Reuben Sandwich for Two With Crisp Rye and Melty Swiss
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It is 12:30 on a Saturday, the fridge is half empty, and a reuben sandwich for two can be done in about 15 minutes. Rye, corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss and dressing, pressed in a skillet until the cheese gives up: it is a lunch date where you skip the host stand and the check. Put two plates out and act like you planned it.
Crisp buttered rye, warm corned beef, and cheese that stretches when you pull the halves apart.
A reuben sandwich rewards a cook who is willing to be a little bossy. You butter the outside of the bread, build the layers in order, and then press the whole thing flat and mostly leave it alone. That is the technique. The 4 minutes per side is where the bread goes golden and the Swiss melts into everything else, and you get to stand there with a spatula looking like someone who has done this before. Slice it on the diagonal and the cross-section does the rest of the bragging.
What you need
- 4 slices rye bread
- 6 oz corned beef
- ½ cup sauerkraut
- 4 slices swiss cheese
- 3 tbsp russian dressing
- 2 tbsp butter
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
How to make it
- Butter one side of each of the 4 rye bread slices using 2 tbsp butter total.
- On two slices layer the 6 oz corned beef, 0.5 cup sauerkraut, 3 tbsp Russian dressing, and 4 slices Swiss cheese divided.
- Top with remaining bread slices, buttered side out.
- Grill in skillet 4 minutes per side, pressing lightly with spatula until golden.
- Slice diagonally and serve hot.
Notes
Cooked leftovers keep three to four days refrigerated, per USDA FSIS. A grilled sandwich is good straight from the pan, so if you are cooking ahead, keep the corned beef, sauerkraut and cheese in their packages and build a fresh one when you are hungry. A cold leftover reuben sandwich comes back with a few minutes in a skillet.
We would not freeze it. Sauerkraut and dressing soak into the bread as it thaws, and the crisp crust you worked for goes with them. It does not improve on day two either. This is a sandwich that wants to be eaten while the cheese is still moving.
A sandwich for two is a small act of showing off. If it lands in your week, the agent shops the rye, the Swiss and the sauerkraut, and you get to take the credit for a deli lunch you built in your own kitchen.
Swaps that actually work
Build the layers in the order the method gives, with the cheese on top of the dressing and the kraut in the middle, because the Swiss is what glues the halves together once it melts. A sandwich built in a different order tends to slide apart when you cut it.
The corned beef, the sauerkraut and the Swiss are the point, so leave them alone. Everything else has room to move. Marble rye or pumpernickel work in place of plain rye. Thousand Island dressing can stand in for Russian, and the sandwich tastes a touch sweeter. Thinly sliced pastrami is a fair swap for corned beef and gives a more peppery bite.
Turkey in place of corned beef makes it a cousin of the Rachel, which is a different sandwich but a good one. If you cannot find Swiss, a mild white cheese melts well, though you lose some of the nutty edge. A thin smear of mustard on the bread, alongside the dressing, adds bite if the dressing alone reads too sweet.
The swap that costs you the dish is the sauerkraut. Without it you have a grilled cheese with beef inside, which is fine but missing the tang that cuts the richness. If the sharpness is too much for you, drain the kraut well, but keep it in.
If it goes wrong
The bread is soggy. Wet sauerkraut is the likely cause. Squeeze it in a clean towel before you layer it, and spread the dressing thinly. If a sandwich is already soft in the pan, give it another minute per side with the spatula pressing lightly, and let it rest on a rack rather than a plate so steam does not collect underneath.
The bread browns before the cheese melts. The pan is running hot. Lower the heat, give it a little longer, and set a lid over the pan for the last minute so the trapped heat melts the cheese.
The filling slides out when you slice it. Let the sandwich rest for a minute off the heat, then cut diagonally with a serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion rather than pressing down.
It tastes flat. Check the salt, which here comes from the corned beef, the sauerkraut and the dressing, so taste before adding any. If it still tastes flat, a little extra dressing on the side or a spoonful of sauerkraut brings back the tang.
What to serve with it
The default is a dill pickle and a handful of chips. The better version is a small bowl of tomato soup for dipping, which makes the table look like a proper deli order. A reuben sandwich also handles a small crowd if you work in batches: keep the finished halves on a rack in a low oven while the next pair cooks.
What lifts it from the fridge: a few cornichons, a spoon of mustard on the side, or a crisp apple sliced thin. Something sharp and cold keeps the richness in check.
It works as lunch, which is what it is built for. The next day, reheat what is left in a dry skillet with a lid on to bring the bread back to life, and add a fresh squeeze of dressing.
Why this one earns its place
A reuben is the sandwich you order when you want to seem like you know your way around a menu. Making a reuben sandwich at home takes 15 minutes, and it comes out of the pan looking like it came off a deli counter. The skillet is the only dish you wash, and the plates are optional.
It also turns a small lunch for two into something like an occasion. Two people, one skillet, four slices of rye: it is a low-pressure date with a sandwich as the excuse. If you want another pressed sandwich with a different personality, the Cubano uses the same skillet-and-spatula move. For a hot sandwich built for dipping, Arby's-style French dip is a good next step. And if deciding what to eat is the hard part, decision fatigue and what to eat is worth a read.
More like this: all American recipes in Crave Corner.