This Dutch Oven Brisket recipe is a great Sunday dinner the whole family will love. It’s a one-pot meal that simmers on the stove for hours, resulting in tender meat, and flavorful vegetables.
Do you make corned beef and cabbage? With St. Patrick’s Day coming up, I was on the hunt for corned beef. But, I could only find regular beef brisket and not corned beef brisket. And, I didn’t have the several extra hours it would take to make corned beef from this brisket.
So I went with the beef brisket and came up with this Dutch Oven Brisket recipe! It’s a great option if you want a hearty comfort food like corned beef and cabbage but:
- a) don’t like corned beef,
- b) are having a hard time finding ready corned beef at your grocery store, or
- c) can’t find corned beef AND do not have time or want to bother making corned beef from scratch.
This one-pot meal is similar to corned beef and cabbage recipe — but with way less salt since it uses regular brisket. You’ll notice the color is much darker since it hasn’t gone through the brining process that corned beef has gone through.
I actually like this brisket a lot more than corned beef! It’s still packed with flavor and super satisfying.
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🌟 Why this recipe works
This Instant Pot Brisket recipe is perfect for your next Sunday dinner!
- One Pot Meal: The meat and vegetables all cook together in one large pot, making it easy and convenient to go from stovetop to table.
- Easy: This Dutch oven recipe is simple and easy to follow. See the visual step-by-step directions below to help guide you as you make this recipe.
- Simple ingredients: You should be able to find everything you need for this easy recipe at your local grocery store.
- Flavorful: The beef brisket is essentially braised in the broth, herbs, and spices for hours, resulting in flavorful meat and veggies.
🛒 Ingredient notes
Beef Brisket – You’ll want a 3 to 4 pound beef brisket. NOT corned beef: that is completely different (see FAQ section below). You may choose to trim fat from the brisket, depending on how fatty your cut of meat is.
Vegetables – We love adding potatoes, carrots, and cabbage to this dish.
Herbs, seasonings – This recipe calls for a simple mix of mustard seeds, kosher salt, ground black pepper, fresh thyme sprigs and bay leaf for the herbs and seasonings. You can also add cayenne pepper, peppercorns, or tarragon.
Braising liquid – Use beef broth or beef stock as the main braising liquid for this brisket, along with some worcestershire sauce. For added flavor, feel free to add a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste and/or a half cup of red wine to the pot when you add the broth.
✅ Step-by-step instructions
Full ingredients and instructions are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post. Here’s a visual step-by-step to help guide you as you cook the brisket.
- In a Dutch oven over medium heat, add the olive oil. Sauté the garlic and onions for about 1 minute, just until they are soft and fragrant.
- Place the brisket on top of the garlic and onions.
3. Pour in the broth.
4. Sprinkle the mustard seeds, salt, and pepper over the brisket. Add the bay leaves and thyme sprigs.
5. Increase the heat to medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, reduce to a low simmer, cover, and cook for 3 hours. Every 30 minutes, check on the brisket and ladle the broth over the brisket.
6. After 3 hours, add the potatoes and carrots around the brisket. Try to submerge as much of the vegetables under the water as possible. Increase the heat and bring the liquid to a boil. Cook for 15 minutes.
7. After 15 minutes, add the cabbage to the Dutch oven. Boil and cook for 5 more minutes, or until the cabbage is softened to your preferred tenderness. Remove the Dutch oven from the heat or transfer to a non-heated burner on the stove top.
8. Drain the vegetables, remove the bay leaves and thyme sprigs, saving some of the braising liquid (½ cup to 1 cup) in a liquid measuring cup or a bowl.
9. Transfer brisket to a cutting board and allow it to rest for at least 10-15 minutes. To serve, slice brisket against the grain. Serve the sliced brisket on a serving platter or large plate with the vegetables. Pour some of the reserved braising liquid over the meat just before serving, or make a gravy (see the Notes section of the recipe card below).
👩🏻🍳 Recipe FAQs
This recipe doesn’t call for searing the brisket, but if you wanted to do that, you certainly can. Searing the meat before braising creates a nice outer crust of flavor. It’s definitely a personal preference whether you do or do not sear the meat first.
