Holiday Christmas Brisket with Cran-Orange BBQ Sauce
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This melt-in-your-mouth Christmas brisket will shine on your holiday table. It's slow-smoked to perfection, full of festive flavors, and simple enough to pull off even on the busiest December days.
Serve with favorite holiday sides like my healthy sweet potato casserole, cranberry wild rice bread, or my Fruity Wild Rice Salad.
Christmas Brisket Recipe at a Glance
⏱️ Prep Time: 15 minutes
🔥 Smoke Time: 6 hours
🕒 Rest Time: 2-4 hours
🍽️ Servings: 8-10
👍 Difficulty: Moderate
🛒 Featured Ingredients: Small 3-5 lb brisket, mustard, seasonings, cranberries, oranges, honey
😋 Recipe In a Nutshell: Season the brisket and smoke at 250°F until the internal temp hits 165-170°F. Wrap it tightly in heavy foil, then keep smoking until it reaches 203-205°F. Wrap in a towel and let it rest in the cooler for 2-4 hours. Slice against the grain and serve with a bright, tangy homemade Cranberry BBQ Sauce.
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There is nothing better than a slow-smoked brisket. 🔥
A couple of years ago, my family was deciding on a Christmas menu, and we all had a bit of a hankering for something a little different. One of my sisters suggested picnic foods.
We had a few briskets on hand and thought they would be perfect for a festive picnic food theme. I started thinking about how to make the brisket take on a Christmas flavor and came up with a delicious cranberry-orange barbeque sauce.
If you’re like me, you love using your Traeger for holidays. But sometimes, you get tired of eating double smoked ham or a Traeger smoked spatchcocked turkey at every holiday dinner.
A smoked prime rib roast, while festive & delicious, may be a bit out of the price range. This holiday brisket is perfect if you want to serve a holiday meal that stands out while being affordable for a crowd!
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This recipe will simplify the brisket smoking process for first timers! The Christmas-inspired seasoning blend and cranberry barbecue sauce will make your holiday meal feel truly special.
Most of the time involved in cooking a brisket is hands-off. That frees you up to make your sides or enjoy your guests.
I also have a section dedicated to the slow cooker cooking method for those of you without a smoker.
Key Ingredients
For a full list of ingredients for this holiday brisket, check the recipe card.
3-5 lb Flat Cut Brisket – Most grocery stores sell smaller briskets cut from the flat that are pre-trimmed in 3-5 lb sizes.
That is the type of brisket we are using for this recipe. However, you can scale up the recipe ingredients as necessary for larger briskets.
**Note that a larger brisket won’t fit in the slow cooker if you are choosing to follow the slow cooker instructions.
Yellow Mustard – Mustard is a tenderizer for the meat and a good binder for the seasonings. The brisket won’t take on a strong mustard flavor when cooked.
Key Ingredients for the Cranberry BBQ Sauce
For the cranberry-orange barbecue sauce, gather the following:
Whole Cranberries – Fresh cranberries give the barbecue sauce a seasonal, tart flavor. Frozen cranberries can be subbed with no issue.
Oranges – The zest and juice from a couple of oranges brightens up the sauce and adds a citrus flair, making this sauce taste fresh and unique.
Honey – Honey is the main sweetener for this barbecue sauce. For a subtle floral flavor, look for wildflower honey or orange blossom honey.
Tomato Paste & Ketchup – Tomato products are what turn this sauce from a typical cranberry sauce into a barbecue sauce. Tomato paste deepens the flavor and ketchup gives this a traditional barbecue sauce tang.
Apple Cider Vinegar – Vinegar is an essential ingredient in barbecue sauce for the tangy flavor! Apple cider vinegar specifically gives the sauce sweetness and seasonal festivity.
How to Make a Christmas Brisket
To make this Christmas brisket recipe on the pellet grill or smoker, follow the instructions below. If you would prefer to use the crock pot, skip to the next section.
1. Bring Brisket to Room Temperature.
Remove your thawed brisket from the refrigerator an hour before you’d like to prep it for the smoker. Let it sit on the counter to warm up slightly. This will help it cook more evenly.
2. Trim Fat.
Most smaller briskets come pre-trimmed, but if needed, place your brisket on a cutting board and trim excess fat from your brisket with a sharp knife so that the fat cap is only about 1/4 inch thick.
3. Preheat Pellet Grill.
Preheat your pellet grill or smoker to 250°F.
4. Rub Mustard & Seasonings on the Brisket
Rub yellow mustard over all sides of the brisket. Mix the salt, pepper, garlic & onion powders, dried rosemary & thyme in a small dish, and rub it evenly over all sides of the brisket. You can scale the seasonings up as needed for larger briskets. Place a meat thermometer in the thickest part of your brisket.
Note: The amounts listed here will work for a 3 lb brisket, but if it is 5 lbs or greater, I would scale the seasonings up 1.5x-2x.
