Slow Cooker Pulled Beef Brisket

This Slow Cooker Pulled Beef Brisket with homemade smoky BBQ sauce is cooked low and slow until it’s deliciously tender. Jam-packed with flavour, it’s a must-try for anyone who loves hearty and delicious comfort food. It's also gluten-free!

As a busy parent and lover of meal-planning, I know how important it is to have simple, delicious dinners that fit into a busy schedule. 

This slow cooker pulled beef brisket with homemade BBQ sauce is exactly why I love slow cooking – minimal effort & maximum flavour! My kids love this after football training on a Friday night.

It’s perfect for batch cooking, meal prepping or feeding a large crowd. Just pop it in the middle of the table and let everyone pile their buns high!

The brisket cooks low and slow in a rich, tangy BBQ sauce until it’s fall-apart tender. Then it’s shredded and tossed back through the sauce for ultimate melt-in-your-mouth heaven.

The best part? You don't have to spend hours in the kitchen to make it. All you need is a slow cooker or crockpot and a few simple ingredients. The hardest part is waiting for it to cook!!!

If you love a slow cooker recipe as much as me, check out my Slow Cooker Roast Potatoes and Sausage & Baked Bean Casserole. 

🥘 Ingredients Needed & Notes

Here is a brief overview of the main ingredients needed to make slow cooker pulled beef brisket. To find out how to make it allergy-friendly, simply keep scrolling to the section below this one.

✋ Double check all packaging for allergens ✋

• Beef Brisket -Brisket comes from the chest of the cow and is packed with rich, beefy flavour. It's a tougher cut, but when cooked low and slow, it becomes melt-in-the-mouth tender. This cut is also great value for money, making it a great budget-friendly choice.
• Dry Rub For The Beef - A simple mix of garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika. Massage it into the fat before cooking for extra flavour.
• Home-made BBQ Sauce - While shop-bought BBQ sauce works too, this homemade version is really easy, much tastier and lets you control the ingredients. You’ll need ketchup, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce (or Henderson’s Relish), apple cider vinegar, honey, garlic, and Dijon mustard. It takes just 5 minutes and uses ingredients you likely already have in the cupboard.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

 ✏️ How to Make Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Beef Brisket

⬇️ Here you will find an overview of how to make the recipe. For full information on ingredients and quantities please see the recipe card at the bottom of the page ⬇️

Step 1 Season The Brisket: To make the perfect brisket, you need to start with a quality piece of meat.

Look for a brisket with plenty of marbling and fat. This will help keep the meat moist and juicy while it cooks. 

Start by seasoning the brisket well with a mix of garlic powder, onion powder and a little paprika to add some depth of flavour and colour. 

Step 2 Make The BBQ Sauce: Next you will need to crush your garlic and mix together in a small bowl with all of the rest of the BBQ sauce ingredients.

Step 3 Cook The Brisket: Add the beef to the slow cooker with the BBQ sauce and cook on a low heat for 8-10 hours, until the meat is tender and easily falls apart.

Be patient – the longer you cook it, the more tender and flavourful it will be.

💡I wouldn’t recommend cooking it on high as the meat can become tough.

Step 4 Shred The Meat: When your brisket is done cooking, it's time to shred the meat. Remove the meat from the sauce before shredding.

You can use two forks to pull the meat apart. Make sure to remove any excess fat or gristle as you go.

Step 5 Mix With Sauce: Once your meat has been shredded, add it back to the BBQ sauce and toss until the shredded beef has been fully coated with all the sauce juices.

💬 Recipe FAQs