This Instant Pot Brisket recipe uses the same ingredients as my mom's tried and true brisket, it just takes less time! You can serve this brisket on Rosh Hashanah, Hanukkah, Passover, or any time some old-fashioned comfort food hits the spot.
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Sandy's Sweet and Sour Brisket is my mom's variation on a classic Jewish brisket recipe you'll find in almost every community cookbook or grandma's recipe box. The braising liquid is beer, whole berry cranberry sauce, and ketchup. Lots of sliced onions round out the flavor.
Braising vs. Instant Pot Pressure Cooking
Since 2012, I have been the family brisket maker. In December 2017, my husband bought me an Instant Pot and yes, I was a bit skeptical.
One day, we cut a chuck roast in half, cooking half in a traditional braise in my Le Creuset pan (also a gift from my husband) and the other half in the Instant Pot. Both tasted outstanding - the Le Creuset version had a slight bit more depth of flavor but we agreed we would have been proud to serve either version.
Now I am sold on the value of cooking with pressure. It's fast and delivers marvelous flavor. I don't cook in the Instant Pot all the time - I use different techniques including braising, slow cooking, grilling, and pan-searing. But when I use it, the results are excellent.
Prefer to make this recipe with a traditional braising method or in the slow cooker - I've got you covered!
Everything Old is New Again
For this instant pot brisket recipe, I wanted to see how simple it could be to convert an existing recipe so I followed my mom's proportions exactly -- 12 ounces of dark beer, 1 cup of whole berry cranberry sauce, and ½ cup of ketchup.
When you make this instant pot brisket, you can experiment with other beers, whatever cranberry sauce you prefer (I made my own to control the added sugar but I've often used canned), and for fun I tried a barbecue sauce instead of regular ketchup. But standard ketchup works just fine.
Using the original amount of liquid resulted in a lot of gravy but seemed to work out nicely. You can probably cut back on the liquid but I'm not sure why you would want to!
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Check out my instant pot brisket web story for a visual guide to making this recipe.
Expert Tips and FAQs
Brisket is a tough and relatively inexpensive cut of beef - but cooked properly it delivers wonderful flavor and becomes quite tender.
Tips for buying brisket
- The easiest way to buy a piece of brisket is at a meat counter where they have it pre-trimmed or can trim it for you. You want the piece to have an almost even thickness and it should have a layer of fat on one side.
- There are two cuts - the first cut and second cut. The first cut will be very lean with little marbling in the meat. Most stores carry this cut. The second cut or deckle has much more fat and marbling in it.
- If you buy a whole brisket, it will have the deckle and the first cut - the deckle will be on top.
- If you buy whole brisket (which I have done at Costco), you will pay much less per pound but you will need to trim it. You'll have to cut off some pieces that are similar in thickness so it cooks evenly under pressure. Trimming it yourself is a very economical way to go. Just count on an extra 20 minutes or so to prepare the meat. Or prepare it another time, portioning out what you will use for the instant pot.
Notice the grain of the meat - it is absolutely crucial with brisket to slice it across the grain and not with the grain. If you slice it with the grain it will be tough and fall apart - even if you have cooked it properly. You can easily see the grain when you look at the side of the meat without the fat layer.
Yes - sear it right in the Instant Pot on high mode of the sauté setting. Take the time to do the sear, your brisket will have even more flavor by taking the time to include this step.
My mom taught me about pre-slicing the meat before it's completely done. It's genius. It's easier to cut than when it's fall-apart tender and if you are making it ahead and chill or freeze it, it is so easy to reheat and it's ready to serve. So I include instructions for taking it out just before it's done to do the slicing.
When you take the brisket out to slice it, you can add the vegetables in when you put the sliced meat back in. They only need a couple minutes to cook. If you put them in at the beginning, they will become soft and just melt into the sauce.
I always make my brisket ahead of time by a day or two. Whatever fat is in the gravy will firm up, rise to the top, and you can discard it. You're left with just wonderfully rich gravy. And since the meat is already sliced, it is so easy to reheat.
You can also freeze the brisket. It is a perfect dish to prepare farther ahead and just defrost and reheat.
What to serve with Instant Pot brisket
- Homemade Matzo Ball Soup
- Traditional Challah
- No-Rise Orange and Anise Challah
- Roasted Delicata Squash
- Potato Kugel (leave the potatoes out of the slow cooker)
- Noodle Kugel
- Got leftovers? Make a brisket sandwich!
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Instant Pot Brisket
Beth LeeIngredients
- 12 ounces dark beer but any will do
- 1 cup whole berry cranberry sauce canned or homemade
- ½ cup ketchup
- 4-5 lb brisket cut in smaller pieces to fit IP if needed
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion thinly sliced
- 12 ounces baby carrots or sliced carrots optional
- 12 small red, white, or fingerling potatoes optional
Instructions
- Combine beer, ketchup, and cranberry sauce in a medium bowl and set aside.
- Set the instant pot on sauté mode “high” and add the olive oil. Salt and pepper the brisket and brown it on both sides - about three minutes per side. Remove brisket.
- Turn sauté down to “normal” and add sliced onions to pan. Brown the onions, stirring frequently for about 3-5 minutes.
