Don't Throw Out Extra Deli Meat When You Could Make This Soup Instead

Buying deli meat in bulk because it's less expensive may seem like a great idea at the time. After all, Costco sells 3-packs of lunch meat for less than it would cost to get a pound at the deli counter. But once you have all that meat in your fridge, you might realize that you don't feel like eating sandwiches for every meal until you use it up or it goes bad. Luckily, there are many ways to use up a package of deli meat without having to make sandwiches.

Our favorite way to use up extra deli meat is to make a rich and creamy chicken cordon bleu soup. While this recipe typically calls for raw chicken and ham that you need to cook, you already have both on hand, pre-cooked. This means it will be even faster and easier to make a flavorful soup. Along with your extra deli chicken and ham, you'll also need chicken stock, onion, cream cheese, heavy cream, and cheddar cheese. 

Once you sauté your ingredients and add the chicken stock or broth, you'll add flour to thicken it. Then you'll add your heavy cream and fold in your cheeses, stirring continuously so that they melt. After simmering for a while, chop your deli meat into bite-sized pieces and add it to the broth. Let it simmer a bit longer so that everything is nice and hot, and then serve it garnished with grated cheese and parsley. It goes perfectly with a hearty pumpernickel bread or a light, airy boule bread.

You can easily incorporate deli meat into other soup recipes as well. Substitute deli chicken for fresh or rotisserie chicken in a simple, easy chicken noodle soup recipe. Rather than cooking raw chicken or pulling apart a rotisserie chicken, you have a faster and cleaner option. Just chop up your deli chicken into small pieces and add it to your broth at the time you would normally add your cooked chicken. If you have smoked turkey breast, use it in our smoky turkey chili recipe. Instead of having to cook raw, ground turkey, you can slice the smoked turkey into ribbons or chunks and add it to the chili in the final 10 minutes of simmering time.  

Leftover deli ham is also the perfect addition to a creamy ham and potato soup recipe. This recipe works best with smoked deli ham, which has a richer flavor base. To maintain the ideal texture for this soup, add chunks of ham towards the end of its cooking time. If you have time, you can even experiment with slow cooking your leftover deli meat in your broth, or grilling it in a pan with some butter or olive oil and garlic. This can infuse it with extra fat (and flavor), which will add more depth to your soup.