Best Sous Vide Brisket (With Maple Soy Apricot Sauce)
Prepare to be wowed with this tender, moist sous vide brisket in a delicious maple, soy and apricot sauce. The cooking time is long but worth it. And it’s a great make-ahead recipe for holiday season or anytime.
Just to be clear, this is not a smoked brisket recipe. It’s a saucy, flavorful, favorite main dish that our family adores for Rosh Hashanah, Passover and family get-togethers.
There are many ways to cook a brisket – all with slow cooking methods as brisket is a tough cut of beef. The oven, grill, and especially a smoker are popular methods. Here’s our beginner recipe for how to smoke a brisket.
I recently tried the sous vide method and it’s a winner. It ensures perfect cooking precision, sealing in all the flavors while allowing the meat to reach its ultimate tenderness. We topped it off with wonderful sauce at the end which takes it to a new level.
The original oven-based recipe – very yummy – is from the LCBO Food and Drink Magazine by Amy Rosen. We made a few tweaks to the sauce, used a sous vide cooking method for melt-in-your-mouth brisket, then finished it in the oven and broiler.
What to expect
- Sliceable (not shreddable) brisket that presents beautifully with a rich sauce.
- Moist, tender meat with perfect texture – not dry, tough or stringy.
- The sous vide process takes 24-36 hours. You can then cool and refrigerate the brisket, finishing it in the oven and broiler in the next day or two (or when the sous vide portion is complete).
- The sauce is sweet with a bit of tang and lots of flavor.
- There is no dark bark on the brisket and no smoking involved. The recipe is a two-step process. The sous vide step makes the meat tender and the oven step pretties it up and bakes on the sauce.
We include an oven method version in the recipe as well if you don’t have sous vide equipment.
Ingredients – tailored to your taste
Brisket: Try to buy at least the Choice cut of brisket (AAA in Canada). Prime is even better. The more marbled, the more exceptional. Find more details in this video by Aaron Franklin on buying and preparing a smoked brisket.
- Flat cut vs point cut brisket: There are two brisket cuts – the fattier point cut (also called the Deckle) and the leaner flat cut. I much prefer the juicier, highly marbled point cut but it’s all personal preference. Point cut is much harder to find in regular grocery stores though. In a whole packer or double brisket, the flat and point sections are attached, one on top of the other.
Sauce: The original sauce calls for the ingredients in the picture – soy, maple syrup, a package of onion soup, tomato sauce, and apricot jam or preserves.
Sauce variations and substitutes:
- Preserves: instead of apricot jam, use peach or marmalade
- Tomato sauce: you can use ketchup instead but use half the amount of maple syrup so the sauce is not overly sweet.
- Maple syrup – You can use brown sugar instead.
- Add ins (I add all of these and they are included in the recipe) – lemon juice, a pinch of cinnamon, sriracha for a bit of heat, and cornstarch to slightly thicken the sauce. Other options include a splash of bourbon and a bit of wholegrain mustard.
- Package onion soup: Here’s a homemade version of dry onion soup mix by Tastes Better From Scratch if you want to control the salt or you don’t have any on hand.
Step-by-step instructions
This brisket recipe has a sous vide step and an oven step. A final broiler step is optional.
Time and Temperature
As always, it’s best to experiment with time and temperature when sous viding different cuts of meat. The type of meat, thickness and grade/quality will all play a role in cooking meat sous vide. Tougher, lower quality meats need longer times.
Temperature determines the level of doneness (medium rare, medium, etc). Lower = rarer. I never go under 130F/54C for safety reasons.
Time determines tenderness. Longer = more tender, but there is a limit. Too long can mean drier or even mushy meat so upper limits are important.
Here are two options for sous vide brisket I like best.
- 135F/57C for 48-72 hours. Medium-rare.
- 155F/68C for 26-36 hours. Medium-well. More traditional. As pictured.
The 135F/57C temperature comes out medium rare-ish and very tender. However, I find most people can’t get their heads around medium-rare brisket. It’s a big leap from what they are used to. Plus, the cook is very long.
So I usually stick to 155F/68C. If the meat is 2 inches/5 cm thick or less, I sous vide the brisket for about 26 hours. If it’s thicker, I sous vide it for closer to 36 hours. Soft and tender every time.
Just a note that Serious Eats found 145F/63C did not work well – too dry.
Flavor Tip
For extra flavor and juiciness, you can dry brine the brisket before sous vide. This is not essential with sous vide, but I find it adds a lot of flavor to bland meat.
How to: Generously sprinkle the meat all over with kosher salt (about 1/2 teaspoon per pound/450 grams of meat or 1/4 teaspoon of table salt per pound), and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. No need to rinse off the salt.
Best sides for brisket
Side dishes: Brisket is a perfect dish to serve with mashed potatoes, root vegetable mash (to change it up a bit), zesty parsley potatoes, green beans with panko or great microwave green beans, corn on the cob, cornbread, instant pot potatoes and carrots.
Salads: citrus salad over greens, charred corn salad with cilantro and lime, festive winter salad.
How to serve brisket
I typically serve this brisket recipe as a main dish with sides.
But another great way to serve it is to pile slices into a nice thick sandwich on a brioche bun or ciabatta with pickles and coleslaw. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Or fill a taco with chopped brisket and top it with guacamole, salsa or slaw. Yum!
Make ahead
Check out the notes in the recipe card below for instructions on cooking the sous vide portion of the recipe several days ahead, freezing the brisket and reheating.
More sous vide recipes for tough cuts of meat
The sous vide method is exceptional for tough cuts of meat, making them tender, juicy and even medium rare in some cases. Here are a few of our favorites.
