Brisket tacos are a Texas tradition that extends into Northern Mexico. Chopped, smoked brisket, served on a flour tortilla with all the fixins. What’s not to love? Beef or bison brisket work well here.

While you absolutely can smoke a brisket just for this recipe, mostly you will be eating brisket tacos either after you’ve sliced some primo parts off for barbecue, or the next day.

So yeah, this recipe starts with a finished, smoked brisket. Here’s how to smoke a brisket, if you need a refresher.

Me being me, I use bison brisket. Obviously beef will be more common, however, and will render out a lot more fat. You’ll use that smoky fat to sear your brisket, so you have some tender and some crispy bits.

My brisket tacos recipe is strongly influenced by the flavors of north central Mexico, namely the states of Nuevo Leon, Coahuila and Chihuahua. Brisket tacos exist there, and, like in Texas, you’ll see them in lots of configurations.

So for me, a brisket taco should be on a flour tortilla, the same way a carne asada taco should be. Flour is the tortilla of Mexico’s north, and is almost always paired with beef.

Brisket Taco Tips

The taco should have some backbone. What I mean by that is there should be something underneath the meat. You generally have three main options:

• Guacamole. The thick, chunky stuff in this case.
• Refried beans. For this taco, you’ll want to use pinto, bayo or tepary beans. And if you’re not frightened by it, cook those refried beans in beef lard.
• Melted, grilled cheese. You see this in northern-style tacos a lot. You lay some shredded cheese on the comal or griddle, let it start to melt, lay the tortilla on it, press it down, then sweep the whole shebang off with a steel spatula (or your fingers) when the cheese has caramelized.

This last trick I learned from my friend Patricio Wise of Nixtaco, a restaurant near where I live in NorCal. Patricio is from Nuevo Leon, where this is a common practice with tacos. It works very, very well with brisket tacos.

The reason for all this is because you don’t want the brisket to move around in the taco when you eat it. No one likes having meat slip out the back of the tortilla when eating!

Reheating the Brisket

Like I mentioned, you start making brisket tacos with already smoked brisket. Could you use leftover brisket pot roast? While I’ve never done it, I don’t see why not.

Either way, you want to get a little crisp on the brisket. I do that by trimming excess fat off the brisket and rendering it for the tallow — save the crispy bits for the brisket tacos! (You’re welcome.) Then I cut thick slices of brisket and crisp them in the tallow.

Chop and serve in a tortilla.

Salsas for Brisket Tacos

Brisket tacos are rich, especially if you are backing them up with the guacamole, refried beans and/or grilled cheese on the tortilla.

So that means your salsa should be sharp and, if you can stand it, spicy.

The number one best salsa for brisket tacos is a traditional one in Nuevo Leon. It’s simple: Grind green chile pequins in a molcajete or mortar with a little salt, then add lime juice and a splash of water. That’s it.

This is an acidic, picante salsa that really balances all that richness. If you can’t find the little hot pequins or green chiltepins, find the smallest, hottest green chile you can and use that.

You other option — and I use both on brisket tacos — is good ole’ pico de gallo. The standard “a la bandera” salsa of cilantro, white onion, tomato, jalapeno or serrano, and lime juice is excellent here.

Bottom line: Make brisket tacos however you want. This is just a guide. If you prefer corn tortillas, go for it. You want lots of yellow cheese and sour cream? That’s OK, too, especially here because this is largely a Texas taco. You do you.

If you liked this recipe, please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating and a comment below; I’d love to hear how everything went. If you’re on Instagram, share a picture and tag me at huntgathercook.