5. Smoke the Brisket.
Place brisket directly on the pellet grill grates fat side down. Close the lid and let it smoke until it reaches an internal temperature of 165-170 degrees F.
6. Wrap the Brisket.
Briefly remove the brisket from the smoker to wrap it in aluminum foil. Place it back on the smoker and cook it until it reaches an internal temperature of 203-205°F.
The meat is done when you poke it with a probe and it goes in like butter. If it is tough when you try to poke it, it is not yet done.
7. Cooler Rest.
Wrap a towel around the foiled brisket and place it inside a cooler. Let it rest in the cooler for 2-3 hours. It will stay plenty warm, and this rest time will let the juices redistribute throughout the meat making this Christmas brisket juicy and tender.
8. Slice & Serve.
After the rest period, remove the brisket from the cooler and its wraps. Place it on a cutting board and slice it thinly against the grain. Plate your brisket and serve it with the cranberry-orange barbecue sauce (recipe below) and garnishes of sliced orange, fresh cranberries, and sprigs of fresh herbs if desired.
Cranberry-Orange Barbeque Sauce Instructions
Making homemade cranberry-orange barbeque sauce for your Christmas brisket is super easy. It’s the perfect condiment for your holiday brisket! Follow the steps below:
9. Boil Fruit & Honey.
Rinse your fresh cranberries and wash your oranges. Since we will be including orange peel (zest) in this recipe, you want to make sure your oranges are clean. Place the rinsed cranberries in a saucepan. Zest the outside of both of the oranges right into the saucepan, then quarter the oranges and squeeze the juice from each quarter into the pot as well. Add the honey to the pot. Place your saucepan onto the stove and heat it to medium-high heat. Boil the cranberry mixture until the berries are broken down and the sauce begins to thicken.
10. Add Other Ingredients & Reduce.
Turn the heat down to low while you add the rest of the barbeque sauce ingredients. Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot and stir to combine. Raise the heat to medium and continue to boil the mixture over medium heat until it reduces to your desired thickness.
11. Blend Sauce.
Using an immersion blender, blend the sauce right in the pot to create an even texture. You can also do this in a regular blender, but an immersion blender is less messy.
12. Chill.
Your sauce is done and ready to serve! Pour it into a jar or other container and refrigerate until you’re ready to serve.
Slow Cooker Instructions
To make this brisket in the slow cooker, you will still trim the excess fat from the brisket and rub it in mustard and the seasonings outlined in the recipe. But instead of placing it on a smoker, put it in the slow cooker with 1 cup of beef broth poured around it for a cooking liquid.
Cook it on low for 6-8 hours until it is tender, but not falling apart. Check on it periodically–you can poke it with a probe to see when it’s tender enough to remove from the crockpot. If you cook it too long, you’ll have shredded beef on your hands (hey, that may not be the worst thing!)
Expert Brisket Tips & Tricks
Wrap or No Wrap?
Wrapping the brisket at 165°F is optional, but recommended. The purpose of the wrap is to speed up the smoke and help you get past a stall.
Smaller briskets don’t stall as hard as larger briskets do. However, you may still wish to wrap the brisket, even if using a small one. In my experience, it can help keep smaller briskets from drying out.
But if you want a crispier bark and stronger smoke flavor, you can skip the wrap.
Brisket Timing
To get tender brisket, you need to cook it to a high enough temperature that the connective tissue breaks down. An internal temperature between 203-205°F is generally recommended, but each piece of meat varies. I usually pull my briskets off at 205°F.
However, my best tip to see if your brisket is ready to pull off the smoker is to poke it with a temperature probe. It should go in like butter. If there is too much resistance, keep cooking.
For the cooking method outlined here, it takes me about 1.5-2 hours per pound for my smaller briskets and only a minor stall to work through. If you’re smoking a large full brisket, you will want to plan more time.
You just need to make sure you give yourself plenty of time to smoke the brisket to the proper temp, as well as time for the brisket to rest.
I recommend a good meat thermometer (such as the Meater+) that you can leave inserted so you don’t need to babysit the brisket too closely.
Christmas Brisket FAQs
Brisket is a wonderful choice for Christmas dinner. Anyone who has smoked a brisket knows it is a labor of love. It also makes a lot of servings, therefore it is perfect for a crowd.
Brisket is a traditional holiday meal for many Jewish people. The brisket comes from the front part of the cow, which is an easy location to prepare kosher meat. Historically, it was also quite affordable, making it easy for Jewish immigrants to acquire. This has led to the brisket becoming a traditional holiday meal for Jewish celebrations.
There is no Christians or other cultural Christmas celebrators can’t also partake in a tender, juicy brisket!
There are so many wonderful sides you can serve with this brisket for Christmas! Try my Winter Kale Salad with Pomegranates, whole grain cornbread recipe, or my Wild Rice Fruit Salad.
