I originally tried this soup at Russ’, a mom-and-pop restaurant in the Netherlands. It was a spoonful of love. I felt compelled to cook this soup, so I examined every morsel for flavors and ingredients. The recipe is below. Enjoy! P.S. The recipe is simpler to prepare than the ingredient list suggests.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 50 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 10 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 12 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 4 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 cup butter
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon dried tarragon
- ½ teaspoon caraway seeds
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups beef stock
- 1 quart half-and-half
- 1 pound cooked corned beef, chopped
- 1 cup sauerkraut
- 1 teaspoon seasoned salt (such as Spice Islands® Beau Monde Seasoning)
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 2 ½ cups shredded Swiss cheese, divided
- 1 (6 ounce) package rye croutons
Instructions
- Cook and stir onion, celery, red bell pepper, butter, garlic, tarragon, and caraway seeds in a stock pot over medium heat until vegetables are tender, 6 to 8 minutes.
- Slowly stir flour into vegetable mixture. Cook on low until flour is lightly browned, stirring constantly, about 10 minutes.
- Stir beef stock, half-and-half, corned beef, sauerkraut, seasoned salt, and black pepper into vegetable mixture. Reduce heat to low and simmer until soup is heated through and slightly thickened, about 30 minutes.
- Stir 2 cups Swiss cheese into soup until melted. Ladle soup into individual bowls and top with rye croutons and remaining Swiss cheese.
- You can hold this in a slow cooker, but you must complete the steps through the flour on the stove top in order to brown the flour. If you hold it in a crock pot, do not add any cheese until about 20 minutes before serving.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 590 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 25 g |
| Cholesterol | 142 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 28 g |
| Saturated Fat | 26 g |
| Sodium | 1005 mg |
| Sugars | 3 g |
| Fat | 43 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
My family loved this. Very creamy and tasty. My husband, who does not like sauerkraut, enjoyed this soup too. I will make this again.
Very good soup. It didn’t taste like a Reuben sandwich to me (maybe because I see Reubens as a vehicle to consume mustard) but the flavors work well in this form too. I cut down on the butter some and made croutons from black rye bread. I will make this again.
I made it. Loved it. I recommend cutting the butter in half, at least. I also added extra Caraway seeds. Delicious as is. Suggestions are what I think would make it a little better.
I’ve made this twice to take to parties and it was a hit both times. The first time, I made it a day ahead and added the half and half about 1/2 hour before serving. The second time I used a pint of half and half and about 1/2 pint of sour cream, which gave it a really nice tang. I make the croutons from cut up rye bread and toast them in a pan with butter, salt and pepper. If you love a good reuben, you will love this soup.
My husband loves Reuben sandwiches so I knew this would be a hit with him. We love it. I serve it with Rye crisp flatbread.
This soup was good but the flavors were lost some how. There wasn’t any favor that stud out that made it a Reuben flavor. All I could taste was the creamy taste. Very rich in cream.
The only change I made I used half milk and half heavy cream. It is so delicious. Tasted even better the 2nd day! Definitely make it again!
Good, not great. Was expecting more flavor based on comparison to other Reuben soups I’ve tried in restaurants. I’m not a fan of caraway seeds or Swiss cheese so I skipped the caraway and substituted mozzarella for the Swiss. I concede that I took away flavor elements on both counts. Next time I will add more corned beef, possibly doubling the amount, and maybe add a touch of Worcestershire sauce. Agree with others who felt the recipe does not need a full cup of butter. The half-and-half and cheese add plenty of creamy richness.
