This is the best Rueben Balls recipe you will find, and these are the best balls you will ever put in your mouth. 

Not hyperbole.

Recently I made Baked Reuben Dip as part of a Vikings Game Day Appetizer series (Go Vikes and Skol!!) and had half a jar of sauerkraut leftover. Because no one eats just sauerkraut I wanted to do something to use it up instead of letting it die a slow death at the back of the fridge. 

After doing a very quick Google search looking for appetizer recipes with sauerkraut, it dawned on me that there isn’t a lot you can do with sauerkraut, especially in an appetizer. 

However, it would seem that shaping sauerkraut into a ball and deep frying it is a thing. All of the recipes I saw used ham or sausage for their sauerkraut balls, that sounded kinda disgusting to me so I decided to try my hand at a Reuben Ball. Because really, that’s the only way I like to eat sauerkraut.

I don’t deep fry. Not because of the calories or that it’s bad for you, but because I don’t want to burn the house down. 

I do however, bake shit that tastes better fried.

I have a feeling that these Reuben Balls, the best balls you’ll ever put in your mouth, might be even better if they were deep fried. But, I’ll never know because of my fear of frying.

The Best Reuben Balls Recipe

(the best balls you’ll put in your mouth)

1 package (7 oz) sliced roast beef – chopped

1 1/2 cups sauerkraut – drained and chopped

1 cup grated Jarlsberg cheese (Swiss would work well too, this is just what I had on hand)

2 green onions – chopped (include the greens)

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup crushed Gardetto’s Special Request Roasted Garlic Rye Chips

1/2 cup Gardetto’s Special Request Roasted Garlic Rye Chips

 

It’s important to drain your sauerkraut as much as possible. You can put them in a strainer and push with a spoon to get the water out. After that I pressed them into paper towel to get the rest of the water out. Crush the rye chips by placing them in a zip loc bag and rolling with a rolling pin or place them in a bowl and use a cup or drinking glass to crush them. Use a food processor or Magic Bullet to process the other 1/2 cup of rye chips to roll your balls in.

Mix roast beef, cheese, sauerkraut, onion, crushed rye chips and egg together in a bowl until well incorporated. Shape mixture into golf ball size balls and roll in the processed rye chips until covered. Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. No need to grease.

Bake in a 375°F oven for 20 minutes.

Serve with Thousand Island dressing, it makes a perfect dip for these tasty balls.

Enjoy!