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This post is all about how to make the most tender smoked brisket sliders with elote street corn and Alabama white barbecue sauce. These are perfect sliders for a cookout, summer gathering, or football Sunday.
The juiciest tender smoked brisket is topped with elote street corn then drizzled in Alabama white barbecue sauce. All this goodness is sandwiched between two toasty Hawaiian slider buns and smothered with garlic butter on top.
Who smokes a 16 hour brisket without owning a smoker or having ever made a brisket before? THIS GIRL. I love a good challenge and when Snake River Farms sent me a 16 lb. Wagyu brisket, I knew it would be a low down dirty shame to prepare it any other way.
Today I will be sharing how to easily make a brisket in your charcoal grill (no smoker or experience needed!) that will turn out BETTER than any authentic barbecue restaurant you’ve been to. But for those that don’t have time to smoke a brisket, I will also share additional methods of cooking a brisket indoors (Instant pot or oven) if you’d like a faster method.
This recipe post is all about how to make elote street corn brisket sliders drizzled with Alabama white barbecue sauce.
Key Ingredients in Brisket Sliders:
You’ve never had a sandwich like this before, the combination of the cool and zesty street corn paired with the smoky brisket and vinegary tangy white barbecue – it’s a spectacular combination that you want to keep eating long after you are full. This is truly the #1 sandwich I’ve made! Here are the main ingredients you will need (consult the recipe card for the full list):
- Brisket: The star of the show. I love using a whole brisket so you get the point and the flat, but most supermarkets may only have the flat available and that works just as well.
- Yellow mustard: used as a binder for the brisket seasonings (if smoking brisket). The flavor goes undetected once it’s cooked.
- Seasonings: From the Alabama white sauce to the brisket seasoning, you’ll need a bunch of seasonings for this recipe. Check the recipe card for the full list.
- Corn: Fresh ears of corn are always best, but frozen corn is the second best option followed by canned corn as a last resort.
- Citrus: Lemon and lime are using in both the elote corn salad and the Alabama white barbecue sauce.
- Aromatics: Green onion and garlic are used in the elote corn salad.
- Condiments: Dijon mustard, mayonnaise, horseradish, apple cider vinegar are all used in the white barbecue.
- Cheese: Provolone is needed for the sliders and cojita cheese for the elote street corn.
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How to Make Brisket Sliders:
Step 1: We’ll start by trimming up the brisket of excess fat, leaving just 1/8-1/4 inch of a fat cap. Do not use any oil on the brisket in order to adhere the seasonings, instead, we use yellow mustard. You cannot detect the taste once it’s cooked. Liberally add the seasonings (kosher salt, freshly cracked peppercorn, my AP seasoning mixture – listed in the recipe card).
Step 2: Smoke the brisket in either a smoker or charcoal grill (or oven/instant pot if using an alternative cooking method). Smoking a brisket takes about ~12 hours + a few hours of resting time before it can be sliced. It’s necessary to make this the day prior to serving. You can hold a brisket in the oven for 8-10+ hours. As the brisket cooks, prepare the elote salad and Alabama white sauce according to the instructions. Wrap them well and refrigerate until ready to use. They only get better as the flavors meld together.
Step 3: Once the brisket is ready to be sliced and served, it’s time to prepare our sliders. Place sliced slider buns on a baking sheet and toast the undersides of the sliders, top and bottoms, in a broiler until lightly toasted. Add cheese to the bottom buns. Flip the top buns right-side up (domes facing up). Spread them with the garlic butter mixture. Place them back under broiler until cheese is melty and butter is set on the top buns, about 2-3 minutes.
Step 4: Add two slices of brisket on top of the cheese followed by a dollop of the white barbecue sauce. Then place a large spoonful (about 1/4 cup) of the elotes on top of the brisket slices. Add a spoonful more of sauce onto the underside of the top buttered buns, then add place them over the elotes to assemble the sandwich. Slice and serve!
