The Classic Sandwich You Should Beef Up (Literally) With A Burger

A good Reuben sandwich is hearty and slightly messy. A mix of corned beef, Swiss cheese, and sauerkraut on rye bread with Russian or Thousand Island dressing, it's famously associated with Katz Delicatessen in New York City. Of course, you can find good Reubens anywhere from the Big Apple to a deli in Omaha, Nebraska; in fact, there's a debate over whether the sandwich was invented by Jewish immigrants in New York or Omaha. If you're putting together a Reuben sandwich at home though, and you want to beef it up even more, have you considered making a Reuben burger?

A Reuben burger fits the accepted definition of a "burger;" it's got beef and it's got hamburger buns, which you'll be substituting for rye bread (rye buns exist too). Essentially, you're making a regular hamburger but using pieces of the Reuben as toppings: Take a regular, ground beef burger patty and add the corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss, and dressing. You don't need to cook the corned beef, just buy it deli-style and heat it up while the patty is cooking, or place the corned beef on cheese on the patty when it's nearly finished grilling. They work great as sliders, too.

If a Reuben without rye bread sounds almost profane, that's because it absolutely is — but it's good, too. However, there are other versions of the Reuben burger that add beef patties but keep the rye, and whether or not that's a "burger" matters less than whether or not it's appetizing. For other substitutions, you could use pastrami instead of corned beef. They're made from different cuts of beef with slight flavor differences and textures, but they're both brined.

Russian and Thousand Island dressing are fairly similar, which is why recipes often suggest one or the other. Like plenty of fast food secret sauces, the main ingredients of both are ketchup and mayonnaise, alongside Worcestershire sauce and pickle relish. The major difference is that Russian includes spicy horseradish which gives it more kick, while Thousand Island is more likely to use a sweet pickle relish for sweeter flavors. It all works great as burger sauce, and they're common enough ingredients that you can avoid buying grocery store dressing and mix some on your own. For the authentic Katz Deli touch, pick up its house-made Reuben sauce.