Corned Beef Sandwich Recipe (with Cabbage Slaw)
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Corned Beef Sandwich recipe is the perfect way to repurpose leftover corned beef into a whole new meal. Tender corned beef, a sweet mustard sauce, and crunchy caraway slaw make this the Best Corned Beef Sandwich you’ll ever have.
Corned Beef Sandwich recipe starts with a mound of corned beef, layered with a smooth brown sugar mustard sauce and topped with a crunchy caraway slaw.
Add a nice seeded rye bread and you’ve got a work of art disguised as a sandwich.
This Corned Beef Cabbage Sandwich is over the top in flavor and textures.
The mild brown sugar mustard sauce is so smooth and creamy that it should be bottled.
It just seeps into this sandwich and guarantees that every bite is going to be flavorful. It’s the perfect contrast to the salty corned beef.
The caraway slaw adds a delicious crunch to the tender corned beef.
Put the whole thing in between two slices of bread and you have one gourmet sandwich that’s worthy of the best deli.
FAQ’s
No. A Rueben sandwich tops corned beef with sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and Russian dressing.
Yes! We recommend heating the sandwich with the meat and mustard sauce and then applying the slaw.
Absolutely! To do so, slice the meat and make the sauce and slaw. We don’t recommend assembling the sandwiches until you’re ready to serve them. This will prevent them from becoming soggy.
Corned Beef Slaw Ingredients
Sliced Corned Beef
- Corned Beef – Our baked Corned Beef Brisket or Instant Pot Corned Beef allows us to get beautiful slices.
- Other methods of cooking corned beef often require that you shred the meat. Shredded corned beef will work in this sandwich too.
- You can use Sliced Corned Beef from the Deli so these sandwiches can be enjoyed any time.
- Bread – We recommend slices of our homemade Sourdough rye bread, Pumpernickel Rye Bread, or our Rye Bread with Yeast would be delicious.
Sauce
- Dijon mustard – The smooth mild flavor works perfectly in the sauce.
- Brown Sugar – You can use dark or light brown sugar.
Caraway Slaw
- Cabbage – We use green cabbage
- We always serve cabbage with our St. Patrick’s meal but don’t cook it all so we can make this slaw.
- Lemon juice – Keeps the cabbage fresh and crunchy and adds a bright acidic flavor.
- Honey – Mellows the lemon juice and adds sweetness to our slaw.
- Plain Greek Yogurt – Adds a creamy texture. We used fat-free but any variety will work.
- Spices – We toasted and ground mustard seed, allspice, and caraway seed. We also used salt. If you don’t want to toast and grind whole spices, you can use the following:
- 1/4 teaspoon each of ground allspice and mustard seed.
- We recommend using 1/2 teaspoon of the whole caraway seed versus a ground version. It doesn’t have to be ground.
How to Make a Corned Beef Sandwich
- Slice the cooked corned beef thinly and set it aside.
- In a small bowl, stir the Dijon mustard and the brown sugar together and set aside.
- Thinly slice the cabbage. We use a mandoline to make short work of this task. You could also use a sharp knife.
- In a small bowl whisk the lemon juice, yogurt, honey, and salt together.
- In a small skillet add the allspice berries, caraway seed, and mustard seed. Toast just until fragrant. Place the spices in a spice grinder and grind to a powder consistency.
- Add the spices to the lemon juice mixture and whisk to combine.
- Pour the lemon juice mixture over the cabbage and stir to combine.
- Assemble the sandwich by spreading the mustard sauce onto the inside of each slice of bread. Top the bottom slice of the bread with the sliced corned beef then top with the slaw. Place the other slice of bread on top of the slaw.
What can I serve with Corned Beef Brisket sandwich?
Even though this sandwich has a sweetened element, it’s primarily a savory sandwich. Our Cherry Fluff Salad, Fruit Cocktail Salad, or Pistachio Pudding Dessert would be perfect.
Don’t Forget To Come Back And Let Me Know How Your Corned Beef Sandwich Turned Out!
Corned Beef Sandwich Recipe with Cabbage Slaw
Ingredients
- Corned Beef cooked and sliced or shaved thin
- Sandwich bread of your choice We used rye
Sauce
- 1/2 cup Dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
Coleslaw
- 2 cups shredded green cabbage
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup plain greek yogurt We used fat-free
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp mustard seed
- 1/2 tsp allspice approx 17 berries
- 1/2 tsp caraway seed
Instructions
Sauce
- Combine the sauce ingredients and whisk until smooth.
Slaw
- In a bowl or jar, combine lemon juice, yogurt, salt and honey
- In a small skillet, combine the mustard seed, allspice berries, and caraway seed. Heat until aromatic.
- Grind in a spice grinder and add to slaw ingredients.
- Stir to combine
Assemble
- Spread sauce on both slices of bread. Add meat and top with slaw. Serve with additional sauce if desired.
Notes
- 1/4 teaspoon each of ground allspice and mustard seed.
- We recommend using 1/2 teaspoon of the whole caraway seed versus a ground version. It doesn’t have to be ground.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
This recipe was calculated using the exact brands and measurements I used to make this recipe. If you are following a strict diet please note changing anything will cause the nutritional info to change. My calculations are intended as a guide only.
Check out these Leftover Corned Beef Recipes!
Even though there are only the two of us, we love all of the leftovers that we get from the corned beef. Especially Corned Beef Sandwich with Slaw. Here are a few more of our favorites.
- Corned Beef and Cabbage Soup
- Reuben Dip
- Corned Beef Hash and Eggs
- Corned Beef Au Gratin Potatoes
- Leftover Corned Beef Breakfast Casserole
This post has been updated to improve our reader’s experience. No changes were made to the recipe.
