Reuben Sliders

These corned beef reuben sliders are made with swiss cheese, Russian dressing, and sauerkraut all layered together on a delicious slider bun. So great for sharing!

Corned Beef Sliders Recipe

A traditional reuben sandwich is made using rye bread, thinly sliced corned beef, swiss cheese, Russian dressing, and sauerkraut. The sandwich is then grilled like a grilled cheese until the swiss cheese melts. If you have ever tried this sandwich you would know how delicious it is. Even people who don’t care for sauerkraut still love this sandwich because of the interesting flavor combination.

I made these mini reubens on king’s hawaiian rolls and turned them into sliders. If I could find slider buns made out of rye, that would have been ideal, but I have never seen those. I have some plans to make one long reuben on Italian bread like I did with my viral Turkey and Cheese Sandwich. I think I am going to make that later in the month, closer to St. Patrick’s Day.

Reubens are associated with Kosher Style Delis, but they are not kosher at all because it includes both meat and cheese together. If you wanted to make this sandwich kosher you would have to omit either the cheese or the corned beef, or you would have to make this using vegan cheese or vegetarian meat.

I spent a lot of time in Kosher style delis growing up. It was a place the family could go for a casual meal where we knew everyone would be happy. I grew up eating double decker sandwiches filled with corned beef and pastrami, potato knishes, kosher hot dogs, kosher hush puppies, and giant black and white cookies. I love thinking back about these meals because so many of my memories included my grand parents and we were always so happy when we were there.

Turkey Reuben Sliders

I know that corned beef can be sort of an acquired taste so you can substitute sliced turkey in the sandwich. If you are going to substitute turkey, I would choose smoked turkey. Then, you would do everything the same way as making your corned beef sliders, just with turkey.

Can I make Reuben Sliders with leftover Corned Beef?

Absolutely! I love making reubens with leftover corned beef! I always make a whole corned beef in March around St. Patricks Day. I eat most of it with some potatoes but I love to save a little bit to use for reubens. Based on the photos above, use a slice or two of corned beef (depending on thickness) and then assemble the rest of the corned beef based on the instructions below.

Substitutions for Reuben Sliders

In addition to subbing sliced turkey for corned beef, you can also use pastrami. In Montreal, they have something called the Montreal Reuben. Montreal is famous for their smoked meat and pastrami. So naturally, their version uses pastrami. This is actually my favorite variation. Pastrami reminds me of kosher delis in the same way that corned beef does, so if I was going to sub anything for corned beef it would be pastrami.

Another popular substitute is the use of thousand island dressing in place of Russian dressing. I don’t really have a strong opinion about this, as they both taste similar to me. Russian dressing is the traditional dressing used so I that is what I used here but thousand island dressing would be just as delicious.

Sometimes people like cole slaw on their reuben in place of sauerkraut. This variation is called the “Rachel Sandwich” instead of the “Reuben Sandwich”.

Here is a round up of the Reuben Sliders substitutions:

• Instead of corned beef, try turkey or pastrami
• Instead of Russian dressing, try thousand island dressing
• Instead of sauerkraut, try cole slaw

How do you make Reuben Sliders?

INGREDIENTS  

• 12 Hawaiian Rolls
• 1/4 lb Swiss Cheese You will use 8 slices
• 1/2 lb Sliced Corned Beef
• 12 oz Sauerkraut
• 8 oz Russian Dressing
• Sesame Seeds optional

INSTRUCTIONS 

• Preheat oven to 325F.
• Cut the Hawaiian rolls in half so that you have one sheet of bottom rolls and one sheet of top rolls. Place the bottom half on top of a baking sheet. 
• Using a silicone pastry brush or silicone spatula, spread some Russian dressing on the bottom half of the rolls. You should use a little less than half, keeping in mind you will also need some to put on top of the cheese later, and use a little bit on top of the top buns. 
• Next, add your corned beef evenly on top of the rolls.
• Then, add your sauerkraut and your Swiss cheese. I like to add the cheese on top of the sauerkraut. 
• I then add more Russian dressing on top of the Swiss cheese and place the top layer of buns on top of the dressing. 
• Spread the remaining dressing on top of the buns. You should only spread a thin layer. Sprinkle with Sesame seeds if you want to use them
• Cover the sliders loosely with aluminum foil, bake for 20 minutes, remove foil, and bake for an additional 7-10 minutes.
• Let them cool slightly, cut, and serve

If you enjoyed this slider recipe, check out some of my others:

Chicken Bacon Ranch Sliders

Cheesesteak Sliders

Turkey Sliders