Chipotle's Fan-Favorite Smoked Brisket Is Returning: Here's How You Should Order It

Chipotle has reintroduced a limited time menu item with the return of its smoked brisket, a protein choice that was incredibly popular with fans when it first debuted back in 2021. Chipotle's smoked brisket is made with 100% beef brisket, seasoned with both smoked chipotle and serrano chili peppers, and prepared fresh throughout the day to make sure the meat in your meal is the best it can be.

Brisket is a difficult food item to work with for a fast casual restaurant like Chipotle because the cut of meat is notoriously lacking in fat content, which means it can easily turn tough and dry if not prepared correctly. Chipotle does it right by smoking the brisket low and slow over several hours before charring it on the grill in small batches. Still, it seems unlikely that the company is having individual Chipotle franchises take the time to smoke large batches of brisket fresh in store. We would speculate that it's prepared by an outside company similar to how it prepares its barbacoa and carnitas – in case that's important to you.

Regardless of these minor details, we're excited to sink our teeth into the spicy, sweet glory that is smoked brisket. Personally, we love Chipotle's burritos, so that's the direction we'll be going. We'll be combining the smoked brisket with brown rice, black beans, pico de gallo, lettuce, cheese, sour cream, and guacamole. The fact that the brisket will be cut similar to steak means it would also taste great in a bowl. As a bonus, if you order the brisket using Chipotle's app or website, there will be a $0 delivery fee from today until September 29, 2024.

The last couple of years has seen a change in the way Chipotle approaches its menu, with limited time proteins now becoming a standard offering. The importance of these temporary items is highlighted by just how much space on the physical menu these offerings take up. While other items are listed in a bullet point style that's aesthetic but minimal, whichever limited time protein is on offer at the time can often span nearly half the menu, complete with a color photo to attract a customer's attention. The idea of a limited time protein is some seriously savvy marketing that helps draw foot traffic into the store. 

Whether or not the idea can be solely attributed to the former Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol, there's a good reason he got picked up as the new CEO of Starbucks; and it wasn't just his love of coffee. There is a downside to this recurring rotation, though. As Chipotle diners will soon discover, the arrival of smoked brisket means the ouster of the limited time run of chicken al pastor, which began back in March this year. That's a roughly seven month timespan, which might suggest that the new smoked brisket will be available until sometime next spring. Many Chipotle diners who enjoy these limited time proteins are often quite vocal about making them permanent fixtures on the menu. For better or worse, it appears that the practice of rotating specialty proteins is here to stay.