They are the same cut of beef but one is prepared differently by the time you purchase it. Corned beef is beef brisket that has been salted and cured. It usually comes with a seasoning packet.
Allow the meat and vegetables to cool to room temperature. Then store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four or five days.
Yes! Add all of the ingredients except the carrots, potatoes, and cabbage into the slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. When there is 1 hour left in the cook time, add the carrots and potatoes. Then add the cabbage when there is 30 minutes left in the cooking time.
🍽 Serving ideas
This Dutch Oven Brisket recipe is a delicious complete meal on its own. Feel free to serve with gravy made from the braising liquid, or with your favorite barbecue sauce.
It’s also great to serve with some easy side dishes!
Even though it’s not corned beef, you could serve this for St. Patrick’s Day. (Remember: corned beef and cabbage is an American invention, so it’s not authentically Irish). Serve it with Guinness Brown Bread.
You can also serve this with additional side dishes, like creamy mashed potatoes, air fryer garlic bread, or air fryer broccoli.
🍷 🥂 Wine pairings
This brisket is fantastic paired with a red wine with softer tannins. Serve it with a Pinot Noir, Grenache/Grenacha, or Gamay wine.
🍳 Kitchen tools and equipment
Ready to make this recipe? Here are the kitchen tools and equipment you’ll need:
- Dutch oven – you can cook this in a large Dutch oven or other large cooking pot.
- Cutting board and knife – You’ll need a cutting board and sharp knife to chop the veggies. And you will also need a separate cutting board and knife to slice the brisket once it is cooked. Remember: it’s always best to have a separate cutting board for meat so as to avoid cross contamination.
- Tongs – Kitchen tongs make it easy to lift the brisket in and out of the Dutch oven.
- Wooden spoon – Use a wooden spoon to sauté the garlic and onions.
- Meat Thermometer – A meat thermometer is the best way to confirm whether the meat is fully cooked or not.
More beef recipes
You can find more side dish recipes to serve with this Dutch Oven beef brisket. If you’re looking for more beef recipes, try one of these great recipes:
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to leave a 5-Star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card, and if you really loved it, please leave a comment further down on the page. Thank you!
Dutch Oven Beef Brisket
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 beef brisket (3-4 pounds)
- 1 small yellow onion, sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 bay leaves
- 4-5 thyme sprigs
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 cups beef broth
- 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 cups water
- 4 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 3 medium to large carrots, chopped into thick 2" slices
- ½ small head of cabbage, chopped into small wedges
Instructions
- In a Dutch oven over medium heat, add the oil. Sauté the garlic and onions for about 1 minute, just until they are soft and fragrant.
- Place the brisket on top of the garlic and onions.
- Pour in the broth and Worcestershire sauce.
- Sprinkle the mustard seeds, salt, and pepper over the brisket. Add the bay leaves and thyme sprigs.
- Increase the heat to medium-high heat and bring to a boil.
- Once the water is boiling, reduce to a low simmer, cover, and cook for 3 hours. Every 30 minutes, check on the brisket and ladle the broth over the brisket.
- After 3 hours, add the potatoes and carrots around the brisket. Try to submerge as much of the vegetables under the water as possible. Increase the heat and bring the liquid to a boil. Cook for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, add the cabbage to the Dutch oven. Boil and cook for 5 more minutes, or until the cabbage is softened to your preferred tenderness.
- Remove the Dutch oven from the heat. Transfer the brisket to a cutting board and allow it to rest for at least 10-15 minutes.
- Drain the vegetables, saving some of the liquid (½ cup to 1 cup) in a liquid measuring cup or a bowl.
- To serve, slice the meat against the grain. Serve with the vegetables. Pour some of the broth over the meat just before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This one-pot meal is perfect for my busy lifestyle with the kiddos!
Simple, flavorful, and delicious inner recipe. Thanks for sharing.
This was incredible. The meat was perfectly cooked.
So Tender and delicious. I love anything I can make in my Dutch Oven.