Barbra Streisand’s Favorite Sandwich Is a 4-Ingredient Twist on a Classic

Over her six-decade career, Barbra Streisand has stolen the show as comedian Fanny Bryce in "Funny Girl," as free-spirited mom Rosalind "Roz" Focker in "Meet the Parents," and beyond. 

While Streisand’s red carpet-worthy resume is stacked—she's one of just 19 “EGOT” winners—there might just be one thing Streisand loves more than the stage: food.

After devouring Barbra Streisand’s 970-page 2023 memoir, “My Name is Barbra,” it was abundantly clear that the actor, singer, mom, and bestselling author has a dynamic range—not just in terms of her roles, but also regarding her preferences at the table. Many chapters mention her culinary adventures at both her dining room table and abroad.

Dinners were humble at first. When 19-year-old Streisand whipped up a homemade meal after moving out on her own, the menu included corn soup (a can of corn and milk warmed up), corn fritters (more canned corn mixed with Aunt Jemima pancake mix), and broiled Sara Lee chocolate cake. But these days, Streisand is fond of everything, from Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews to scones with clotted cream to Cantonese cha siu bao. 

Streisand’s palate seems to have expanded over time, but it’s clear that she still has a sweet spot for comfort food. (Same, Barbra. Same.) So we were particularly interested in her response when Streisand stuck around after a fall 2023 episode of “Late Night with Stephen Colbert” to take part in the host and comedian’s “The Colbert Questionert.”

Barbra Streisand’s Favorite 4-Ingredient Sandwich

“Barbra, we’ve had a lovely conversation about your book, ‘My Name is Barbra.’ But of course, even in an extended interview, sometimes you can’t penetrate to the soul of someone. So we here at The Late Show labs have come up with 15 questions that we call ‘The Colbert Questionert,’” Colbert explains.

Streisand doesn’t hesitate to jump in and alert Colbert that the preamble isn’t necessary: “I’ve seen your show a lot, so I know…” (So she, too, may have been as charmed as we were by Bruce Springsteen’s charming and relatable responses!)

For the sake of the audience, Colbert continues: “After these 15 questions, Barbra Streisand will be fully known. In ways that the people who read a 1,000-page book that she wrote don’t.”

Streisand giggles as Colbert asks, “Are you prepared to be known, Barbra?” To which she replies, “I’m an open book.”

Colbert wastes zero time to get to our favorite question of all 15: What is the best sandwich?

“It used to be tongue until I had tongue the other day, and ooh, no more,” Streisand says. “I would have to say turkey—dark turkey—with coleslaw and Russian dressing on Rye bread,” Streisand says, to which Colbert replied, “Classy sandwich.”

Streisand’s signature sandwich reminds us a lot of “Rachel Sandwich;” a cousin of the Reuben. A Reuben involves pastrami, coleslaw, and Thousand Island on rye, while a Rachel stars turkey or corned beef instead of pastrami. The slaw brings the crunch, the turkey layers on the savory, while the rye lends earthiness. Then the dressing brings everything together into one glorious, drippy delight.

True to the individuality fans know and love, she improvs on the Rachel and opts for spicier Russian dressing over the sweeter Thousand Island that's normally included.

With that in mind, we’re pretty sure our Grilled Turkey Reuben would earn a standing ovation from Streisand—if we substituted her preferred dressing, that is. And considering her cozy cuisine streak, we imagine she might also dig our Loaded Rueben Totchos, just with turkey instead of corned beef.

Then for dessert, may we recommend that she try Ryan Gosling’s selection for best sandwich? Ice cream!