Reuben sandwiches
Homemade slow cooker corned beef piled onto buttery grilled rye with Swiss, sauerkraut and tangy Russian dressing, enough for 4 days of Reubens.
- 630 min total
- 40 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 8
- About $3.20 a serving
- 830 calories
- Good the next day
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 8 servings.
- 1 corned beef brisket, about 3 lb, with its spice packet
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 3 tbsp ketchup
- 1 dill pickle, finely chopped
- 2 cups sauerkraut
- 16 slices rye bread
- 16 slices Swiss cheese
- ¼ cup butter, softened
From your pantry
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 cups water
Each serving has about 830 calories, 42 g protein, 35 g carbs and 57 g fat, and costs about $3.20 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No butter? Ghee works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the corned beef, set it in the slow cooker fat side up, sprinkle the spice packet over it, and add the bay leaves and water.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Dolly’s tip: A quick rinse takes off the saltiest part of the brine.Cover and cook on low 8 to 9 hours, until .
Fork-tender. Fork-tender means cooked until a fork slides in with almost no push. It’s how you know potatoes, carrots or slow-cooked meat are soft all the way through.
How you’ll know: The fork slides in and out easily, and meat pulls apart with very little effort.
Timer: 480 min
Food safety: Steak, pork chops and other whole cuts are safe at 145°F in the middle, then let them rest for 3 minutes before cutting.
Move the beef to a board, let it 15 minutes, then it thin across the grain.
Rest. Resting means letting cooked meat sit for a few minutes before you cut it. It keeps cooking gently, and more of the juice stays in the meat instead of running onto the board.
How you’ll know: Loosely covered with foil, it stays hot, and very little juice runs out when you slice it.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Timer: 15 min
Dolly’s tip: Corned beef has an obvious grain, like lines running one way. Cut across them, or the slices turn stringy.Stir the mayonnaise, ketchup and chopped pickle together for the Russian dressing.
Squeeze the sauerkraut hard in your fist over the sink until no more juice drips out.
Dolly’s tip: Wet sauerkraut makes soggy bread. Squeeze more than you think.For each sandwich, spread dressing on 2 slices of rye, then layer a slice of Swiss, a pile of corned beef, some sauerkraut and another slice of Swiss. Butter the outsides.
Cook two at a time in a large over medium, covered, 3 to 4 minutes, until deep golden underneath. Flip and cook 3 minutes more, until the cheese .
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Medium heatTimer: 7 min
Dolly’s tip: Medium heat and a lid let the cheese melt before the bread burns.Cut in half and serve hot. Keep the extra corned beef in the fridge up to 4 days for more sandwiches.
Dolly’s tip: Build only the sandwiches you’ll eat tonight. They grill in minutes, so make the rest fresh another day.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
