Is it cheaper to make your own Deli Meat?

Sandwiches with deli meat is an American staple for lunch. On average 50% of Americans eat a sandwich every day. I love a good sandwich and apparently so does the rest of the US!

With all of us buying deli meat every week, it starts to make you wonder how we can save money on lunchmeat. Let’s deep dive into deli meats and find some ways to save money. Will it be making your own, buying prepackaged, or slicing your own?

Is deli meat cheaper than packaged?

First, we need to understand just how popular deli meats are in the US. The top three selling lunchmeats in the US, are turkey, ham, and roast beef. To make a true cost comparison, we will price out these most popular kinds from the deli versus the packaged kind.

We priced out lunch meat in 1lb sizes because the average serving size is 3 oz. So, in general, 1 lb. of lunch meat will make 5 good sized sandwiches. If you don’t use the full 3oz per sandwich you can make 1 pound stretch further. If you are making sandwiches for a family of 4 for a week, you may end up buying 4 pounds of lunchmeat per week.

Oven Roasted Turkey:

Pima Bella Oven Roasted Turkey from the Deli Counter 1lb	$9.97	$0.62 per oz
Oscar Mayer Oven Roasted Turkey (packaged) 1lb	$6.57	$0.41 per oz

It looks like you could save $3.40 a week just by switching from deli counter sliced turkey for the prepackaged kind. That may not sound like much of a difference in cost, but over a year that adds up to $176.80.

Black Forest Ham:

Sara Lee Black Forest Ham from the Deli Counter 1lb	$7.96	$0.49 per oz
Hillshire Farm Black Forest Ham (packaged) 1lb	$6.26	$0.39 per oz

Very similar results with the ham lunchmeat, and you can save $1.70 a week just by switching to the packaged meat. That would be a total savings of $88.40 a year.

Roast Beef:

Prima Bella Medium Roast Beef from the Deli Counter 1lb	$10.97	$0.68 per oz
Great Value Angus Seasoned Roast Beef (packaged) 1lb	$10.24	$0.64 per oz

I have to admit that I was expecting to see a bigger difference in the roast beef. By buying the prepackaged meat you only save $0.73 a week and a total of $37.96 a year.

It looks like that in most cases buying lunchmeat that is prepackaged will definitely be cheaper than buying it at the deli counter!

Is it better to buy deli meat or prepackaged?

Whether lunchmeat from the deli counter or prepackaged lunchmeat is better is a much-debated question. Some people swear that the deli counter meat is fresher, tastes better, and it is healthier.

Most deli counter lunch meat comes in 12lb packages and have a pretty long shelf life. Once that package is opened and the meat is exposed to air, it does lessen the length of time that it is still good to eat.

Depending on how well a certain lunch meat sells, it will be very hard to tell if the meat is “fresh” because they may go through a whole package in a day, or it may take a couple of days to sell the whole piece.

So based on freshness, the meat from the deli may not be as fresh as you hope. On a side note, the meat in the pre-packaged containers is not touched by multiple people before you take it home, so it is less likely to have any cross contamination.

Personally, I have never seen a deli clerk take apart a meat slicer after every purchase, so it is possible to cross contaminate foods that are sliced on it.

Taste is a highly subjective way to judge a lunchmeat. Not everyone has the same tastes or preferences, so this would be hard to track. Maybe the deli counter meat tastes better due to that brand’s seasonings and flavorings, or is it because it is a better product?

The last point that is always brought up is healthiness of the deli counter meat versus the packaged meat. Most manufacturers of deli counter meat also make the packaged meat, so it is possible to get Sara Lee deli counter meat and also buy the exact same brand that is presliced.

I see lots of people mention that the meat products in the deli counter have less preservatives and nitrates. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Some nutritional information may be displayed at the deli counter, but it doesn’t always have a full ingredient list like the packaged kind. You can always ask to see the ingredient list, but I am doubtful that many people ask to see one.

I was able to pull up an ingredient list for the deli meat available at my local Walmart deli counter. For fun I am going to list the ingredient lists for the Black Forest Ham that I mentioned before.

Meat 1: Ham, Water, Vinegar*, Contains 2% Or Less: Salt, Dextrose, Sodium Phosphate, Natural Flavorings (Including Celery Juice Powder*), Sugar, Sea Salt, Citric Acid. *To Preserve Quality.

