My succulent beef brisket is slow braised with beer and lots of onions until deliciously tender. Served with an accompaniment of creamy horseradish sauce, this brisket is scrumptious sliced up and served on its own or prepared as a juicy sandwich!
Beef Brisket with Horseradish Sauce, a Perfectly Delicious Match
Very little compares to the scrumptious aroma of homemade beef brisket as it braises away in the oven...
Nestled in a savory combination of beer and onions, plus a little sprinkle of herbs and spices, it gently bubbles and simmers in its pan, without any muss or fuss, for several hours until perfectly tender, moist and flavorful.
My favorite way to enjoy my beef brisket is to slice it up and generously pile it onto a toasted brioche bun with a good dollop of my homemade creamy horseradish sauce, brisket's perfectly delicious partner-with-a-kick, along with a copious amount of that sauce to create an extra juicy sandwich.
However you choose to serve beef brisket, this recipe has lots of rich flavor and is a terrific option to prepare when you're hungry for a bit of slow braised comfort food that's hearty-yet-nourishing, and will fill your own kitchen with aromas sure to bring everyone to the table!
How To Make Beef Brisket Braised in Beer
Beef brisket is a tougher cut of meat, and it requires a longer cooking time in order to yield tender, juicy results.
This makes braising for several hours a perfect cooking process for brisket, as it slowly and gently cooks the beef at a lower temperature, helping it to become increasingly tender over time, with an abundance of rich sauce to serve over top or alongside.
I appreciate being able to infuse my brisket recipe with extra flavor, a bit of “earthiness”, and braise it in a combination of sliced onions, lager beer and a some beef stock or broth.
Allowing it to gently simmer covered in the oven for several hours, the meat becomes fork-tender, succulent and deeply flavorful, ideal to serve sliced up in a warm sandwich slathered in horseradish, or as an entree with mashed potatoes, veggies, and the horseradish on the side.
Here's a glance at my beef brisket recipe: (or just jump to the full recipe...)
- To begin, I sear off my beef brisket to create a bit of delicious crust on the outside, then remove it from my braising pan.
- I add in my aromatics, the onions and seasoning, followed by some garlic, and sauté for a few minutes before adding in my lager beer and some beef stock/broth.
- The beef brisket is nestled back into the pan, brought to a simmer, then covered and placed into a 325° oven to braise for roughly 3 ½ hours, or until tender.
- While the brisket cooks, I prepare my easy homemade horseradish sauce by whisking all of the ingredients together in a bowl, and set aside.
- Once the brisket is tender, I remove it from the oven and allow it to sit for 30 minutes in the pan before slicing and serving as desired.
Recipe
Beef Brisket with Creamy Horseradish Sauce
by Ingrid Beer
Category: Entree
Cuisine: American
Yield: Serves 6
Nutrition Info: 638 calories (with 2 tablespoons horseradish sauce)
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 3 ½ hours
Total time: 3 hours, 50 minutes
Beef Brisket Ingredients:
- 2 ¼ to 2 ½ pound beef brisket
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Avocado or olive oil
- 2 large onions, halved and sliced into semi-circles
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed through garlic press
- 1 (12 fluid ounce) bottle lager
- 2 cups beef stock or broth, warm
Creamy Horseradish Sauce Ingredients:
- ¼ cup plus 2 teaspoons cream horseradish (in a jar)
- ¼ cup plus 2 teaspoons sour cream
- Pinch or two salt
- Twist of cracked black pepper
- Preheat the oven to 325°.
- Season the brisket well with salt (about 2 ½ - 3 teaspoons worth) and black pepper.
- Place a large braising pan or Dutch oven over medium-high to high heat, and drizzle in about 4 tablespoons of the oil; once the oil is hot, add the brisket in and sear for about 4 minutes on each side; remove from pan and set aside.
- Reduce the heat under the pan to medium-low, and add in the onions; add in the Italian seasoning, plus a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and saute them for about 6 minutes, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan.
- Add in the garlic, and once that is aromatic, add in the lager and the beef stock or broth, and stir; nestle the brisket into the liquid and onions, bring to the boil, cover, and place into the oven to slowly braise for about 3 ½ hours, or until very fork tender. (My brisket was just shy of 2 ½ lbs, and I braised it for 3 ½ hours.)
- To prepare the creamy horseradish sauce, mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl until well-combined; set aside to use immediately, or keep in the fridge covered.
- When the brisket is tender, remove the pan from the oven and allow the brisket cool for at least 30 minutes (you can also make this ahead and allow the brisket to completely cool in its braising liquid, and then slice it up the next day for extra flavor, and gently reheat).
- Slice the meat very thinly with a sharp knife, against the grain; place back into the pan into the sauce, or place onto a platter.
- If preparing sandwiches, strain the onions from the cooking liquid, and reserve both the onions and the liquid; add slices of brisket onto a toasted bun, spoon some of the onions on top of the sliced meat, top with creamy horseradish, and serve with the strained juices on the side for dipping.
