Instant Pot Reuben Casserole–with sauerkraut, corned beef and swiss cheese this dish has the flavors from a Rueben sandwich in the form of a one pot dinner.
Note: the SLOW COOKER instructions are listed in the recipe card below

Instant Pot Reuben Casserole
Whenever I go to a deli for lunch the sandwich that always tempts me is the Reuben. It’s got slices of rye bread piled with corned beef, sauerkraut, swiss cheese and thousand island dressing. The best Rueben sandwiches are grilled or put in a panini press. It’s not something I eat very often but I do love it! I love the tanginess from the sauerkraut.
If you’re a fan of the Rueben sandwich you’ll most likely love this Rueben casserole. It’s got potatoes, corned beef, sauerkraut, swiss cheese and sour cream. It only has a few ingredients but has a lot of flavor from the kraut and the corned beef. Try mixing it up with something different tonight for dinner!
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Chicken broth–or 1 cup water and 1 teaspoon of Better than Bouillon Chicken Base
- Red potatoes–or Yukon golds or peeled Russets
- Dehydrated onion flakes–or 1 teaspoon of onion powder
- Garlic powder
- Salt and pepper
- Sauerkraut–or you can use chopped cabbage although it won’t have the flavor intensity of kraut
- Corned beef–or pastrami or ham
- Sour cream–or plain yogurt
- Cornstarch–to thicken the sauce
- Swiss cheese–or another cheese like mozzarella
- Rye bread–optional for the rye bread croutons
- Olive oil–optional for the rye bread croutons
Steps to make Instant Pot Reuben Casserole
- Dump ingredients into the Instant Pot: Pour broth into Instant Pot. Add in the potatoes, onion flakes, garlic powder. Lightly sprinkle the potatoes with salt and pepper. Dump sauerkraut and corned beef on top.
- Pressure cook: Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 3 minutes. When time is up you can perform a quick release immediately or you can let the pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Make croutons (optional): If you’d like to make the rye bread croutons then heat oil over medium high heat in a pan on the stove. Cut the rye bread into cubes and toss into the oil until browned and crispy. Set aside. (I made the croutons but personally I don’t think they are necessary)
- Temper the sour cream: Stir a half cup of the hot liquid from the pot into the sour cream to temper it (this will prevent it from separating). Stir the cornstarch into the sour cream until smooth. Stir the sour cream mixture into the Instant Pot. Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting. When sauce has thickened turn off sauté setting.
- Swiss it up: Stir the cheese into the Instant Pot.
- Serve: Scoop onto plates and top with croutons (if you made them). If desired, drizzle with a bit of thousand island salad dressing to make the Rueben sandwich experience complete.

Notes/Tips
- To make with rice instead of potatoes: If you’re more a rice person than a potato person try adding in 1 ½ cups of broth and 1 cup of raw long grained white rice instead of the potatoes and 1 cup of broth. Pressure cook for 3 minutes with a 10 minute natural pressure release. Leave out the cornstarch.
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot. You can also make in a 3 or 8 quart pot.
- No corned beef? Try using pastrami, ham or smoked sausage instead.
- Gluten-free: make this gluten-free by leaving out the rye bread croutons.
- Leftovers: store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
More Recipes to Love…
- Instant Pot Club Sandwich Pasta–all the flavors from a turkey bacon club sandwich in pasta form.
- Instant Pot Egg Loaf–I like to use these eggs for cobb salad, avocado egg salad, egg salad or potato salad.
- Instant Pot Sloppy Ottos–like sloppy joes but with sauerkraut and sausage
- Instant Pot Runzas–ground beef, onions and cabbage are wrapped in a yeast dough and baked, resulting in a savory pastry.
Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.? Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for.
Want More Tried And True Instant Pot Recipes?
- Sign up to receive daily Instant Pot recipes (it’s FREE)
- Join the 365 Days of Instant Pot Recipes Facebook group
- Subscribe to my YouTube channel
- Buy the 365 Days of Pressure Cooking Cookbook

Instant Pot Reuben Casserole
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes
- Total Time: 23 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
With sauerkraut, corned beef and swiss cheese this dish has the flavors from a Rueben sandwich in the form of a one pot dinner.
Ingredients
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 1/2 pounds red potatoes, cut into cubes
- 1 Tbsp dehydrated onion flakes
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- Salt and pepper
- 1 (16 oz) can or jar of sauerkraut, rinsed and drained
- 16 ounces chopped cooked corned beef
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
Optional rye bread croutons:
- 2 slices of rye bread
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions
- Pour broth into Instant Pot. Add in the potatoes, onion flakes, garlic powder. Lightly sprinkle the potatoes with salt and pepper. Dump sauerkraut and corned beef on top.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 3 minutes. When time is up you can perform a quick release immediately or you can let the pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- If you’d like to make the rye bread croutons then heat oil over medium high heat in a pan on the stove. Cut the rye bread into cubes and toss into the oil until browned and crispy. Set aside.
- Stir a half cup of the hot liquid from the pot into the sour cream to temper it. Stir the cornstarch into the sour cream until smooth. Stir the sour cream mixture into the Instant Pot. Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting. When sauce has thickened turn off sauté setting.
- Stir the cheese into the Instant Pot.
- Scoop onto plates and top with croutons (if you made them). If desired, drizzle with a bit of thousand island salad dressing to make the Rueben sandwich experience complete.
Slow Cooker Instructions
- Pour broth, potatoes, onion flakes, garlic powder into slow cooker. Lightly sprinkle the potatoes with salt and pepper. Add in sauerkraut and corned beef, stir.
- Cover and cook on high for 3 hours or on low for 4-6 hours, or until potatoes are tender.
- If you’d like to make the rye bread croutons then heat oil over medium high heat in a pan on the stove. Cut the rye bread into cubes and toss into the oil until browned and crispy. Set aside.
- Stir a half cup of the hot liquid from the slow cooker into the sour cream to temper it. Stir the cornstarch into the sour cream until smooth. Stir the sour cream mixture into the slow cooker. Turn slow cooker to high.
- When sauce has thickened stir in the cheese.
- Scoop onto plates and top with croutons (if you made them). If desired, drizzle with a bit of thousand island salad dressing to make the Rueben sandwich experience complete.
- Method: Instant Pot or Slow Cooker

*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Hi!
The recipe doesn’t state whether to put the pressure cooker on hi or low. Which do you recommend?
Thanks
high pressure
Thanks. I made it the other night and it was fabulous! Definitely going in the favorite recipes.
The sour cream was a great addition. I love Thousand Island dressing, so I made some to serve over the casserole and it was really good.
★★★★★
Awesome Erika! Thanks for the 5 stars.
What a delicious quick way to use up that last chunk of cooked corned beef. I really didn’t think I was going to like it because I couldn’t imagine how the flavors would meld. Wow, this is exactly like eating a reuben in a bowl (served in large soup bowls.) I followed the ingredient list with one addition, put a light dusting of brown sugar over the sauerkraut and corned beef. Followed the instructions up to the rye bread without making it and used half swiss and half mozzarella (not huge on Swiss cheese.) I drizzled thousand island dressing over the top. I had everything in the instant pot in 7 minutes with full dinner served in 25 minutes. Give me a meal that’s cooked in less than 30 and I’m in. If you like reubens and you have that leftover chunk of beef, give this a try. I cook instant pot corned beef dinners about 6 times a year so I’m saving an extra chunk to make this again. Thank you once again, Chef Karen, for another one of your stupendous recipes.
★★★★★
Oh this is so nice to hear. I love it! Thanks for the 5 stars.
How large of cubes for the potatoes?
I did about half inch cubes