Oven Barbecued Brisket

This is a very simple beginner's recipe for a moist and tender Oven Barbecued Brisket that is as successful in the crockpot as it is in the oven.

The ease comes from the purchased flavorings: dry onion soup mix, chili sauce and cola - light or regular, Pepsi, Coke or RC, it doesn't really matter - mixed together and poured over the brisket and slowly roasted in a low oven or slow cooker.

Like all good things, it will take a while to turn this tough cut of beef into luscious slices of silky, savory brisket for dinner or sandwiches.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 4 hours
Ready In: 4 hours 5 minutes

Oven Barbecued Brisket

3 pound beef brisket
1 can or bottle (12 ounces) cola
1 envelope (1 ounce) dry onion soup mix
1 bottle (12 ounces) bottle chili sauce

Preheat the oven to 325F.

Whisk together the cola, soup mix and chili sauce.

Put the brisket, fat side up, in a roasting pan or baking dish. Pour the sauce over the meat and cover it tightly with aluminum foil. If the roasting pan has a lid, use that as well.

Bake for 4 hours. Remove the foil before the last hour of baking - the sauce will reduce and begin to caramelize, just don't let it dry out.

When the brisket has finished cooking, lift it out onto a cutting board. Let it sit for a few minutes, then carve it into slices. Pour some of the sauce over the meat and the rest on the side.

Good To Know - For the crockpot option, cook the brisket and sauce, covered, for 4 hours on high, then 1 more hour with the lid off to thicken up the sauce.

Food For Thought - Now that you have the technique for producing juicy, tender brisket, you can branch out with different seasonings.

For more of a barbecue flavor, make a spice rub of equal parts paprika, chili powder, kosher salt, ground black pepper, garlic powder, celery seeds, onion powder and dry mustard. Score the meat, including the fat, and rub the mixture all over the brisket.

Let it sit, wrapped in plastic, at least 8 hours or overnight, then either bake in the oven or follow the procedure for using a crockpot.

If that mixture of cola, chili sauce and dry onion soup doesn't sound like your kind of thing, try using barbecue sauce in place of the chili sauce, beer in place of the cola or dry tomato soup mix in place of the onion soup.

Find a combination of seasonings and liquids that suits your tastes, just keep the measurements the same.

Yield 4 Servings
Amount Per Serving:
Calories 978, Fat 75g, Cholesterol 207mg