Reuben Casserole

This Reuben Casserole recipe has all the beautiful flavors of the classic sandwich in a casserole dish. This recipe is a great way to use any leftover corned beef or a unique dinner meal. Try the bold tastes of sauerkraut, corned beef, and Thousand Island flavors with this baked Reuben Casserole.

🌽🥩 What makes this recipe special?

While this dish is great any time of the year, it seems particularly relevant around St. Patrick’s day, when there might be some leftover corned beef. I, however, have been known to pick up some deli corned beef just for this recipe.

This recipe is a great companion to my Sous Vide Corned Beef recipe, and if you like this one, you might like this delicious Corned Beef Hash recipe. If sauerkraut is your thing, you might also want to check out this Sauerkraut and Sausage Knoephla Skillet Dish recipe. Of course, you are here for this recipe, though!

🧀 Ingredients

The star of this recipe is corned beef. Whether you pick up some corned beef from your deli or use leftovers you are trying to use up, make sure it is finely chopped and already cooked.

I use sauerkraut, swiss cheese, and rye bread for this recipe to help imitate Reuben sandwich flavors. I use pumpernickel bread, which is a type of rye bread. All are critical to bringing the right flavors to this Reuben casserole.

The last item is Thousand Island dressing, which I don’t include. However, I have a sauce that gives a lighter Thousand Island dressing flavor.

• cooked corned beef
• Swiss cheese
• sauerkraut
• whole milk
• chili sauce
• yellow or white onion
• prepared horseradish
• Worcestershire sauce
• smoked paprika
• ground black pepper
• all-purpose flour
• rye bread
• olive oil
• salt

See the recipe card for quantities.

🍲 Instructions

There are two components to this recipe. First, mix the main layer of the casserole. This includes everything except rye bread, oil, salt, and a few ounces of cheese. Place this in a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish.

Separately, toss the chopped rye bread with olive oil and salt. The olive oil will help crisp the bread up in the oven.

Finally, top the casserole with the bread and remaining cheese. Thirty minutes on the bottom rack at 375° Fahrenheit should do it, but keep an eye to ensure the cheese doesn’t burn.

Finally, top the casserole with the bread and remaining cheese. Thirty minutes on the bottom rack at 375° Fahrenheit should do it, but keep an eye to make sure the cheese doesn’t burn.

🤷 Substitutions and variations

This is a casserole and is pretty forgiving, so there are some pretty easy ways to change it up.

• Meat – change it up with some pastrami or even cooked roast beef would work well.
• Rye – I use pumpernickel, which is a type of rye bread, but you could use any rye. And if rye isn’t your thing, use a different bread.
• Milk – The recipe calls for whole milk, but 2% works fine.
• Chili Sauce – In a pinch, you can just use ketchup.

📦 Storage

If you cover your casserole, this should be able to last 3 to 4 days. At least, it did for me. You can freeze this if you want, but since there are only four servings in this recipe, I suspect it will be gone before you know it.

🎓 History tidbit

Food history tends to be pretty spotty. Many places claim to be ‘the first’ or ‘the origin of’ a thing, but they’re usually is some dispute. In this case, one theory on the history of the Reuben sandwich is that it was invented by a man named Reuben Kulakofsky in Omaha, Nebraska to feed some poker players late at night. They liked it so much that it ended up on one of the player’s hotels menus.

Interestingly, late-night partying is not all that uncommon in food origin stories. Sandwiches, in general, were thought to come from long poker games and an Italian classic, Puttanesca is said to come from a late-night party where they were looking to throw something together.

Another competing story about the Reuben is that it was from a New York chain owned by the family of Arnold Reuben.

❓ FAQ

📝 Tips and tricks

• Don’t use finely shredded swiss cheese on top of the bread, If you do, keep a closer look to make sure it doesn’t burn.
• I call for whole milk, but any milk should really work.
• Use either leftover corned beef or just pick some up from the deli. 
• If you don’t have chili sauce or don’t want to buy it, ketchup is fine. 

🛠 Products used in this recipe

• 1 ½ quart casserole dish
• Frank’s Saeurkraut

😋 Did you make this recipe?

That is so awesome, and I really appreciate you giving this Reuben casserole a try! If you liked it, you could do me a real favor and leave a review in the comment section below. This helps others decide if they will try it and lets me know how the recipe is. Most of all, thanks for visiting Ramshackle Pantry!