The Reuben sandwich has earned a place amongst the all-time greats of American dishes. It’s hot, tasty, and easy-to-make. Plus that special sauce just brings the whole thing together. And, who could forget the Rachael, a similar sammie that is often viewed as interchangeable on the menu in many a diner. Traditionally it’s either corned beef or pastrami that fills these sandwiches, both kosher meats as this tradition was born of jewish kitchens – though the claims to fame are numerous!

In this vegetarian version oven-roasted mushrooms stand in for the meat and give an amazing performance. Serve these with some kettle chips and you’ve got a super tasty lunch or dinner.

The mushrooms get a much different texture when baked in the oven like this and become very meat-like. Combined with the other very flavorful ingredients, the sandwich is just as tasty as the original.

The sauce is the another thing that can make or break this recipe. Some folks like to use a store-bought Thousand Island dressing and you certainly can. But, making it at home from scratch is just so much tastier.

If you’re making the sauce yourself you can control the amount of horseradish in the mix- a real boon for all us horseradish enthusiasts! If I’m making this just for myself I always add a little extra to the sauce.

Then layer the sandwich ingredients on jewish rye bread and toast them in a hot skillet. You can keep the sandwiches you’ve already cooked hot in the oven on 170˚F.

I like to use naturally fermented sauerkraut for this recipe as it has a better flavor to me personally. It’s also less sweet.

But, occasionally I’ll go for a Bavarian style sauerkraut for a little extra flavor from the caraway seeds.

Once these are perfectly toasted and crisp cut each sandwich diagonally and don’t forget to serve with a nice, crisp pickle on the side!