Smoked Mexican Brisket Recipe Makes the Best Tacos Ever (5 Ingredients) by John Eckels

I think it is safe to say that everybody loves tacos. Tacos are definitely a family favorite in my house. When Costco stopped carrying the beef barbacoa we used in our tacos, I went searching for something I can make myself.

I found a handful of videos where a brisket was bathed in Cholula hot sauce and then smoked. This is smoked like a regular brisket except instead of wrapping the brisket during the stall, it is braised in a foil pan. Here are the ingredients and equipment you'll need to make this shredded Mexican-inspired brisket recipe: a brisket, a bottle of Cholula hot sauce, carne asada or fajita seasoning, beef stock and butter. For the equipment, you'll need a smoker, a large aluminum foil pan, heavy duty aluminum foil and food-grade gloves.

I ended up using a whole 12-ounce bottle hot sauce on this brisket. Don't be alarmed about all the hot sauce! Almost all the heat cooks out if it and leaves a wonderful flavor.

The high-protein tacos made with this brisket were out of this world delicious. Serve the shredded brisket tacos for dinner with your favorite side dishes. This is also a great meal-prep recipe. Hope you enjoy!

Cuisine: Mexican / American / Tex-Mex
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 16 hours (based on 10 1/2-pound brisket)
Total Time: 17 hours
Servings: 20

Ingredients

• 1 brisket (I used a 10 1/2 pound full packer brisket)
• 12 ounces (1 bottle) Cholula hot sauce
• fajita seasoning or carne asada seasoning
• 2 cups beef stock
• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter

Here's how to make it: 

1. Trim any excess fat from brisket. Totally bathe the brisket with Cholula hot sauce. (I used about half of a 12-ounce bottle for this step. I use black nitrile gloves whenever handling the brisket due to the large amount of hot sauce.) Give a very generous coating of either fajita or carne asada seasoning. Press lightly to mix with hot sauce. Allow to sit for for at least 30 minutes. (I refrigerated mine overnight.)
   
2. Preheat your smoker. Smoke like a regular brisket. I ran mine overnight at 200 degrees F and bumped up the temperature to 220 degrees F in the morning. When the internal temperature of the brisket reaches low to mid 170s, remove the brisket from the smoker and place in a large foil pan. (This is the stage where the brisket is usually wrapped in foil or butchers paper. We are going to braise it now.) Cover the brisket with more Cholula hot sauce and add pats of butter to the top. Add 1 or 2 cups of beef stock to the pan. Cover with foil and seal tightly. (My wireless thermometer was inserted at this time.)
   
3. Place aluminum pan in the smoker and increase temperature to 240 to 250 degrees F. Continue cooking until the internal temperature of the brisket reaches 205 degrees F.
   
4. Remove foil pan from smoker and place brisket on a cutting board. (Insulated nitrile gloves make this much easier.) Pour all the juice in the foil pan into a fat separator or a clear measuring cup. This will be used later.
   
5. Use a large chef's knife to cut the brisket into 1/4- to 1/2-inch slices. (It should literally fall apart when you do this.) Continue to chop up into small pieces suitable for tacos.
   
6. Place the chopped brisket into the foil pan used for braising. (I put on my nitrile gloves and removed the large fat pieces and tore some of the larger pieces into smaller ones.)
   
7. Pour the juice on top of the chopped brisket. (If you don't have a fat separator, remove the fat from the top of the juice you previously poured into a clear measuring cup. I used a 1/4-cup measuring cup to scoop out most of the fat. Pour remaining juice into a ziplock bag and hold up for a minute. Cut the bottom corner off and drain the juice portion into another measuring cup. This juice consists of the brisket drippings, Cholula hot sauce, seasoning and butter. It is good stuff!) You can add additional hot sauce or seasoning to your liking. Mix thoroughly and enjoy.
   

Recipe cooking times, nutritional information and servings are approximate and provided for your convenience. However, 30Seconds is not responsible for the outcome of any recipe, nor may you have the same results because of variations in ingredients, temperatures, altitude, errors, omissions or cooking/baking abilities. Any nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and it is up to the individual to ascertain accuracy. To ensure image quality, we may occasionally use stock photography.

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