I developed this braised beef brisket over a decade ago, and it continues to be a family favorite. With carrots, celery and aromatic fresh herbs like rosemary and thyme, it’s a deeply flavored aromatic main dish smells amazing as it cooks. This tender, saucy beef brisket is perfect for holiday celebrations like Passover and Rosh Hashanah. It cooks slowly for a long time, allowing the fresh herbs to deeply flavor the meat. Your house will smell amazing as it cooks!
What Cut of Beef Brisket Should I Use?
People often ask me what cut of brisket works best for recipes like this braised beef brisket. I generally recommend first cut, untrimmed. The first cut is easiest to find in supermarkets; it is shaped flat and has a thinner layer of fat. Second cut works great too– it is shaped with a point, and has a lot more fat. You’ll generally get more meat servings out of a first cut than a second cut.
Whichever cut you use, do NOT ask the butcher to trim the fat. Beef brisket needs fat for flavor and moisture during the cooking process; trim it before cooking, and you’ll end up with dry, unappetizing meat. You can trim the excess fat after cooking. Of course, I will show you how below.
How Do I Cook Grass Fed Beef Brisket?
More people are turning to grass fed meat; it is naturally leaner and healthier, and often grass fed beef is hormone free. If you choose a grass fed beef brisket for this recipe, you will likely need to cook it a bit longer. The lean quality of the meat makes it tougher to break down, and really requires a low and slow approach. If you choose a grass fed brisket, definitely do not trim it, and keep an eye on liquid levels as it cooks to make sure it stays moist.
Make this savory braised beef brisket a day ahead using the instructions below for easy slicing, and less preparation to worry about on the day you serve. You can make gravy from the pan drippings using a slurry of potato starch, then cover the meat with the rich herby brown sauce. This pairs really well with my Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes or Oven Roasted Root Vegetables. It’s all very easy to make!
For more beef brisket recipes and tips, check out my helpful How to Cook Brisket post.
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Food Photography and Styling by Kelly Jaggers
Braised Beef Brisket
Ingredients
- 6 lbs first cut brisket, untrimmed
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 4 onions, diced
- 5 carrots, peeled & sliced into 1-inch pieces
- 5 celery stalks, peeled and sliced into 1-inch pieces
- 10 sprigs thyme
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 2 bay leaves
- 8 cloves garlic
- 1 quart low sodium beef or chicken broth
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt (you may need to use less salt if using a kosher salted brisket)
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 1 tablespoon potato starch (optional- you may substitute corn starch if not for Passover)
- Fresh chopped parsley (optional, for garnish)
NOTES
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Rinse the brisket and pat dry. Rub both sides of the meat with black pepper and kosher salt.
- Heat roasting pan over a medium flame on the stovetop. Drizzle a few tablespoons of olive oil into the pan. Brown the brisket on both sides—it will take about 4 minutes per side.
- Remove brisket from the pan. Drizzle a little more olive oil in the pan and add the diced onions, carrot slices and celery chunks. Sauté the vegetables for a few minutes, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan with your spatula.
- When onion is translucent and carrot slices are slightly caramelized, scoop vegetables out of the pan and place in a bowl. Pour beef broth into the bottom of your pan until covered. Scrape up any remaining brown bits on the bottom of the pan as the broth heats up.
- When broth is hot, add half your vegetables back into the pan spread out across the bottom. Place your brisket back into the pan, fatty side facing up. Place garlic cloves on top of the meat, evenly spaced. Add the remaining veggies to the pan, spreading them on top of the brisket to cover. Place herbs on top of the brisket and in the broth, evenly dispersed.Pour more broth into the pan until it goes halfway up the sides of your brisket. Cover roasting pan tightly with a layer of parchment paper, followed by a layer of foil, and place in the oven. If your roasting pan has a lid, use that instead of the parchment/foil combination.
- Let brisket roast undisturbed for 5 to 7 hours. It will take about 1 hour per pound of meat (leaner and grass fed cuts of meat may take longer—test for doneness). Brisket will shrink as it cooks. The meat is ready when it is fork tender and very easy to slice. Remove brisket from the pan. At this point you can follow make-ahead instructions below, if you wish. If you are serving right away, let it rest on the cutting board for 20-30 minutes before slicing.
- Meanwhile, strain pan drippings from the roasting pan into a saucepan and allow to cool. Reserve cooked vegetables.
- Skim fat from the surface of the pan drippings using a spoon.
- Reheat the remaining liquid on stovetop. Stir together the potato starch and 1 1/2 tbsp cold water, then pour into the cooking liquid. Bring liquid to a low simmer until it thickens to make a gravy-style sauce. You may need more of the potato starch and water mixture to thicken further; add slowly and simmer until desired thickness is achieved. Alternatively, you can blend the softened cooked vegetables (with herbs removed) into the gravy to thicken it using an immersion blender. Add salt and pepper to taste if needed.
- Cut fat cap off the brisket…
- then cut the brisket in thin slices against the grain.
- Serve topped with pan juices or thickened gravy, along with the softened veggies if you have reserved them. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley, if desired.To Make Ahead: After cooking the brisket, open the lid or foil and parchment to vent, then let the brisket slowly return to room temperature. Switch the brisket and sauce to a ceramic or glass dish. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator.
