Hot Pastrami Sandwich
Create the best Hot Pastrami Sandwich at home with this easy recipe that combines layers of thinly sliced pastrami, sauerkraut, creamy Thousand Island dressing, and melty Swiss cheese, piled up on rye bread. This classic pastrami reuben is the perfect way to use homemade pastrami!
Ingredients
- 1 cup sauerkraut, drained and patted dry
- 1 pound pastrami, thinly sliced
- 8 slices rye bread
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup thousand island dressing, or Russian dressing
- 8 slices swiss cheese
Instructions
- Add the sauerkraut to a fine mesh strainer. Use a paper towel to press down on the sauerkraut to drain out any extra liquid. If you don’t have a mesh strainer, stack up 3-4 paper towels, place the sauerkraut on top of the paper towels, then use 2-3 more paper towels to press on top of the sauerkraut to drain out any excess liquid. Set it aside.
- Spread butter on one side of each slice of bread. Flip the bread over and spread 1 tablespoon Thousand Island dressing on the second side of each slice of bread.
- Place a slice of Swiss cheese on top of the Thousand Island dressing on each slice of bread. Add sliced pastrami and sauerkraut on top of half of the bread slices, topped with dressing and cheese. Sandwich the other half of the bread slices topped with dressing and cheese over the sauerkraut.
- Heat a skillet or griddle pan on the stove over medium heat. Add the sandwiches to the skillet, or griddle, and grill for 3-4 minutes, flip with a spatula and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown and the cheese is melted.
- Remove from the skillet and serve immediately.
Notes
- It’s easier to thinly slice pastrami when it’s cold. So if you’re using leftover homemade pastrami for this recipe, I recommend storing it unsliced in the refrigerator. When you’re ready to use it, remove it from the refrigerator, after it’s cooled completely, and thinly slice it to make the sandwiches. Use the sharpest knife you have to get the thinest slices possible.
- If using thicker pastrami slices, I recommend heating them up for 30-60 seconds per side in a skillet before assembling the sandwiches. If using thinly sliced pastrami, it will heat up as the sandwiches cook.
- I use ¼ pound pastrami on each sandwich. If you’d like a little taste of NYC, make a “sky high” sandwich with a very generous portion of ½ pound of pastrami on each sandwich.
- You can make this recipe into a cold pastrami sandwich. Simply omit the step of cooking the sandwiches. And since you won’t be toasting the sandwiches, you can omit the butter in this recipe.
- To make a traditional pastrami on rye, replace the thousand island dressing with spicy brown mustard. You can keep the sauerkraut, or leave it off.
- To make this pastrami sandwich recipe gluten free, use gluten-free bread. The other ingredients shown above are gluten free.
Nutrition Facts
Calories 582kcal (29%)Carbohydrates 39g (13%)Protein 38g (76%)Fat 31g (48%)Saturated Fat 12g (60%)Polyunsaturated Fat 7gMonounsaturated Fat 8gCholesterol 108mg (36%)Sodium 2174mg (91%)Potassium 484mg (14%)Fiber 5g (20%)Sugar 8g (9%)Vitamin A 534mg (11%)Vitamin C 45mg (55%)Calcium 377mg (38%)Iron 6mg (33%)
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