Creamy Reuben Soup

Reuben soup is pure comfort in a bowl – combining all those beloved sandwich flavors into one incredibly satisfying, soul-warming dish! Picture tender corned beef, tangy sauerkraut, and melty Swiss cheese swimming in a rich, creamy broth that’s topped with toasted rye bread triangles. It’s like getting a warm hug from your favorite deli, except you can make it right in your own kitchen.

Love More Soup Recipes? Try My Loaded Baked Potato Soup or this Crockpot Cheeseburger Soup next.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• It captures all the nostalgic flavors of a classic Reuben sandwich in comforting soup form
• The creamy, rich broth feels like a warm blanket on cold days
• Simple ingredients you can find at any grocery store – no hunting for specialty items
• Perfect for using up leftover corned beef or when you’re craving deli flavors at home
• The broiled cheese and rye bread topping makes every bowl feel restaurant-special

Ingredients You’ll Need

For the Soup Base:

• 3 tablespoons butter (I use whatever’s in the fridge)
• ½ cup chopped onion (yellow onion works fine)
• ¼ cup chopped celery (those sad celery stalks from last week? Perfect)
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 3 cups water
• 4 cubes beef bouillon (or those little packets if that’s what you have)
• 3 cups half-and-half cream (don’t cheap out here, trust me)

For the Reuben Elements:

• 3 cups shredded Swiss cheese, divided (buy the block and shred yourself – tastes way better)
• 8 ounces shredded corned beef (deli counter stuff works great)
• 1 cup sauerkraut, drained (squeeze it out good!)
• 8 slices rye bread, toasted and cut into triangles (seeded or plain, whatever you like)

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Why These Ingredients Work

So butter with onions and celery – that’s like Soup Making 101 right there. My aunt Jenny taught me this when I was maybe twelve, standing on a stepstool in her kitchen. Cook those three together and boom, you’ve got the base for almost any good soup. The flour thing took me forever to figure out because nobody really explains it well. You mix flour with the melted butter and it becomes this paste that keeps your soup from being watery later. I ruined so many batches before learning this trick properly. Half-and-half is the sweet spot for creaminess – heavy cream makes you feel sick after, regular milk is too thin. Trust me, I’ve tried both and regretted it. Those bouillon cubes pack way more flavor than you’d expect for something so cheap. Swiss cheese melts without getting stringy or grainy like some cheeses do, plus it has that slightly sour taste that screams “Reuben sandwich.” The corned beef and sauerkraut are obvious – they’re literally what makes a Reuben a Reuben. And those rye triangles soaking up the soup? That’s the best part of the whole bowl.

Essential Tools and Equipment

• One big pot (I use my old dutch oven from my wedding registry)
• Wooden spoon for stirring (plastic ones melt, learned that one the hard way)
• Whisk for mixing (the wire kind, not those weird silicone ones)
• 8 bowls that can go in the oven (check the bottom – if there’s no oven-safe symbol, don’t risk it)
• Sharp knife and cutting board
• Measuring cups and spoons (the metal ones work better than plastic)
• Ladle for serving (or just use a big spoon, whatever)
• Cookie sheet to hold the bowls under the broiler

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Create Your Flavor Base

Get that butter melting in your biggest pot over medium-high heat. Dump in the chopped onion and celery. They’ll sizzle and smell incredible after maybe 5 minutes when they get all soft and see-through.

Step 2: Make the Perfect Roux

Dump in the flour and stir constantly for about 2 minutes. It’ll look like chunky wet sand at first, then smooth out and smell kind of toasty. Don’t walk away during this part or you’ll burn it.

Pro Tip: My mom drilled this into my head – never stop stirring the flour or you’ll get nasty lumps that ruin everything!

Step 3: Build Your Broth

Pour water in really slowly while whisking like crazy. I mean it – don’t stop whisking or you’ll end up with flour chunks floating around. Toss in those bouillon cubes, let everything bubble up, then turn the heat way down and simmer 5 minutes.

Step 4: Add the Creamy Goodness

Pour in the half-and-half, then stir in 1 cup of that Swiss cheese (hide the rest from your kids or they’ll eat it). Add the shredded corned beef and squeezed-out sauerkraut. Keep it bubbling gently for 30 whole minutes, stirring every so often. Don’t let it boil hard or the cream gets gross and chunky.

Step 5: Prep for the Grand Finale

Crank up your broiler while the soup does its thing. Toast those rye slices until they’re golden and crunchy, then cut them into triangles. They need to be sturdy enough to survive under that broiler heat.

Step 6: Assemble and Broil

Ladle soup into your oven-safe bowls – fill them up good. Stick a rye triangle in each bowl, then pile on the rest of that cheese. Don’t be stingy! Slide them under the broiler for maybe 3 minutes until the cheese gets all bubbly and golden.

You Must Know

Do NOT try to rush that 30-minute simmer time. I’ve been there – standing over the pot thinking “it looks thick enough” only to end up with basically fancy milk with chunks floating in it. Squeeze that sauerkraut like you’re trying to wring out a dishrag, or your soup will be all watery and sad. Check your bowls twice before sticking them under the broiler – I had one split right down the middle once and made a huge mess. If you taste raw flour in your soup, you didn’t cook that roux long enough back in step 2.