How to Smoke the Perfect Texas-Style Brisket:
This is the first time I have made a brisket and I was so thrilled that it turned out perfect. Anything you do for the first time feels challenging, but this was truly a simple process. It just requires a bit of patience to cook anything low and slow. If I could smoke a 16 pound brisket for the first time ever in a charcoal grill (of all things) and have it turn out BETTER than any barbecue restaurant in the south, you can do it too! That is coming from a Texas brisket connoisseur.
Before starting, I consulted my dad who is truly a grill master. He gave me tons of tips but since he doesn’t often make brisket, he recommended I consult YouTube ha! Keep in mind I was going into this adventure without even owning a smoker.
I did some extensive research on YT and let me tell you, Brisket masters have lots of differing opinions. To wrap or not to wrap, when to wrap, foil or butcher paper, fat side down vs. fat side up, etc. After taking all their notes into consideration, I ended up with my own variation that turned out spectacular. Here is a video that helped me a ton (but I did make corrections to some of his advice and I list that below in my recipe).
Tools You’ll Need:
Spritzer for Smoking Meat
Pink Butcher Paper
Ambient Temp Wireless Thermometer
Gloves for Handling Hot Grill and Meat
Other Cooking Methods for Brisket Sliders:
Oven Brisket:
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Mix dry rub ingredients, trim brisket of silver skin and excess fat then coat the entire brisket with the dry rub and pat onto the meat on all sides.
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Wrap the brisket tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or at least 3-4 hours to allow run to penetrate. Before cooking remove from the fridge at least 30 minutes before cooking. Unwrap the plastic wrap, place a thermometer into the thickest part of the brisket and place into a double layer of foil sealing it together to prevent any juices from leaking out.
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Preheat the oven to 275° and slow roast in the foil (sitting atop a baking sheet to catch any juices) in the oven until the temp reaches 180 degrees. At this point, remove brisket, cut the foil open to expose the brisket. Now continue to roast until it reaches 205 degrees. The total cooking time should be around 5-7 hours total. Cooking low and slow is necessary for tender brisket.
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Once brisket comes to the temperature, remove from the oven and leave wrapped to rest for 1.5-2 hours. This is necessary for the juices to redistribute. Once it’s ready to slice, cut against the grain into 1/4 inch pieces (the size of a pencil).
Instant Pot Brisket:
Ingredients Needed for this method:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3-4 lb. brisket or beef chuck divided into 4 chunks
- 6 smashed or minced garlic cloves
- 1 sweet onion, diced
- 3/4 cup orange juice
- 1 lime juiced
- 14 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 2 tbsp chipotle adobo sauce
- 2 cups beef stock
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
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Combine brisket spices in a small bowl. Use a few teaspoons to rub on all sides of the brisket pieces. Add oil to the pot and brown the brisket on all sides using the saute function on the Instant Pot. Once it’s nicely browned on all sides, remove and put on a plate.
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Saute onion and garlic until softened, scraping up brown bits on the bottom of the pot. Add the rest of the seasonings into the pot, followed by the remaining brisket ingredients. Submerge the meat into the liquid. Cook for 60 minutes on Pressure Cook. Once the meat can be easily shredded with a fork, it is ready. In some cases you may need to add 5-10 more minutes on the pressure cook function in an Instant Pot.
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Remove meat, shred and add back into the pot and cook on saute mode for 5-10 minutes so the excess water boils out of the braising liquid and the meat absorbs the flavor.
Looking for more tasty finger foods?
Honey Mustard BLT Chicken Sliders
Elote Fried Chicken Tacos
Crunchy BBQ Chicken Sliders
Cheesecake Factory Southern Fried Chicken Sliders
I hope you enjoy this Elote Brisket Slider recipe. Be sure to comment below with any questions or feedback! If you make these or any other recipes, don’t forget to tag me on IG @BadBatchBaking to be featured on my story. Seeing your recreations makes my day!
