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Instant Pot Crispy Brisket Bites. Tender beef with a crisp crust, tossed in barbecue sauce. An easy appetizer or main dish, done in about an hour thanks to pressure cooking.
Crispy beef bites are an idea from my friends at Certified Angus Beef1. A few years back I visited their Culinary Center in Wooster, OH, and they served these as an afternoon snack. “What a great idea!” I thought…and promptly forgot about it amongst all the other beef info.
The idea came back to me a few weeks ago, a memory of tender cubes of beef tossed in barbecue sauce. The chefs at CAB made their beef bites using leftover smoked brisket in a deep fryer; I don’t have a fryer or leftover brisket, so I used pressure cooking and a skillet. (I cheated, and used a little liquid smoke to simulate the smoked brisket.) The results were as good as I remembered, saucy bites with a browned crust, great as an appetizer or for dinner.
The key to this recipe is cubing the brisket before cooking. A big roast takes a long time to cook in a pressure cooker; we can use pressure to increase the heat, but it still takes a while to penetrate deep into a roast. I work around that by cutting the roast into bite-sized pieces before cooking.
I also make my own homemade BBQ rub and BBQ sauce, but you don't have to do that; if you have a store-bought favorite, or your own special mix, go ahead and use it.
Recipe: Instant Pot Crispy Brisket Bites
Inspired by: Certified Angus Beef® Brand - Culinary Center
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Instant Pot Crispy Brisket Bites
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 3 pounds of bites 1x
Description
Instant Pot Crispy Brisket Bites. Tender beef with a crisp crust, tossed in barbecue sauce. An easy appetizer or main dish, done in about an hour thanks to pressure cooking.
Ingredients
Texas Barbecue Rub (Or 3 tablespoons of store-bought rub)
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon Ancho chili powder
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
Texas Barbecue Sauce (Or ½ cup of store-bought sauce)
- ¾ cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon Texas Barbecue Rub (from above)
Brisket Bites
- 3 pounds beef brisket, fat cap trimmed to ¼ inch, cut into 1½-inch cubes
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke (optional)
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
Instructions
- Make the rub and sauce: In a small bowl, stir the barbecue rub ingredients until completely mixed, then set them aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the barbecue sauce ingredients (including ½ teaspoon of the rub) until smooth. Set aside.
- Seasoned beef into the pot: Sprinkle the brisket cubes with the rub, then put the beef into the Instant Pot (or pressure cooker pot). Stir the cup of water and the liquid smoke together, then pour it into the pot.
- Pressure cook for 25 minutes with a natural pressure release: Lock the lid on the Instant Pot. Cook on high pressure for 25 minutes in an electric pressure cooker (“Manual” or “Pressure Cook” mode in an Instant Pot), or for 20 minutes in a stovetop PC. Let the pressure come down naturally, about 15 minutes.
- Pan-fry the brisket bites, toss with barbecue sauce, and serve: Unlock the Instant Pot lid and open it away from you – the steam is hot. Scoop the beef cubes into a bowl with a slotted spoon. In a 12-inch fry pan over medium-high heat, heat the vegetable oil until shimmering. Spread the brisket cubes in the frypan in a single layer and cook until the bottom is browned and crispy, about 3 minutes. Flip the brisket cubes and brown the other side, about 2 more minutes. Drizzle the barbecue sauce over the brisket and toss to coat. (We made ½ cup - just enough to glaze the beef, not so much that it’s swimming in barbecue sauce.) Serve the brisket bites and pass the rest of the sauce at the table for dipping.
Equipment
Buy Now → Notes
- Can’t find brisket, or it’s too pricey? (I can’t believe how expensive brisket is nowadays.) Beef chuck and Bottom Round are also good substitutes.
- To double this recipe, double all the ingredients, pressure cook, and pan-fry in two batches. You don't want to crowd the frypan, or the brisket will steam, not brown. To halve the recipe, halve all the ingredients except for the water. Cooking time is the same either way.
- Want dry rub brisket bites? Skip the sauce. Make double the rub, save half of it, and sprinkle it on the beef when the recipe calls for the sauce.
Tools
- 6 quart or larger pressure cooker (I love my Instant Pot 6-Quart Pressure Cooker)
- Slotted Spoon
- 12-inch Fry Pan
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 min
- Category: Weeknight Dinner
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: American
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What do you think?
Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
Related Posts
Instant Pot Beef Brisket Recipe
Instant Pot Beef Brisket Soup
Pressure Cooker Pork Steaks, St. Louis BBQ Style
My other Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Recipes
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- Certified Angus Beef® Brand is a former sponsor of the blog. They’re not sponsoring this post, but they did give me this great idea… ↩
Anna says
I’m not a big brisket person. I bought a few pounds by accident. It came out great!!!
Mike Vrobel says
Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
CHRISTINE EMERSON says
Great recipe. I had a whole brisket, trimmed some fat and had about 12 lbs. I was able to cook it in 2 batches in a 6-quart IP. The recipe's timing was spot-on.
Mike Vrobel says
Thank you, I’m glad you enjoy it!
Joy says
BEST RECIPE EVER!! My husband told to make it again before we even finished eating it!
Mike Vrobel says
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Slash says
I bought the biggest brisket at the store and made this recipe. I could have served two entire briskets and it would have been clobbered (or at least i would have had leftovers for lunch the next day). These are great. Was similar to masitas de puercos (cuban fried pork chunks). Could have been served with rice, plantains, and sautéed onions
Sasha says
My mom loves burnt ends from a local bar-b-que restaurant. I am going to make these for her. Sounds very similar!!! Thanks for sharing!
Angela Searle says
Had a bunch of scraps from butchering a whole brisket, so used those to make this recipe.
OH MY GOSH! So good!
My 3 year old devoured it and my partner wants me to cut up a whole brisket to do it again.
Thank you! Will definitely be saving this recipe.