• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

RecipeTin Eats

Fast Prep, Big Flavours

Small book

My cookbook "Dinner" now available!

  • My RecipeTin
  • My cookbook!
  • Recipes
  • Recipes By Category
    • Christmas ⭐️
      • Starters
      • Mains
      • Sides: Warm & Hearty
      • Sides: Light & Fresh
      • Desserts
      • Breads
      • Christmas Leftovers
    • Iconic + cult classics
    • Mains
      • Chicken
        • Chicken mince
      • Beef Recipes
        • Ground Beef (Mince)
      • Pork
      • Lamb
      • Turkey
      • Shrimp / Prawns
      • Salmon
      • Fish recipes
      • Salad Meals
    • Quick and Easy
    • Soups
    • One Pot
    • Stews
    • Slow Cooker
    • Sides
      • All
      • Salads & veg
      • Show Off Salads
      • Rice (all)
      • Fried rice recipes
      • Rice (plain)
      • Potato
    • Pasta
      • All
      • Pasta bakes
      • Pasta salads
    • Sweet
      • Cakes
      • Candy
      • Cheesecakes
      • Cupcakes & Muffins
      • Cookies
      • Puddings & Cosy Desserts
      • Bite Size
      • Pies
      • Slices & Bars
      • Frosting & Icing
      • Ice cream
    • Cuisine
      • Asian
        • All
        • Stir fries
        • Noodles
        • Soups
        • Chinese
        • Japanese
        • Korean
        • Thai
        • Vietnamese
      • French
      • Greek
      • Indian
      • Italian
      • Mediterranean
      • Mexican
      • Middle Eastern
      • South American
    • Dietary
      • Gluten Free
      • Low Calorie
      • Vegetarian
    • Other Categories
      • BBQ
      • Breakfast
      • Burgers
      • Cocktails
      • Party Foods
      • Rice Recipes
      • Roasts
      • Sandwiches & Sliders
    • Cookbook recipes
  • Collections
  • About
    • Me
    • RecipeTin Meals
    • Free Recipe Books
    • Contact
    • Nitty Gritty
      • Policy: Use of Recipes & Images
      • Privacy & Disclosure
Home Sandwiches and Sliders

Easy Homemade Pastrami (No Smoker)

By:Nagi
Published:15 Jun '18Updated:3 Aug '20
415 Comments
Recipe v Video v Dozer v

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!

Easy Homemade Pastrami on rye bread with crisps and pickles on the side with a beer in the background

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!!

Slices of homemade pastrami

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.

Pastrami spices

Preparation steps for how to make pastrami

Easy homemade pastrami being sliced

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.

Easy homemade pastrami slices being picked up by tongs, ready to pile onto sandwiches

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!).

Easy Homemade Pastrami sandwich cut in half, stacked on top of each other.

More Burgers, Sliders and Sandwiches

  • Use the pastrami to make epic Reuben Sandwiches!

  • A big, juicy Hamburger recipe

  • Steak Sandwich – super quick

  • Chicken Burger – juicy seasoned chicken breast steak with the lot!

  • Nando’s Peri Peri Chicken Burger – chicken marinated in a homemade flavour bomb Peri Peri sauce

  • BBQ Pulled Pork Sliders and Sloppy Joes!

  • Cubanos – The famous Cuban roast pork sandwich from The Chef movie

  • Veggie Burger – Meatless made amazing. Puts those doughy bricks at the shops to shame!

  • Browse all Burgers and Sandwiches & Sliders recipes


WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT

Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.

Easy homemade pastrami being sliced

Homemade Pastrami Without a Smoker

Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats
Prep: 20 minutes mins
Cook: 11 hours hrs
Total: 11 hours hrs 20 minutes mins
Mains
American
5 from 87 votes
Servings6 - 8
Tap or hover to scale
Print
  • 2358
Recipe video above. 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!
ALSO - use the pastrami to make homemade Rebuen sandwiches!

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:

1. Because this is an easy Pastrami recipe, I start with a store bought corned beef. This is beef that's been brined and is sold vac packed, and it's an economical cut.
Note for UK: The corned beef used in this recipe is called Salt Beef or Pickled Beef in the UK. In the UK, corned beef is like beef SPAM sold in cans. Do not use that in this recipe! 
2. Or use scrunched up balls of foil to elevate off the base (otherwise bottom of pastrami cooks in liquid = uneven cooking)
3. COOKING METHODS:
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.
Keywords: homemade pastrami, pastrami recipe, slow cooker pastrami
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @recipe_tin.