Did you enjoy this recipe? Don’t forget to pin it for later and follow me on Pinterest for more delicious recipes like this one!
This sandwich is making me think that I need to prepare extra corned beef so I’m certain to have leftovers. The slaw sounds delightful. What a wonderful melody of flavors in this sammie!
Thank you Sandra!
I have corned beef in my crock pot right now!! I sure hope we have leftovers so I can make this sandwich!! That slaw looks incredible!!
Lucky girl! I’ll get a couple this week too!
This looks like it may be the world’s best sandwich!!!!
Thank you Brandi! We agree.
Delicious! The ultimate St. Patrick’s Day meal!
Thanks, Jennifer!
I made these for dinner last night and everyone loved them! I will definitely be making them again for St. Patrick’s Day!
Thank you, Tayler! I hope you loved them like we did!
This is my kind of sandwich! The ratio of bread/filling is perfect and I love left overs when they are transformed to something so delicious 🙂
Thank you, Petra! Sometimes the leftovers are just as fun as the original meal.
Thank you for bringing this to Fiesta Friday! My husband adores corned beef sandwiches, his mouth was watering at your pictures! They do make great leftovers…corned beef hash anyone?
Thank you Liz! I love corned beef hash! I’ve got one for the oven tomorrow and will have to plan on making some now that I’m craving it. Thank you so much for co-hosting FF this week too!
This looks awesome! Thanks for sharing it for my Pinterest project. 🙂
Thank you Meggan. It’s done very well for me. Will you share your project when you’re finished so we can share back?
I don’t really have anything to share back. I’m basically loading up a secret board with some outstanding burger and sandwich pins, and one per day will go out to a massive group board I belong to for burgers and sandwiches. 🙂 That’s basically it. So it’s not a roundup, I was just looking for beautiful recipes to share. I hope that is okay. If not just let me know! I hope you see some Pinterest activity from it.
I will appreciate the shares. Thanks Meggan!
I’m planning on sous vide cooking a big ol’ corned beef for 3 day soon, but need to get the brine ingredients fixed up. As soon as I’ve sorted myself out and got the brisket, I’m planning these sandwiches all over! 😀
Thank you so much Martin! Please let me know how the sous vide turns out! I have one and am always looking for new recipes. I bet it would be marvelous. How long will you cook it?
I just showed these to my husband and his jaw dropped 😀 They look fantastic, all those gorgeous layers! Thank you for sharing at Fiesta Friday!!
Awe Naina thank you for sharing. This sandwich was a favorite with the boys for sure!
You had me at cabbage slaw. That looks so good I think I could eat it without the corned beef!!! Your photos make it all look so good!
Awe thank you so much Jenny! I agree with you too!
Holy moly, this looks good! Corned beef was the first thing I ever cooked by myself (years ago), so it has a special place in my heart. Can’t wait to try this!
Thank you Cathy! Loved you stopping by. This sammie is delicious and I hope you think so too. Stop back and let me know what you think.
Lots of beef and mustard, just the way I love it. Thanks for making me want to eat right off the screen.
Awe thank you so much Liz! ❤️
drooling!
Thank you Johanne!
Mmmm this looks so good! Definitely going to try this.
Thank you Lucy! We really enjoyed it and hope you will too. If you get a chance, let me know what you think!
St. Pat’s Day caught me off guard this year! The leftovers for a reuben was always my favorite party. Your slaw sounds very tasty!
Thank you Judi! We don’t celebrate it with the exception of cooking our yearly corned beef and cabbage. It gets way to crazy out there for us. Lots of drunks on the road.
A very tasty looking sandwich!
Thank you Lynz!
What a beaut Julie! Just in time for the infamous week 🙂 I’m thinking it would go down real well for it. Your pictures are stunning, love, love those close-ups, you do it so well on your camera. That sauce looks amazing! Happy St. Patrick’s Day for Thursday 🙂
Thank you Loretta! We loved corned beef but only make it about once a year and that is probably as much St Patrick celebrating we do. Oh maybe a Guinness too! Have a great week Loretta!
Those sandwiches look delicious.
Thank you Jeff! I appreciate your stopping by!
Still looks delicious! The spices and yogurt in the slaw sauce are so unexpected (at least to me, anyway). I bet they complement the corned beef nicely.
Thank you, my friend! I like this sauce because it’s smooth and not heavy.
This sandwich looks tasty and easy to make. Stumbling to share.
Thank you so much for your support and share!
Oh, Julie! You are making us so hungry! 🙂 (My husband is peeking over my shoulder at your recipe!) It sounds so yummy! ♡
Thank you Dawn! It’s easy and yummy.
This would HANDS-DOWN be my favorite kind of sandwich before I turned vegan! My mouth is watering. It’s a beauty!!!
Thank you! The slaw and mustard sauce would be yummy together on an alternative sandwich too Susan.
This looks so good to me, Julie! I love reuben sandwiches, and it reminds me a little of those. The brown sugar mustard sauce sounds wonderful! Do you mind if I ask you how you cooked your corned beef?
Thank you Shari! We love roasting our corned beef brisket. So many recipes recommend that you boil them. I just rinse them well, put some liquid in the bottom of a roaster and bake at 325 degrees F. Cover it to start and then remove the lid for a nice delicious crust.
Thanks, Julie. Roasting sounds so much better than boiling!
Featured here > https://sweetmeetsbakeshop.com/2016/03/14/matcha-white-chocolate-cake-pops-mold-vs-traditional-method/
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day and keep on cooking!
Thank you for the feature!
Oh my.. You are right, Julie – that’s a work of art disguised as a sandwich! I will definitely try this. 🙂
Thank you Ana! It is really good.