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

"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."

"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."

Buying deli meat in bulk can lower per-unit cost but can lead to excess that risks spoiling if limited to sandwiches. Pre-cooked deli chicken and ham can replace raw proteins in recipes, speeding preparation. A chicken cordon bleu soup combines deli chicken and ham with chicken stock, onion, flour to thicken, heavy cream, cream cheese, and cheddar, finished with grated cheese and parsley. Deli meat also substitutes easily into other soups and chilis, such as using deli chicken in chicken noodle soup or smoked turkey breast in smoky turkey chili, reducing cooking time and cleanup.

Read at Tasting Table