The Perfect Reuben Sandwiches at Home

Sometimes, you want to spend an afternoon crafting the perfect sandwich at home. The Reuben recipe below is written to make four sandwiches.
And don’t worry, you do not have to make your own corned beef from scratch. But you can if you want to!

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The Perfect Reuben Sandwiches at Home

Sometimes, you want to spend an afternoon crafting the perfect sandwich at home. The Reuben recipe below is written to make four sandwiches.

And don’t worry, you do not have to make your own corned beef from scratch. But you can if you want to!

Ingredients

For the Russian Dressing:

• 2 tsp Tabasco sauce
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• ½ small shallot, or about 2 Tbsp, finely minced
• ¼ cup ketchup
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• 3 Tbsp prepared horseradish
• 1 Tbsp French’s yellow mustard (classic yellow mustard)
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 3 Tbsp relish, or diced bread & butter pickles
• 1 tsp white granulated sugar
• 1/8 tsp ground cayenne powder
• Kosher salt & freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

For the Remaining Sandwich Components

• ½ red onion, cut into 1/8” slices
• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 8 slices rye bread
• 6 Tbsp salted butter, softened
• 20-24oz sliced corned beef
• 16 slices Swiss cheese
• 1 cup sauerkraut

Instructions 

• For the dressing, start by soaking the minced shallot in the Tabasco and lemon juice for ten minutes.
• After the shallots have soaked, prepare the Russian dressing by combining all of the remaining dressing ingredients in a large bowl and whisking them together with the soaked shallots.
• Taste the dressing and season with kosher salt & freshly-ground black pepper.
• Set Russian dressing aside for sandwich assembly later.
• Before you assemble the sandwiches, heat a skillet over high heat until it is hot.
• Add the vegetable oil and the sliced red onion.
• Cook the onions over medium heat until they are golden brown, stirring occasionally.
• Remove the sauteed onions from the heat and set aside.
• Butter one side of each slice of bread with the salted, softened butter.
• Apply a spread of Russian Dressing to the other side of each slice of bread.
• To make each sandwich, place a piece of rye bread on a hot griddle or skillet, butter-side down.
• Top with a slice of Swiss cheese, followed by 5-6oz of corned beef, followed by roughly ¼ cup sauerkraut, followed by the cooked red onion, and finally topped with a second slice of Swiss cheese.
• Add the remaining slice of bread on top of the second slice of cheese, so that the buttered side of the second slice of bread is facing up.
• Cook the sandwich on medium-low heat until golden-brown on the first side.
• Flip sandwich carefully over using a metal spatula, and cook on the other side until golden-brown and the cheese is melty.
• Enjoy these sandwiches hot!

Notes

The sauteed onions are optional here.
If you are making a lot of these at a time, try making them in the oven on sheet trays, flipping the sandwiches as they cook so that they get crisp on both sides.