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.
LIFE OF DOZER
Nobody wants Dozer on their team for a game of Jenga…
Made this Sunday… all I can say is AMAZING!!!!
🙌🏻 🙌🏻 LOVE hearing that! Thanks for letting me know Carol! N x
Bless you, Nagi. Lovely recipe. It does need the 1/2 water in electric pressure cookers too, but sooo juicy and flavourful.
That’s great to hear Claire! Thanks for letting me know!
My slow cooker has low, medium and high settings… which one would you recommend for cooking this, please? Thanks. x
Low please!
Hi dearest Nagi , your recipe is bringing hope to our life !! The problem is where we live now they don’t have any kind of corned beef/brined beef, only plain old beef roasts. What do you think we could get ( and do) to mimic corned beef, to be able to make your wonderful Pastrami recipe. Any ideas we’ll appreciate to the moon and back:-)
Thank you so much !!
Cheers .
Hi Paz! I’m so sorry to say I haven’t made corned beef myself 🙁 I suggest googling it! N x
Thanks Nagi……….I’ll give that task to my hubby ….🤓😁😉😉
This is so good. Very easy instructions and when I get told to make it again, I know it’s a winner.
Hey Nagi,
Could you set the crust straight after the pressure cooker then refrigerate and slice the next day?
Or is it imperative to cool it before setting the crust.
Cheers,
Sam
I’ve never tried making homemade pastrami before, I’m curious to see how it’ll turn out. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Nagi, you have done it again – this Pastrami IS outrageously good, everyone loves it.
Thank you again
That’s terrific to hear Chris! So glad you enjoyed this! N x
So the corned beef that i bought weighs 2.7Kg, how much longer would i leave that in the crock pot? Thank you
Hi Yvonne! Same time will be fine 🙂 It shouldn’t differ much at the thickest part from the cuts I use, and also corned beef is pretty forgiving so I err on the side of caution with my recipe. N x
This is great. I made it for my parents the other day and had them over for a casual dinner of pastrami sandwiches. Everyone loved it. Thanks for the recipe!
That’s great to hear Katie! Thanks for letting me know! N x
Hi Nagi
great recipe thank you
I buy pastrami from different delis and not that fussed and I felt there was more to this cold cut than I was getting..
I followed your recipe with the addition to scoring all faces of the joint to about three millimetres and rubbed the seasoning in…. I was very impressed with the result
thank you
andy from oz
Fantastic to hear Andy!! I so wish we could get real pastrami here in Australia 🙂 But this definitely goes a long way to curb our cravings! 🙂 N x
This is delicious! I wasn’t sure when to use the liquid smoke so I brushed it on prior to coating the meat with the spice mixture. I used the foil balls under it in the crockpot overnight. This morning I cooled and refrigerated it for the day before baking it tonight. There was plenty of rich juice in the bottom of the crockpot but the meat was so juicy and flavorful we didn’t even need it.
I became a fan of your recipes with the Slow Cooker Carnitas. This is another keeper for sure! Thank you so much for sharing.
Oh dear, I totally forgot to add the directions, I will add it. Thank you! N x
can’t wait to try this it looks sooooo delicious!
you don’t have to go all the way to NY for Katz – you only have to go half way as we have Katz here in Houston . We have 2 of them and both are open 24/7 !!!
NO WAY! Katz’s is in other locations?? I have to find out where!!!
OMG I’m in love. I absolutely love Katz’s and think about it often. I wish I didn’t live on the other side of the country. I would be there every day battling the crowds. And I hate crowds.
Pastrami is one of my favs. I MUST make this. I can’t believe you can make pastrami in the slow cooker! I’m just so excited Nagi!
Once I can actually use a smoker, I do want to try Kevin’s recipe too.
It’s seriously amazing! Obviously not as good as Katz’s but still SO GOOOOOOOD!!!
Hi Nagi…..if using the liquid smoke, does it get mixed in with the spices or just drizzled into the foil packet?
I would be cooking it in the Instant Pot …..Thanks
Thank you for sharing your recipe!
I was reading online that Katzs Delicatessen is going to deliver subscription boxes world wide..
Each monthly box with have a variety.. but the subscription is pricey..
I think your recipe will be far more economical.. If I am ever in NY.. I will be sure try Katzs..
I meant to add to my previous question that when using a pressure cooker, i thought there had to be some liquid in the pot in order to create steam/moisture. Didn’t think you could run it while dry inside.
Thank you for posting this recipe! I absolutely LOVE pastrami. However, I have a bit of a dilemma. I will be making this in my electric pressure cooker but I cannot understand how if the corned beef is double wrapped in foil and sealed, where is the juice coming from that I see you pour on the sliced corned beef after it’s done if everything is sealed inside the foil? By the way…I live in the U.S., not far from NY state/NYC…and have been to Katz’s… and their pastrami is to die for!
Many thanks Nagi! I really appreciate your taking the time to reply to a fan in Australia. My family and I have enjoyed many, many of your great recipes!
Thanks again
Chris
I’m in Australia too!!! 🙂 Sydney northern beaches! N x
Then we’re both very lucky, Nagi!
Thanks – and keep those wonderful recipes coming!
Hi Nagi
How can one make this without a slow-cooker (alas i do not own one)
thanx
Hi Cashiefa! I haven’t tried that myself but in another recipe, it says 225 degrees F (110 degrees C) for 6 hours which sounds about right compared for the slow cooking time I use. 🙂 N x