This is an easy homemade Pastrami for all the poor sods like myself who don’t live around the corner from a New York Jewish deli. Tender, juicy and with the signature pastrami spice crust, this is astonishingly straight forward to make – and is outrageously good!
Use it to make giant pastrami sandwiches on rye, or Reuben sandwiches!
Homemade Pastrami recipe
If Katz’s Deli isn’t my first stop when I land in New York, it’s my second or third stop – and probably only because I had a prior dinner commitment.
Yes, I’m that obsessed with pastrami sandwiches.
Let’s be clear about one thing here – this is not a pastrami sandwich as many people know them here in Australia. The pastrami piled high in these sandwiches are light years away from the cold, slippery cuts we get over the counter at delis.
The pastrami you get at Jewish delis in the States is tender, juicy, fall apart and loaded with that wonderful earthy spice flavours of the pastrami crust with the obligatory black pepper kick.
It’s outrageously good. OUTRAGEOUSLY!!
I have searched high and low, but the sad fact is that there is simply nowhere in Sydney that has pastrami that is anywhere near Katz’s. So I decided to take matters into my own hands and make my own pastrami.
Real pastrami is smoked for days. Days, my friends. I’ve read that the Katz’s smoker is the size of an apartment. Pastrami is serious business!
Mine is a somewhat more achievable home version – made in the slow cooker or pressure cooker.
How do I make pastrami? (The easy way!)
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Start with store bought corned beef*
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Make our own homemade pastrami spice mix which is made with everyday spices and loads of cracked pepper
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Coat beef in Spice mix, wrap in foil
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Slow cook or pressure cook until tender.
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Cool for ease of slicing before baking briefly just to seal the crust, then slice thinly, and pile high on rye bread.
* Corned Beef is beef that’s been brined, either brisket or silverside beef cuts. An economical cut sold in the fresh meat section of supermarkets. It’s called Salt Beef or Pickled Salt Beef in the UK.
Here are the spices you need for pastrami. You can buy coarsely ground cracked pepper but it’s better to grind your own if you can.
Is it as good as Katz’s?
No. And no homemade version ever will be.
But it is so darn good. So SO good. A billion times better than the stuff you buy over the counter at everyday delis. This pastrami that money can’t buy – certainly here in Australia at least, except at speciality stalls at some weekend markets.
So when you need a pastrami or Reuben sandwich fix, this will go a long way to curb your craving – until your next trip back to NYC! – Nagi x
PS If you’d like to try your hand at a real pastrami made in a smoker, I recommend this one from my friend Kevin at Kevin is Cooking.
How to make a Pastrami sandwich
Lightly toasted dark rye bread slathered with butter then mustard then piled high with lots of thinly sliced homemade pastrami. Melted cheese is optional (mandatory in my books!).
More Burgers, Sliders and Sandwiches
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Use the pastrami to make epic Reuben Sandwiches!
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A big, juicy Hamburger recipe
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Steak Sandwich – super quick
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Chicken Burger – juicy seasoned chicken breast steak with the lot!
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Nando’s Peri Peri Chicken Burger – chicken marinated in a homemade flavour bomb Peri Peri sauce
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Cubanos – The famous Cuban roast pork sandwich from The Chef movie
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Veggie Burger – Meatless made amazing. Puts those doughy bricks at the shops to shame!
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WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Homemade Pastrami Without a Smoker
Ingredients
- 4 lbs / 2kg good corned beef, with a thick fat cap (Note 1)
Spice Mix:
- 4 tbsp fresh coarsely ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp coriander powder
- 1 1/2 tsp mustard powder
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 2 tbsp liquid smoke (optional)
Instructions
- Mix Spice Mix and spread out on a tray. Pat beef dry then roll in Spice Mix, coating well all over. Sprinkle with liquid smoke it using (I rarely use this).
- Place beef fat cap side down and wrap in a large sheet of foil. Repeat again with another sheet of foil and flip the beef so the fat cap is on the top.
- Place rack in slow cooker (Note 2), place beef on rack. Slow cook for 10 hours on low or electric pressure cook for 1 hour 40 minutes (see notes for oven).
- Remove beef, cool then refrigerate for 6 hours +. Reserve juices in slow cooker.
- Unwrap beef. Place rack on tray, place beef on rack. Bake 30 minutes at 180C/350F until spice crust is set.
- Remove from oven, slice thinly - pastrami will be tender. Place some pastrami in a dish, spoon over a bit of reserved juices. Cover and microwave to warm (I like to add a slice of Swiss cheese).
- New York Deli style Pastrami Sandwich: Pile high on toasted rye bread slathered with plenty of mustard of choice. Serve with pickles on the side! Plus plain potato crisps (for the full deli experience!)
- Rebuen sandwiches - see this recipe.
Recipe Notes:
Electric Pressure Cooker -you don't need to add liquid because corned beef is plump with extra liquid it has absorbed from the brining process so it drops liquid as it heats up, and it's that liquid that creates the steam that creates the pressure cooking environment. If for some reason it doesn't come to temperature (ie that whistling noise never occurs, pop in 1/2 cup of water - but I've never had to do this). You end up with the same amount of liquid at the bottom of the pot whether you slow cook or pressure cook.
Stove top pressure cooker: add 1/2 cup of water.
