Puff Pastry Reuben Roll Ups

Why This is the Best Recipe

Oh boy, how I love baking with frozen puff pastry. I think this is the best reuben roll ups recipe because:

1. Easy Ingredients: Frozen puff pastry, deli meat, and a few other simple things are all you're going to need. SO Easy.
2. Tender and Flaky: By using puff pastry, you get delicate layers of buttery goodness that melt in your mouth. By using deli meat corned beef, you get perfectly thin-cut slices that have a perfect texture for chopping up for the recipe.
3. Quick and Easy: Anything I can prep ahead for a party is a win in my book. I love that you can prepare the log up to 24 hours in advance and just slice, bake, and serve.

Ingredients

All you need to make these reuben pinwheels is:

• Frozen Puff Pastry: I used a box from Trader Joe's but I've spotted it in the freezer section of most grocery stores.
• Deli Corned Beef: I asked for the corned beef to be sliced "sandwich thickness" and it was just perfectly tender.
• Swiss Cheese: I shredded a brick of Swiss cheese because it melts so much better than the pre-shredded bags that are coated with an anti-caking powder. But you could use whatever you like.
• Sauerkraut: I found this near the bacon in the refrigerated section of our grocery store. It came in a bag. However, I've also spotted it in cans in the vegetable aisle.
• Cream Cheese
• Thousand Island Dressing
• Egg

Prep the Thousand Island Dressing Spread

The creamy layer in the roll ups is made from cream cheese blended with Thousand Island dressing. This adds a lovely burst of flavor but doesn't make the pinwheels soggy.

Simply whisk together the softened cream cheese and Thousand Island dressing until smooth. You could smoosh it with a fork or use a spatula to stir it together.

Prep the Corned Beef and Swiss Cheese

You want small flecks of corned beef throughout the roll ups.

Line up the slices of corned beef deli meat and give it a rough chop until all the pieces are about 1/4-inch or less in size like this:

I vastly prefer hand-shredded cheese when making melty dishes like these reuben pinwheels.

I ran a large brick of Swiss cheese through my food processor and used the rest of it after making this recipe to prep a batch of my easy Irish nachos.

Assemble the Pinwheels

To prepare the reuben roll ups, start by unrolling or unfolding one sheet of the thawed frozen puff pastry.

If your pastry was folded, use a rolling pin to smooth out any creases.

Crack the egg into a small bowl and whisk in one tablespoon of water to make an egg wash. Brush the wash evenly over the top of the pastry.

Spread the prepared Thousand Island dressing spread over the top.

Sprinkle the chopped corned beef and sauerkraut over the top, leaving 1/4-inch border around the edges.

Sprinkle the shredded Swiss over the top.

Roll up the pastry into a log from wider edge to wider edge like this:

Chill the Reuben Log

Once the log has been fully rolled, wrap it in plastic wrap (or use the parchment paper the pastry came in like I did), and chill it for at least one hour.

This step can be done up to 24 hours in advance if you'd like to prepare the reuben roll up log for a party.

Baking Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Unwrap the reuben log and place it on a cutting board. Cut it into 18 equal discs about 1/2-inch in thickness and place them cut side up on a baking sheet lined with parchment.

You will definitely want to gently press the pieces into a rounder shape once they are on the baking sheet because they will be squooshed into half-moons or ovals when you slice them.

Simply press the sides in a little bit so they start with a more circular shape like this:

NOTE: Don't worry about gaps in the layers of the pinwheels, they may appear loose and open. Everything will fill in as the pastry puffs up and the cheese melts.

Brush the egg wash over the top and around the sides of each piece.

Make Ahead Tips

These delicious reuben pinwheels are the perfect make ahead party recipe because you can chill the prepared log up to 24 hours in advance and just slice, bake, and serve.

I think they taste their best fresh from the oven, flaky and warm.

However, I had some leftover reuben roll ups after testing the recipe and I stored them in the fridge until my family got home for the day.

We ate a few cold right from the fridge as an after school snack and everyone agreed they were still quite delicious.

So if you're worried about serving them at a party, you could bake the entire recipe the day before and serve them chilled if you prefer.

I think you could also gently reheat them in an oven at 350°F for a couple minutes but I have not personally tested that yet.

Variations

I absolutely loved this version of the reuben pinwheels but I think there are some easy variations you could play with:

Turkey Reuben Pinwheels: Use deli turkey meat instead of corned beef. They'd be similar in flavor to my favorite turkey reuben sandwiches.

Crescent Roll Pinwheels: If you can't find puff pastry, you could substitute a container of refrigerated crescent roll dough or my bread machine crescent roll dough. They'd be similar to these delicious sausage crescent roll swirls.

Bacon Reuben Pinwheels: Use crumbled cooked bacon instead of corned beef.

Serving Suggestions

Pile up the platter with the warm reuben roll ups fresh from the oven and sprinkle them with a little parsley for garnish. I used a jar of dried parsley for color but chopped fresh parsley would be an excellent choice.

Serve them with a little cup of dipping sauce, Thousand Island dressing would be the obvious pick since you used it in the recipe itself.

However, you could also swap in a cup of yum yum sauce, remoulade sauce, or this spicy sauce I use for sandwiches. A sour cream horseradish sauce adds a little heat to the dish and is very easy to prep.

Homemade Yum Yum Sauce

Spicy Remoulade Sauce for Crab Cakes

Sour Cream Horseradish Sauce

Spicy Sauce for Sandwiches