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Last weekend, it was HOT. Temps maxed out over 100 and I decided I wasn’t going to cook. We dropped by Costco and I grabbed some turkey, ham, and salami. We had sub sandwiches for dinner that night, but it didn’t make a dent in the gigantic amount of lunch meat. After all, there’s no such thing as a small package from Costco.
I decided to see if I could make a week’s worth of dinner recipes with lunch meat–without the family going into revolt.
Here are some great uses for leftover lunchmeat. Any of your favorites on this list?
Sunday: Sub sandwiches
Monday: Chef salad with chopped ham and turkey on top
Tuesday: Homemade pizza topped with salami (dough recipe here!)
Wednesday: BrownThumbMama-style Cuban sandwiches (I used tortillas instead of bread)
Thursday: Multi-meat omelettes with garden veggies
Friday: Grilled ham and cheese sandwiches
Believe it or not, the meat is holding up just fine in the fridge–but my brain is out of ideas. Do you ever use lunchmeat for dinner? How do you fix it? Share with us in the comments!
Ham salad
Club sandwiches!! Bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayo, ham, turkey, cheese all on toast- Yummy!!!
A loaf of brioch bread. Slice two slices thick. Melt butter in a pan and toast one side, add mayonnaise, ham and shredded mozzarella cheese. Add the other slices of bread and heat until cheese is melted.
Hot turkey sandwiches! just add lunch meat to hot gravy and heat. serve with bread or mashed potatoes (instant!)
Yum, these are fantastic ideas. Thanks, everybody! We’ll have to add these recipes into our summer “easy dinners” list. Yum, yum.
To change up plain turkey sandwiches and wraps sometimes we dredge the meat in buffalo wing sauce or balsamic vinegar or italian dressing. some spinach and maybe provolone cheese in a roll up with marinate turkey! Yummy! Also marinate veggies, roasted peppers or tomatoes are good.
You can make a simple fried rice with rice, canned carrots & peas, and a few other on hand items. Add the ham and/or turkey with it sliced to 1/4″ strips or if you’re really lazy like me add the peas/carrots and ham to some Top Ramen. Kids love it.
Chicken Cordon Bleu with the leftover ham and swiss cheese always makes for a great meal Mama. But I love sub sandwiches for dinner! Can’t go wrong with those. That’s a Sunday staple during football season. That — and a keg of beer — of course.
How about chopping up potatoes into bite-size pieces, boil them until near done, and then put them in a skillet with eggs, the lunchmeat, and some herbs? The eggs act as a binding agent twixt the taters and meat (like an omelet). You can even put cheese in there for extra melty-binding or grate it on top.
Tortilla pinwheels: tortilla, cream cheese, meat, lettuce if desired, roll it up, slice it in pinwheels and eat.
Put it in grilled cheese sandwiches.
Make scalloped potatoes with a layer of lunchmeat (ham or turkey taste best) in the center.
Bake some chicken breasts, add a slice of ham to the top and a slice of cheese (I prefer provolone but swiss is also tasty) on top of that. Broil until cheese is bubbly.
You already listed my ideas. Subs, panini’s (this can be done on the grill set on low) with foil, salads, pizza, and omlets.
How about quesadilla’s. You can place them on a cookie sheet with all the insides and melt them (but I really like them fried in the skillet) and either way I think they are hot. You can freeze lunch meats in smaller packs and use it later.
How about – meat and cheese rolls? Roll the meat up with some cheese and enjoy or make lettuce rolls, use the lettuce like a tortilla.
Yup that is all I got. Good Luck.