The Trader Joe's Deli Meat You Should Never Leave The Store With

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Trader Joe's isn't your average grocery store, and most of us love it for its affordable and unique packaged products. While there's no conventional deli counter at Trader Joe's, you can still find a wide variety of store-brand packaged deli meats for all your sandwich and charcuterie needs. However, there's one Trader Joe's deli meat you should leave on the shelves: The reduced-sodium sliced roasted turkey breast.

We tasted and ranked 12 Trader Joe's deli meats based on flavor, texture, and range of use. The reduced-sodium sliced roasted turkey breast landed in last place because the taste and texture were as bland and forgettable as the meat's beige hue. Turkey breast is prone to drying out, a problem usually corrected with salt-curing. For that matter, salt is also an important seasoning agent to bring out the turkey's subtle savory tasting notes. However, since this is a low-sodium deli meat, it was both dry and tasteless. To add insult to injury, the slices of bland turkey meat were so thin that even the most gentle tug to get them out of their packaging ripped them to shreds. With such a disappointing taste and texture, why even consider the range of use? This sad turkey meat won't do sandwiches or any other recipe any favors.

Turkey comprised three out of the 12 Trader Joe's deli meats we sampled, so there were two better turkey options you can pick up instead of the reduced-sodium sliced roasted turkey breast during your next trip to TJ's. That said, Trader Joe's oven-roasted turkey breast and smoked turkey breast didn't fare much better in our ranking. So, you might be better off purchasing deli turkey meat elsewhere using our ranking of the best packaged deli turkey brands; spoiler alert, Dietz and Watson is our favorite!

If low-sodium is a priority for your dietary needs, there are various ways to salvage the flavor and dried-out texture of Trader Joe's low-sodium oven-roasted turkey breast. The easiest way to upgrade bland turkey is with flavorful condiment pairings like a spicy brown mustard, chipotle mayo, or this sweet and smoky romesco sauce. Bring creaminess to a turkey sandwich with layers of avocado and Swiss cheese. Of course, a classic low-sodium sauce to pair with turkey is cranberry sauce; we use cranberry sauce in this sweet and savory club sandwich, for example. If you're willing to put more effort in, you can incorporate sliced low-sodium turkey into more elaborate dishes like quiches or egg scrambles.