LIFE OF DOZER

Nobody wants Dozer on their team for a game of Jenga…

Dozer the golden retriever wanting to join in on a game of Jenga

SaveSaveEasy Homemade Pastrami on rye bread with crisps and pickles on the side with a beer in the background

Previous Post
Pasta Salad with Sun Dried Tomatoes
Next Post
Request a recipe!

Hi, I'm Nagi!

I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative!

Read More

Free Recipe eBooks

Join my free email list to receive THREE free cookbooks!

Related Posts

Picking up a Tuna sandwich

Tuna sandwich

My Best Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Picking up Egg sandwich

Egg sandwich

More Sandwiches and Sliders

Reader Interactions

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Cooked this? Rate this recipe!




415 Comments

  1. Kaye Earle says

    December 1, 2023 at 3:49 pm

    5 stars
    I’ve made this so many times and now my husband enjoys coking it as he eats the most ofit. Very tasty and you can have it as spicy as you like it or cut back if spice is not your thing..

    Reply
  2. Michele Taylor says

    November 30, 2023 at 7:02 am

    5 stars
    Wow, made this the other day. Fantastic,tasty. Russian dressing easy to make. Don’t think we could eat a Reuben anywhere else.., but home.

    Reply
  3. Colleen King says

    November 19, 2023 at 5:21 pm

    Tried this when it was cooked and the heat was overpowering. Too much black pepper, I thought. Tried it on a slightly modified Reubens sandwich, I didn’t have any sourcraut and don’t put a lid in it but what a difference. The Russian mayonnaise and the cheese were a game changers. Really nice and heat disappeared. I’ve never had a Reubens sandwich but I would if it was as nice as this was.

    Reply
  4. Colleen King says

    November 19, 2023 at 11:33 am

    Making this today in my Crockpot Express electric pressure cooker. Hasn’t cooked a lump of meat in it before so followed your instructions not to add water. I never thought to look up the manual. I kept getting an E6 error. When I looked it up, this cooker requires a minimum of 1 cup of water or it gets an overheating heating error. Might pay to add in your notes to check the manual for your cooker before starting. It may seem obvious in hindsight but I just assumed it would work as per the instructions. Looking forward to the end product now the pressure cooker is working.

    Reply
    • Colleen King says

      November 19, 2023 at 5:20 pm

      Tried this when it was cooked and the heat was overpowering. Too much black pepper, I thought. Tried it on a slightly modified Reubens sandwich, I didn’t have any sourcraut and don’t put a lid in it but what a difference. The Russian mayonnaise and the cheese were a game changers. Really nice and heat disappeared. I’ve never had a Reubens sandwich but I would if it was as nice as this was.

      Reply
  5. Thomas Linnard says

    November 16, 2023 at 9:40 am

    I am using a 2 lb brisket, so cooking times will vary but I am guessing I am still looking for an internal temp of about 200-205°? Would I be correct?

    Reply
  6. Zaida says

    August 3, 2023 at 7:27 am

    Hi,
    When making no smoker pastrami, is it ok to leave in fridge overnight instead of 6 overnight once cooked in slowcooker please?

    Reply
  7. Gillian Bradley says

    August 2, 2023 at 10:12 am

    WOW!!!! You did it again Nagi! First time, fabulous. Not a corned beef lover, but this is gorgeous. Juicy. Flavour. Crusty. My husband made this in slow cooker, finished in airfryer. Reuben’s for lunch. Can’t wait. Thank you again Nagi. 💓

    Reply
  8. AAH says

    July 30, 2023 at 10:34 am

    this looks amazing. there’s no halal corned beef available to me in the UK – is there a chance you could give information on how best to brine the meat Nagi? This looks amazing!!! Recipes I find online are a bit complicated & I’m not sure if I’m using too much/little salt/water.
    Thank you!

    Reply
  9. Patty Turski says

    May 30, 2023 at 5:48 am

    5 stars
    I know this recipe was posted a while ago but we made it yesterday & today. Amazing! Absolutely amazing.

    Reply
  10. FranW says

    May 22, 2023 at 12:11 pm

    I made this the first time and all the juices pooled in the tin foil, steaming/boiling the meat. It still tasted good but the spice coating totally fell off. The second time I poked holes in the tin foil at the bottom with a toothpick. It came out perfect, and the juices all drained out into the slow cooker.

    It’s now one of my most oft-requested meals from my regular dinner guests, and was a major major hit at Xmas with three different groups of dinner guests. Win win win!

    The best use I’ve found hands-down for my corned silverside.

