Brisket and Cabbage with Pickling Spices
Fresh beef brisket rubbed with toasted pickling spices and slow-cooked with cabbage, carrots, and onion, served with a horseradish cream.
Why you'll love Brisket and Cabbage with Pickling Spices
This is the St. Patrick's Day boiled dinner made with fresh brisket. The warm, tangy flavor everyone remembers from that dinner comes from pickling spice: mustard seed, coriander, peppercorns, allspice, cloves, and bay. Here those spices are toasted and crushed and rubbed right onto the meat, and the brisket braises slowly in broth with a splash of cider vinegar until it is fork-tender, with cabbage wedges and carrots cooking alongside in the same savory broth.
Toasting the whole spices first wakes up their oils, and crushing them coarse lets them cling to the meat and season the broth. Searing the brisket before it goes into the slow cooker browns the surface, which builds a deep, roasted flavor a slow braise cannot make on its own. The cabbage goes in for the last few hours, so it turns silky and sweet while keeping its shape.
A cool horseradish cream with Dijon cuts through the rich meat, the way mustard does at the traditional table. Leftovers make an excellent hash the next morning.
Quick overview: This Brisket and Cabbage with Pickling Spices takes 25 min of hands-on time and about 9 hr 15 min in all and makes 6 servings, each about 4 oz brisket with cabbage, carrots, and broth. You'll need a slow cooker, a skillet, and a mortar and pestle.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp yellow mustard seeds Label: mustard seed, and nothing else
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 tsp fine sea salt
- 3 lb fresh beef brisket, flat cut, fat cap trimmed to about 1/4 inch
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- 1 large onion, cut into wedges
- 4 medium carrots, cut into 2-inch lengths
- 6 cloves garlic, smashed
- 2 cups beef broth Label: beef, water, vegetables, herbs, and salt, with no sugar, natural flavors, or oil
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 small head green cabbage (about 2 lb), cut into 6 wedges through the core
- 1/2 cup full-fat sour cream Label: cream and cultures
- 2 tbsp prepared horseradish Label: horseradish, vinegar, and salt
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard Label: mustard seed, vinegar, water, and salt
- 2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
Instructions
- Toast the spices: Put the mustard seeds, coriander seeds, and peppercorns in a large dry skillet over medium heat and toast, shaking the pan, for 1 to 2 minutes, until the mustard seeds start to pop and the coriander smells warm. Tip them into a mortar and pestle and crush them coarsely, then stir in the allspice, cloves, red pepper flakes, and salt. Crumble in one of the bay leaves.
- Rub the brisket: Pat the brisket dry and press the spice mixture all over it.
- Sear: Heat the avocado oil in the same skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the brisket fat side down first, for 4 to 5 minutes, then turn and sear the other side for 3 to 4 minutes, until both are well browned. If the brisket is too big for the pan, cut it in half across the grain and sear it in two pieces.
- Load the slow cooker: Scatter the onion, carrots, garlic, and the remaining 2 bay leaves over the bottom of a 6-quart slow cooker and set the brisket on top, fat side up. The vegetables lift the meat out of the liquid a little and soak up the drippings, and the fat on top melts down over the meat as it cooks. Pour the broth and vinegar into the hot skillet and scrape up the browned bits, then pour it all around the brisket.
- Slow-cook: Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.
- Add the cabbage: Tuck the cabbage wedges around and over the brisket, spooning some broth over them. Cover and cook on low for 2 to 3 hours more, until the cabbage is tender at the core and a fork twists easily in the thickest part of the brisket. By then the meat is well past the 145°F (63°C) safe point; the long cook is what melts its connective tissue.
- Make the horseradish cream: While the cabbage cooks, stir the sour cream, horseradish, and Dijon together and refrigerate until serving.
- Rest, slice, and serve: Lift the brisket onto a cutting board and let it rest for 10 minutes. Slice it across the grain about 1/4 inch thick; cutting across the long muscle fibers makes each slice tender. Discard the bay leaves. Serve the brisket with the cabbage and carrots, ladle a little broth over each plate, and finish with parsley and a spoonful of horseradish cream.
Storage and leftovers
Refrigerate the brisket, vegetables, and broth together in a covered container for up to 4 days. Keeping the slices in the broth keeps them moist. The horseradish cream keeps for up to 5 days.
Freeze the sliced brisket in its broth for up to 3 months; the cabbage softens more after freezing, so it is best eaten fresh. Reheat gently in a covered pot over low heat until steaming.
Variations
- With turnips: Add 2 peeled turnips, cut into wedges, with the carrots for a classic boiled-dinner plate.
- Savoy cabbage: Use Savoy cabbage, which has crinkly, tender leaves, and add it for only the last 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
- Mustard sauce: Whisk 2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard into 1/2 cup of the hot braising broth with 1 tablespoon butter in place of the horseradish cream.
- Brisket hash: Chop leftover brisket, cabbage, and carrots and brown them in a skillet with a little butter until crisp at the edges. Top with a fried egg.
Notes and tips
- Ask for the flat: The flat cut is the thinner, more even half of a whole brisket, so it slices neatly. The fattier point cut works too and comes out even more tender.
- Buy fresh brisket: Brisket is sold fresh in the meat case and also already brined with pink curing salt. This recipe needs the fresh one, which is plain beef with nothing on the label.
- Leave the lid on: Every time the lid comes off, the slow cooker loses heat and needs extra time to recover. Lift it only to add the cabbage.
- Slice it cold for neat slices: If you are making it ahead, chill the brisket whole in its broth overnight. Cold brisket slices thin and clean, and the slices warm through in the broth.
Nutrition and mindful eating
- Brisket brings protein along with iron, zinc, and vitamin B12, and the long, gentle cook turns its connective tissue into gelatin that makes the meat tender and the broth rich.
- Cabbage is a cruciferous vegetable with vitamin C and vitamin K, and cooking it slowly in the broth makes it sweet and silky.
- The toasted spices, garlic, and horseradish bring big, warm flavor, and mustard seed and horseradish are both cousins of cabbage.
- The fat in the brisket and the sour cream in the horseradish sauce is what makes this a meal that carries you through a long evening.
- As you eat, notice the warm spice in the meat and the sharp horseradish against it, and check in over the evening: a plate like this should keep you comfortably full for 4 to 5 hours, with no pull toward dessert.
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this Brisket and Cabbage with Pickling Spices? Start here, with the questions people ask most.
Does it taste like the cured version?
It has the same spices and the same warm, tangy flavor, from the pickling spice and the cider vinegar. The meat is brown instead of pink, since the pink color comes from the curing salt.
Can I cook it on high?
Low gives the most tender brisket. On high, cook it for 4 hours, add the cabbage, and cook 1 1/2 to 2 hours more, until the meat is fork-tender.
Can I use a store-bought pickling spice?
Yes, if the label lists only whole spices. Use 2 tablespoons, toast it, and crush it the same way. Many blends include cinnamon, ginger, and dill seed, which all fit.
Will a 3 lb brisket fit in my slow cooker?
In a 6-quart slow cooker it usually does. If it is too long, cut it in half across the grain and stack the pieces.
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