Meat 2: Cured With Water, And 2% Or Less: Dextrose, Salt, Sodium Phosphate, Sodium Erythorbate, Sodium Nitrite, Sodium Propionate.

Can you tell which one is the deli counter meat and which one is packaged? They look pretty close to me. (Spoiler: Meat 2 is from the Deli Counter, and Meat 1 is the packaged one.)

Please note that the Deli counter meat has not one but 4 different kinds of sodium in it. That pretty much busts the myth that deli counter meat is healthier or has less preservatives than the packaged kind.

Can you make your own deli meat?

Yes! You don’t need any super special equipment to make your own deli meat either. You can buy a beef roast, a whole ham, or a whole turkey. After cooking the meat in the oven, you can slice it yourself.

By cooking your own meat, you can control the flavorings and seasonings that are added to the meat.

A few years back, a style of lunch meat called “butcher block” was very popular. It was basically thicker slices of meat that actually looked like it was sliced right off the block.

Instead of the large, processed meat balls with a round smooth texture, you can make a sandwich with true meat that was homecooked.

If you have ever had a turkey sandwich the day after Thanksgiving, you know that the meat made a huge difference in the taste!

Most lunchmeat ranges in price from $5-$10 a pound, so if you were to find a ham, a turkey, or a beef roast for less than that, you can save a lot of money by making it at home.

The downside is that most people don’t have the time to bake a ham, turkey, or beef roast every week. On the other hand, you can freeze sliced homemade lunch meat for upwards of 2 months.

This means that buying a 10lb turkey and cooking it yourself, can make enough meat to probably last 6-8 weeks for sandwiches! You can buy a turkey fresh or frozen for about $1.50-$2.00 a pound. If you only like white meat, you can actually buy just the breast and skip the rest of the bird.

Is it cheaper to slice your own deli meat?

As more and more people come back to cooking at home and technology continues to improve, the price for certain kitchen equipment keeps going down as well.

Years ago, you would expect to pay a few hundred dollars for a meat slicer for home use. Nowadays, you can buy a nice highly rated meat slicer on Amazon for about $100.

Home slicers can be used just like commercial grade slicers and can cut a huge variety of foods. You can slice tomatoes, lettuce, meats, and cheeses.

You can buy hams in the meat department that are cooked/smoked or uncooked for about $4 a pound. This comes out to about half the price per pound of the deli counter ham.

If you slice it yourself at home, you can portion it out however you like and then freeze the portions for future weeks. Ham is very easy to freeze and will last upwards of 2 months or more in the freezer.

If you pair up cooking your own meat and slicing it yourself, you can definitely save more money overall. Even the cost of the home slicer will be quickly recouped versus buying sliced meat at the store.

What is the cheapest lunch meat?

Typically speaking ham lunchmeat is the cheapest at the deli counter. Now the deli counter does sometimes have sales and some offer manager’s specials as well.

These are typically the end cuts of the large pieces of meat that they go ahead and slice and markdown. These may be close to their expiration date, or they may just be more crumbly or smaller in overall shape due to being an end piece.

In the packaged meat section of the grocery store, the cheapest meats are going to be bologna or meat and cheese loaf. These will be highly processed meats similar to hot dogs. Not the best quality of meat but some days a nostalgic bologna sandwich really hits the spot.

Now if you are making lunch meat at home, you can typically buy whole chickens from the meat section for about $1.00-$1.50 a pound. Roasted chicken is a great meet for lunch meat and the flavoring options are huge.

We love to use a mesquite flavoring or even a garlic and herb seasoning. One whole chicken can make enough sliced meat for about 3-4 days depending on the size of the bird. You can also use the legs and wings for dinner one night too!

Overall, there is money to be saved on lunchmeat, it just really depends on how much time you want to spend on it. To save a few bucks, you just need to buy prepackaged meats.

If you want to save a lot of money, then cooking and slicing your meat at home for sandwiches can make a huge difference for your grocery budget. Plus, cooking and slicing your meat will be much healthier and tastier too!

If you are in a DIY mood to save money, check out “Is it cheaper to make your own cheese?” and the results may surprise you!

If you are looking for lunch ideas, check out “21 Easy Cheap Lunch Ideas for Men who Work Outside” for lots of easy lunches that don’t require a microwave.