Oven Brisket Recipe (Texas-Style)
Texas Style Oven Brisket Recipe: A simple smokey brisket recipe with a zesty dry rub, that can be made in the oven, instead of a smoker. Enjoy with others!
Why We Love This Oven Baked Beef Brisket Recipe
Today, I have a Beef Brisket Recipe to share with you all.
Instead of cooking individual steaks for dinner parties, I like to prepare one large cut of beef that can serve many people. This not only allows better control of the cooking process, when cooking for a crowd, it also often saves money and time.
And this Texas Oven Baked Brisket is a marvelous cut for holiday gatherings, or any time of the year really!
Brisket tends to be a tough cut of meat, so it’s best when it is slow-cooked and sliced thin so that the best flavor and texture can be enjoyed together.
Texas is known for its classic brisket preparation, involving a dry rub spice blend and a long rest in an outdoor wood smoker. In my opinion, a slowly smoked brisket is the absolute best brisket available. It’s tender and rich with pink smoke rings around each piece and thick chewy bark. However, as most of us don’t own an outdoor smoking cabinet, we’ll have to rely on other ways to achieve a similar result.
So, today I’m sharing my Texas Style Oven Brisket Recipe, a dry-rubbed brisket roasted in the oven over a water bath with liquid smoke.
…Is it as irresistible as a brisket smoked all night in a smoking cabinet? No. I won’t lie and tell you it turns out just the same.
However, this Texas Oven Brisket is a close runner-up and much, much easier to prepare. So once you learn how to cook brisket in the oven, you will be so impressed! So break out the spices, preheat those ovens, and get ready for delicious, juicy brisket!
Ingredients You Need
To make this Texas Oven Brisket Recipe, simply rub a large flat-cut brisket (or a whole packer brisket) with a “dry brine brisket” blend of salt and spices. The dry rub I used is comprised of:
- sea salt (or kosher salt or table salt)
- brown sugar
- chili powder
- paprika
- dried mustard
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- dried thyme (or rosemary)
Then lay it on a rack in a roasting pan, over water mixed with liquid smoke. You can use any variety of liquid smoke you prefer… Hickory, Cherry, Mesquite, Oak, etc.
How to Make Brisket in Oven
Learning to cook brisket in the oven is simple, but does take some time, so be patient!
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Pour 3 cups of water into the bottom of a large roasting pan with a rack and add the liquid smoke.
In a small bowl, mix the salt, brown sugar, and all remaining spices until well combined. Rub the spice blend over the entire surface of the brisket and lay the brisket on the wire roasting rack.
Insert an oven-safe meat thermometer into the thickest part of the brisket and cover the roasting pan tightly with aluminum foil.
Pro Tip: If you have an oven with a build-in thermometer, run the wire out the side of the pan. If you are using a standard meat thermometer, insert it into the brisket, through the boil, so you can see the reading.
Slow roast in the oven until the internal temperature reaches 175 degrees F. Then remove the foil and continue roasting until the internal temperature reaches 195 degrees F. Depending on your oven, and where you inserted the meat thermometer, this can take 5-6 hours.
Take the brisket out of the oven and allow it to rest for 30 minutes before serving. Cover it loosely with foil to help retain the heat. Place on a cutting board and cut the brisket across the grain (across the muscle fibers) into thin slices and serve warm.
Pro Tip: Do not be tempted to raise the temperature for faster cooking time, or your brisket will be very tough. Slow oven roasting allows the fats to break down gradually, tenderizing the beef, so it has a stretchy, juicy quality in the end.
Tips & Tricks
- To serve as a saucy BBQ brisket: Let the brisket rest for 30 minutes before slicing into it. Then place the sliced pieces into a baking dish with warm BBQ sauce in the bottom. You can warm up the sauce in the oven or on the stovetop. After placing the sliced pieces of brisket into the baking dish with sauce, allow people to serve from the baking dish to get some of the sauce with the brisket!
- The key to tender, juicy oven-baked brisket is cooking it at a low temperature for a long time! Don’t be tempted to increase the oven temperature over 250 degrees F here. You must be patient with the process!
- Some people cook their brisket without a dry rub, which is perfectly fine, but it won’t have as much flavor! If you are worried about your sodium intake, you can reduce the amount of salt in the dry rub and serve with a low-sodium BBQ sauce for extra flavor!
Serving Suggestions
This recipe is perfect for parties or feeding a large family. It will also leave your house smelling like mouth-watering smokey brisket!
This brisket can be served in so many different ways! Serve it with your favorite barbecue sauce and corn on the cob! I definitely recommend making this into a leftover brisket sandwich on a fluffy brioche bun with bbq sauce. Try serving your Texas brisket recipe with some of my favorites:
- Mashed Potatoes
- Homemade Mac and Cheese
- Baked Beans
- Mashed Sweet Potatoes
- Roasted Okra
- Collard Greens
- Potato Salad
This Texas Style Oven Brisket also pairs well with this Creamy Ranchero Sauce! Give it a try!
Also, try our Crock Pot Brisket Sandwiches recipe and our Smoked Brisket Recipe for more great sharing options for brisket!
How To Make Oven Brisket Recipe (Texas-Style) + Video. Get The Full Printable Recipe Below!
Frequently Asked Questions
You need to allow the brisket to rest for at least 30 minutes after taking it out of the oven to let the juices fully redistribute. If you cut into it sooner, the juices will pour out of the beef, and the meat will be drier because of it!
Cooked brisket could last in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.
Yes and no. If you rub the brisket with the spice rub and immediately place it in the oven, it’s just a brisket rub. It will flavor the exterior of the meat and the spices will penetrate a little way into the beef.