- Place brisket on onions – layering it as needed, then pour beer mixture over brisket. Close the lid and turn it on to “pressure cook” for 60 minutes.
- When 60 minutes is up, let it natural pressure release (NPR) for 10 minutes, then let it quick release for about four minutes or until the silver knob goes down.
- At this point, the meat should be almost tender. Remove and slice it across the grain (crucial to cut against the grain or it will be tough to chew even if it is cooked properly)
- If you are adding carrots and potatoes, add them into the pot, then put the meat back on top of the vegetables. If any of the meat is thinner and seems done, just slice it and don’t put it back in. Put the instant pot on for two minutes of “pressure cook”. When it’s done, let it NPR again for 10 minutes, then quick release and it should be ready to go.
- You can now either serve the brisket immediately or let it cool uncovered for about half an hour and refrigerate it to eat up to two days later. You can also freeze the brisket for later use. If I’m not eating it right away, I like to put it in a pan that I can use to heat it back up. I line up the slices of meat, add in the veggies and put some of the juice back in. If there is a lot of extra gravy, store it separately – it’s perfect to put out on the table when you serve the meat.
Video
Notes
Tips for buying brisket
- The easiest way to buy a piece of brisket is at a meat counter where they have it pre-trimmed or can trim it for you. Try to buy a piece of fairly even thickness.
- There are two cuts - the first cut and second cut. The first cut will be very lean. Most stores carry this cut. The second cut or deckle has much more fat and marbling in it.
- If you buy a whole brisket, it will have the deckle and the first cut - the deckle will be on top.
- If you buy whole brisket, you will pay less per pound but you will need to trim it. You'll have to cut off some pieces that are similar in thickness so it cooks evenly under pressure. Just count on an extra 20 minutes or so to prepare the meat.
Nutrition
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Beth H says
I made this last night and oh my stars soo good. In my brain I couldnt envision the beer/ketchup/cranberry combo being as wonderful as it was! What a unique and fantastic sauce. Thank you for sharing this recipe with all of us!
Beth Lee says
Oh you have made my day. It's not intuitive to me either but it is one of the few recipes I learned from my mom and I have never had a single person not enjoy it. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience - it means a lot to me. Have a delicious holiday season.
Sara Jacobs says
I loved making this super easy and tasty recipe for Rosh Hashanah! If you wanna cut the carbs you could try substituting canned tomatoes for the cranberries. You could also sub a n/a beer for the dark beer, this would reduce carbs and calories. Also adding a few sundried tomatoes may contribute some depth of flavor. As it is, it has a ton of flavor and we will make this one again! Thanks.
Beth Lee says
Great suggestions if people are following a low-carb diet. Glad you enjoyed and shanah tovah!
Peter Kraus says
My sweet and sour recipe is different. I use apricot jam, garlic, brown sugar and soy sauce. Instead of beer I use Ginger ale. And instead of fresh onions you can use a packet of Liptons onion soup mix.
Beth Lee says
Thanks for sharing your version Peter. I love all the variations. What would we all have done without the onion soup packets?! My mom used them all the time. In fact, like this, she had a version of chicken with apricot jam and onion soup that my friends still rave about. Thanks again for sharing.
Nita says
Favorite recipe! This is now a tradition in my southern home! Thank you for sharing this beautiful family recipe.
Beth Lee says
Oh this fills my heart and makes me so happy. Thanks for letting me know you're enjoying it!
Linda says
Can’t wait to try this in my new IP. Did you cook the large brisket, cut into pieces, all at the same time ? (Do you have an 8 qt or 6 qt?)
Thanks so much
Beth Lee says
Great questions! I cooked the whole thing at once cut up into a couple of smaller chunks. I have the 6qt. It works great! What size do you have?
Linda says
I have a 6 qt. I’m concerned that the pot might be too full. I’ve had the IP for 1 week. Not much experience with it.
Beth Lee says
How many pounds of brisket do you want to cook at one time?
Sandi says
This recipe reminds me so much of my grandmother's recipe. I can't wait to try yours...my grandmother never wrote hers down with measurements so this will make it easy.
John says
ALMOST NONE OF THE REVIEWERS HAVE ACTUALLY TRIED THIS THING, BUT THEY ALL WROTE 5 STARS AND SAID IT “SOUNDS GREAT”. THAT MAKES NO SENSE!!!,
Whitney says
Hi!
I was wondering how you usually reheat this? I'm making brisket for 30 and pre-cooking/slicing is very appealing. 🙂
Beth Lee says
Pre slicing is great for reheating too. Easiest thing is to store it in the pan you will reheat in but not a must. Anyhow, usually I just put it in the oven covered w foil at about 325 until it's heated thru. You can't really overcook it but you don't want to dry it out. If oven space is at a premium, I've put it on the stove top to reheat (covered also) but be sure the pan is stovetop friendly! If you have any other questions - let me know!
Aimee Shugarman says
This looks ridiculously good. And so easy too,.
Liz says
I was looking for something to make with a leftover can of cranberry sauce and this brisket was the perfect solution! It was fabulous!
Beth Lee says
Yay! I am so glad