Pastrami or Corned Beef?
I actually enjoy both. I believe the traditional Reuben sandwich is made with corned beef. However, my understanding of them both is rudimentary and limited to Wikipedia. 😉 But my basic understanding in their difference is how they are cooked. Corned beef is boiled and pastrami is smoked. They are both brined beforehand. Additional seasoning is also put in that brine (which is basically salt, water and sugar) where it soaks for a long period of time. Then more seasoning is added to the pastrami before it is smoked. They are usually from the same cuts of beef (the brisket cut) but I also read that pastrami can come from other cuts as well. 
Big ole reuben sandwich!
When I was deciding on whether I wanted to use corned beef or pastrami in this recipe – I decided to go to the deli counter at Kroger and taste test a few. The corned beef they had was decent but the pastrami was way better (in my humble opinion.) So I went with pastrami.
But, of course, you can go with whatever you enjoy in this. It all works! I absolutely love a good Reuben sandwich. This casserole is like a giant, warm Reuben sandwich that you can eat with a fork. So good!
Ingredients:
6 slices rye bread (dark or light), divided use
1 pound thinly sliced pastrami or corned beef, divided use
1 (14.5 oz.) can or jar sauerkraut, drained well
4 cups shredded Swiss cheese, divided use
2 tsp. caraway seeds, divided use
1 cup chopped dill pickles
1 cup milk
3 large Eggland’s Best eggs, beaten
⅓ cup thousand island dressing
¼ cup mustard
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350f degrees. Spray 11×7 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Take four slices of rye bread and cut them into 2-inch cubes.
Place remaining slices of rye bread into food processor and pulse into fine breadcrumbs and set aside.
Spread cubed bread into the bottom of the prepared baking dish.
Cover evenly with half of the pastrami.
Then evenly top with drained sauerkraut, chopped pickles and 1 tsp. caraway seeds.
Sprinkle 2 cups of shredded Swiss cheese on top of sauerkraut layer.
Next, top with remaining pastrami. I gently push down to help compact it all a bit.
Sprinkle remaining 2 cups Swiss cheese and 1 tsp. caraway seeds on top of pastrami.
In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, thousand island dressing and mustard.
Pour mixture evenly over the casserole.
Top with breadcrumbs.
Cover with foil.
Bake for 45 minutes.
Remove from oven, let rest for 5 minutes then slice and serve.
Enjoy!
- 6 slices rye bread (dark or light) divided use
- 1 pound thinly sliced pastrami or corned beef divided use
- 1 14.5 oz can or jar sauerkraut drained well
- 4 cups shredded Swiss cheese divided use
- 2 tsp caraway seeds divided use
- 1 cup chopped dill pickles
- 1 cup milk
- 3 large eggs beaten
- ⅓ cup thousand island dressing
- ¼ cup mustard
- Preheat oven to 350f degrees. Spray 11x7 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Take four slices of rye bread and cut them into 2-inch cubes.
- Place remaining slices of rye bread into food processor and pulse into fine breadcrumbs and set aside.
- Spread cubed bread into the bottom of the prepared baking dish.
- Cover evenly with half of the pastrami.
- Then evenly top with drained sauerkraut, chopped pickles and 1 tsp. caraway seeds.
- Sprinkle 2 cups of shredded Swiss cheese on top of sauerkraut layer.
- Next, top with remaining pastrami. I gently push down to help compact it all a bit.
- Sprinkle remaining 2 cups Swiss cheese and 1 tsp. caraway seeds on top of pastrami.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, thousand island dressing and mustard.
- Pour mixture evenly over the casserole.
- Top with breadcrumbs.
- Cover with foil.
- Bake for 45 minutes.
- Remove from oven, let rest for 5 minutes then slice and serve.
Can you make this and put in two smaller baking dishes and freeze one for future use?
This looks so good and I love Ruebens!
You absolutely could do that!
Do the breadcrumbs get crisp with it covered for the entire baking period?
Yes, they get crisp. If you like it super crispy, you could take off the foil during the last 10 minutes of baking. Or stick it under the broiler. 🙂
Don’t care for sauerkraut, what do you suggest as a replacement? Love your recipes always a hit with my family. Thank you.
I’m not sure. I suppose you could just leave it off. 🙂
You can use coleslaw and call it a Rachel instead.
Reuben means sauerkraut….you can’t leave it out and still have a Reuben…..it would be something else.
Cliff
we love Reuben casserole!
the only thing I do differently is to chop the pastrami slices so we don’t have to wrestle with whole pieces, since we often have younger eaters here when I make it ;0)
thanks for the idea of layering rye cubes on the bottom! I will do that next time I make this–which is already on my menu list for next week, thanx to you LOL
Thanks so much!! Those cubes on the bottom totally make a difference! 🙂
I always have my corned beef shredded/shaved. It taste so much better.
I do not like Thousand Island dressing so when I make reubens If anyone wants it they can put it on themselves I prefer to use a nice mild horse radish dressing it is realy good
me too
Would love to try this today. The rye I bought is an elongated loaf (all I could find). Can you provide approximate measurements for the rye bread in cups?
Seriously, just use good judgment. You can see she just covered the bottom of the dish with the bread one easy layer in cubes and covered the top not to thick. Cooking doesn’t mean exact measurements all the time., in baking maybe, but cooking no!.
