I wish I could shake the hand of whoever invented the Rueben Sandwich. I’ll take a wild guess that it was a gentleman named Rueben perhaps? It’s one of those sandwiches with a very unique combination of ingredients. At first glance you would probably think it a very odd combo, but somehow it works. And it works really, really well!
The combination of the tart sauerkraut, with the salty corned beef, the creamy tang from the Swiss cheese, the sweetness from the thousand island dressing on the toasted nuttiness of the rye bread, is a fabulous explosion of flavors on the tongue. This sandwich has been a favorite for decades and for good reason. It’s unique and utterly delicious!!!
It’s a surprisingly easy to make sandwich, not difficult at all. The trick is to use good quality ingredients, assemble it in the right order, and grill until the cheese is completely melted and the bread is a crisp golden brown for that lovely crunch when you take that first big bite, and the next bite, and the next…
TIP: Corned beef is plentiful in March for St. Patrick’s Day. Pick up an extra brisket when they are on sale. Corned beef is salt cured and vacuum packed so it will keep in the fridge for a several weeks.
Alright, enough talking about how delicious this sandwich is, let’s make it already! Start by cooking the corned beef brisket. Preheat oven to 350°F.
Place corned beef brisket (fat side up) in an oven safe baking dish. Top with spices included with the brisket and add about an inch of water to the baking dish.
Cover with foil and bake for 50 minutes per pound until brisket is fork tender.
Use a meat thermometer to make sure the internal temperature at the thickest part registers 200°F. Let stand, covered, for 15 minutes before slicing.
Cut corned beef brisket across the grain into ¼ inch thick slices.
Cook Sauerkraut:
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan.
Drain sauerkraut and add it to the melted butter in the saucepan. Cook over medium heat until excess liquid has evaporated and sauerkraut is “dry”. Cooking off the excess liquid prevents the bread from getting soggy.
Cover pan with a lid and keep warm.
Assemble Sandwiches:
Butter one side of each slice of bread. Place slices buttered side down on your work surface.
On the other side of each slice of bread, spread about a tablespoon of Thousand Island dressing.
Optional: Spread some horseradish sauce onto a slice of bread if you like it spicy and want a hit of sinus clearing heat. Not traditional, but oh so good!
Top each slice of bread with a slice of Swiss cheese. Be sure to add cheese to each slice of bread. It will provide a barrier to prevent the bread from getting soggy from the filling and it also acts as the “glue” to hold your sandwich together. So don’t skimp on the cheese!
Top half of the slices of bread with a generous mound of the warm sauerkraut.
Divide the sliced corned beef between the remaining slices of bread.
Carefully top each cheese/corned beef side of bread with a cheese/sauerkraut side of bread to make a sandwich.
Grill Sandwiches:
Heat a large skillet over medium heat and grill sandwiches.
Grill until bread is toasted golden brown and cheese is melted and gooey.
Cut sandwiches in half and serve hot.
These are soooooo good! Such an easy sandwich to cook up and super tasty too! Now that you know how easy it is to make them you can whip them up any time!!!
Classic Grilled Rueben Sandwiches
Ingredients
- 2-3 lb corned beef brisket , with spice packet
- 8 slices Rye bread
- 10 tbsp butter, divided
- 8 tbsp Thousand Island dressing
- 2 tbsp Horseradish sauce, optional
- 8 slices Swiss cheese
- 16 oz Sauerkraut
Instructions
Cook Brisket:
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Place corned beef brisket (fat side up) in an oven safe baking dish. Top with spices included with the brisket.
- Add an inch of water to the baking dish.
- Cover with foil and bake for 50 minutes per pound until brisket is fork tender.
- Use a meat thermometer to make sure the internal temperature at the thickest part registers 200°F. Let stand, covered, for 15 minutes before slicing.
- Cut corned beef brisket across the grain into ¼ inch thick slices.
Cook Sauerkraut:
- Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan.
- Drain sauerkraut and add it to the melted butter in the saucepan.
- Cook over medium heat until excess liquid has evaporated and sauerkraut is "dry". Cover pan with a lid and keep warm.
Assemble Sandwiches:
- Butter one side of each slice of bread. Place slices buttered side down on your work surface.
- On the other side of each slice of bread spread a tablespoon of Thousand Island dressing.
- Optional: Spread on some horseradish sauce if you like it spicy and want a hit of sinus clearing heat.
- Top each slice of bread with a slice of Swiss cheese.
- Top four of the slices of bread with a generous amount of sliced corned beef.
- Divide the heated sauerkraut between the remaining four slices of bread.
- Carefully top each cheese/corned beef side of bread with a cheese/sauerkraut side of bread to make a sandwich.
Grill Sandwiches:
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat and grill sandwiches until bread is toasted golden brown and cheese is melted and gooey.
- Cut sandwiches in half and serve hot.
Did You Make This?
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