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Four ingredients and a bottle of dressing. That is all a Reuben asks of you, and it is more than enough to build one of the best sandwiches ever served at a counter.
The trouble is that the parts are wet. Sauerkraut weeps, dressing slides and a cold middle waits for you under a hot crust. The cure is a two-step cook: the pan for color, the oven for heat.
Make the dressing first
A Williams Sonoma recipe gives a Russian dressing that you can make while the oven heats: ¾ cup mayonnaise, ¼ cup ketchup, 1 tablespoon dill pickle relish, ¼ teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish, ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce and a pinch of cayenne. Stir together. The recipe uses about half a cup on the sandwiches and keeps the rest in the refrigerator.
Shop-bought dressing works fine for a weeknight. The homemade one gives you a little more horseradish and a little more bite.
What you need for four sandwiches
- 8 slices rye bread
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 8 slices Swiss cheese
- 1 pound thinly sliced corned beef or pastrami
- 1 cup fresh-style sauerkraut, rinsed, drained and squeezed dry
- A large non-stick or cast iron skillet and a baking sheet lined with parchment
Assemble and cook
- Heat the oven to 350°F.
- Butter one side of each bread slice and lay them buttered side down on the parchment-lined sheet.
- Spread dressing on the top of each slice, then add a slice of Swiss.
- Divide the corned beef among the slices. Pile sauerkraut on four of them, then close the sandwiches with the other four slices, dressing side down.
- Cook two sandwiches at a time in the skillet over medium-low heat until the bottom bread is golden and crisp, then flip and brown the other side.
- Move them to the baking sheet and press each firmly with a spatula. Bake about 10 minutes, until heated through.
- Serve right away, cut on the diagonal.
Why squeezing the sauerkraut matters
A wet kraut leaves a soggy bottom slice, so the recipe asks you to rinse it, drain it and squeeze it dry. Do not skip the squeeze. It is the difference between a crisp Reuben and a damp one. If you like tang, add the extra kraut on the plate, not in the sandwich.
A note on where it came from
Nobody agrees on who invented the Reuben, and the stories (a Nebraska card game, a New York delicatessen) are repeated as fact in places that cannot prove them. I did not verify an origin for this post, so I will leave the legend to the barstool historians.
Tips and swaps
- Swap pastrami for corned beef if you like more pepper.
- Use Thousand Island if you cannot find Russian dressing. The two are close cousins.
- Make the sandwiches in a panini press if you have one. Skip the oven and press until crisp.
- Keep the bread in the middle of the pan, not at the edges, so it browns evenly.
Questions people ask
Why bake it after pan-frying? The pan builds the crust. The oven warms the cheese and the beef all the way through without burning the bread.
Can I use leftover corned beef? Yes, sliced thin. Warm it first so the sandwich heats evenly.
How do I reheat one? An oven at 350°F for about ten minutes is a sensible try, since a microwave tends to soften the bread. Reheat leftovers to 165°F.