I always like horseradish sause on my reuben sandwich.
This looks so interesting! i’ve never tried a reuben casserole before. It actually looks delicious! I want to try this at home, I bet my family would love it! They are fiends for rueben sandwiches, I can’t imagine how fast they’d devour this one. Thanks again for sharing!
What side dish would you suggest serving with this?
Roasted red potatoes with Irish butter and parsley.
Perfect! I used less sauerkraut and added it warmed in the microwave on the side for those who wanted more. Thank you !
I stumbled across this recipe one day and love reubens so made it for our house and the neighbors one night. They loved it so much, they’ve already asked me to make it again. I did half corn beef and half turkey, since I like turkey!
Thank you.
Brandie, I’ll try this for sure. Even though I love traditional Rubens I might try with a lower sodium ham.
Thanks much
I have made this for St.Patricks Day the past two years and get rave reviews. I made it exactly as the recipe states except used corned beef one time and pastrami the second. To be honest, I couldn’t tell the difference in taste. This is a great recipe and so much easier than making individual sandwiches.
Thank you for posting this. In college I had a Casserole cookbook with a Rueben casserole recipe. Everyone loved it but somewhere along the moves I lost the book and have been looking for a recipe to match it. I am definitely going to try this. .
This recipe sounds great but I don’t like eggs. Do the eggs make it “eggy” or do you not even taste them?
Cannot taste egg at all. Just made it tonight.
Could this be made with a corned beef brisket?
Corned beef is a brisket that has been processed in a brine.
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I cannot wait to try this, it looks fantastic!!! Actually a Rueben with pastrami instead of corned beef is actually called a Rachel (same would go for turkey instead of corned beef).. The pastrami by far is my favorite!!! Thanks for sharing the recipe, I know I’ll make it many times! Will come back with a review as well!
I wanted to make this earlier in the day, and then just be able to toss in the oven when I get home about 5:00, do you recommend this, or will it sog up too much from sitting with the egg in it?
Was wondering this too. Can it be made ahead and baked next day?
Hi Khadija, well, the only thing I would worry about it that it would get too soggy. However, having said that, I haven’t tried it. If you give it a try, please let me know!
I come from update NY and we NEVER use “Thousand Island dressing for Ruebens. Sacrilegious! Lol. We use Russian dressing. Since I now live in Delaware, you can’t find it down here so I make my own Russian dressing. Ketchup, mayo and sweet chopped pickles. Yum!
Russian dressing doesn’t have pickle relish – Thousand Island does. If you google recipes for both, you’ll find that what you are actually using is a simple for of Thousand Island dressing. I also make my own for Reuben Sandwiches – am in KS.
This recipe sounds fabulous! Although 3 eggs sounds like a lot. It doesn’t turn out too eggy, does it? Makes me think of a quiche-type dish.
Nope not all because it’s spread out in such a large dish. 🙂
You ‘re right about the eggs. I made this dish for St. Patrick’s Day dinner, following the recipe exactly, and it was fabulous! I mean, really, really delicious! My friends absolutely loved it. Thank you for this recipe! I’ll be making it again. I almost like it better than a regular Reuben. 😀
I just made this and it is KILLER! I did add horseradish and next next time I will more 1000 island dressing. I toasted the bread before I put it in and the last 10 minutes I did take the foil off. Great recipe and reasonably low carb!
Thanks,
Colleen R
I made it last night for a group of ladies at a retirement center including my Mother. I put into a foil pan, and it filled to the brim. In place of classic yellow mustard, I used Dijon. And in consideration of their fragile chewing, I ran the corned beef through a food processor, until it was similar to a coarse hash. Perfection! Great recipe – thanks so much!
Did you need to chop the sauerkraut too?
We always have left overs after making a casserole. Can anyone comment on how this would work as leftovers the day after? Too soggy?
So many of us are trying to cut out carbs and avoid bread, as much as we LOVE it! Friends of mine brought this casserole over for a pot luck and it was a hit! I had to figure out a way to eliminate the bread and make it a fun, low carb treat! After a few attempts and a lot of watery mess, I think I have found a good alternative. I eliminated all of the bread / crumbs and the milk. I used a food processor to chop my pastrami and sauerkraut and followed the other directions in the recipe exactly the same. What comes out is a wonderful Reuben dip. I offered the Rye with Caraway Triscuits as a dipper for those that wanted to indulge in some carbs, but eating it right off the plate is a treat and really satisfies that Reuben craving!
I’ve made this 2 times with pastrami and corned beef added a little horseradish sauce to my homemade thousand island dressing. Always double recipe to take to church, just changed it up tonight made a Rachael casserole with turkey breast I had left over.. Personally I like Rachael better. Haven’t eaten yet but I imagine it will be excellent as the other 2 times it got rave reviews..
Yay!! Thanks so much Linda!!
Can this be made in a crock pot?
I’ve never tried it but if you do, please let me know how it turns out for you!
Followed recipe exactly as written and it came out perfectly, just like the photo.
If you’re a Reuben lover and a casserole fan, this recipe is for you. This tastes just like a Reuben and is delicious.
Now I have a go to recipe for left over corned beef.
Thank you for the recipe, this ones a keeper for sure!