Slow-cooked with herbs and red wine, this Beef Brisket Recipe was fall-apart tender and delicious when dinner time rolled around! 

This Rosemary Garlic Brisket was a huge hit at our Sunday night family dinner. I’m so glad the 4-pound brisket was plenty for our ravenous family of five!

Rosemary Garlic Brisket slices on a white plate with a bamboo fork.

Why You Must Make

  • Brisket is a beautiful cut of meat to slow cook.
  • After hours in the oven, the beef becomes tender and soaks up all the flavors of the ingredients accompanying it in the pot. I poured in some red wine, and added garlic, sprigs of rosemary, bay leaves, tomatoes, carrots, celery, and loads of red onions.
  • The kitchen’s aroma was nothing short of intoxicating! As it simmered away, we enjoyed some family time walking the puppy around the neighborhood, then parking in front of the TV to root for our favorite teams.
  • With a definite crispness in the air, this comforting dutch oven brisket was the ideal way to usher in a new month and a new season.
Beef brisket recipe in a white ceramic bowl with carrots and rosemary.

How to Make a Healthier Beef Brisket

Though brisket has a fat cap covering the meat, you can make it a healthier dinner option. First, remove the obvious fat from the beef, then after the brisket finished cooking, reduce the juices sans fat to make a sauce.

Pour the pan juices into a fat separator and let the oils and fats rise to the top as it rests on the counter. Once there is a visible divide, simply pour off all the excess fat. Alternatively, you can make this brisket the day before you serve it, park it in the fridge, and remove all the congealed fat once the dish is chilled.

Bill was thrilled to have meat and potatoes (AND gravy) for his dinner, and I was delighted to serve a tender, flavorful, healthy entree with lots of veggies on the side.

When it comes to healthy proteins, remember that beef offers some fabulous options. By pairing your lean beef selection with fruits, vegetables, and/or whole grains, you’ll have a delicious, wholesome meal.

Overhead view of dutch oven beef brisket.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Brisket?

Brisket is a boneless cut of beef taken from under the first 5 ribs. Since it’s a well-used muscle, it requires a long, slow braising time to make it tender.

There are two cuts of brisket: the flat cut and the point cut. The former being leaner and more expensive and the latter more flavorful.

How Do You Cook Brisket?

Braising is the best method to cook brisket. This requires the meat to be browned, then cooked with some liquid in a tightly sealed pan for a long period of time.
This method helps break down the tough fibers, tenderize the beef, and assists with flavor development. Use a Dutch oven with a layer of tightly wrapped foil between the pot and lid.

How Do You Slice Brisket?

Like with flank steak, there is a visible grain showing how the muscle strands run in your meat. If you have a whole brisket instead of the flat or point cut, you will see the grain running in two different directions!

No matter what brisket cut, you slice across the grain, meaning perpendicular to the direction the muscle strands are running. This makes for more tender slices.

Like with all beef, place the brisket on a cutting board, cover with foil and let rest 10 minutes before cutting. This allows the juices to be redistributed throughout the beef.

What Internal Temperature is Best for Brisket?

195-205° is the temperature where the breakdown of collagen occurs. And the brisket must spend 30 minutes at this temperature to complete the process.

If you cook your brisket in the oven for 4 hours at 325 degrees F, monitoring the temperature is not necessary. When grilling brisket, the goal internal temperature is 165 to 170 degrees F.

What to Serve with Brisket:

You’ll definitely want mashed potatoes as a vessel for all the gravy that comes with this beef brisket recipe, but rice or homemade bread are other delicious options. Corn on the cob, roasted vegetables, and/or a green salad are other side dishes that work well with brisket.

You May Also Like:

Stay in touch through social media @ InstagramFacebook, and Pinterest. Don’t forget to tag me when you try one of my recipes! And if you love the results, please give it a 5-star rating in the recipe card.

Rosemary Garlic Brisket in a white ceramic bowl with carrots and rosemary

Rosemary Garlic Brisket

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 20 minutes
Yield 8 servings

This slow-cooked, flavorful beef brisket recipe is adapted from Tyler Florence.

Ingredients

  • 4-6 garlic cloves, smashed
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning brisket
  • 4 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • Beef brisket, about 4 pounds
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 large carrots, cut into chunks
  • 3 celery stalks, cut into chunks
  • 4 large red onions, cut in half
  • 2 cups dry red wine
  • 16 ounces tomatoes, chopped (I used a can of whole tomatoes)
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1 tablespoon flour, optional

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 325º. Make a paste by finely chopping the garlic, salt, and rosemary leaves in a small bowl along with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil.
  2. Season both sides of the brisket with a generous amount of kosher salt and black pepper.
  3. Place a large roasting pan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add the remaining olive oil. Add the brisket and sear both sides till nicely browned.
  4. Place all the vegetables around the meat and smear the garlic paste over the brisket. Add the wine, tomatoes, and bay leaves.
  5. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and place in oven. Bake for 3 to 4 hours, basting every 30 minutes with the juices until the beef is very tender.
  6. Remove the brisket, cover with foil, and let rest for 15 minutes before cutting.
  7. Remove the vegetables to a bowl and skim off any visible fat (or pour into a fat separator).
  8. Heat the juices over medium-high and cook till reduced by half. You may thicken by adding a mixture of 1 tablespoon of flour mixed with 2 tablespoons of water.
  9. To serve, slice the brisket across the grain and plate with vegetables if desired.

Notes

I like to add sliced carrots to the Dutch oven during the last hour of braising time. They're so flavorful cooked in the juices.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 853Total Fat: 51gSaturated Fat: 18gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 26gCholesterol: 252mgSodium: 328mgCarbohydrates: 15gFiber: 3gSugar: 6gProtein: 70g

HOW MUCH DID YOU LOVE THIS RECIPE?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest