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!)
Start with store bought corned beef*
Make our own homemade pastrami spice mix which is made with everyday spices and loads of cracked pepper
Coat beef in Spice mix, wrap in foil
Slow cook or pressure cook until tender.
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!).
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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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Does your pastrami just use a plain brisket cut or is it already been pickled?
Hi Elayne, the recipe used corned beef as mentioned in the ingredients 🙂 N x
Homemade Pastrami looks awesome and I’m salivation just looking at the Reuben !!
Hi Nagi, what is the largest size that you would recommend? My family loves this and I am keen to try and cook in bulk to freeze the remainder into easy to access meals 🙂
Amazing pastrami and super easy.
OMG…this is amazing. made it yesterday, had it on sandwich today – not a proper ruben…just tomato, lettuce, cream cheese and a smidge of dijon…will definitely be making this again (and the other half who doesn’t like corned silverside, loved it too). Another great successful recipe Nagi, thank you
Perfect Ali!! It’s so good to have in the freezer for emergencies too! N x
Thank you for the recipe. I’m not a big sandwich fan but Reuben is an exception.
But with this pandemic, the only source of local Reuben sandwich, a bagel shop, is doing limited menu. Hence no Reuben. When I had a craving, I didn’t know what I was going to do until I remembered your recipe. And thankfully a grocery store had corned beef. This was tasty!
Hi thanks for sharing this… I have been trying Sous Vide recipes lately and am wondering if I could Sous Vide rather that slow cook this. If you have any suggestions I would appreciate you sharing them with me..
Hi Pat,
Unfortunately this won’t be suitable for Sous Vide as the internal temperature needs to reach around 95c for the connective tissue of the brisket to breakdown so that you have a soft meat.
Made this for the first time last month. My out of town kids requested it again this month when they came home. AMAZING!! The only thing I would change is to heat it up in a zip top bag in simmering water (like the instructions from Katz’s) not in the microwave. I did refrigerate it after baking to make it easier to slice and not fall apart when trying to slice it when warm.
Hi Nagi, made this last weekend and it was awesome, I have a recipe for a smoked brisket pastrami and I’m wondering if I could do this the same way. I don’t want to smoke it. I’m thinking it would work on the same principle. I made the Reuben with the pastrami and just about to do it again. I actually use a lot of your recipes and they are always my go to so thanks for all the work and research you do so I don’t have to.
Hi Narelle – definitely, I’m so glad you love it! N x
Hi Nagi,
Wanting to make these but can find all the spices in one supermarket, have to go hunting species tomorrow. I have 3 questions:
1. When you take the beef out of the plastic, do you rinse it with water to get the gooey coating off before drying it?
2. I just realized the pack of garlic powder I got today is super super fine consistency (flour like) not like the one in your photo (which is more fine sugar like), does it mater?
3. I don’t usually cook with most of those spices, what to do with the leftovers? I have a bag of smoked paprika in the pantry that has a best before date of 2017 😅. I must have brought it back then and only used like 2 tablespoons. This one is going in the bin, but what can I make with the leftover new spices (particularly mustard powder) Don’t say more pastrami lol!
Thanks.
Hi Tina, just pat the beef dry as per step 1 in the instructions. If your garlic powder is finer, I’d drop the amount down to 1.5 tsp & if you have left over spices, you can type the ingredient into the search bar at the top of my page and click “use as ingredient” to get some inspiration! N x
Thanks nagi. I’m 6 hours into the slow cooker process and I don’t see any juice at the bottom of pot. The pot is dry, not a drop🤕. Is the liquid just trapped in the foil? Your YouTube video indicates quite a bit of liquid in the pot before you even remove the foil (maybe you removed it off camera so not sure).🤷🏼♀️
Just found that my silverside is too big for the slowcooker (2.7kg). It is in the oven now with your notes. Any ideas on how long i cook it for?
Hi Liv, I’d cook for 7 hours 🙂 N x
Thanks for the quick reply!
My Pastrami was so tender it almost fell apart when I cut it. It was so delicious. I also made the Reuben sandwich using the pastrami and that was delicious as well. It was a nice change to the usual slow cooked corned beef. Thanks Nagi.
I’m so glad you gave it a go Annette!! N x
I bought corned beef but upon opening the packet the is no fat attached. Is this now a lost cause?
We loved this pastrami. It is divine. We put it on a reuben sandwich using your recipe for lunch today and it melted in our mouths. There are plenty of leftovers for everyone for tomorrow. We cannot wait. Yum yum. Thanks Nagi.
Hi Kerri, it will be ok, just cook as per the recipe 🙂 N x
Can you cook in a pressure cooker or slow cooker with no liquid?
Hi Trish, yes, just as per the recipe 🙂 N x
Nagi…I’m thinking of using my instantPot. You state that we should cook for an hour and 40 minutes but I can’t find anything about the release time. Do I perform a quick release after the cook time or a slow release first? Thanks!
You don’t put any water at all in the bottom of the slow cooker? Thanks.
I wish I had! The pastrami is great and the method is good, too, but there weren’t enough juices on the bottom, so they burned…
Hi,
Can a steam oven replace the slow
Cooker? If so can you advise how long is the cooking time? And at what temperature to cook it in?
Hi Nagi, We’ve had a Reuben Sanga when in New York and they’re to die for. However, I don’t understand what you mean in the cooking methods for the oven – at the end you have.
Recipe I reference (see below) says 110C/225F for 6 hours which sounds about right compared for the slow cooking time I use.
Well, I’ve gone back over and over to find where is the “110C/225F for 6 hours” as I can only see where we “refrigerate the meat for 6 hours”.
What do you mean for us to do at “110C/225F for 6 hours”.
Sorry, but it sounded rather confusing or maybe it’s just me having a SENIOR MOMENT.
Thanks as always fantastic recipes from you. I can’t wait to get back home as we’re away again up in Mudgee then I’ll try this.
Hi there! I’m looking to make this, but I don’t see any instructions on how to remove the salt from the prepackaged corned beef. I bought an uncooked packaged corned beef from my grocery store, and I followed the instructions on the package on how to cook it. It said to boil on the stove for about an hour, then bake it. When I tried that method, the corned beef was extremely salty. I went out and bought a new package of corned beef. I want to try and make your recipe, but I’m worried that the meat will be too salty without boiling it or letting it sit in water overnight. Do you have any advice?
Is that piece of meat just a brisket flat or has something already been done to it to make it “corned beef?”
Hi Russell! The later is correct – it’s been brined in a salty solution to make it corned beef. 🙂 N x
Thank you for the reply. Did you bring it yourself or buy it that way?
Sorry, brine