Elote Brisket Sliders with Alabama White BBQ Sauce
Equipment
- Charcoal grill, smoker, Instant Pot, or oven
- Meat thermometer
- Ambient grill thermometer if using a charcoal grill
- Foil drip pan and butcher paper or foil for wrapping brisket if using a charcoal grill
Ingredients
- 2 packs Hawaiian slider buns (9 rolls in each)
- 5-15 lb. Brisket
- 1/4 cup Yellow mustard
- mild white cheese, one slice per slider provolone, monterey jack, etc.
Brisket Spritz (only needed if smoking)
- 1/4 cup apple juice water can be substituted
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
Brisket Seasoning
- Kosher salt
- Freshly cracked pepper
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
Elote Street Corn Salad
- 6 ears of corn cut off cob, grilled in a skillet/grill until browned.
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 lime juiced and zested
- 1/3 cup sliced scallions green and white parts
- 1/3 cup grated cojita cheese
- 1/4 cup cilantro, minced
- 1 jalapeno, diced
- 1 tsp chili powder or tajin
- 1/4 tsp salt
Alabama White BBQ
- 1 ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 1 Tbsp dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoon brown sugar white sugar works as a sub
- 2 teaspoon horseradish
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1-2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar add 1 tbsp, then a second if more tang is needed
- 2 teaspoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoon Luisiana hot sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
Garlic Butter
- 1/4 cup butter
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley, minced
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
Instructions
Prep Brisket
- Trim the brisket of excess fat, leaving just 1/8-1/4 inch of a fat cap. Spread all sides of brisket with yellow mustard (you won't taste it)**. Liberally coat brisket in kosher salt then freshly cracked pepper. Mix the remaining seasoning mix together to combine and pat mixture into all sides of brisket. Allow it to sit for at least 30 minutes. Ideally, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrgierate for a few hours to allow spices to penetrate.
Cook/Smoke Brisket
- See blog post for details on Instant Pot and oven. If using a charcoal grill, use the snake method for lining charcoal and a few pieces of wood on the charcoal, I used pecan and cherry. Place a drip pan below the brisket. Insert a thermometer into the thickest part of the brisket and place an ambient grill thermometer. Smoke brisket at 250 degrees until internal temp reaches 180 degrees. This ensures the bark (seasonings) will set into a crust without rubbing off when sliced.
- Using heat-proof gloves, carefully remove the brisket and wrap it tightly (like a gift package) in pink butcher paper, fat side up. Return meat package to smoker/grill and continue to cook until the internal meat reaches 205 degrees. Rest in a towel lined cooler or oven (not heated) for at least two hours to allow juices to redistribute.
- Slice brisket into 1/4 inch slices (width of a pencil) and place into a dish along with juices and cover with foil. Keep warm in the oven at 170 degrees.
Make Elote and Alabama White Sauce (make while brisket cooks)
- Prepare the elote salad by combining all ingredients in a medium bowl, tasting to adjust seasoning as needed. Wrap tightly and refrgierate until ready to use.Prepare the Alabama white barbecue sauce by combining all ingredients in a small bowl, mixing well to combine. Taste and adjust as needed. Wrap tightly and refrigerate until ready to use.
Prepare Sliders
- Place sliced slider buns on a baking sheet and toast the undersides of the sliders, top and bottoms, in a broiler until lightly toasted. Add cheese to the bottom buns. Flip the top buns right-side up (domes facing up). Melt butter in a small bowl with all butter mixture ingredients. Spread the top buns with the garlic butter mixture. Place slider buns back under broiler until cheese is melty and butter is set on the top buns, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add two slices of brisket on top of the cheese followed by a dollop of the white barbecue sauce. Then place a large spoonful (about 1/4 cup) of the elotes on top of the brisket slices. Add a spoonful more of sauce onto the underside of the top buttered buns, then add place them over the elotes to assemble the sandwich. Slice and serve!
