional trimming until after the cooking process.
- Since ingredients are always subject to change, I always make Emeril’s Essence seasoning from scratch with individual spices. If you are not gluten free or gluten sensitive, you can use the original seasoning mixture from the bottle.
- After slicing the cooked brisket, you can serve right away if desired. Make sure to add additional liquid to the roast pan if needed to thin out the sauce, however the brisket seems to do better after adding the rest of the liquid and allowing to warm in the oven before serving.
- For the chili sauce, the type we use is Organicville chili sauce, which was found at Whole Foods. However, I did have someone tell me they used Thai chili sauce instead and cut the amount of sugar in half and it worked great! Check the ingredients of your sauce and adjust sugar as needed. (Thai chili sauce is sweet and tends to contain some excess sugar). If your chili sauce contains corn syrup or similar, I'd suggest cutting down the brown sugar to 1/2 cup.
Recipe adapted from Emeril’s Passover Brisket.
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Recipe was fantastic! this is definitely the BEST brisket. And it wasn’t even that hard to make! (just a large amount – but i’m sure it can be scaled down if needed)
I had a bit of a hard time finding a good sized brisket in california but the butcher at Costco came through and found me a good chunk!
Notes:
– As I was short on time the day of, i actually put the dry-rub on the nigh before and kept the brisket in the fridge.
-I couldn’t sear the brisket in the roasting pan b/c of having a ceramic cooktop so I ended up searing the giant chunk on a pancake griddle instead!
– Couldn’t find the chili sauce down in San Diego so i went with the asian-esque chili sauce and half the sugar. It definitely added extra spice but was SOOOOO good!!!
– Made brisket street tacos with a smidge of onions and avocado on post-roast-day 4. SIMPLY AMAZING!
So glad you loved it, thanks for the notes!!