This Easy Baked Brisket turns out tender, moist, and so flavorful. Perfect for slicing or sandwiches, you’ll wish you bought a bigger brisket!
It’s a simple recipe that uses a rub of aromatic spices and flavorful broth to create a great simple sauce.
Why you’ll love this Easy Brisket Recipe
HANDS-OFF COOKING: This recipe rocks because you can prep the brisket, put it in the oven and then go about your day. It’s not quite as hands-off as brisket in a slow cooker, because you turn it halfway through cooking, but it’s awfully close.
EASY PREP: You can even prep the brisket ahead of time and let it rest in the refrigerator overnight, which just enhances the flavor.
STAPLE INGREDIENTS: While beef brisket is pretty special, the rest of the recipe uses everyday ingredients- pantry staples like thyme, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. I love a little spice in my brisket rub, so I recommend adding the chipotle or cayenne to the mix, but if you like things milder, feel free to omit it.
How to Cook Brisket in the Oven? Slow and Low
The slow cooking at a low oven temperature is the way to go with baked beef brisket. The lower temperature allows the collagen to break down and the meat to become fork tender. There’s some very elegant science involved, so if you have an inquiring mind, here’s a good article!
What about smoked brisket?
I do love a smoked brisket and plan to work on my method this summer, but it takes a lot more time. The smoked paprika adds a bit of smoky flavor to this brisket recipe (as does the chipotle powder if you use it!). But If you want to add some smoky flavor to this recipe, you can add a touch of Liquid Smoke to the braising liquid.
What to serve with your brisket?
You can serve this simple oven-baked brisket with traditional BBQ sides like cole slaw, cornbread, green beans, mac-n-cheese, or baked beans. Or serve it with something lighter like a big salad. This Watermelon Salad with Tajin makes an amazing combination with sliced oven baked brisket.
This Watermelon Salad with Tajin makes a great partner for the Easy Baked Brisket. The fresh, sweet, and spicy flavors of the salad complement the savory of the meat.
Note: Your brisket will likely have a large fat cap on it. The cap is great for keeping the meat moist during extended cooking and a little of the fat is nice for adding richness to the sauce. When you trim the fat, keep about ¼” on the meat for this reason.
Variations and Substitutions
Want More Sauce?
If you like your brisket extra saucy, chop up an onion, carrot, and a few cloves of garlic and let them roast in the pan with the juices. The’ll be super soft and saucy by the end of cooking time, perfect for topping a brisket sandwich!
For a more saucy brisket, add sliced vegetables like carrots, onions, and garlic to the broth.
I’ve made the above variation several times. Once, I even browned all the vegetables first before adding them to the brisket pan, but I found the step unnecessary. Plenty of browning and the deep flavor happens even with the slow and low cooking process.
No Tamari? No Problem
If you don’t have Tamari, you can use soy sauce. We use Tamari because it’s gluten-free, but they both add the desired salt, flavor, and umami to the sauce.
What to do with leftovers if you’re lucky enough to have them?
If you are lucky enough to have leftovers, this Oven Baked Brisket makes amazing cold sandwiches (just add pickles or pickled onions!). It also makes a delicious base for tacos or quesadillas, topped with a squeeze of lime and some fresh cilantro.
This Easy Baked Brisket turns out tender, moist, and so flavorful. Perfect for slicing or sandwiches, you’ll wish you bought a bigger brisket!
Preheat the oven to 300°F.
Trim the fat cap on the meat to about ¼
Place the meat in a shallow roasting pan large enough to accommodate it. I use a large glass baking pan, which works nicely.
Whisk all dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the Tamari and Worcestershire and mix together to form a paste.
Rub the spice paste onto both sides of the meat.
In the same bowl, combine the Better Than Bouillon and water and pour in the pan around the meat.
Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil.
Bake covered for 2 hours. No peeking!
Remove the brisket from the oven and flip it over.
Return to the baking dish and bake for another 1- 1 ½ hours or until fork tender.
Remove the meat from the oven and allow the brisket to rest in the pan for 15 minutes before slicing.
Place brisket on a cutting board and slice the brisket against the grain for moist, tender pieces.
Return the sliced brisket to the pan with the juices until ready to serve.
Notes
Note: Your brisket will likely have a large fat cap on it. The cap is great for keeping the meat moist during extended cooking and a little of the fat is nice for adding richness to the sauce. When you trim the fat, keep about ¼” on the meat for this reason.
Want more sauce? If you like your brisket extra saucy, chop up an onion, carrot, and a few cloves of garlic and let them roast in the pan with the juices. The’ll be super soft and saucy by the end of cooking time, perfect for topping a brisket sandwich!
