Blue Cheese Is The Tangy Ingredient That Will Upgrade Your Reuben Sandwich

The Reuben sandwich is one of America's most iconic deli favorites, consisting of a mixture of imported and homegrown ingredients representative of the nation's melting pot population. It has inspired many dishes, from Reuben benedicts to Reuben dips, not to mention numerous twists on the original recipe.

Common twists swap the boldest ingredients like sauerkraut or corned beef for less controversial fan favorites like coleslaw and chicken. However, blue cheese breaks the mold by providing a bolder swap for mild Swiss cheese, and the result is a flavorful and sophisticated upgrade. Instead of a tamer Rachel sandwich, you can wow your tastebuds with a newly donned Blue Reuben.

Blue cheese offers an overpowering and unique palette that's funky, pungent, salty, and creamy. Considering its popularity as a pairing for steaks, blue cheese will certainly stand up to and enrich the savoriness of corned beef. It'll also complement the funky tanginess of sauerkraut and rye bread's sour finish. Lastly, blue cheese will work well with a sweeter Thousand Island or spicy Russian dressing. It'll tamper the heat of horseradish or Tabasco sauce in Russian dressing, while the sweeter Thousand Island dressing will offset blue cheese's funkiness.

Blue cheese comes in numerous varieties, and they're all crumbly and creamy. You can crumble the blue cheese over the sauerkraut or gently spread a thin layer of blue cheese on the rye bread used to top the sandwich before toasting it in an oven or panini press. Blue cheese will melt completely, blending with the spicy Russian dressing for the ultimate flavor boost.

If you wanted to amp up the tanginess or offset the funkiness of blue cheese in the Reuben, you could also add chopped butter pickles for a sweet and sour crunch or mix sweet pickle relish into the Thousand Island dressing. If blue cheese is still a little too funky for your taste, another option is to use blue cheese dressing.

Ingredients like buttermilk, sour cream, mayo, and vinegar give blue cheese dressing a tangier and creamier combination with less funk than blue cheese alone. Plus, blue cheese will transform from solid to liquid when heated, while blue cheese dressing maintains a thick consistency with noticeable chunks of blue cheese. You can whip up your own blue cheese dressing, adding less buttermilk for a dip-like thickness that'll work better as a sandwich spread.