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The deli counter feels like a place of premium quality and wonderful convenience for busy shoppers. It is incredibly tempting to point at a prepared salad or a beautiful block of cheese to save time. However, the deli is also home to some of the highest markups in the entire grocery store. You are frequently paying a massive premium for simple labor that you could easily do at home. Here are six specific items you should always avoid when you visit the deli counter.
1. Pre-Made Macaroni and Potato Salads
Those massive tubs of creamy pasta and potato salads look delicious behind the curved glass. Unfortunately, they are almost always made with cheap ingredients and loaded with heavy mayonnaise to increase their weight. You are paying six or seven dollars a pound for cooked noodles and basic dressing. You can make a massive bowl of premium potato salad at home for a fraction of that cost. It will taste infinitely better, and you can control exactly what goes into the recipe.
2. Sliced Generic Cheese
Asking the deli worker to slice standard American or mild cheddar cheese is a big waste of money. These generic cheeses are identical in quality to the pre-packaged slices sitting in the dairy aisle. The deli counter charges a significant premium per pound just for the service of using their slicing machine. You should only use the deli counter for specialty cheeses that you truly cannot find anywhere else. Buying the dairy aisle blocks and slicing them yourself is the absolute cheapest option available.
3. Fried Chicken Tenders
The hot foods section of the deli is famous for its fried chicken and potato wedges. While the whole rotisserie chickens are a great loss leader, the chicken tenders are heavily overpriced. They are often breaded heavily to increase their weight on the scale, meaning you pay for less actual meat. They also sit under heat lamps for hours, drying out the chicken and making the breading soggy. You are much better off buying frozen tenders and baking them fresh in your own oven.
4. Pre-Made Sandwiches and Subs
Grabbing a wrapped sub sandwich from the deli cooler seems like a great hack for a quick lunch. However, these sandwiches are usually made early in the morning and feature soggy bread by lunchtime. The meat portions are strictly measured to be as small as possible while still looking acceptable. You will usually pay seven or eight dollars for a sub that contains maybe two dollars of ingredients. Buying a loaf of bread and a half-pound of fresh turkey is a much smarter investment.
5. Sliced Roast Beef
Roast beef is consistently the most expensive lunch meat available at any standard deli counter. The price per pound is often higher than buying an actual premium steak from the butcher department. Furthermore, deli roast beef tends to dry out very quickly once it is sliced and brought home. If you really love roast beef sandwiches, you should roast an eye of round cut in your oven. You can slice it thin yourself and save an absolute fortune over the course of a year.
6. Fruit Salad Bowls
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The deli often sells bowls of cut fruit like melon, grapes, and pineapple for a quick snack. This is arguably the worst value in the store because you are paying a massive labor tax. Fruit oxidizes and turns mushy very rapidly once it has been chopped and exposed to the air. You are essentially paying top dollar for fruit that is already degrading in quality before you buy it. Buying whole fruits and spending five minutes with a knife will save you a ton of cash.
The Deli Defense
The deli counter is perfectly fine for grabbing a quick half-pound of turkey or a specialty salami. You just need to be highly aware of the items where the convenience markup becomes completely unreasonable. Taking a few extra minutes to prep your own side dishes and snacks is always the smartest move. Your food will taste fresher, and your wallet will definitely thank you for the extra effort.
What Do You Skip?
Is there an item at the deli counter that you absolutely refuse to spend your money on? Have you ever calculated how much you save by making your own pasta salads at home? It is always amazing to see how much money people save by cooking from scratch. Share your deli counter experiences and tips in the comments section below!
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