The Best Sous Vide Brisket Recipe

Name: Sous Vide Brisket
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 2880 min
Total time: 3605 min
Ingredients: 3-5 pound brisket (with fat cap); 3-4 tablespoons mesquite seasoning (substitute any seasoning or salt and pepper)

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Juicy sous vide brisket is slow cooked for 48 hours and grilled for just 10 minutes to form a perfect brisket crust! This recipe is moist, tender and melt-in-your-mouth delicious!

slices of sous vide brisket on a white plate.

Using the sous vide cooking method is a hands-off way to prepare the best brisket, and you don’t need to worry about overcooking it or drying it out. The controlled temperature of the water bath ensures your brisket is perfectly cooked every time, even if it's not the traditional brisket of BBQ joints.

We love this brisket thinly sliced and piled on sandwiches (like this sous vide pastrami) alongside these parmesan truffle fries, or served with sour cream mashed potatoes and air fryer baby carrots.

You could say that our sous vide cooker is used a lot when it comes to preparing beef recipes. Being able to take the guesswork out of cooking meat and achieving just the right temperature and texture is the reason why we love our sous vide so much!

Jump to:

More popular sous vide recipes with beef
Why this sous vide beef brisket recipe works
What is brisket?
Ingredients to make brisket sous vide
Step by step instructions to cook brisket
Temperature options for this sous vide brisket recipe
Expert tips
Frequently asked questions
Serving options
More sous vide BBQ recipes
Recipe
💬 Comments

More popular sous vide recipes with beef

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Why this sous vide beef brisket recipe works

As brisket is a tough cut of beef, it’s ideal for slow cooking in a sous vide water bath. After 48 hours, you’ll be guaranteed a tender brisket that’s perfect for sandwiches or weeknight family dinners!
While you need to plan ahead to cook your brisket, you only need two ingredients and there’s very little active time. Just let your seasoned brisket sit in the fridge overnight, then the sous vide does the rest (except for a little grilling at the end)!
It’s a great recipe for entertaining or meal prep. Since briskets are large cuts of beef, this recipe is perfect to feed a crowd or to be enjoyed for lunches and dinners during the week.

What is brisket?

Brisket is a cut of beef from the breast area of the cow. It's a large, tough and inexpensive - brisket needs to be cooked low and slow to get nice and tender. This includes braising, slow cooking, smoking or immersion cooking.

There are actually two different cuts of brisket - the flat cut and the point cut. The flat cut is the most common type you’ll find in grocery stores and it’s the type you’ll likely use in this recipe. I personally think the point cut brisket is the best, but it is every difficult to find.

Ingredients to make brisket sous vide

ingredients for sous vide brisket on a cutting board and counter with labels.

You’ll need a 3-5 pound brisket. Make sure the piece of meat you buy fits the container you use for your sous vide water bath. If it's too big, just trim it to fit. You also want to find one with a nice fat cap intact as that helps prevent the brisket from getting dry while cooking.

You can use the flat cut or point cut in this recipe, but the flat cut is what you will find in your local grocery store most often.

We’ll use 3-4 tablespoons of mesquite seasoning to flavor the beef. You can also substitute any type of seasoning you prefer, or just keep it simple and use pink curing salt and pepper.

If you want to add a little smoky flavor to the brisket, you can add a ¼ teaspoon of liquid smoke to the bag. You may also want to check out these substitutes for liquid smoke.

Step by step instructions to cook brisket

seasoned beef on a cutting board. — **Step 1**: Coat the brisket with the seasoning and let it sit, uncovered, in the fridge overnight.

beef being vacuum sealed in a bag. — **Step 2**: Add the brisket to a vacuum seal bag and use a vacuum sealer to vacuum seal the bag, or use the water displacement method described above.

Step 4: Preheat a sous vide water bath to 135°F degrees using your immersion circulator. **see below for other temperature options depending on desired results.

vacuum sealed beef cooking in a sous vide water bath. — **Step 5**: Place the vacuum bag in the sous vide bath and cook for 48 hours.

meat in an ice bath. — **Step 6**: Remove the sous vide bag from the water bath and place directly in an ice bath for 15-30 minutes.

If cooking immediately, remove brisket from the ice bath at 15 minutes. If refrigerating for later or freezing, leave it in the ice bath for 30 minutes to cool completely.

Step 7: If cooking immediately, remove from the bag and pat dry with paper towels.

A piece of brisket on a grill. — **Step 8**: Heat a grill, cast iron skillet or smoker over medium-high heat. Add brisket and cook for about 5-10 minutes per side, until a bark has formed.

Remove, let rest for 10 minutes, then slice against the grain and serve. It's great alone or with my famous sweet and tangy barbecue sauce.

You can also finish in the oven at 275° for 75 minutes (fat side up) to get that crust after removing it from the water bath. Remove it, cover with foil, and allow it to rest for 15-20 minutes. Slice the brisket against the grain and serve.