- sous vide Korean boneless beef short ribs
- BBQ beef short ribs sous vide
- sous vide corned beef (2 ingredients)
- sous vide chuck roast (for French dip)
- best sous vide beef ribs
See a full list of our delicious sous vide recipes and tips.
If you like this recipe, please leave a 5 star rating 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟in the recipe card below. And if you REALLY like it, consider a review in the comments. Thanks very much!
Best Sous Vide Brisket (With Maple Soy Apricot Sauce)
Equipment
- Sous Vide equipment immersion circulator
Ingredients
Brisket Prep
- 2 pounds brisket, Note 1 (flat cut or point cut)
- seasoning: kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder
Maple soy apricot sauce
- 1/4 cup maple syrup (or brown sugar)
- 1/4 cup soy sauce low sodium is good`
- 1/4 cup apricot preserves (or peach or apricot jam or marmalade)
- 1/4 cup tomato sauce
- 1 package, onion soup mix, Note 2
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice (or more to taste)
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- Optional: 1 tsp sriracha and 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- OPTIONAL BRINE: To dry brine the brisket (to make it more flavorful and juicy), coat it with kosher salt ( (about 1/2 teaspoon per pound/450 grams of meat or 1/4 teaspoon of table salt per pound) and place it in the fridge uncovered (preferably on a rack or inverted plate) for 4 hours or overnight. No need to rinse. It will not be overly salty.
- PREPARE FOR SOUS VIDE: Heat water bath to the temperature for your desired doneness, Note 3. Sprinkle brisket with pepper and garlic powder (and kosher salt if you didn't brine the brisket). Note 4 for oven method. 135F/57C for 48-72 hours. Medium-rare.155F/68C for 26-36 hours. Medium-well. More traditional. As pictured
- SOUS VIDE BRISKET: °For water displacement method: place brisket in large zipper freezer plastic bag. Lower bag into water, unsealed, until top of the bag is just above water level. Then seal bag once all air is pressed out by water.°For vacuum seal method: place brisket in vacuum bag. Seal bag with vacuum sealer. Lower bag into water.Bag should not float. Use clip to attach to side of container or hang bag over side when you put on lid. Cover container with lid, towel or aluminum foil to reduce evaporation. Sous vide brisket for 26 hours – 36 hours, depneding on thickness). If brisket is thicker than 2 inches/5 cm, you can sous vide up to 36 hours.At this point you can remove brisket, cool and refrigerate or freeze if you like, Note 5. If serving that day, continue to next step.
- MAKE SAUCE: Mix together sauce ingredients in a microwaveable dish. Microwave for 1 minute to slightly thicken sauce. Taste and adjust to what you like, adding more lemon, heat, etc. Alternatively, heat in small saucepan on medium-high heat for a few minutes.
- FINISH BRISKET IN OVEN/BROILER: Set oven temperature to 300F/149C. Remove brisket from bag and discard cooking liquid. Place brisket in a roasting pan lined with alumimum foil for easy cleanup. Pour over half the sauce or less. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Add a little more sauce and, if you like, broil in same pan for 3 minutes until bubbly and well glazed. Slice brisket across (perpendicular to) the grain. Transfer to a platter, pour on remaining sauce or sauce from pan and serve. If not ready to serve, immediately, place sliced brisket in sauce, cover pan and keep in a warm oven.
Recipe Notes
- Brisket cuts to buy: Try to buy at least the Choice cut of brisket (AAA in Canada). Prime is even better. The more marbled, the more exceptional. If you buy a Select grade, cook at the upper end of the time range (36 hours or a bit more). The flat cut or point cut is a personal preference. The flat cut is leaner and can be a bit drier, but it is much more widely available in grocery stores.
- Onion soup package alternative: Here’s a homemade version of dry onion soup mix by Tastes Better From Scratch if you want to control the salt or you don’t have any on hand.
- Time and temperature:
- 135F/57C temperature comes out medium rare-ish and very tender. However, the cook is very long and some may not like the idea of medium rare brisket.
- So I usually stick to 155F/68C. If the meat is 2 inches/5 cm thick or less, I sous vide for about 26 hours. If it’s thicker, I sous vide the brisket for closer to 36 hours. Soft and tender every time
- Oven method: If you don’t have sous vide equipment, you can prepare this recipe in the oven. Here’s the original recipe for maple-soy oven-cooked brisket.
- Variations for the sauce:
-
- Tomato sauce: you can use ketchup instead but use half the amount of maple syrup so the sauce is not overly sweet.
- Add ins: In addition to lemon juice, cinnamon and/or sriracha hot sauce, you can try a splash of bourbon and/or a bit of wholegrain mustard.
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- Make ahead:
- To store sous vide brisket in fridge for 3-5 days (before adding and finishing with the sauce), cool the sous vide brisket in an ice bath, then place in fridge in the bag with the juices. Then proceed with oven/broil step.
- To freeze, cool brisket in an ice bath for 30 minutes, then place in freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost in fridge or place frozen brisket in bag into water bath at 135F/57C for 30-60 minutes to warm the meat. Then proceed with oven/broil step.
- To reheat refrigerated cooked brisket, place in foil-lined pan and proceed with baking/broiling as per recipe instructions.
- Store sauce in fridge for up to a week.
- Store leftover brisket in an airtight container in fridge for up to 5 days.
This recipe mentions everything except the oven temperature for the phase 2 oven baking portion of recipe. what is the oven temperature?
So sorry! You are right – I will correct that right now. I set the oven temperature to 300F/149C. Thanks for the catch Neal. Much appreciated.
hi guys, thanks for the recipe, i do not have sous vide , any other way i can cook it? thanks
Hi MiMi. Yes, you can cook the brisket in the oven instead. If you scroll down to the recipe notes, you will see a link to the original oven-based recipe. You can use our slightly tweaked sauce or the original one. Up to you.