3-Ingredient Oven Baked Corned Beef Brisket
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This corned beef brisket recipe uses a simple oven method to deliver tender slices and a caramelized finish with just three ingredients. All you need is tangy and flavorful Dijon mustard, brown sugar for the flavor balance, and corned beef. Start cooking it tightly covered to keep it moist and tender and finish under the broiler to caramelize the topping.
Since I first published this corned beef brisket recipe, it’s become a go-to reader favorite and here’s exactly what to look for as it cooks:
- Tenderness target: Baked until a fork slides in with little resistance and slices bend without crumbling.
- Salt control: A quick pre-boil helps dial back the briny bite so the flavor tastes balanced, not overly salty.
- Glaze: Dijon and brown sugar melts into a glossy, sweet-tangy coating as it bakes.
- Broiler finish: golden broil finish is perfect for the top. Look for a deep golden-brown, lightly crisp top and caramelized at the edges, not burnt.
- Ensures a juicy results when slicing: remembering to rest before slicing, so the brisket stays moist and cuts cleanly.
Table of Contents
Ingredients Tips and Substitutions
- Corned Beef Brisket – make sure to get uncooked corned beef brisket. I like to get closer to 4 lb. one so that we have leftovers. Remember, you can easily increase the amount of Dijon mustard and brown sugar to cover a larger brisket.
- Dijon mustard – make sure to use Dijon mustard, NOT yellow mustard. Some other gourmet mustards can be used, just try not to use ones with competing flavors.
- Brown sugar – it’s okay to use either light or dark.
Success Tips for Tender Corned Beef Brisket
Before you start, these simple tips help you bake a tender corned beef brisket with the right doneness, the right salt balance, and a perfectly browned glaze:
- Quick salt-control step (optional but helpful): For a less briny result, briefly boil the brisket, then discard the water and pat the meat dry before adding the topping.
- Brown sugar coverage: spread the brown sugar evenly so it melts into a smooth glaze. Thin or patchy spots can brown unevenly.
- Bake time rule and doneness: Plan roughly about 60 minutes per pound covered, then check for tenderness. Your goal is a fork sliding in with little resistance.
- Rest for juicy slices: Rest the brisket 10-15 minutes before slicing so it stays moist and cuts cleanly.
- Broiler finish without burning: Broil on low and keep the pan a safe distance from the element. You want deep golden-brown and caramelized, not scorched.
- Add veggies (optional): Add potatoes and/or cabbage during the final stretch (last 45-60 minutes) of baking so they cook through without turning mushy.
How To Make Corned Beef Brisket In The Oven – Visual Guide
- DO take the extra step to boil the corned beef before cooking, don’t skip this step.
- Discard the seasoning packet, you won’t be using it since. (I skip it because it’s packaged with raw meat so can’t save for later and mustard/sugar is enough flavor for this method.)
- Keep the brisker in the pot just until water starts to boil. Then, turn the heat off and take the brisket out.
- Use a generous layer of Dijon mustard and then brown sugar all over the top and sides.
- Close the aluminum foil, covering the brisket loosely, leaving a little space between the brisket and the foil. You are creating a “pocket.”
- Bake covered until the brisket is fork-tender (for the time estimate, use the per-pound guide in the recipe card), then start checking for tenderness near the end.
- Once cooked, open the foil and caramelize the top under the broiler. If available, use the low broiler setting and set the oven rack about 8 inches away from the broiler.
- Let the corned beef brisket rest on the cutting board for about 10-15 minutes before slicing it.
Storing and Reheating Instructions
- Store leftover cooked brisket in an air-tight food storage container, in the refrigerator. Properly stored, it should be good for 3-4 days.
- To reheat the sliced of corned beef brisket, I recommend doing it in the oven to preserve the juiciness. Wrap some slices in foil and reheat in the oven at 350°F just until heated through.