It was very good and easy to make. I took it to a Soup & Pie Dinner and it went over well. I also made it for us with Reuben Sandwiches to go with it. A great meal
I thought this was a good, solid, 4-star recipe. Maybe it would have been a 5-star for me if I’d used the full 1-cup of butter, but since I’m always trying to cut bad fats (and salt), I just couldn’t make myself use that much butter! As it stands, I used just enough butter to sautee the vegetables (approx. 3 Tbsp.). I also did not use the seasoned salt as I didn’t have any, but I rarely use salt so I don’t think I missed it. I had leftovers the day after, and added additional sauerkraut, which I thought provided a nice flavor boost. I think additional caraway seeds will help, and I’ll try that with my next bowl. I agree with the other reviewers who recommend making your own croutons if you can’t find them in the store. They definitely add to the texture, if not the flavor, of this soup. Thanks Shannon for submitting the recipe. I don’t know where Russ’ Restaurant is, but I definitely want to try this soup there. 🙂
I made this recipe for my wife on her birthday and she loved it. I made the recipe exactly as it says here and it turned out great. I debated on making some corned beef for this but instead I found that one of the grocery stores in the area carries corned beef in their deli. I also couldn’t find rye croutons at a store so I bought a loaf of rye bread and tore up a few pieces, put some butter on them and then baked them at 350 for about 15 minutes. They turned out great and went well with this soup. I will be making this recipe again.
This was a tasty soup, but not as good as Russ’.
This was super good, but not quite Russ’ Ruben soup. I found that it was even better the next day.
Great recipe, but I lowered the fat content and it turned out wonderful. You really only need about 3 tblsp. of butter. Just thicken the soup by shaking the flour with low fat condensed milk and low fat milk combined ( not half-half), then add after the vegetable saute’ and beef broth simmer have cooked the vegetables through. I run the flour/milk mix thru a sieve to catch any lumps. Followed rest of recipe pretty much, but did add a couple Tblsp. of sugar to boost the flavors and add dimension like the 1000 island dressing would for the sandwich.
I just found this recipe today. I have not tried it yet but wanted to say thank you to Shannon for submitting it and allrecipes for publishing it. My inlaws live in Michigan and I have been having this soup there for about 25 years. I go there every summer and order this soup but could never find a recipe till today. My husband and I are excited to try it. I will be making this next weekend and can’t wait . I will report back. It was so nice to see that someone else knows Russ restaurants . As I live in New Jersey and no one out here knows it . I will report back when I make it .
I made this recipe as listed, minus caraway seeds, and it was incredible! My boyfriend gave it rave reviews and didn’t tire of it even after a few nights of leftovers. We both agreed that it is going into our regular rotation. I shared some with a friend of mine who can’t stand swiss cheese and even she raved over it, asking that I bring some to work for her. Five stars from this satisfied cook!
So delicious. Time consuming to make because I decided to make my own corned beef. It was absolutely delicious, and my entire family loved it! This is going to be a regular option here in my household.
I have wanted this recipe ever since I first tried it at Russ’s restaurant. I followed the recipe except added 1packet of Swanson’s beef flavor boost since I wanted a beefier taste. Excellent recipe!
Delicious, unique, and creative! If you love Reubens, you will love this. I followed the recipe exactly, but cut it in half since it makes a large batch. I thought the addition of red peppers sounded odd, but found that it is a necessary ingredient in order to create the Thousand Island dressing taste that is a must on any classic Reuben. Whatever you do, don’t skip the croutons! While the soup is good by itself, it’s the crunch of the rye crouton that has you craving the next bite. Even salad croutons will work if you can’t find or make your own rye croutons. I used salad croutons that were made with black bread. Thank you so much, shannon, for sharing such a magnificent recipe!
I also subbed red pepper for carrots. I had 11 oz. of corned beef so adjusted ingredients accordingly. My hubby is lactose intolerant so I did 4 cups of beef broth and 2 cups half and half. Turned out delish! Could have even done 5 cups broth and one cup half and half and still would have been creamy.
This is soooo good! One of my favorite sandwiches is a reuben, so I knew I had to make this when I saw it. The recipe is perfect as-is. I did have to make my own rye croutons due to lack of availability in my grocery store, but they were easy–cube rye bread and toast in the overn for a few minutes. They are a must with this soup to give it the full reuben flavor, and you’ll want to generously top your soup with them. Thanks for warming up a cold day with a yummy recipe!