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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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.
LIFE OF DOZER
Nobody wants Dozer on their team for a game of Jenga…
Some folks review it as corned beef others review it as pastrami. Which is it?
this my 2nd time making easy Pastrami. 1st time used Sunbeam Cooker and sooooo good this time.
im using my 8L Instant Pot Duo Nova so will be interesting to see the difference between the 2 cooking methods
Made the Pastrami in the oven and as with all your recipes it came bloodt beautiful. Thanks
Hi Nagi,
I have put my pastrami in the pressure cooker. BUT – I have no idea what setting to put it on. I have a Breville The Fast Slow Pro Multicooker https://shorturl.at/buGX6 . Can you please add in your own settings that you use in the notes of the recipe please? I eventually decided on 80kpa for 1hr 30 min. I’ll let you know how it goes, but I’d love your own settings as a reference in future. Thanks for the help!
Hi Nagi! I’m looking forward to trying your homemade pastrami recipe. Our local grocery seems to package the corned beef in about 1 kg packages, about half what your recipe calls for. If I use the smaller cut of meat should I reduce the cooking time or stick with what’s in the recipe?
Hi,
When making no smoker pastrami, is it ok to leave in fridge overnight instead of 6 overnight once cooked in slowcooker please?
my grandchildren asking me to make pastrami like grand mother use to make they can not forget that taste i never payd attention and now she is not with us thank you -NATALIE
WOW!!!! You did it again Nagi! First time, fabulous. Not a corned beef lover, but this is gorgeous. Juicy. Flavour. Crusty. My husband made this in slow cooker, finished in airfryer. Reuben’s for lunch. Can’t wait. Thank you again Nagi. 💓
I also cooked it in my slow cooker and finished in the air fryer, absolutely delicious! To get a thicker crust next time, I would not pat the corned beef dry, but leave a little moisture to absorb more of the spices. Perfection!
this looks amazing. there’s no halal corned beef available to me in the UK – is there a chance you could give information on how best to brine the meat Nagi? This looks amazing!!! Recipes I find online are a bit complicated & I’m not sure if I’m using too much/little salt/water.
Thank you!
Can the meat be refrigerated more than 6 hours?
Sorry ignore last message found temperature in lower paragraph
Cook 10 hours on low ? What is low?50c. 100c. ?
I’m making this in the oven as I type, after 6 hours I take it out, open the foil, chill for several hours then do I need to put it back in the oven got thirty minutes since it was cooked in the oven? I’m thinking yes as was covered in foil before .,,,then slice right?
Ugh…I accidentally used hot smoke paprika instead of the regular one. Now my mouth is on fire with every bite. Anything I can do? It turned out great other than that
I made it with a Wagyu corned Eye-Round. It was magnificent. The recipe worked perfectly. Thank you.
I know this recipe was posted a while ago but we made it yesterday & today. Amazing! Absolutely amazing.
I made this the first time and all the juices pooled in the tin foil, steaming/boiling the meat. It still tasted good but the spice coating totally fell off. The second time I poked holes in the tin foil at the bottom with a toothpick. It came out perfect, and the juices all drained out into the slow cooker.
It’s now one of my most oft-requested meals from my regular dinner guests, and was a major major hit at Xmas with three different groups of dinner guests. Win win win!
The best use I’ve found hands-down for my corned silverside.
Rats, sorry, forgot the star rating. Six out of five! 😀
I agree, I love this, however, I don’t like cooking in alfoil, so I wrap in baking paper. Came out superb, but still need drain holes.
Hi Nagi, I do love your recipes & Im making this atm, I noticed smell of catching so turned off checked it & it was dry w 1/2 cup of water added at start as per your instructions….so I had to add more water. Im cooking this in stove top pressure cooker. I did do some extenive research re temps. My question is gas dial. Obviously high (full blast is too high) what do you suggest high (full dial until u can hear steam) then turn down to lowest setting on gas stove top? Thanks so much
Hi Nagi,
Looking forward to trying this.
Quick question…
If I double wrap corned beef in aluminum foil and suspend it above bottom of crockpot, how do the juices get out? Should I perforate the foil?
Kevin, overall you want the juices to stay in. Despite your best wrapping in foil, some steam is still likely to escape … enough to seal the bobber-valve on the pressure-cooker. If not, then just add water to the bottom of the pot, and let the juices stay with the meat!
I was wondering the same thing. I had to add some water in the pressure cooker as it wouldn’t proceed without liquid – it displayed ‘dry’.
Wow 🤩 amazing 😻 will never have normal silverside again 💚💚💚💚💚
This is a family favorite! Could I make a couple and freeze one?
Why do you cook it for 10 hours, then refrigerate, then bake?