Molly Yeh’s Brisket Hotdish Is a ‘Low Maintenance Crowd-Pleasing’ Passover Main, According to the ‘Girl Meets Farm’ Host

TL;DR: 

• Molly Yeh’s Brisket Hotdish is the ‘Girl Meets Farm’ host’s Midwestern spin on the traditional Passover brisket.
• Yeh’s brisket recipe features hotdish staples and a fun twist on potatoes.
• The author of Molly on the Range simmers brisket for hours before topping it with smiley-face tater tots. 

Forget spending hours in the kitchen preparing an extravagant Passover meal. Food Network star Molly Yeh’s Brisket Hotdish is proof a holiday dinner can include a show-stopping main course that’s easy to make.

Molly Yeh’s Brisket Hotdish combines her Jewish heritage with a staple Midwestern dish

The host of Girl Meets Farm is known for putting her own spin on recipes. Her Brisket Hotdish is no different. Yeh’s hotdish, a staple in the Midwest where she lives with her husband and two daughters, features some of her Jewish heritage. 

Yeh, who is gearing up for the Sept. 2022 release of her sophomore cookbook, includes all of the standard hotdish ingredients in her recipe. The result is what she calls a “low-maintenance crowd-pleasing Passover main dish.” 

“This is my Midwest Jewish mashup for a low-maintenance crowd-pleasing Passover main dish,” she said, per Food Network. “A hotdish is a meal in a dish with a protein (brisket, you have to have it on Passover!), vegetables (carrots, celery, and peas), starch (potato smiles), and something to bind it together (the thick stewy braising liquid).” 

Yeh, who has lived on her husband’s family sugarbeet farm since 2014, described it as “rich and comforting but not overly heavy thanks to all of the veggies.” 

“Passover happens in spring and it’s still really cold where I live,” the Molly on the Range author added, saying, “This warm cozy dish just makes sense!”

How to make Yeh’s brisket 

The dish from the blogger-turned cooking show starts with none other than the brisket. Yeh seasons the meat all over with salt and pepper. “That’s going to help the brisket develop that brown crust which is crucial for the flavor,” she said on Girl Meets Farm. 

Next, she puts the meat in a hot, oven-safe braiser, being sure not to crowd the pan. “If your pan isn’t hot enough, you won’t get a crust. And you won’t get that great flavor,” she explained as the meat sizzled. 

Once the meat is browned, she adds carrots, celery, and leeks to the pan. “The fat from the brisket is going to get all up in these veggies and make them extra tasty,” she said. 

After adding garlic and tomato paste, Yeh’s brisket gets yet another flavor boost. This time from deglazing the pan with red wine. “All of the best briskets have red wine,” she said, saying it provides “that delicious, dark complex flavor.” 

“The moisture from the wine will loosen up all the bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pan,” she added. “Those are little, tiny flavor bombs leftover from browning the brisket. They are going to mingle and make this even more delicious.”

Then Yeh’s brisket is left to simmer, covered, on the stove for two hours, followed by another half-hour uncovered. At that point, she mixes in frozen peas before topping the brisket with potato smiles and sticking it back in the oven until golden brown. 

The ‘Girl Meets Farm’ host has other Passover menu picks

Yeh’s Brisket Hotdish isn’t the only recipe that’s on her Passover menu. The 32-year-old’s other Passover picks include Passover Popover Poppy Salad with Honey Poppyseed Dressing, Matzo Magic Bars, and Mixed Berry Matzo Brei. 

Yeh’s salad is topped with matzo popovers instead of croutons. And the Matzo Magic Bars are her Passover take on seven-layer bars. As for the Mixed Berry Matzo Brei, it’s a sweet version of the classic dish that can also be served for breakfast.