Description
Beef brisket tacos are a terrific twist on your regular beef tacos. Using a slow cooker brisket recipe, I transformed a fantastic brisket into these tacos and they just blew us away. Brisket is always better when made a day in advance to allow the flavors to meld. To make this more manageable, cook the brisket in the crock pot overnight and wake up with your stomach growling from the smell of the slow-cooked brisket. Chill in the fridge for the entire day, reheat later, and bam! Brisket tacos for dinner at night!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- For the brisket:
- 3 lbs beef brisket
- Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 5 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
- 1 Spanish onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, with their juices
- 1 to 2 whole canned chipotle chiles in adobo (optional)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/4 cup molasses
For serving:
- Large stack of 6-inch tortillas
- Shredded cheddar, jack, or pepper jack
- Sour cream
- Cabbage slaw
- Chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Pat the beef dry with paper towels and sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Heat the oil to just about smoking in a large skillet and brown both sides of the brisket, about 5 minutes per side. Add the brisket to the crock pot. Leave the drippings in the pan.
- Add the onions, garlic, chili powder, coriander, and cumin to the hot pan and cook for about 1 minute. Add in the vinegar, scraping the bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir the water into the mixture and then transfer the entire mixture to the crock pot. Dump the tomatoes over the beef, breaking them up with your fingers before stirring them into the onion mixture along with the chipotle chilies (if using), bay leaves, and molasses.
- Cover and cook for 10 hours on low heat. This is where starting the recipe at night comes in really handy. When you awake in the morning, the brisket will be ready. However, proceed as follows regardless of what time of day you make the brisket.
- Carefully transfer the brisket from the crock pot to a large bowl. Cool until warm to the touch and then cover tightly plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours or up to 2 days. Strain off the vegetables and discard. Allow the liquid to cool slightly and then refrigerate at the same time as the brisket until the top layer of fat has formed above the liquid.
- When ready to serve, spoon off and discard the layer of fat from the liquid then simmer the juices until reduced by about two-thirds. Warm the brisket for 1 minute in the microwave and then shred with two forks (it’s easier to shred when warmed a little). Transfer the brisket to a Dutch oven and pour the juice over the shredded brisket. Reheat over low heat for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve hot with suggested or your own favorite toppings.
Notes
adapted from Smitten Kitchen
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Resting Time: 3 hours
- Cook Time: 10 hours
- Category: Main Dishes
- Cuisine: Tex-Mex
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