Brisket is a newer favorite in my household. Not long ago, I received a brisket in a subscription box from a local farm that I like to order meat from. I researched how to prepare it and came across a simple, easy Martha Stewart recipe to cook it in a slow cooker using ingredients I already had in my kitchen, including onions, garlic, and chicken broth. It came out melt-in-your-mouth tender, and my family loved it.
A couple of months ago, Aldi sold a Morton’s of Omaha salt and pepper brisket as one of their weekly fresh meat specials. I bought it and prepared it using the same recipe but left out salt and pepper, since the brisket was already seasoned with those ingredients. Again, it turned out fantastic.
So when Aldi advertised their own beef brisket recently, I bought it. It wasn’t sold under any of the Aldi private label house brands; the package label simply stated it was “fresh from Aldi.” It came in two varieties: Texas Style BBQ Rub and Salt and Pepper Rubbed. I got both.
Texas Style BBQ Rub Beef Brisket at top, Salt and Pepper Rubbed Beef Brisket at bottom.
Aldi Beef Brisket is an Aldi Find, so it’s only in stores for a short time. Each store gets one shipment, and after that sells out, it’s gone unless Aldi decides to bring it back at some later time. Aldi does not offer online ordering for products that are sold out at your local store.
These were stocked in the refrigerator case with weekly fresh meat specials, and when I bought them on the afternoon of the first day they hit shelves, they were already almost gone. My cashier remarked they’d been selling well all day. This seems to be one of those popular Aldi products that you have to act quickly on because it goes fast.
Aldi Beef Brisket cost $5.29 per pound at the time of publication. I bought a 2.59-pound Salt and Pepper Rubbed Brisket for $13.70 and a 3.61-pound Texas Style BBQ Rub Brisket for $19.10.
These contain USDA Choice Beef, and they had a use- or freeze-by date of almost two weeks from my purchase date.
The backs of the packages have directions for cooking the brisket in a smoker or in a conventional oven.
To smoke, preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Include a small metal container with water close to the heat source for optimal cooking. Remove product from packaging. Place brisket on the rack and open cook the brisket for 2 hours; then wrap it in aluminum foil and cook for 4 more hours. Ensure the internal temperature reaches between 195 and 201 degrees in the thickest part as measured by a meat thermometer.
To bake in the oven, preheat your oven to 250 degrees. Include a small metal container with water close to the heat source for optimal cooking. Remove brisket from packaging. Place brisket on a tray and open cook for 2 hours; then wrap the brisket in aluminum foil and cook for 4 more hours. Ensure that the internal temperature reaches between 195 and 201 degrees in the thickest part as measured by a meat thermometer.
The package also has instructions for slicing your cooked beef brisket. Place the brisket on a flat cutting board. Move your brisket so the muscle fibers are running horizontal to the board. Using long, smooth strokes, cut it into 1/4-inch slices (about the width of a pencil). The muscle fibers of the flat all run the same direction, so it should give you uniform slices that all run the same direction. The package recommends to always cut against the grain for “great bite and texture.”
Keep reading for more information on each variety.
Aldi Texas Style BBQ Rub Beef Brisket:
BBQ beef brisket ready to serve after roasting for most of the day in the oven. (Confession: I’m not sure I sliced it “properly” as I’m still fairly new to cooking brisket, but no one complained.)
I slow roasted the BBQ brisket in my oven according to the package directions, and it turned out fantastic. It was very easy but does require some time — six hours total — to cook in a conventional oven.
It does emit some juice as it bakes, so keep that in mind when selecting a pan or tray to cook this on. I used a rimmed baking sheet, which worked fine, but when I unwrapped the brisket from the aluminum foil at the end of the cooking time, I had to be careful not to spill the liquid that pooled inside the foil packet.
My family liked this brisket. It’s good on its own, with a mild barbecue flavor that is not spicy. We served it with some barbecue sauce, which we thought helped to enhance the flavor. It doesn’t come out as moist as when I make brisket in the slow cooker, and I thought it was a bit on the dry side, but the rest of my family thought it was fine. Served alongside a salad and some fresh fruit, it made for a great dinner.
Barbecue beef brisket nutrition information, ingredients, and cooking directions. (Click to enlarge.)
It does have a few processed ingredients and contains “spices,” which we aren’t really sure what that includes. This also has its share of fat and sodium.
Ingredients for the BBQ brisket include beef, sugar, salt, spices, dehydrated garlic, dehydrated onion, natural hickory smoke, and less than 2% silicon dioxide added as a processing aid.
A 4-ounce serving of the BBQ brisket has 310 calories, 24 grams of total fat, 10 grams of saturated fat (50% DV), 600 mg of sodium (26% DV), 3 grams of total carbohydrates (1% DV), 2 grams of added sugars (4% DV), and 20 grams of protein.
Aldi Salt and Pepper Rubbed Beef Brisket:
Salt and pepper brisket, after slow cooking all day with onions and garlic.
I chose to cook the salt and pepper brisket in my slow cooker with garlic and onions following the brisket recipe I’ve previously had success with, and I omitted the salt and pepper because this brisket is already seasoned. It came out tender and moist. However, this is heavy on the pepper seasoning, and some of our taste testers thought it was too spicy. Dipping it in barbecue sauce helped reduce the spiciness some. If you like your meat with heat, this is for you.
Salt and pepper beef brisket nutrition information, ingredients, and cooking directions. (Click to enlarge.)
This brisket also has quite a bit of fat and sodium, and it has some vague ingredients like “spice.”
Ingredients for the salt and pepper brisket include beef, spice, salt, and less than 2% soybean oil added as a processing aid.
A 4-ounce serving of the salt and pepper brisket has 310 calories, 24 grams of total fat (31% DV), 10 grams of saturated fat (50% DV), 450 mg of sodium (20% DV), 2 grams of total carbohydrates (1% DV), no added sugars, and 20 grams of protein.
The Verdict:
Aldi Beef Brisket comes in Salt and Pepper Rubbed or Texas Style BBQ Rub varieties. It was easy to cook these following the directions on the packages. We like the BBQ one. The Salt and Pepper version was too heavy on the pepper seasoning for some of our taste testers. Just keep in mind these both have quite a bit of sodium and fat.
Curious if an air fryer might work.
No, briskets need to be cooked low and slow. A crockpot would work.