    Reply
    • Jason Downard says

      July 8, 2023 at 12:13 pm

      5 stars
      I agree, I love this, however, I don’t like cooking in alfoil, so I wrap in baking paper. Came out superb, but still need drain holes.

      Reply
    • FranW says

      May 22, 2023 at 12:12 pm

      5 stars
      Rats, sorry, forgot the star rating. Six out of five! 😀

      Reply
  11. Kevin says

    March 31, 2023 at 9:57 am

    Hi Nagi,
    Looking forward to trying this.
    Quick question…
    If I double wrap corned beef in aluminum foil and suspend it above bottom of crockpot, how do the juices get out? Should I perforate the foil?

    Reply
  12. Jules says

    March 16, 2023 at 11:45 am

    5 stars
    Wow 🤩 amazing 😻 will never have normal silverside again 💚💚💚💚💚

    Reply
  13. Lisa says

    March 13, 2023 at 9:30 am

    5 stars
    This is a family favorite! Could I make a couple and freeze one?

    Reply
  14. Kim says

    February 7, 2023 at 10:01 am

    5 stars
    I am blown away with this recipe! Just made the pastrami this weekend following your slow cooker recipe to the teaspoon. And wow!! The pastrami was amazing – tender, juicy, and delicious. It was eye-popping lay good. Absolutely as good as Katz’ when you can’t be in NYC. Even my adult son who has lived in New York and ordered Katz’ pastrami regularly agreed. Thank you for sharing this incredible and easy recipe and for enabling me to recreate such a delicious NYC deli experience right here at home in Pennsylvania. I can’t wait to make it again.

    Reply
  15. Melissa says

    December 30, 2022 at 4:37 pm

    My pastrami is in the slow cooker for a few more hours. I have so many questions. How do the juices get out of the foil into the slow cooker? Do I do the initial cooling in the foil in the cooker? Am I unwrapping the foil for the fridge cooling and bark set?

    Reply
  16. Linda says

    November 11, 2022 at 10:23 am

    Thank you for a great recipe, best piece of corned beef ever.
    The rub is perfect, would love to try it with a smoker on bbq. Made the Rueben sandwich,
    delicious 😋

    Reply
  17. Cheryl says

    October 30, 2022 at 9:22 pm

    5 stars
    Easy & delicious – as always, thank you Nagi. Next time I will reduce the pepper to maybe two tablespoons, just because I am a bit of a woose (not sure how it’s spelt) – but otherwise, it was perfecto!

    Reply
    • Haz says

      April 12, 2023 at 10:26 am

      5 stars
      Hahah Cheryl, I am the same, although once in the sandwich the peppery taste seemed to be perfect. Beautiful flavour and really easy, tasty, moist recipe Nagi. I was so surprised at how moist it was considering it appears dry and hard at the end. Thank you once again.

      Reply
  18. Cath Butler says

    October 27, 2022 at 8:22 pm

    5 stars
    OMG!!! Made this and the Reuben sandwiches from it. Got 5 stars from my husband and I. Used Sauerkraut from my local health food shop which was delicious. I’ll be making this regularly for sure!

    Reply
  19. MARGOT Mclean says

    October 3, 2022 at 10:17 pm

    5 stars
    How is this so simple ! Made it twice already , its sooo darn good !

    Reply
  20. Marion says

    October 3, 2022 at 9:46 pm

    I have made this 6 times! I go a bit lighter on the rub, one family member a bit fussy. But easy and classy and delicious

    Reply
Older Comments

Primary Sidebar

Hi, I'm Nagi!

I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative! Read More

Free Recipe eBooks

Join my free email list to receive THREE free cookbooks!

Meet Dozer

Official taste tester of RecipeTin Eats! Meet Dozer
As Featured On
  • Goodfood
  • Food Network
  • Better Homes Gardens
  • Taste
  • Nine
  • Network 10
  • BuzzFeed
  • Daily Telegraph
  • Women's Day

Never miss a recipe!

Subscribe to my newsletter and receive 3 FREE ebooks!

Subscribe
Recipes
  • All Recipes
  • By Category
  • Collections
About
  • About Nagi
  • About Dozer
  • RecipeTin Meals
Related
  • RecipeTin Japan
  • Food Bloggers Central
Help
  • Contact
  • Image Use Policy
© RecipeTin Eats 2023
  • Privacy Policy & Terms
Site Credits
Maintained by Zao Designed by Melissa Rose Design Developed by Once Coupled
All Rights Reserved

Subscribe to my newsletter

Sign up and receive 3 FREE EBOOKS!