Vegetarian Reuben

This Vegetable Reuben is loaded with sautéed mushrooms, onions and spinach, topped with lacto-fermented sauerkraut and sauced with home-made light Russian dressing. It is ready in less than 30 minutes for an awesome vegetarian meal the whole family will love!

Ingredients For This Recipe 

Cooking oil

In my recipes I recommend using either avocado oil or organic canola oil, but if there is another cooking oil you prefer to use, that is fine.

Mushrooms

To give the reuben filling meaty texture, I added sliced mushrooms to the sauteed veggies. I used white mushrooms, but feel free to experiment with another variety. 

Red onion

For savory taste (and I always love a bit of allium somewhere in most of my recipes) I added in sliced red onion. You can sub in another type of onion if you like. 

Baby spinach

For contrast in texture and for a nutritional boost I also wilted in some baby spinach. You can use another braising green if you like but keep in mind that tougher greens (like collards or kale) need more cooking time, so you can actually add them with the mushrooms and onion. 

Plain Greek yogurt

To lighten up the Russian dressing I used half Greek Yogurt and half mayonnaise. I find that the combination of the two gives creamy texture for lower calories. 

Mayonnaise

The flavor of the mayo comes through with only two tablespoons. If you are looking to cut calories more you can skip it and double the yogurt, but I happen to enjoy the flavor thea mayo adds to the dressing. 

Ketchup

To the dressing, add in a bit of ketchup for classic Thousand Island or Russian dressing taste. 

Dill Pickle Relish

Technically Russian dressing doesn’t have relish in it, that’s more of a Thousand Island thing, but I love the addition it adds for this reuben. In fact I almost wish I had tried making these sandwiches with slices of pickles on them too! (I’ll have to do that next time!)

Celery salt

The flavor of the celery salt is great with this recipe. Typically corned beef (the meat that is in a traditional reuben sandwich) is cured with celery seed. Adding the celery salt to the dressing is a nod to the taste of the corned beef, without the beef! 

Rye bread

No reuben is worth its salt without good rye bread. I also like it on marbled pumpernickel rye too. 

Unsalted butter, softened

To griddle the sandwiches you’ll need a bit of butter for the bread. Soften it first so that it spreads on the slices evenly. 

Sauerkraut

I highly recommend finding a good quality sauerkraut in your area. Those that have to be refrigerated tend to be free of preservatives. If possible look for “lacto-fermented” sauerkraut which gets its sour flavor from the curing process instead of vinegar. These naturally fermented krauts will continue to offgas in their jars so it is normal if they pop when you open them. 

Swiss cheese

You can use either sliced Swiss cheese or shredded if you can’t find it in slices. 

How To Make Vegetarian Reuben Sandwiches

Saute The Vegetable Filling

As I said, this recipe is vegetarian, so to replace the corned beef, I used a combination of sauteed vegetables. You’ll need a medium skillet to cook them. 

1. Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Add mushrooms and onion and cook, stirring often until the mushrooms and onions are softened and browned, 4 to 6 minutes.
3. Add spinach, and stir until wilted.
4. Remove from the heat.

Make The Dressing

While the veggies are cooking, stir Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, ketchup, relish and celery salt in a small dish. (Note: this can be done in advance up to two days ahead. Keep covered in the refrigerator.)

Build Sandwiches

1. Lay bread on work surface.
2. Butter bread, dividing evenly.
3. Flip bread, butter side down.
4. Spread the dressing over the dry side of bread, dividing evenly among the four slices.
5. Divide vegetable mixture between two slices of bread.
6. Top with sauerkraut.
7. Top with cheese, cutting one piece in half to divide between the sandwiches.
8. Close sandwiches.

Cooking Tips

• Lay sandwiches in a large dry skillet and set over medium heat.
• As the skillet heats up, if you notice that the skillet is smoking, turn the heat down to medium low to prevent the bread from getting too dark.
• Cook until the bottom is browned.
• Hold your hand on top of the sandwich to hold it together and quickly flip it to the other side. 
• Let the sandwiches cook until they are browned on the second side, and the cheese is melted. 
• Cut in half to serve.

At Healthy Seasonal Recipes, we specialize in cooking with fresh veggies and creating weeknight meals. Sign up HERE to get more produce-forward dinner ideas for FREE! If you make this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review. I would love to hear what you thought! Happy Cooking! ~Katie

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