Reuben Sandwich is an American classic that is so popular, you can find in every restaurant. It’s no wonder that this sandwich is so popular, the combination of corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, Thousand Island dressing, and rye bread flavors is amazing. Taking all those ingredient and warming them up by pan-grilling the sandwich in butter creates a crunchy crust, warmed meat, and gooey melted cheese. Every bite is a slice of heaven and I will share my recipe and tips for the best Reuben Sandwich.
If you love Reuben sandwich flavors as much as I do, you will enjoy my Reuben Dip, Reuben Egg Rolls, and so many more recipes inspired by this great sandwich.
REUBEN SANDWICH
If there is a Reuben sandwich on a menu, that is what I order most of the time. Through years, I’ve tried a Reuben sandwich in every restaurant in my area and many across the country. There have been some amazing Reuben sandwiches and some complete disappointments.
How can a Reuben Sandwich be disappointing? Even though this sandwich seems like it’s hard to mess up because of simple ingredients and simple preparation method, it is not done the same everywhere. Sometimes the bread is toasted and then cold ingredients were put inside the sandwich. Other times, the ingredients ratio was so off, that one ingredient was overpowering everything else.
Reuben Sandwich is a combination of corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, Thousand Island dressing, and rye bread. All those delicious ingredients are layered on two slices of bread and then grilled with a little butter. This makes the bread crunchy while warming other ingredient and melting the cheese.
TIPS FOR MAKING THE BEST REUBEN SANDWICH
There are a few simple things you can do to make your Reuben sandwich the best.
Start with cooking your own corned beef brisket. Corned beef brisket can easily be cooked in an Instant Pot in just about an hour. It can also be done in an oven but it will take a bit longer.
When making Instant Pot corned beef for Reuben sandwiches, there is no need to add mustard and finish it under broiler. Use corned beef right after taking it out of the pot and slice it thin.
While assembling the sandwich, keep filling ingredients balanced. Don’t overload it with corned beef or too much dressing and cheese. The beauty of this sandwich is in the balance of ingredients.
Treat this sandwich like a grilled cheese and that means pan-grilling in with a little butter. The bread will be delightfully crunchy on the outside, the ingredients will be warm, and cheese will be melted.
When cooking the sandwich, don’t cook it too fast. Cook it at a medium-low temperature so that the ingredients have a change to warm up and Swiss cheese has time to melt, while the bread gets golden and crunchy.
HOW TO COOK CORNED BEEF FOR REUBEN:
Corned beef brisket can easily be cooked in an Instant Pot in just about an hour. (It can also be done in an oven but it will take a bit longer.)
I prefer to make Instant Pot corned beef for Reuben sandwiches because it’s so much faster.
Use cooked corned beef right after taking it out of the pot, cut off the fat cap from the top, and slice it thin.
An uncooked 3 lb corned beef brisket, will be enough for 3 Reuben sandwiches once cooked.
SOME MORE SANDWICH RECIPES TO TRY:
Italian Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Sweet and Spicy Chicken Sliders
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Reuben Sandwich
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp butter
- 2 slices of deli rye swirl bread
- 3 tbsp Thousand Island dressing
- 6 oz corned beef sliced thinly
- 2 slices Swiss cheese
- 1/4 cup sauerkraut liquid squeezed out
Instructions
- Preheat a medium cooking pan over medium-low heat. Melt butter in the pan and spread it around evenly.
- Place slices of bread in the pan and spread Thousand island dressing on both slices.
- Squeeze liquid from sauerkraut and spread it on one slice of bread. Place two slices of Swiss cheese on the other slice of bread.
- Layer corned beef over cheese evenly. Let the bread crisp and ingredients heat up. Once cheese is melted, use a spatula to carefully place one slice over the other to close the sandwich.
- Cook for a couple more minutes on both sides, until bread is golden. Press gently.
- Take the sandwich out of the pan, cut in half, and serve right away.
Notes
Nutrition
Marco the wine guy says
This is a really nice way to make the iconic deli sandwich at home. Lyuba is the queen of all things Reuben.👍👍👏👏
lyuba says
Haha, well thank you for the title, Marco!!
Marc Baranchik says
In the Hyde Park neighborhood in Chicago, some restaurants add egg salad on their Reubens.
LyubaB says
That sounds interesting!