3-Ingredient Oven Baked Corned Beef Brisket
Amazing, tender corned beef brisket cooked in the oven with just three ingredients. This brisket is flavorful, easy, and comes out so tender.
Amazing, tender corned beef brisket cooked in the oven with just three ingredients. All you need is tangy and flavorful Dijon mustard, brown sugar for the flavor balance, and corned beef, of course! This brisket is flavorful, easy, and comes out so tender.
Right after I shared this recipe, over 8 years ago, it immediately became very popular with my readers.
- Everyone loves that there are only 3 ingredients needed to make it.
- This corned beef made in the oven is not just flavorful but also incredibly tender and juicy.
- This is one delicious (and totally easy) corned beef and I don’t think we’ll grow tired of it.
- The aroma that fills your kitchen as it cooks really is wonderful. You will want to dig in the moment it’s out of the oven.
Tips and Substitutions For Ingredients You’ll Need
- 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.
How Long To Cook Corned Beef In The Oven?
- Calculate cooking time for the brisket to be about 60 minutes per pound. Cook corned beef brisket covered in aluminum foil but not too tight, leave some room between the brisket and the foil.
- Open the aluminum foil and briefly place the brisket back in the oven under the broiler on a low setting, this will take a couple more minutes.
- After you take it out of the oven, take it out of the roasting pan as well. Make sure to give the brisket about 10-15 minutes to rest before slicing.
How To Make Corned Beef Brisket In The Oven
- DO take the extra step to boil the corned beef before cooking. This step will help To get rid of some of the excess salt in the brisket, don’t skip this step.
- Discard the seasoning packet, you won’t be using it. (The reason I don’t recommend saving it and using later if because it is usually packaged right with raw meat.)
- 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.”
- Cook: when calculating the time to cook, estimate about 45-60 minutes per pound. Lean towards the 60 minutes per pound time.
- 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.
Recipe FAQs
Why do I have to bring the corned beef to 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. It will decrease the amount of salt in the brisket and therefore make it less salty.
How to store and reheat the corned beef brisket?
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
- 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.
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? PLEASE leave a 🌟 star rating! Let me know how you liked it by leaving the 📝 comment below or share and tag me on social media @willcookforsmiles. DON’T FORGET to subscribe to my newsletter!
3-Ingredient Oven Baked Corned Beef Brisket Recipe
Amazing, tender corned beef brisket cooked in the oven with just three ingredients. This brisket is flavorful, easy, and comes out so tender.
Print
Pin
Video
Rate
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.
More Beef Brisket Recipes To Try
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.
I made this today. I trimmed off the fat and used an oven bag. The corned beef was exquisite. I used the meat boiling water, seasoning packet and a few other spices to cook cubed red potatoes and cabbage in. What an AMAZING meal this turned out to be. Thank you! I wish we had the option to post pics, because I’d love to be able to show how mine turned out and see how everyone else’s dishes looked as well ❤
That sounds perfect!!
You can also use the boiling water and seasoning packet to make cabbage soup 😉
Thank you, Cassie!
Love this easy brisket recipe! Turns out perfect!
Thank you so much, Milisa!
Tried this and omg 😮 it turned out so beautifully and it was the quickest recipe I could find. Thank you. You saved me three hours 😅. Bravo 👏🏿.
I’m So happy to hear it! Thank you so much 🙂
I’m Irish my mom’s been cooking cabbage all these years but I have never been able to cook in this is my first year I found your recipe and I’m following it and I hope he’s going to be as good as it looks thank you so much
Hi Kelly! I really hope it turned out well!
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