Reuben Salad – Great Way to Use up Leftover Corned Beef
This recipe for Reuben Salad is a fun, easy, healthier version of my favorite sandwich!! Reuben Salad is made with corned venison which is so much better for you than beef!

Who doesn’t like a Reuben Sandwich? I mean, seriously… WHO? Reuben Sandwiches are my favorite sandwich to eat out. Now some restaurants make them better than others. It’s all about the corned beef.
Once in a while, if a corned beef isn’t cooked correctly, the beef is tough. The best way to cook a corned beef, IMHO, is in a slow cooker. I have NEVER made a tough roast in the slow cooker. This one, my friends was made with venison. This one was not even tough!
The slow cooker does miraculous things to cuts of meat that tend to be tough!
This cut tends to be tough. As does the beef round and brisket, that is typically used to be corned. Once the slow cooker does her magic, the corned beef, or in this case venison, is tender and falls apart in your mouth!
The last time I corned venison, I made a huge… and I mean HUGE batch! We did every corned beef dish you can think of! Check out this Corned Venison Post for a few of the selections!
After Reubens (a lot of them), corned beef hash, a reuben inspired pizza (don’t judge! 🙂 ) we were sick of heavier, carb rich foods (Big surprise!) Here is a YouTube video that will walk you through how to make a Reuben!
Ingredients to add to a Reuben Salad
So for a lighter take on my classic reuben, I made a dinner salad, complete with the thousand island dressing and rye bread croutons! (I omitted the sauerkraut because, well, that would have been kind of gross! 🙂 )
I also added swiss cheese, lots of fresh veges and a hard boiled egg and garbanzos for a little adding protein (and the fact that hard boiled egg and garbanzos are so bloody good on a dinner salad!
Do you eat salads for dinner? We eat them at least once per week! I could honestly eat them every night.
What is your favorite dinner salad? I need some inspiration! I hope you enjoyed the recipe today! Feel feel to share it all over the internet! As always… Enjoy! And have fun cooking!

Reuben Dinner Salad
Ingredients
- 4 cups lettuce of your choice
- 1/2 pound corned beef or venison
- 4 slices Swiss cheese
- 2 small tomatoes cut into 8ths
- 2 stalks celery, julienne cut
- 4 hard boiled eggs, quartered
- 40 pieces rye bread croutons
- 8 tbsp garbanzo beans, chick peas
- 2 carrots, julienne cut
- 4 tbsp 1000 island dressing
Instructions
- Arrange 1 cup torn lettuce on each of 4 plates.
- Divide each ingredient above between the 4 plates.
- Top with one tablespoon dressing per plate. Add salt and pepper to taste.
I hardly ever JUST eat salad for dinner anymore because I did that too many times as a vegetarian. But I could make an exception with your salad. Looks fabulous!!
Well, this salad is certainly NOT vegetarian, Elaine! Thank you so much for your comment, my friend!
Mmmm, love the combination of the salad ingredients! Rye bread is my favourite and I’m sure would taste great as croutons too!
My favorite too! but I do love any crouton! Thank you Jagruti!
Love this! It’s such a fun looking dish and would definitely impress at parties!
Thanks, Cliona! It is definitely fun to eat!!
I love how you’ve turned the sandwich into a salad. Healthy-ish? Maybe, but definitely tasty!
I prefer the term healthier! No one can argue with that one! It’s certainly than healthier than a butter crusted grilled cheese sandwich 🙂 Thanks, Lisa!
How fun! I love all the colorful layering. Such a great lunch.
Or Dinner! I love eating salads for dinner too! Thanks, Tara!
I’ve recently convinced my husband to eat salads for dinner, as long as we make them really hearty! This one looks really filling!
Yes, we always pile them up with tons of good things and then can never finish them so we have it for lunch the next day, lol! Thanks, Liz!