For more festive cranberry recipes, you’ll love my Apple Cranberry Coleslaw, Cranberry Wild Rice Bread, Cranberry Sourdough, and my festive Cranberry Ginger Mocktail.
To make brisket in the slow cooker, you will trim the excess fat from the brisket and rub in the mustard and the seasonings. Put it in the slow cooker with 1 cup of beef broth poured around. Cook it on low for 6-8 hours until it is tender, but not falling apart. Check on it periodically–you can poke it with a probe to see when it’s tender enough to remove from the crockpot.
If you cook it too long, you’ll have shredded beef on your hands. That is also delicious, but perhaps not what you were going for! So keep an eye on it the last few hours of cooking to make sure it doesn’t overcook.
If you make this Christmas beef brisket recipe, please come back to leave a comment and review! I reply to each comment, and it means the world to hear from you!
📖 Recipe
Christmas Brisket with Cranberry-Orange Barbecue Sauce
Equipment
- 1 Pellet Grill or Smoker recommended, but if you don't have one, use slow cooker
- 1 Slow Cooker optional–if you do not have smoker
- 1 Immersion Blender or regular blender
Ingredients
Brisket
- 3-5 pound Brisket
- 2 tablespoon Yellow Mustard
- 2 1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
- 2 teaspoon Black Pepper
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 teaspoon Onion Powder
- 2 teaspoon Dried Rosemary
- 2 teaspoon Dried Thyme
Cranberry-Orange Barbecue Sauce
- 1 cup Fresh Cranberries
- 2 medium Oranges
- 1/2 cup Honey
- 2 tablespoon Brown Sugar see notes if you want sauce less sweet
- 2 tablespoon Tomato Paste
- 3 tablespoon Ketchup
- 1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1/2 tablespoon Dijon Mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
Instructions
Brisket Smoker Instructions (See Notes for Slow Cooker)
- Remove your thawed brisket from the refrigerator an hour before you'd like to prep it for the smoker. Let it sit on the counter to come to room temperature.3-5 pound Brisket
- Preheat your smoker/grill to 250 degrees F.
- Place your brisket on a cutting board and trim excess fat so that the fat cap is only about 1/4 inch thick. Rub 2 tbsp of yellow mustard over all sides of the brisket. Mix the salt, pepper, garlic & onion powders, and dried rosemary & thyme in a small dish, and rub it evenly over all sides of the brisket. You can scale the seasonings up as needed for larger briskets. Insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the brisket.2 tablespoon Yellow Mustard, 2 1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt, 2 teaspoon Black Pepper, 1 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder, 1 teaspoon Onion Powder, 2 teaspoon Dried Rosemary, 2 teaspoon Dried Thyme
- Place your brisket directly on the grill grates fat side down. Close the lid and let it smoke for a couple of hours until the internal temp reaches 165-170 degrees.
- Briefly remove the brisket from the smoker to wrap it in aluminum foil. Place it back on the smoker and let it finish cooking until it reaches an internal temperature of 203-205 degrees F. The meat is done when you poke it with a temperature probe and it goes in like butter.
- Pull the brisket off the smoker. Leave it in the foil, but wrap it in a towel and place it in a small cooler to rest for 2-4 hours.
- After the rest period is complete, remove the brisket from the cooler and it's wraps. Place it on a cutting board and slice it thinly against the grain.
- Plate your brisket and serve it with the cranberry-orange barbeque sauce (directions below) and garnishes of sliced orange, fresh cranberries, and sprigs of fresh herbs if desired.
Cranberry-Orange Barbeque Sauce
- Rinse your fresh cranberries and wash your oranges. Since we will be including orange peel (zest) in this recipe, you want to make sure your oranges are clean.1 cup Fresh Cranberries, 2 medium Oranges
- Place the rinsed cranberries in a saucepan. Zest the outside of both of the oranges right into the saucepan, then quarter the oranges and squeeze the juice from each quarter into the pot as well, followed by the honey.1/2 cup Honey
- Place your saucepan onto the stove and heat it to medium-high heat. Boil the cranberry mixture until the berries are broken down and the sauce begins to thicken.
- Turn the heat down to low while you add the rest of the ingredients–brown sugar, tomato paste, ketchup, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and cinnamon. Stir to combine. Increase heat to medium and boil until it reduces to your desired thickness.2 tablespoon Brown Sugar, 2 tablespoon Tomato Paste, 3 tablespoon Ketchup, 1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar, 1/2 tablespoon Dijon Mustard, 1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt, 1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper, 1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
- Using an immersion blender, blend the sauce right in the pot to create an even texture. You can also do this in a regular blender, but an immersion blender is less messy.
- Your sauce is done and ready to serve! Pour it into a jar or other container and refrigerate until you're ready to serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Delicious, I love the cranberry BBQ on the Brisket!
It’s great, isn’t it?