Serving Suggestions and Ideas How To Use Corned Beef
- Potatoes are always a great side for corned beef. Try sides like mashed potatoes, Colcannon, fried cabbage, and roasted potatoes.
- You can use leftovers to make sandwiches like the Reuben sandwich, corned beef sliders, Reuben sliders, and more.
- Some other great recipes for leftover baked corned beef are Reuben dip, corned beef hash, and Reuben egg rolls.
Recipe FAQs
Do I really need to boil the corned beef first?
No, since this is an optional step. Boiling briefly helps reduce excess salt and gives you a more balanced flavor, but you can skip it if you like a stronger, brinier bite.
How do I know when corned beef brisket is done?
It’s done when it’s fork-tender a fork slides in with little resistance and the meat feels soft rather than springy or rubbery.
My corned beef is still tough, what went wrong?
It just needs more time. Keep it tightly covered and continue baking, checking tenderness every 15-20 minutes until it softens.
What is target internal temperature for tender cooked corned beef?
Optimal internal temperature you’re looking for is 195°F-205°F. It will be more and more tender closer to 205°F but it will be more at the fall-apart stage.
How do I slice corned beef brisket so it’s tender?
Let it rest, then slice against the grain (look for the lines in the meat and cut across them) for the most tender slices.
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3-Ingredient Oven Baked Corned Beef Brisket Recipe
This corned beef brisket recipe uses a simple oven method to deliver tender slices and a caramelized finish with just three ingredients. All you need is tangy and flavorful Dijon mustard, brown sugar for the flavor balance, and corned beef. Start cooking it tightly covered to keep it moist and tender and finish under the broiler to caramelize the topping.
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Servings: 6
Calories: 327kcal
Ingredients
- 2-4 lb corned beef brisket
- 3-4 Tbsp Grey Poupon Dijon mustard (more for larger brisket)
- 3-4 Tbsp brown sugar (more for larger brisket)
Instructions
- Take the brisket out of the package and discard the spice pack that comes with it.
- Place brisket in a pot of water and bring it to boil. As soon as it starts to boil, take the brisket out. This will remove some of the excess salt in the meat.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Place the brisket, fat layer up, in the middle of aluminum foil big enough to cover the whole brisket.
- Rub the whole brisket with Dijon mustard. Then, evenly sprinkle brown sugar over the top and gently pet it on. Pat some onto the sides as well.
- Bring the aluminum foil together and close it, covering the brisket loosely, leaving a little space between the brisket and the foil. Place the covered brisket into a rimmed roasting pan.
- Bake it for 2 hours. Open the foil and turn on the broiler on low, if you have an option for low or high broiler setting. (If not, move the brisket to a lower rack.) Let the top caramelize for a few minutes but watch it so it doesn’t burn.
- BAKE TIME: the 2 hours recommendation time is for the 1.75-2 lb. sized corned beef brisket. If you have a larger piece of meat, you will need to cook it longer. Give it about 45-60 minutes per pound. Lean towards the 60 minutes per pound time.
- Take the corned beef brisket out and let it rest for a 10-15 minutes on the cutting board before slicing.
- Make sure to slice the meat against the grain! Luckily, with the corned beef brisket, it's very easy to see the grain.
Video
Notes
- Why boil first? Since corned beef is cured in salt brine, it contains quite a bit of salt. So bringing the corned beef to a boil in a pot of water, gets some of the saltiness out.
- Adding potatoes and/or cabbage: You absolutely can add some potatoes and if you wish cabbage and carrots to the brisket. Since beef will take MUCH longer to cook than vegetables, you will need to cook the brisket for a while first. Baby gold potatoes will need about an hour of total cook time, covered and uncovered. So set aside about an another hour at the end of meat’s cooking time to cook potatoes.
If your potatoes are larger, you can always cut it in half.
If you wish to add cabbage, cut the head of cabbage into 4-6 wedges and place them around the meat. Depending on the size of the cabbage wedges, it would take 45-60 minutes.
