Smoked brisket tacos
Photo: Stephanie from Austin TX · CC BY 2.0

History

Chattanooga's barbecue tradition leaned pork until a newer generation of pitmasters imported central Texas technique, running oak-smoked brisket through Southern kitchens. The style clicked in St. Elmo, where the 2025 Michelin Bib Gourmand list found a smokehouse pressing its own tortillas and folding fatty brisket into them. The taco format solves brisket's whole-animal economics for a mid-size city and gives the valley's salsa culture something to do.

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Common allergens: Gluten

Make it at home

Yield Serves 6Hands-on 1 hrTotal 10 hrDifficulty Advanced

Ingredients

  • 2kg brisket point or flat
  • 3 tbsp coarse salt
  • 3 tbsp coarse black pepper
  • 1 tbsp smoked paprika
  • 12 flour tortillas
  • 1 white onion, diced
  • Fresh coriander
  • 2 limes
  • Salsa of choice

Method

  1. Rub the brisket all over with salt, pepper and paprika the night before and refrigerate uncovered.
  2. Smoke at 120C over oak or hickory until the internal temperature stalls around 70C, then wrap in butcher paper.
  3. Continue until the meat probes tender at 93C, usually 8 to 10 hours total. Rest, wrapped, for at least 45 minutes.
  4. Slice against the grain, then chop roughly for tacos, catching the juices back over the meat.
  5. Warm the tortillas on a dry skillet, load with brisket, onion and coriander, and finish with lime and salsa.

Tip from the editors. No smoker: run the rubbed brisket at 130C in a covered oven tray with a spoon of liquid smoke, and accept it as a very good braise, not barbecue.

Where to eat smoked brisket tacos

Smoked brisket tacos in Chattanooga

Little Coyote ★ 4.7

$$ BarbecueSt Elmo

Little Coyote smokes Texas-style brisket for tacos on house tortillas in St. Elmo, Chattanooga's only Bib Gourmand in the 2025 Michelin American South guide.

OrderSmoked brisket with house-made tortillas and pinto beans.

TipSaturday and Sunday open at 11:30 for full-day service; weekdays are dinner only from 16:00. Same Niel family as Easy Bistro.

Directions

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