Slow-Cooked Chilli Tomato Brisket (in the oven)
Step-by-step recipe to make brisket in the oven
A big game, good company, and the need for pre-race fuel led me to making this recipe. We had the friends and family over to watch the Springboks play. It was also the day before beautiful but challenging 14 km Grape Run in Constantia. You can’t conquer those hills on an empty tank! So, after we saw the South African rugby team beat Italy, we got down to the serious business of carbo-loading. I served the slow-cooked chilli tomato brisket on a butternut truffle oil & fried curry leaf risotto. It was delicious, comforting, and packed with the right kind of fuel.
Ingredients to make the chilli rub
2 tbsp chilli powder
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp sweet paprika
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp black pepper
1–2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional, for heat)
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp coarse salt
Ingredients to make the brisket and sauce
2–3 kg beef brisket
2 tbsp olive oil or mustard
2 × 400g tins chopped tomatoes
1 large onion
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup beef stock (or water)
1–2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1–2 tsp sugar (optional)
1–2 whole chillies or sliced chillies (optional)
Instructions: how to make slow-cooked chilli tomato brisket (in the oven)
Prepare the brisket. If there is a lot of excess fat, you can trim this if you prefer.
Dry the meat with paper towels and rub with oil or mustard.
Mix all chilli rub ingredients and coat the brisket generously on all sides.
Marinade overnight in the fridge, or for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 150°C
Slice the onion and spread across the base of a roasting dish or Dutch oven, spread the sliced onions.
Crush the cloves of garlic and add along with the tinned tomatoes, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, beef stock, and sugar. The sugar is optional, but recommended, as it helps to balance the acidity.
Stir to combine into a thick sauce.
Place the brisket fat side up on top of the tomato mixture.
Spoon some of the sauce over the meat.
Cover tightly with foil or a lid.
Cook in the oven for 4.5–6 hours. Halfway through, baste the brisket with the sauce.
The exact cooking time depends on the brisket size. You know it is done when the meat reaches 93°C internally, and/or a fork slides in with almost no resistance
To give the sauce a richer finish you can remove the brisket from the sauce once it’s done cooking, and simmer the sauce in a pot on the stove for 10–15 minutes. Once the sauce has thickened to the desired consistency, you can slice or shred the brisket and add it back into the thickened sauce.
Garnish with fresh coriander or parsley and (optionally) dd extra fresh chillies for a kick.
Serve with mashed potatoes, rice, pap, roasted veg, or soft rolls.
For this dish, I opted to make a risotto and added some of the brisket on top. It was a delicious combination and I highly recommend it. Have a look at my top tips on how to make foolproof risotto, or have a look at my butternut truffle oil & fried curry leaf risotto recipe.
Enjoy! Please tag me on Instagram if you’ve made this recipe, I’d love to see it!
More meat recipes
Below the newsletter block, you will find some more recipes featuring meat.
If you have the time, you should try this deboned lamb leg recipe, slow roasted in the oven. You can also make leg of lamb on the braai. Ostrich fillet kebabs on the braai are delicious to, or braai a snoek and serve it with plum jam. Pork belly is one of my favourite foods to cook, and this recipe makes for succulent meat with crispy skin. Most people only order rump steak in a restaurant, but if you follow these tips and tricks, you can make your own medium-rare steak at home. And why not serve them with hedgehog potatoes, made easily in the airfryer? Another meat that many people find too intimidating to cook, is duck breast. With these step-by-step instructions you will cook a succulent duck breast with ease. Salads are underrated, and once you have tried this beetroot and bacon salad, you will never host a braai without it.
Don’t forget to tag me if you make any of my recipes, I’d love to see it!
About Shawn Godfrey
Photo credit: Niki M Photography
Shawn Godfrey is an entrepreneur based in Cape Town, South Africa. After the Covid-19 lockdown saw his business in financial distress, cooking was the creative outlet that helped to keep him sane. To keep track of his recipes, and encourage friends and families to join him, he starts his instagram account The Roasted Dad.
Fast-forward to late 2021 - on a whim Shawn (encouraged by his wife Lianne) enters MasterChef South Africa. It is a crazy time of life: running a 200 people business and struggling to keep it profitable, two small children with a third on the way, and about to move into a new house. But when Shawn gets selected to be one of the 20 contestants participating in the fourth season of MasterChef South Africa, he decides to go all in. Leaving his 7-month-pregnant wife to look after their then three and one-year-old children, he battles it out and comes back home five weeks later with the trophy and a million rand prize money in his pocket.
It all started with an Instagram account, but The Roasted Dad is so much more now. Shawn has stayed his entrepreneurial self and whilst he hosts Private Dinner Parties and Cook-with-Me Demos, does Restaurant Take-Overs, he still runs the lighting company and several other businesses.
On his blog, Shawn shares Restaurant Reviews and Accommodation Reviews, and gives an insight into the wild and wonderful life he leads together with his wife Lianne, and their three children Aiden (7), Olivia (5) and Harvey (3).
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