These Reuben Irish Nachos are a perfect way to use up leftover corned beef!
Rye chips (or regular chips!) are topped with a cheese sauce, sauerkraut, corned beef, and Thousand Island dressing. Just like the sandwich!
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I love a good corned beef, and making it for St Patrick’s Day is almost mandatory around here.
But I always like to make fun leftovers to keep it exciting and not just eat the same meal over and over again.
So making a twist on the classic Reuben sandwich by combining leftover corned beef with the love of nachos is how this recipe came about!
Check out our Copycat Bennigan’s Guinness Glaze, which would also be fun to drizzle on top of these nachos!
You can also find more of our Irish and St Patrick’s Day recipes here!
But even though these flavors are associated with the holiday, this recipe would also be great as a game day appetizer! It is SO easy to make and is sure to be a hit!
Rye Chips or Tortilla Chips
My nephew is obsessed with rye chips and eats them all out of any Chex Mix.
Not many places sell bags of just rye chips, but you can find them in a few places. Get rye chips here! (Or from Amazon here).
Be careful of any chips sticking out from the cheese and sauce when it goes in the oven, because they might burn a little.
Keep some extra chips to garnish or stick around the edges after cooking, if you wish.
If you cannot find the rye chips or do not want to use them, regular tortilla chips are a great alternative, but you would lose the rye flavor of the Reuben.
In place of rye, you can add caraway seeds on top which will help bring some rye flavor to the mix.
Cheese Sauce
I am a big fan of using cheese sauces for nachos and not just relying on melted cheese.
The sauce brings needed moisture with lots of flavor to the Irish nachos.
It can make the chips soggy, so I like to put a little shredded cheese between the cheese sauce and the chips to help prevent or slow down and soaking that is happening.
St Patrick's Day Irish Recipes
Reuben Nachos
Ingredients
Cheese Sauce
- 1 3/4 cups milk
- 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
- 8 ounces shredded Monterey Jack cheese (or mozzarella) (2 cups)
- ground red pepper (cayenne)
- salt
Nachos
- 14 ounces rye chips
- 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (or mozzarella)
- 3/4 pound corned beef cooked, shredded
- 1/2 cup sauerkraut
- 1/4 cup Thousand Island dressing
Instructions
- First make the cheese sauce. Heat 1 1/2 cups of the milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
- Mix the remaining 1/4 cup milk with the cornstarch until combined to make a slurry.
- When the milk in the pot is warm, add the cornstarch mixture and stir to combine. Cook until the milk starts to thicken, approximately 5 minutes.
- Remove the sauce from the heat. Add the cheese and a dash of cayenne. Season with more cayenne and salt to taste.
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Pour the rye chips onto a baking sheet in a flat pile. Keep them close together.
- Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the cheese over the rye chips. (This layer of cheese will help prevent the chips from getting soggy from the sauce).
- Pour the cheese sauce over the chips on top of the cheese.
- Add the remaining 1/2 cup cheese, sprinkled across the cheese sauce, and the shredded corned beef.
- Bake in the oven until the cheese is melted, approximately 7-10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven. Add the sauerkraut on top of the nachos and drizzle with the Thousand Island dressing. Serve immediately.