Temperature options for this sous vide brisket recipe

Temperature	Time	Results
135°F	36 to 72 hours	Sliceable, meaty but tender and juicy
145°F	24 to 36 hours	Drier, more shreddable, but not as juicy
155°F	24 to 36 hours	Drier, brisket that falls apart, easily shreddable

Expert tips

You’ll want to make sure to remove the air from the bag to keep the bag from floating.
For the best results, let the seasoned brisket sit in the fridge uncovered overnight. This will help the bark form while keeping the meat moist and tender.
Since the brisket will be cooking for 2 days in the water bath, you’ll need to ensure the water level stays high enough to cover the brisket. If the water evaporates, just add more or cover the water bath with foil to help minimize evaporation.
If air gets in the bag while the brisket is cooking, just cut open the sealable bag, remove the air and reseal it with the vacuum sealer. You can also use the water displacement method to remove excess air.
For the best crust, use some paper towels to pat your brisket dry before placing it on the grill.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to sous vide brisket?

At 135°F degrees, brisket will take 48 hours to cook in the sous vide. After this amount of time, the brisket will be tender and easy to slice. If you cook it longer, the texture will continue to become softer.

Can you sous vide frozen brisket?

Yes! Since the brisket has such a long cook time in the water bath, there’s no need to add additional sous vide cook time.

How do you finish a brisket after sous vide?

You can either smoke it in a smoker (be careful not to smoke at a higher heat than your brisket cooked at to avoid drying it out) or grill it on a hot grill or cast iron skillet for 5-10 minutes to get a crust on the outside.

You can also roast it in the oven at 275° for 75 minutes (fat side up) to get that crust after removing it from the water bath.

In all cases, remove it, wrap it in foil, and let it rest for 15-20 minutes. Slice against the grain and serve.

Does a sous vide brisket need to rest?

If you finish brisket in the oven or make sous vide smoked brisket in a smoker, it should rest for 15-20 minutes before slicing it.

Make ahead and freezing instructions.

You can cook make this recipe in advance. Brisket can be stored it in the fridge or freezer.

To do this, make sure you let the brisket fully cool down in the ice bath for 30 minutes. Then, place the unopened bag in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. When ready to enjoy, thaw overnight in the fridge.

To reheat the brisket, place it in a 135°F degree water bath for about 10-15 minutes, or until warmed through. Cook it on the grill for 5 minutes per side, then slice and serve.

Serving options

Pile it on slices of homemade bread for sandwiches or mini brioche buns for sliders.
Serve it like you would a classic roast beef dinner with sous vide mashed potatoes and instant pot broccoli.
To change it up, pair it with spicy mac and cheese or crockpot au gratin potatoes.
Enjoy it with sous vide corn on the cob, cornbread pudding, instant pot collard greens and/or potato salad (your favorite picnic food).

More sous vide BBQ recipes

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Recipe

Overhead view of slices of brisket on a wooden board.

Sous Vide Brisket

Sous vide brisket is slow cooked for 48 hours and grilled to form a perfect crust, so it's moist, tender and melt-in-your-mouth delicious!

4.66 from 26 votes

Print Rate

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 2

Resting Time: 12

Total Time: 2 12 5

Servings: servings

Calories: 358kcal

Author: Danielle Wolter

Ingredients

▢ 3-5 pound brisket with fat cap
▢ 3-4 tablespoons mesquite seasoning substitute any seasoning or salt and pepper

Instructions

Coat the brisket with the seasoning and let it sit, uncovered, in the fridge overnight.
Heat a sous vide water bath to 135°F degrees.
Use a vacuum sealer to vacuum seal the bag, or use the water displacement method described above.
Place the bag in the water bath and cook for 48 hours.
Remove from the water bath and place directly in an ice bath for 15-30 minutes.
If cooking immediately, you can remove from the ice bath at 15 minutes.
If refrigerating for later or freezing, leave it in for 30 minutes to cool completely.
Heat a grill over medium heat and add the brisket. Cook for about 5-10 minutes per side, until a crust has formed.
Remove, let cool slightly, then slice and serve.
OPTIONAL: You can also roast it in the oven at 275° for 75 minutes (fat side up) to get that crust after removing it from the water bath. Remove it, wrap it in foil, and let it rest for 15-20 minutes. Slice against the grain and serve.

Expert Tips:

You’ll want to make sure to remove the air from the bag to avoid bacteria entering the bag. This is an important step that shouldn’t be skipped.
For the best results, let the seasoned brisket sit in the fridge uncovered overnight.
Since the brisket will be cooking for 2 days in the water bath, you’ll need to ensure the water level stays high enough to cover the brisket. If the water evaporates, just add more or cover the water bath with foil to help minimize evaporation.
If air gets in the bag while the brisket is cooking, just cut open the sealable bag, remove the air and reseal it with the vacuum sealer.
Don't leave the brisket on the grill for more than 5 minutes per side as it will overcook. This is just the right amount of time to form a crust without drying out the brisket.
For the best crust, use some paper towels to pat your brisket dry before placing it on the grill. You can also add more seasoning at this point, if you prefer.
Instead of mesquite seasoning, you can use your favorite kind of seasoning or just use salt and pepper.
For a smoky flavor, add 1 teaspoon of liquid smoke to the brisket.