Slow Cooker Brisket is coated in a spice mix and slow cooked with beer. It’s so tender and juicy. Cut it into slices and serve it with an easy 2-ingredient sauce. There’s no easier way to make a brisket.
For a cut of meat, briskets are a little on the pricey side, but the layer of fat they have gives them so much incredible flavor. They are great for feeding a crowd, especially if you serve them with lots of sides.
My all-time favorite brisket recipe is this Oven-Barbecued Beef Brisket, but the slow cooker does a great job of producing tender, juicy meats. To add more flavor to the brisket, I think it’s important to sear it first. It only takes a few minutes and gives the meat a nice caramelized crust that you just wouldn’t get in the crock pot otherwise.
The key to making flavorful meats in the crock pot is to make sure you don’t skimp on seasonings, especially the salt and pepper.
The spice rub for this Slow Cooker Brisket consists of ancho chili powder, garlic powder, paprika, and cayenne pepper. I really recommend the ancho chili powder over regular chili powder. It has so much more flavor and a wonderful deep smokiness. A combination of beer and chili sauce (the kind stocked next to the ketchup that you make cocktail sauce with) forms the liquid that the brisket cooks in.
I use Guinness for the beer but you can use whatever you like. Just stay away from beers that are too hoppy or bitter.
To make an easy sauce for the brisket, I mix equal parts of the cooking liquid with jarred bbq sauce.
This brisket makes great sandwiches or you can serve it sliced with a few of these awesome southern sides:
- Super Creamy Mac and Cheese
- Spicy Collard Greens
- Spicy Bacon Baked Beans
- Buttermilk Coleslaw
- Southern Potato Salad
Slow Cooker Brisket
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion, , coarsely chopped
- 1 (4-pound) beef brisket
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon ancho chile powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 cup beer,, I use Guinness
- 1/2 cup chili sauce,, I use Heinz
- 1/2 cup bbq sauce
Instructions
- Lightly grease a 6-quart slow cooker and place onion in the bottom.
- Trim excess fat from brisket. You want to leave about 1/2-inch thick layer on top.Rub brisket with salt and pepper.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add brisket and cook for 2 to 3 minutes per side to brown. Transfer brisket to slow cooker.
- Sprinkle both sides of the brisket with chile powder, garlic powder, paprika, and cayenne pepper.
- Pour beer and chili sauce around the brisket.
- Cover slow cooker and cook on LOW for 8 hours.
- Remove brisket from slow cooker and place on a cutting board or serving platter.
- Mix 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid with the bbq sauce and serve with the brisket. You can drizzle extra cooking liquid over the brisket once you slice it to keep it moist.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This was amazing. Didn’t have ancho chili powder so I just used regular. Thank you for the recipe!
My family went crazy over this recipe. Tender,juicy,and full of flavor,no left overs!Thank-you for this recipe,it’s a keeper.
If you know brisket, you can easily see that the brisket was cut improperly. It looks like it was cut with the grain of the meat and not against it which in turns makes a even portion and a better presentation.
It was cut against the grain. Because brisket in the crock pot gets so fall apart tender, parts of the meat broke off and when it was sliced and they may give the illusion that it was cut with the grain.
Yes, for sure. It’s hard to keep a knife sharp enough at home to make a totally nonshaggy cut from a well braised brisket. No confusion from this chef’s view – thanks for sharing the recipe. From a girl raised on Lockhart Tx Black’s Barbecue! Keep up the good work.
461 calories, is that a calorie bomb, Oh my God!!! I so want to try this as soon as I get my cooker and accessories back.