Personal Secret: When nobody’s looking, I sprinkle in just a tiny pinch of caraway seeds – makes the whole thing taste more like authentic rye bread throughout!

Pro Tips & Cooking Hacks

Keep that heat low once the cream goes in or it’ll separate and look disgusting. If it gets too thick, just splash in more half-and-half until it looks right to you. When you’re making the roux, add liquid super slowly while whisking – this stops those horrible lumps from forming. Make sure that rye bread is really crunchy or it’ll turn to mush under the broiler. Planning to make this tomorrow? Stop before adding the cream and cheese – those get weird when you reheat them. Got Worcestershire sauce in the pantry? A little splash makes it taste more like an actual Reuben sandwich.

Flavor Variations & Suggestions

Want something lighter that won’t put you in a food coma? Use regular milk instead of half-and-half and back off on the cheese a bit. Need more sour kick? Dump in a tablespoon of pickle juice – sounds weird but it’s amazing. Sometimes I throw in cubed potatoes to bulk it up more, just let them cook with everything else until they’re soft. My brother swears by smoked Swiss cheese for this – gives it this crazy good smoky flavor. His wife adds chopped dill pickles for extra crunch and tang. Got leftover turkey instead? Works great, just different flavor profile. For something really decadent, melt in a chunk of cream cheese right at the end.

Make-Ahead Options

This stuff actually tastes better the next day when all the flavors have had time to hang out together. You can make the whole thing through step 4 and stick it in the fridge for a couple days. Just add the bread and cheese bits when you’re ready to eat so they don’t get soggy. The base freezes really well for months, but you’ll need to add fresh cream and cheese when you thaw it because dairy gets all separated and gross when frozen. If you’re doing meal prep, cook it just a tiny bit less than you think because it keeps getting thicker sitting there.

What to Serve With Reuben Soup

Some kind of simple salad with vinaigrette helps cut through all that richness. Those frozen garlic breadsticks from the grocery store are perfect for dunking. I usually make some roasted Brussels sprouts or just steam some broccoli because you need something green and fresh after all that cream and cheese. Cold beer goes amazingly with this – it’s like having a Reuben at the deli. Or pour yourself a glass of crisp white wine if you’re feeling fancy. Keep dessert light – lemon sorbet or just some fresh berries, because honestly you’ll be pretty full after this.

Allergy Information

This recipe has dairy up the wazoo – butter, cream, cheese – so it’s not great for lactose intolerant folks. There’s gluten in the flour and rye bread too. Some bouillon cubes have soy in them, so check the label if that matters to you. For dairy-free, you could try plant-based butter and coconut cream, plus some kind of dairy-free cheese that melts okay. Gluten-free flour should work fine instead of regular flour, and there’s gluten-free bread out there for the topping. Just read labels because companies sneak allergens into everything these days.

Storage & Reheating

Stick leftovers in the fridge covered and they’ll be good for maybe 4 days. When you reheat it, go low and slow on the stove, stirring a lot so the cream doesn’t separate into gross chunks. You might need to add a splash more cream or broth if it got too thick sitting there. Don’t nuke it on high in the microwave – use half power and stir every 30 seconds. That bread topping gets soggy overnight, so save some cheese and bread to make fresh toppers for your leftovers.

Emily’s Kitchen Secret: My mom taught me this trick – when reheating any cream soup, add just a tiny splash of fresh cream and whisk it in. Brings back that smooth texture and makes day-old soup taste like you just made it. Also, always taste it after reheating and add more salt or pepper because refrigeration makes flavors go flat!

FAQs

Can I use a different type of cheese instead of Swiss?

Yeah, totally! Gruyere is really good if you want to get all fancy – tastes similar but more sophisticated or whatever. Sharp cheddar changes the whole flavor but it’s still delicious. Just use something that melts without getting stringy.

My soup turned out too thin – how can I thicken it?

Mix 2 tablespoons flour with 3 tablespoons cold water in a little bowl until it’s smooth, then whisk it into your soup while it’s simmering. Cook it 5 more minutes to thicken up. Or just let it simmer uncovered longer to cook off some of the liquid.

Can I make this without the broiler step?

Sure, just stir that extra cheese right into the soup and put the toasted rye on the side for dunking. Still tastes amazing, you just don’t get that Instagram-worthy bubbly cheese top that makes everyone think you’re some kind of cooking genius.

What if I can’t find good corned beef?

Go to the deli counter and ask them to slice it thick so you can shred it yourself – that’s usually your best bet for good stuff. If you’ve got leftover corned beef from St. Patrick’s Day sitting around, that’s perfect. Pastrami works too in a pinch, just makes it taste a little different but still really good.

Can I make this in a slow cooker?

You still gotta make that flour and butter mixture on the stove first – can’t skip that part or your soup will be all thin and gross. Then dump everything in the slow cooker for 2-3 hours on low. Add the cream and cheese in the last half hour so they don’t get all separated and weird looking.

💬 Tried this recipe? Leave a comment and rating below! I’m totally curious about what you did with yours – did you add extra pickles like my dad always does? Try a different cheese? Spill the details because I love hearing how you guys make these recipes your own!