Tips & Tidbits for my Beef Brisket with Creamy Horseradish Sauce:
- Low and slow for tender beef brisket: Setting the oven temp to 325° gives the brisket a chance to cook more slowly in the braising liquid to help gently break down the connective tissue and release the collagen. The cooking time for a roughly 2 ½ pound brisket will be roughly 3 ½ hours, but this is “hands-free” time—no babysitting required. 😉
- Lager, or your favorite bottle of beer: Because of my family heritage, I typically opt for a Czech Pilsner for this recipe, but feel free to use your own favorite lager, or any beer for that matter!
- Give beef brisket a rest before slicing: Once the brisket is tender, remove it from the oven and allow it to sit in the juices for about 30 minutes before slicing and serving. This helps the meat relax a little, and for those inner juices to redistribute and stay in the meat.
- For a beef brisket sandwich: I love toasted brioche buns when making a sandwich out of the beef brisket, and often spread just a little bit of mayo on both the top and bottom of the bun. I also spoon a generous amount of the creamy horseradish sauce over the sliced brisket, and serve with some of the juices and sauce from the pan on the side to dip the “sammie” in.
Hungry for more savory recipes? Check out these Smothered Pork Chops in Savory Pan Sauce, this Beef Goulash, or this Pot Roast!
Cook's Note: This recipe was originally published in 2015, and has been updated with even more love!
Lois Ebert
Thank you so much for the recipe!
The Cozy Apron
Lois, hope you enjoy!
Beverley
I so enjoy reading about your family and your delicious recipes...thank you and I can't wait till I share this with my family xoxo
The Cozy Apron
Hi Beverley, that is so very kind of you, and I thank you for taking a bit of your time to share your thoughts with me. I hope that you and your family enjoy this recipe! 🙂
Carl
Being from the south we smoke briskets. Your recipe sounds great and I guareetee you I'll try it. That said I have to ask where in the world do you find a 2.5lb brisket and why even bother when it's going to lose have of that in the cook? There's a whole lot of energy being used to cook this great sounding dish, go for broke and cook at least a 5-6 pound flat. I'm going to bet you wish you had.
At any rate, thanks for sharing.
The Cozy Apron
Hi Carl, I so appreciate your comment! 🙂 You know what, I'm not sure if it's because it's braised or what, but though it did shrink a little during the cooking, it didn't lose that much; and so it ended up still being a good amount of meat perfect to make roughly 4-6 sandwiches. But here's what I'd say: for sure go for bigger if you're looking to have a couple days of leftovers! Why not? I bet your smoked version is absolutely delicious, and I'm honored that you'd consider trying out my recipe for the beer-braised. If you do, I think you'll enjoy it! Thanks for stopping by!
Sara
Do you think you could make this in the slow cooker?
The Cozy Apron
Hi Sara, I don't see why not! I'm not very familiar with using slow cookers, so I don't have specific info in regards to the recipe; but it is a slow-cooking piece of meat, so I'd say sear it off first, and just allow it to go on low (most likely) for a while.
Linda Johnson
I just did one in the Slow Cooker came out great!
The Cozy Apron
Wonderful, Linda! Thanks for sharing that!
Dave F.
This was a very enjoyable and easy recipe to prepare. The horseradish cream sauce was amazing as well! Only thing is I think I should have taken the brisket out of the liquid to cool for 30 minutes because it was still really hot and I couldn't slice it at all! It shredded up which was fine, also after I strained the onions I reduced the sauce added some salt pepper and onion powder, and a cornstarch slurry to slightly thicken it up.
On toasted brioche buns, this was an amazing sandwich! Thanks for the recipe! I'll make it again for certain.
The Cozy Apron
Hi Dave, thanks for commenting on your experience —so glad you enjoyed this recipe! (And yes, waiting the 30 minutes after the meat has braised definitely helps in the slicing, but I know it's not easy, lol ).
Jenny
HI Ingrid
If you halve the recipe, does the cooking time change?
The Cozy Apron
Hey Jenny, unfortunately not.
Because cooking time is based upon the type of meat being used (a "tougher" cut, in this case), no matter the size, it will still require longer cooking/braising to make it nice and tender. So, even if you want to make a smaller portion and halve the recipe, it'll still need it's "beauty time" in the oven, for just as long.
Kelley M Hill
HI, I cant wait to try this> Would a dark beer be okay? I have a bottle of Guinness that has been sitting in my fridge for months.
The Cozy Apron
Hi Kelley, absolutely!
Please use whatever you have on hand. Actually, I'm sure the Guinness will be de-lish!
Rosalva
If I use a larger cut of brisket, say double, should I double all the ingredients? Can’t wait to make this. It sounds delish!!
The Cozy Apron
Hi Rosalva, I'm excited to read that you're planning on preparing this recipe!
If you'd like to double the size of the brisket, then I'd suggest you probably not go quite double the other ingredients, but rather 1 1/2 times. This way, there'll be more liquid, but not so much that it's an overkill.
I hope you enjoy the recipe, and happy cooking to you, Rosalva!