Pressure Cooker Brisket Tacos

I make an oven-braised brisket about twice a year, for Passover and Rosh Hashanah. While I love the classic method, I've wanted to experiment with brisket a bit more. Brisket typically comes as a very large cut of several pounds which I cut into three pieces. We usually have one of these at each holiday and freeze them in the meantime. The other thing about brisket is that it takes a very long time to cook: over 4 hours with my usual method. As such, I wanted to use the Instant Pot for my first experiment. 

I've previously done both pulled chicken and pork (also with the Instant Pot) recipes for use with tacos, nachos, potatoes, and so on. Brisket is also perfect for this because it needs to be cooked low and slow. In just an hour on high pressure, the meat becomes fall-apart tender. This sort of dish is highly customizable to taste. I seasoned similarly to how I would do ground beef tacos, with the addition of a poblano chili and soy sauce for some extra depth. I also used some Mexican oregano here, which I recommend picking up at a Latin American market if you can find one. Some Asian stores also stock Mexican herbs and spices.

We used about 1/3 of the meat from this recipe for a few rounds of tacos and froze the rest for later in two quart bags. For the tacos themselves, I used corn tortillas (heat on both sides in a dry nonstick pan and keep in a tortilla warmer), cotija, corn salsa, and sour cream. Guacamole is a welcome addition if available. This recipe turned out well, especially for a first attempt. In my pulled pork recipe from three years ago, I discussed some apprehension I had coming up with Instant Pot recipes. I'm happy to report I've developed some good instincts for what's going to work in the pressure cooker. The most important tip I've learned is when using the sauté setting to brown meat, it is imperative to deglaze and fully clear anything stuck to the bottom before sealing. If the Instant Pot detects burning on the bottom, it will shut off, so be careful.

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 lb. beef brisket
• 1 large yellow onion
• 1 poblano
• 6 cloves garlic
• 2 Tbs. ground cumin
• 1 Tbs. paprika
• 1 Tbs. chili powder
• 1 Tbs. Mexican oregano
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 Tbs. soy sauce
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Vegetable oil
• Limes for serving

Equipment

• Instant Pot or other pressure cooker

Instructions

Cut the brisket into large chunks (I had 12). You can trim off some large chunks of fat, but do leave some. Dice the onion and poblano. Smash the garlic and remove the green sprout if present.

Season beef with salt and pepper. Using the sauté function, brown the beef on two sides with a little oil, working in batches. Set aside. Add the onion, poblano, and garlic. Saute for a few minutes while carefully scraping up any browned bits stuck to the pot. Add oil as needed. Add the cumin, paprika, and chili powder and cook a little more. Add oregano, bay leaves, soy sauce, and stock and stir together, again making sure nothing is stuck to the bottom. 

Ready to seal

Return the beef, seal the pot, and cook on high pressure for 1 hour. Let the pressure naturally release before opening. Remove beef and shred. Skim grease from the broth as needed, then return beef to the broth. 

Let stand while preparing tortillas and accompaniments. Serve with lime wedges to squeeze over. When building tacos, take care to let some broth drip from the meat before adding to the tortillas.