You can see the steps and get the idea of how to cook it in my Baked Corned Beef Brisket and Potatoes recipe. - Store and reheat: Store leftover cooked brisket in an air-tight food storage container, in the refrigerator. Properly stored, it should be good for 3-4 days.
To reheat the sliced of corned beef brisket, I recommend doing it in the oven to preserve the juiciness. Wrap some slices in foil and reheat in the oven at 350°F just until heated through.
Nutrition
Calories: 327kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 0.002g | Cholesterol: 82mg | Sodium: 1924mg | Potassium: 468mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 5IU | Vitamin C: 41mg | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 3mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @willcookforsmiles or tag #willcookforsmiles!
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in February, 2017.
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Beef Recipes, Dinner Recipes, Gluten Free Recipes, Most Popular Recipes, St. Patrick's Day Recipes,All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
Hi what els can I use if I dont have dijan mustard?
Hi there!
I wouldn’t recommend yellow mustard as it have quite a different flavor. May be some other gourmet mustard. Here is a nice article with good recommendations: https://www.thespruceeats.com/mustard-substitute-1387977
Giving this recipe a go on christmas day, never done corned beef before or any ‘traditional’ meal – we’re in South Africa on the West Coast, a town called Langebaan. We usually do a leg of lamb or what we call a braai, you’d call that a BBQ. But this year we decided something more traditional. Was stumped as to what to cook, being an ex head chef, but trawling through the internet, your recipe came up. All the comments and your recipe made my decision as easy as well, errr corned beef brisket i guess. Ha ha ha. Thank you for your recipe 🙂
I really hope you liked it, Trev!! Happy Holidays!
Do you cover all sides with the mustard and the brown sugar only on top? Thank you.
So sorry for the late response, Howie! Such busy time of the year 🙂
I cover it all over! I do hope you like it.
I used this receipt tonight. I chose it because it only has three ingredients and I wanted something simple. It was delicious. I liked the suggestions from others about keeping the flavored water to boil the carrots and potatoes. I just put them on low temperature while the meat was in the oven and it all came together with ease. Perfect Sunday night dinner, with leftovers for another meal. I’m happy!
I am SO happy to hear that, Joanne! Thank you so much for letting me know 😀
Head over hills?
What are you referring to, Jenny?
Ibelieve she’s teasing you because the typo. The usual phrase is “head over heels”, like you’re flipping in love with something.
Like this recipe : D
Ooh, haha, of course I didn’t even notice that!
Thank you, Tina 😉
I have made this recipe and my my my!!! I cannot say enough how wonderfully yummie it made the meat! I typically do not like this meat but boy oh boy… this was just delicious! Didn’t change a thing either! Thank you very much…
I am making this as I write this. It is my first time ever making brisket let alone corn beef. Smells great. Cant wait to taste. I am going to slice it thin and use for sandwiches. I’ll let you know how it turns out. Thank you for this recipe.
I really hope you enjoyed it, Tonya!! Thank you for your comment 🙂
Can this be cooked in the crock pot as well, on low?
Hello, Trish!
I haven’t tried but I don’t see why it wouldn’t be good in a crock pot as well! It should be nice and tender slow cooked 🙂
Before now, i had always used the crockpot, so you will be fine
Made this tonight with a 2.5 lb corned beef brisket we had in the freezer bought on sale for st patties day. Folowed the directions except kept in the oven for 3 hours. Delicious!! Made colcannan and boiled carrots as a side dish. The only thing I would do different as I am salt sensitive,, is soak the brisket overnight and change the water a couple times
I’ve read all the comments, and am so excited to try this recipe out…..I will be doing exactly how you say, but I think I will add the packet after I boil the brisket, to the water and add small potatoes and carrots. Someone already did that. Will write back tomorrow and let you know how it goes, but I’m sure it will be terrific. Thanking you in advance, Cris
I have this in the oven now & it smells scrumptious! I have a 3lb brisket so I’m going to bake it for 3 hours. This is my 1st brisket that I’m cooking & I’m glad to have found this recipe. I’m also making cabbage to go with it.
