10 Close Brisket Substitutes

Is there a brisket substitute? Yes, Short ribs, beef shanks, and beef clods are only some of the beef brisket substitutes. There are many other good choices when replacing the beef brisket, and depending on your needs, some are more suitable than others.

Beef brisket is juicy meat cut with a rich and luscious flavor. It is a popular choice for BBQ and other recipes. However, if you can’t find any beef brisket or need to use a replacement for any other reason, try some of the options from the list below:

Brisket Substitute

1. Smoked chuck roast

A great beef brisket substitute, this is a highly marbled meat cut with high-fat content. It is smaller than brisket but can be used as a brisket substitute for barbecue recipes.

2. Corned beef brisket

This is a beef brisket cured in a brine solution with salt and pepper. It has a lot of fat when compared to the beef brisket, but you can still use it as a brisket substitute if you soak it in warm water for several hours before cooking. This way, you will get rid of too many spices.

3. Beef Shanks

Another excellent choice when replacing beef brisket, especially in slow cooker recipes. When slowly cooked at low temperature, beef shank meat becomes tender and full of flavor.

4. Short ribs

Short ribs are similar to beef brisket when it comes to flavor and texture, except they come from a different body part, and they contain bones, unlike boneless beef brisket. Still, short ribs are an excellent substitute for beef brisket.

5. Beef clods

Great when grilled or slow-cooked, beef clods are tough and fatty like beef brisket. When marinated before cooking, they have a superb flavor and texture, and it is one of the best cuts of beef.

6. Tri-tip roast

This cut comes from the bottom of the sirloin. It is tender and flavorful, and you will need less time to cook it than with brisket.

7. Lamb chops

If you want a non-beef substitute, try lamb chops! They are flavorful and lean, with lots of connective tissue, so you will have to cook them for a bit longer.

8. Turkey thighs or goose thighs

If you want a non-beef substitute with a different taste and texture, you should try poultry thighs – from turkey, goose, or chicken. These alternatives are not only cheap, but they also cook really fast.

9. Pork brisket or pork tenderloin

Pork brisket is another good substitute for beef brisket, and it can be prepared the same way as beef brisket. It might be tougher to carve, but it still tastes delicious. Instead of pork brisket, you can use pork tenderloin or pork sirloin roast.

10. Seitan

If you want a vegetarian substitute for beef brisket, you should try seitan. It is made of wheat gluten, and it has a soft and chewy texture. Seitan is great at absorbing flavors, and if you choose the right spices, it will be almost the same as eating beef brisket.

Brisket Substitute For Chili

Instead of beef brisket, you can use ground beef or diced beef chuck when making chili. You will get basically the same flavor. The meat for chili should have around 20% fat content. If you are using leaner beef cuts, add a little bit of olive oil to the recipe.

Brisket Substitute For Slow Cooker

Beef brisket is often cooked with slow cooking methods, but if you don’t have any brisket, you can use blade roast or boneless chuck roast. Marinate the meat for 30 minutes in the mixture of spices and apple cider vinegar or red wine. Cook for 8-10 hours over a low temperature.

Brisket Substitute For Pho

For this Vietnamese dish, you can use the outside flank steak instead of the brisket. If you don’t have flank steak, you can use chuck roast too. It is important that you use a beef cut that has lots of fat.

Brisket Substitute UK

In the UK, beef brisket is often substituted with a chuck steak. A chuck steak is a smaller cut of chuck roast, and it has a similar flavor and marbled texture as the beef brisket.

Brisket Substitute Rump Roast

Rump roast isn’t the best choice to substitute for beef brisket. It is a lean meat cut, and it doesn’t have a lot of connective tissue as beef brisket has. Because of this, it’s really not the best meat cut to use instead of brisket, but you can try it.

Brisket Substitute Pork

Pork brisket has a similarly tough and fatty texture as beef brisket. You can use pork brisket instead of beef in any brisket recipe.

Brisket Substitute For BBQ

Chuck roast is the best brisket substitute for BBQ by far. It has a beautiful marbling and a rich, robust flavor. When grilled and smoked, it becomes tender and juicy due to its high fat content.

Brisket Substitute Australia

In Australian cuisine, the beef brisket wasn’t really popular until recently. Nowadays, beef briskets are highly demanded in Australian grocery stores and butcher shops. And when they can’t get any brisket meat, Australians substitute it with chuck roast or gravy beef.

Gravy beef is a cheaper cut coming from the shin area. It is excellent for soups and stews, and other dishes with shorter cooking times.

What Can I Use In Place Of Brisket?

The best way to substitute brisket meat is to find tough meat cut with lots of fat and connective tissue. You can also use meat cuts that don’t exactly match these requirements, but you might need to adapt the cooking time and temperature then.

What Meat Is Closest To Brisket?

As you can see from the previous paragraphs, the chuck roast is the closest to the brisket. They have a similar flavor, and both cuts are tough and full of fat. Beef brisket and chuck roast are best when grilled or slow-cooked. That’s when their flavors become fully pronounced.

Summary

Now you know a good brisket substitute. Chuck roast takes the first place, but there are some other good substitutes, such as short ribs, beef shanks, and beef clods. You can also use non-beef substitutes from pork, lamb, or poultry meat. And, if you are looking for a non-meat option, try seitan instead!