- Let the brisket chill overnight, or up to two days. You can also freeze the brisket up to a week ahead if you prefer. 1-2 hours before serving, remove the brisket from the refrigerator and preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. The fat in the sauce will have risen to the top and solidified. Use a spoon to scoop the fat bits out of the sauce and discard.
- Take the brisket out of the dish and brush any excess sauce back into the dish. Place brisket on a cutting board, fat-side up. Slice the meat cold—first cut the fat cap off the brisket, then cut the brisket in thin slices against the grain.
- Return the sliced meat to the dish and spoon sauce over it, making sure to spoon a little sauce between each slice.
- Cover the dish with lid or layer of parchment and foil, then place in the oven. Let the brisket cook for 45-60 minutes until heated through. You can cook it even longer to let it become more tender, if you wish. Serve with thickened sauce and softened veggies, using the sauce thickening instructions above.
Nutrition
Made this great brisket dish about 4 months ago and got raves from the entire dinner party. Completely followed your recipe and had no issues. A really wonderful & classy entree to put on the table.
Since I’ll soon be making this again for another dinner, I do have a question or two: I was thinking of adding potatoes and possibly some bell peppers, or maybe even a sliced yellow onion. Do you think any or al of these would work; would it be too much; or can you suggest other vegetables?
I am also thinking that while thickening the sauce I might some diced mushrooms.
Thanks again for the details and a great dish.
Those would all be great! Just keep in mind that potatoes will soak in a lot of the cooking liquid, so you may need to add additional water or low sodium stock to compensate.
Question: Why are you using parchment paper in addition to the foil rather than foil alone?
I add parchment to keep separation between the aluminum and the cooked food. It is optional to do this, but I do recommend it when cooking sauces that have acid in them, as the aluminum can break down due to the acid and cause the sauce to have an off flavor.
This was fabulous. I prepared it exactly as directed since it was my first time making and the only thing I’ll do different next time is more garlic (my family can’t get enough, ever). It was tender, the gravy amazing and the aroma in the house all day was fantastic. Thanks for a new holiday staple!
For those considering preparing this recipe, here’s my review. I have made this brisket a number of times now and think it’s terrific! The instructions are detailed, easy to follow, and very accurate. Almost every time I’ve used a first cut which turns perfect. Once I used a deckle (it was the only cut available that day at the grocery store). It was great too, but I really prefer the first cut over the deckle.
What I like best about this recipe is its versatility. Of course, it’s wonderful for a Rosh Hashanah or Pesach Seder. However, since we’re a small family, a brisket makes a number of meals for us. I like to set aside some of the liquid (before thickening) to use as an “au jus” for sandwiches. I’ll shred part of the brisket and freeze it in the au jus to eat another time. It heats up on the stovetop great. I serve it on grilled or toasted French bread with a cup of au jus and it’s like a mock French dip. Sometimes I’ll top it off with giardiniera and it’s reminiscent of an Italian beef sandwich. This brisket is also perfect to mince and use for homemade kreplach filling.
All in all, this is a fantastic recipe and one I’m happy to now have in my recipe box. I give it 5 stars!
Hi Tori,
I can’t believe I missed this recipe before. I was going to cook a completely different recipe for tomorrow but now I think I’ll cook this one, instead!! I’m guessing you won’t see this before I cook the brisket, but the meat in the picture looks a bit dry. Would you ever recommend injecting the meat with some beef broth?
I have lot of folks coming to dinner on Saturday night so will also be making your challah which my daughter says is the best she’s ever had.
Thanks!
Dave
Meat is definitely not dry! As long as you braise it low and slow you’ll be good. It’s saucy! Shana tova, enjoy.
This brisket was GREAT! However, it’s not what my Grandma Ethel used to make. For over 40 years, I’ve been searching and sometimes experimenting for a way to prepare brisket the way that she did, with no success. Everything I’ve ried had the consistency of a pot roast, and her deckle was completely different. When Grandma passed, I was away at college and never asked her for that recipe. I was sure at least one of my aunts would have it, but no.
All I remember is that it came out of the broiler in an open pan and the top was crisp and the ends were a little crunchy (the cousins used to fight over the ends). There were onionns, carrots and small potatoes and that’s it. The meat was not served in any gravy or sauce. The gravy on the side was somewhat thin and I think it was just the juice and fat from the meat. I have no idea how the meat was cooked before it hit the broiler, but I think it was recognized that it took a long time That’s all I have.
Do you have any recipes that would approximate this, or any suggestions as to how it sounds like this was cooked? Thanks for your time, and be safe!
Hard to know without knowing Grandma Ethel. 🙂 Sounds like a simple salt and pepper brisket cooked in meat stock or chicken stock, then broiled at the end until crisp. I would think there was probably some garlic in there as well. Maybe another reader will have a tip!
Maybe knowing also where did grandma Ethel coming from or grow up will hugely get you closer to the recipe. If you want, we can exchange recipes, i am from Balkan area.
I made mine in a heavy, enameled cast iron dutch oven and it turned out great. Very tender and juicy.