NY Deli Style Reuben

Layers of tender corned beef,  melty swiss & slightly “sour” kraut slathered with creamy dressing and sandwiched between grilled marbled rye make an awesome NY Deli Style Reuben

The deli that I worked at when I was younger replaced the rye bread with a marbled rye-pumpernickel bread which I love and used Thousand Island dressing instead of the traditional Russian Dressing

For each sandwich, you’ll need two slices of bread, some sauerkraut, thick sliced swiss cheese, Thousand Island Dressing & thinly sliced corned beef

Where did the Reuben originate?

Truthfully, I have no idea where the Reuben sandwich originated from.  Some say New York City, some say Omaha, Nebraska. Two guys each with the name of Reuben claimed the rights to this sandwich, but I’ll let them both fight it out

We rarely put the butter in the fridge at the deli, and it made spreading the butter on the bread so easy

So let’s start with room temperature butter and spread on two slices of the bread

On the non-buttered side of each piece of bread, slather some Thousand Island Dressing to taste.  Some of us are over-condiment-ers and some are non-condiment-ers, so add as much or little you like

Let’s work on the layers… add two slices of thick swiss on top of the dressing and add at least 3 ounces of corned beef and about 1/3 of a cup of well drained kraut

It’s important to drain the kraut and then squeeze out whatever liquid remains so the sandwich is not soggy

I believe the key to any grilled cheese sandwich is to have cheese on both sides of the ingredients.  It kind of glues everything together and is well, more cheese!

Add two more slices of cheese over the kraut, slather some more Thousand Island dressing on the non-buttered side of the bread and we’re ready to roll!

Ah, a thing of beauty.  Build another one for a friend, or two or three more depending upon the amount of hungry people you need to feed

Let’s get cooking!

Preheat a large pan, over medium heat.  I put a small swirl of butter in the pan even though we’ve buttered the outside of the bread

This is an active-cooking-part of the recipe.  Meaning, don’t watch a Gilmore Girls re-run or scroll through Instagram…

After 3 minutes, flip each sandwich.  Cook for another 3-4 minutes.  You may need to move the sandwich in the pan to less hot areas so it doesn’t burn but still gets crisp

Once the cheese is melty and the bread is nicely toasted, remove to a cutting board and let sit a minute or two for the cheese to set

All I know is that we’ve been eating these post St. Patty’s Day sandwiches since I can remember.  I almost think I like the leftover version of our traditional Irish meal better than the corned beef and cabbage itself!

Check out some of our other St. Paddy’s Day favorites!

Instant Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage

Irish Soda Bread

Irish Soda Bread Scones

Copycat Shamrock Shake

Irish Lamb Stew

Enjoy!

Tools used to make this recipe

Simply Bamboo Maui Bamboo Cutting Board

Lodge Cast Iron Skillet

NuWave Flex Precision Induction Cooktop

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