However, if you take the time to dry rub the brisket the night before baking (or even several hours before baking) and then place it in the refrigerator, this is considered a brisket dry brine. The salt and other seasonings have time to truly work their way down into the center of the beef.
Pro Tip: If time allows, always dry rub the brisket several hours before placing it in the oven.
Yes! You should wrap the brisket in foil and cook it in the oven until it reaches an internal temperature of 175 degrees. Then remove the foil and allow it to continue cooking slowly until it reaches 195 to 200 degrees F.
Yes, you will want to add water to the bottom of the roasting pan along with a little bit of liquid smoke for a classic smoky flavor! The water will help to keep the oven moist so that the brisket doesn’t dry out being in the oven for so long. Since the brisket isn’t touching the water, it can still create a bark around the edges!
Because brisket is a tougher cut of meat, it must come to a higher temperature internally before the fats start to break down and tenderize. You could technically take the brisket out of the oven at 175 degrees F and it will be cooked, but if you want to get the traditional brisket stretch in each slice, you need to allow enough time for the brisket to reach 195 to 200 degrees F.
A good rule of thumb is to cook your brisket 60 minutes per pound at 250 degrees F. So if you had a 3-pound brisket, you’d cook it for about 3 hours.
However, many different factors can throw this estimate off. So, make sure the internal temperature of the brisket is 195 degrees F before removing it from the oven.
Looking for More Beef Recipes? Be Sure to Also Try:
- Crockpot Bacon Wrapped Beef Tenderloin
- Oven Roasted Standing Rib Roast
- Slow Cooker Italian Beef Recipe
- Best Beef Stew
- Honey Garlic Beef Tenderloin
- Best Smoked Brisket Recipe
- Instant Pot Italian Beef
- Best Beef Pot Roast
Let me know how your brisket turned out in the comments below and don’t forget to print, pin, or download this recipe! It’s a keeper for sure!
Oven Brisket Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 5-6 pound boneless flat-cut beef brisket (not corned beef brisket)
- 2 tablespoons sea salt
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon dried mustard
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1/4 cup liquid smoke, any variety
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Pour 3 cups water into the bottom of a large roasting pan with a rack and add the liquid smoke.
- In a small bowl, mix the salt, brown sugar, and all remaining spices until well combined. Rub the spice blend over the entire surface of the brisket and lay the brisket on the wire roasting rack. Insert an oven-safe meat thermometer into the thickest part of the brisket and cover the roasting pan tightly with foil. *If you have an oven with a built-in meat thermometer, run the wire out the side of the pan. If you are using a standard meat thermometer, insert it into the brisket, through the foil, so you can see the reading.
- Slow roast in the oven until the internal temperature reaches 175 degrees F. Then remove the foil and continue roasting until the internal temperature reaches 195 degrees F. Depending on your oven, and where you inserted the meat thermometer, this process may take 5-6 hours.
- Take the brisket out of the oven and allow it to rest for 30 minutes before serving. Cover it loosely with foil to help retain the heat. Cut the brisket across the grain into thin slices, and serve warm.
Notes
Nutrition
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This was delicious and worth the wait! FYI-my brisket was a whole, untrimmed brisket. I would guess 17 lbs or so. I tripled the rub but kept the liquid smoke the same. It took about 19 hours or so but the hardest part was making sure the oven didn’t turn itself off and checking the temp. Super tender and flavorful. Oh, I also had the brisket in the rub for a day as our schedule changed and we had to wait a day to cook.
Hola yum … put a slight spin on recipe though and 250 deg for 4.5 hours and turned our amazing … shared recipe with a tone of people …
Clearly I should have read the comments but I did not. The meat is OK but I would have appreciated a heads up or warning in the directions that this could take much longer than 5-6 hours. I’m going on hour nine and have hungry people waiting. I feel terrible. Once the meat came to 175 I removed the foil and the meat quickly dropped back down to the 140s. I made the call to cover it with foil for another hour to avoid turning the heat up. I don’t think I would use this method of cooking again due to the unpredictability.
I used a large brisket – 10 pounds. I did the dry brine before going to work at 2 pm and then when I got home from work started it at 225 degrees so that it would be ready to eat at 11 AM. It was wonderfully tender and tasty! I will make this again.
One commenter noted the temperatures discussed in the video are short of those in the recipe – use the recipe temps! Longer, slower cooking makes a tender brisket and not reaching optimum temperature will leave brisket tough – just my untrained opinion,
use base temp of 225 oven temp to raise meat temp to 175 then, uncovered more hrs to 195
My first brisket in the oven and I have a few suggestions: follow the recipe and be faithful to the temperature & thermometer. I always follow recipes to a “T” the first time thru; I also do internet searches to find consensus \ conventional wisdom or other advice. One piece of advice was to put a metal dish filled with water on the oven’s floor which I did. My 3.5 brisket took 4 hrs @ 225 to get to 175, 3 more hours to get to 195. Slicing thin is a vital piece of information or you will have some toughness.
I wanted to make gravy to go along with it for serving but the pan liquid seemed salty – any suggestions on making gravy? Or was my salty sensitive misplaced?
Hey David C…
Just a suggestion on the gravy- one thing that might help with the juices from the pan: place the juices in a pot with 1 or 2 potatoes peeled and cut into large pieces and bring the pot to a low boil for maybe 10 to 15 minutes. The potatoes should absorb a lot of the saltiness. Then remove the potatoes and make your gravy from there. I hope that works.
Good Brisket: Liked the recipe.. You are right not red ringed and that deep bark, not as smokey flavor of a true Texas Brisket… but darn close!
Thanks for a good one.
Very, very tender, but no taste using the recommended seasons. I had to recreate for taste sensations.
I sure did it is sooo tender and good i love brisket and recipe is really good sill use again thank you