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…
My small slow cooker only takes 1kilo. Result was delicious but fell apart rather than sliced. 10 hours too long for this size.
I live in the UK and dont think I have ever seen Salt Beef for sale anywhere. Do you have a recipe for making your own salt beef???
Jamie Oliver has a recipe for Salt Beef – https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/beef/homemade-salt-beef/
I haven’t tried it but plan to then use that for Nagi’s Pastrami recipe.
Available online here ; https://swaledale.co.uk/products/salt-beef?variant=40417418805380
My UK proper butcher (not supermarket!) is happy to salt brisket if asked. Give it a couple of weeks.
I tried this in the slow cooker last night. Watched the how to video, followed the instructions, but no juices to reserve appeared. Not sure what happened. Has this happened to anyone else?Hopefully it’s okay anyway, really looking forward to it.
I love, love this recipe! I use canning rings in my crockpot to keep the beef off the bottom. They are so much more stable than foil.
Keep up those lovely, normal person recipes.
Your recipes are a staple in my home.
Need to try Cork City’s spiced beef! Had it as a child! Nothing in Australia comes close! I am sure it would give Katz a run for its money!
Going to try this as my husband has a smoker and never produces a pastrami which is inconceivable! I shall best him with this recipe. I plan to use my Insta pot then finish in his smoker. I’m weary of using al foil as I try to avoid the stuff due to a lengthy heavy metal detox I’m doing (had high aluminium lead and mercury just from living life for 39 years) someone said they used baking paper and poked holes which is what I’ll do but question… does it really need to be wrapped if going in an electric pressure cooker?
my juices were still in foil too but my meat was SO dry! Any ideas from anyone how to fix it? What causes it to go dry. I followed the recipe to the dot! And I’m usually a pretty good cook!
If you make your friends Reuben sandwiches with this you will be a hero! So good!
I am making this for the second time. First time round I distributed to neighbors and friends. I also used Nagi’s reuben sandwich recipe and without exceptions had positive comments. I promote Nagi and her recipes whenever I get an opportunity because her recipes are so achievable for everyone.
Very Spot On. Enjoying tonight for dinner. Not NYC BUT Realy damn Good. AS a and on I used your season recipe on chicken thighs same cooking style BAMM out of the park good.Keep cooking and sharing THX
This recipe is fantastic! I never thought I could make pastrami at home without a smoker. The spices used are perfect, and the cooking method turned out deliciously tender meat. I can’t wait to try it in a sandwich! Thank you for sharing such an easy and flavorful recipe!
This recipe looks amazing! I’ve always thought making pastrami was too complicated, but your step-by-step instructions make it seem so doable. Can’t wait to try this out for my next sandwich night!
I did this on a rack over water in the oven. It was absolutely delicious! I played with the spice mix a bit, adding some Gochugaru.
I advise choosing a rectangular-shaped piece of beef, (no tapered ends) so it cooks uniformly. Also top up the water regularly. Much cheaper and tastier than bought pastrami!
I visited a friend and we had some of this pastrami.
It was absolutely delicious!
I asked him for his recipe and he showed me his printed copy.
As soon as I saw that it was Nagi’s recipe, I understood why it was so good.
What I’m not happy about, is that while typing this, the keyboard disappears frequently to allow me to be taken to an advertiser’s site.
Looks fantastic. Correct me if i am wrong, no liquid goes into the slow cooker at the start and the juices end up in the pot. Thanks in advance.
I love healthy food, I just have to Lorne to doings
Made this for the first time today, so far so good!! Now for the Reuben Sandwich!! 😊🤤
I have just cooked this using the oven method. Superb. Important to do a pleated joint in the foil over the meat to create that perfect seal and the succulent flavoursome result
I made this over the past couple of days using the slow cooker method. That was pretty easy. It is overpowering with pepper, but the fat cap (though it wasn’t huge on my piece of meat) also didn’t completely seal In the final cooking so a fair amount of the ‘crust’ slid off the top. It was also challenging to slice it thinly so we’ll have pastrami slabs on our sandwiches! I’d definitely reduce the pepper if I make this again though.
This is a great pastrami rub, and I would encourage people to skip the slow cooker and use the oven method, treating it like you would a traditional brisket on the smoker. I apply a little yellow mustard as a binder to a store bought corned beef brisket. Rub it heavily with the pastrami mix and let it sit for a few minutes. Place it uncovered on a rack in a roasting pan with a separate metal bowl with water in it to give off a little steam during the cook. Insert a meat thermoeter in the thickest part of the brisket, put in oven at 235 degrees. Leave it alone, no peeking. When it hits 160, wrap snugly in a sheet of butcher paper, put it back in the oven and let it ride until 195-200. The brisket will “stall” for a while in the 160 degree range…totally normal. This is going to take several hours. Remove from oven, put the wrapped brisket in a small cooler, with a small towel inside to keep it extra-insulated. Close cooler and leave it alone for 2 hours minimum. Then it’s ready to slice and eat.