Instead of boiling the brisket at first, I just let it soak in cold water for about an hour – added the seasoning packet to the water then discarded it with the water. Followed the rest of the recipe to the tee and it was HANDS DOWN the best coned beef I have ever made in 30 years. Easier than boiled corned beef and tastes SO much better!!! I prefer a little more fat with my corned beef so I bought a point cut instead of flat cut and it was amazing!!!!!!! My husband is a vegetarian and usually loathes the smell of boiled corned beef but this time, he walked in the door and said, “What smells so good!?” Thank goodness, too. All the leftovers are mine!
Made this for supper and my family loved it! Easier than pie. I added the seasoning packet to the boiling water.
I was geocery shopping and cane across a corn beef brisket deal that I couldnt pass up….so bought 2 lol…anyways hadnt cooked one in forever, so with searching reciepes I came across yours…Its in the oven right now…I will let you know how it turns out…but with licking my fingers after patting the brown sugar onto the layer of dijon mustard, cant wait for it to be done…wow what a fabulous idea of combining the two flavors…love it! Cant wait to carlmalize and dig in!
I really hope it came out as good as you hoped!!
Can I use this recipe in a slow cooker instead? Baking this meat tends to dry out in my opinion.
Hi. Stumbled across your recipe last week. I’d never made corner beef before and my girlfriend had tasked me with cooking it for dinner. Not knowing it typically takes several hours to cook put me in a bind because by the time I got around to it I only had an hour and half until she was home. I picked your recipe because it was fast and easy. Her eyes widened when I told her I threw,away the seasoning packet and had used Dijon mustard and was baking it. She’s a chef and judging by her subdued but obviously sceptical reaction my hopes for the dish where dashed. Anyway . It was delicious of course. I came in the kitchen that night and she was sheepishly eating leftovers like potato chips. Two weeks later in making it tonight so I had to recheck the recipe and decided to comment. Thank you for this easy awesome and unconventional recipe
Hahaha, that’s great! That’s a high compliment from a chef 🙂
I’m so glad you both liked it!
I am about to make this dish now!!!
Thank you for sharing this recipe with the world.
Looking forward to Dinner,
Mags
Great recipe, I’ve done it twice now and both times excellent, 2 things you should change, don’t discard the spice pack, use it with the veggies and use the water that the brisket was in to cook the veggies, (ie taters, carrots, celery, onions, garlic)
Good call, I was wondering how to impart the flavors to the veggies if they are not cooked with the meat!
That is a good idea! I’m actually working on another recipe for the corned beef brisket baked with the veggies. Hopefully I will be able to share it soon!
Looking forward to seeing your new ways of preparing veggies. I am going to try your recipe when I get my Social security check. Thank you.
Flavor was great, but seems at 2 hours, most of the juices came out. I made two separate pieces, and both were on the tough side. Had nearly 3 cups of liquid come out of the two pieces.
It was tough because it was under cooked, not over cooked. It has to reach an internal temperature of around 200 f for the connective tissues in the meat to break down.
I bought two 2 1/4 # flats. Did practice one last week as directed, It was ok but did have a bit of a tug. The second one, cooked yesterday but after the first 1 1/2 hours at 350 I dropped oven to 325 for another 1 1/2 hours . Pulled it out, kept it wrapped and rested for 30 minutes, then did the broiler thing. OUTSTANDING!
Wonderful!! I’m so glad you were able to get it just right, the way you wanted 🙂
This was absolutely amazing!
This recipe was fabulous! It was remarkably easy and by far, the best preparation for corned beef I have ever tried. I will be serving corned beef more regularly now. Thank you so much for sharing your creation.
JoAnna