Oven - I haven’t tried this myself, but this is what I would do: wrap with foil one extra time, add 1/2 cup water in pan, put wrapped beef on rack in pan, cover pan tightly with foil. Recipe I reference (see below) says 110C/225F for 6 hours which sounds about right compared for the slow cooking time I use. 4. General notes: The slow cooking part tenderising the meat and allows the spice flavours to infuse. The cooling in the fridge makes it easier to slice thinly - if you try to slice hot corned beef, it crumbles. The baking seals the crust - it doesn't heat through, you want the centre cold for easier slicing. 5. SERVINGS: The corned beef will shrink by about 30%, so 2kg/4lb yields about 1.4kg/2.8lb cooked meat. Allow 300 g / 10 oz per serving for large pastrami sandwiches, as pictured. 6. Recipe loosely guided by this Allrecipes.com pastrami recipe. 7. Store leftovers for up to 5 days in the refrigerator. Reheat slices per recipe. Originally published May 2014, recipe updated June 2018 with a more streamlined, better recipe.
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Dennis O'Flynn says
Too much peppercorn for me. Ground corns, arm still tired using the peppermill. Used the 4 tablespoons, next time I’ll use 1.
Apart from the crust, delightful and as moist as yours.
Thanks
Karina says
Heey Nagi 🙂
This look soooo fantastic. But i have a problem…In Germany you dont get fresh corned beef in the supermarket 🙁
Do you have a tip for me how i make my own corned beef??
Best wishes
Karina 🙂
Nancy says
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018642-homemade-corned-beef
Ash Hans says
Drooling! If I cook in the pressure cooker (IP), should I still wrap in foil?If so, can I wrap in parchment underneath the foil? I’m not into aluminum foil touching my food, especially for long cooking times.
Barbara Gray says
I must tell you that the pastrami from corn beef was excellent. Great Recipe.
I love dog.
Nagi says
Isn’t it great Barbara!!! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! N x
Mimi says
Definitely worth making the effort. Thank you for this recipe.
Mike says
Hi Nagi,
Have tried your cheese, vegetable, chicken mince fritters.
A fantastic success and recipe, looking forward to trying the chicken wellingtons next week.
Keep the recipes coming
Regards Mike
Rachel Link says
Hello,
In Israel we do not use the term “korned beef”. Please let me know what other cut of beef I can use.
Thank you.
Nancy says
חזה – Brust, Chazeh.
Ynet says for pot roast, oven roast, soup, goulash and pickled meat (corned beef?).
The JP says it’s the favorite cut for salt/corned beef, known as brisket or front poitrine.
Rachel Link says
Hi,
In israel we do not have a cut of beef called ” corned beef”. Can you tell me what other cut of beef I can use?
Nagi says
Hi Rachel, you really need corned beef for this recipe sorry – it can’t be raw, it needs to be cured for this one to work. N x
Mike says
Hi Nagi,
Cooked my 4th pastrami and again it was great.
I do a 1.2 kg piece of corned silverside in a 3.5 litre slow cooker for about 7 hrs which is a good size for me and my wife. As I don’t have rack to fit in, I use a small oval pie dish to sit the meat on.
This has the added benefit of collecting most of the juices.
The result is delicious, again thanks for the recipe.
Out of curiosity how do you pronounce your name? Is it with a hard g or a soft g?
Regards Mike
Jen says
I was wondering if my corn beef is only 2 pounds ,smaller than the one you did ,would it take less time to cook in my slow cooker on low.
Thank you Nagi for your great recipe .
Nagi says
HI Jen, it will still need about 6-7 hours in the slow cooker. I hope you love it! N x
Ali Dymond says
As usual Nagi, your recipe is a huge success. My other half wont eat silverside but he loves this recipe and we have it often.
Smokey says
My son-in-law asks for this a couple times each year. Tonight we served it for his birthday dinner. Because there is an abundance of corned beef briskets in the markets after St Patrick’s Day, this is the ideal time to snag a beefy point cut…ideal for this recipe. I grew up in my dad’s deli. I owned my own deli. So I feel confident in saying that if you’re not pickling your own beef from scratch, this is as good as homemade pastrami can be. Avoid cheating. Chill overnight, then heat and eat the next day for optimum slicing bliss. As with any sandwich, the better the bread, the better the experience. We have a local bakery that makes a sublime crusty caraway rye that does the job.
Michelle says
Exicited to try this. I am using a slow cooker for the first time with this. Do I use the low setting or the high setting for this recipe?
Bill says
I LOVE good pastrami and this is an excellent recipe.
I made this with 2lbs of corned beef and while the flavor was fantastic I thought mine a bit dry. I kept it in crock pot for 10 hrs and now I’m wondering if I should have taken it out sooner since it’s a smaller roast??
Bob says
Nagi, Going in for 2nd slow cooker pastrami. In fact, going to make two. In process of moving and my smoker has been in storage 1 1/2years…..great recipe
Nagi says
Wahoo!!! That’s awesome Bob, enjoy! N x
Ilene says
You are a genius. I am a native UWS girl and moved 3 years ago and miss my pastrami! I used the oven method and it was spot on!
Lucy says
My husband said this was the best pastrami sandwich (made your “reuben recipe”) he has ever had. And he is old and has eaten a lot of sandwiches over the years. Love this recipes and I can’t wait to try more of your recipes. Great website too!
Donna says
I’ve made this a number of times now, and it’s just awesome. The brine is salty ,so I don’t use it, but the meat is perfectly tender, tasty and makes the best sandwiches. A treasured recipe in my home. Thanks
Rhea says
Hi. Finally got the beef to try this. Won’t the beef be to salty ? Butcher said boil it. Should I soak overnight to remove the salt ? Thanks
Nagi says
Hi Rhea, the beef is supposed to be brined, if that’s the right silverside that yo’ve got then don’t boil it – just follow the recipe. You’ll love it! N x
Rhea says
Hi. thanks..its in the slow cooker right now…i have tried many of your recipes….
Kim says
Love this recipe. Every three months I get a direct from the farm meat delivery and we get a nice silverside. We also say we will do something different with it, then always do this pastrami – it is just too good not to. Until this recipe I didn’t like pastrami