11 Publix Deli Meats, Ranked Worst To Best

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Before moving to Florida, I could never have anticipated just how much my family and I would absolutely love Publix, a grocery chain beloved for its famous sub sandwiches. This store is more than a supermarket — in the Sunshine State, it's an absolute icon and easily the most popular grocery store in Florida. 

Although I've been to plenty of other grocery stores that cut deli meat in-store, I've found that few do it as well as Publix. So, what makes the difference? For me, it's how they arrange the meat and cheese in the little bags. Every care is taken so that sticky items — like cheese, for instance — don't stick together, and this small difference matters. Typically, I order Boar's Head meat, but this piece focuses entirely on Publix-brand offerings. After acquiring the deli meats, I sampled them with my husband and ranked them from worst to best based on the meats' taste and overall enjoyment. Most of these offerings are very basic, but shopping for Publix-brand items is definitely an important tip for your very first trip to Publix, especially if you're looking to save money. After tasting them all, there were certainly some gems in the mix that my family plans to add to our regular rotation.

In my experience, if a particular food item is on the lower sodium side of the coin, there's a good chance that it will not be as flavorful as the classic version. That holds true for the Publix deli oven-roasted turkey breast with low sodium.

Color-wise, the turkey looked almost the same as the full-sodium option, but the slices were significantly smaller than the regular oven-roasted turkey breast. The flavor was ultimately very bland, and although it still tasted like turkey, it could easily get lost on a sandwich. As a meat, turkey is already pretty basic, but this lower-sodium variety was somehow even less flavorful. If you simply must have a lower-sodium deli meat, this will do the trick in terms of adding some protein to your sandwich, but you'll definitely want to smother it in a variety of veggies and cheese to make the sandwich palatable and more interesting. It was my least favorite of the Publix deli meats, strictly because it was just so very boring.

There aren't many varieties of turkey in the Publix deli lineup, which is disappointing because turkey has such a plain, neutral flavor on its own. Thankfully, the regular oven-roasted turkey breast is a little tastier than its lower-sodium counterpart. Still, even though it's better, that doesn't make it great.

Like you often see with turkey, this had something of a drier feel to it, though it was much closer to the type of Thanksgiving turkey you enjoy at the end of November. Like the low-sodium option, this one will want lots of added ingredients and would be a good base for something like Delaware's beloved Thanksgiving dinner-inspired sandwich, The Bobbie. But you're not going to find this turkey being the shining star of any meal. Though it's better than the lower-sodium option, it's still not a meat I can heartily recommend from the selection.

Once upon a time, though obviously not anymore, I was a vegan. I practiced a plant-based diet for just about four years, and I left those four years with a sincere distaste for most smoky-tasting items. In the vegan world, you find liquid smoke in a lot of meat-adjacent products, and I never enjoyed the flavor. So now, if I ever come across something that tastes even slightly like liquid smoke, it tends to be something I steer clear of. Unfortunately, that's my issue with Publix's smoked tavern ham.

That said, my husband really enjoyed this deli offering. In fact, this was very similar to the type of ham he regularly orders for his go-to lunchtime cold sandwich. We tested it to see if it lived up to his typical Boar's Head order, and it performed well. He likes the taste of smoke, so that was only an added benefit for his palate. Admittedly, the smoke flavor wasn't overly strong, but it was still just enough to give me the ick. Still, even with that smoky taste, the tavern smoked ham was better than both basic turkey offerings. I suppose with enough mayonnaise or mustard, that smoky flavor could be tamped back even further.

Though I don't particularly enjoy smoky foods, sweet flavors tend to fare much better for me, but this sweet ham just didn't taste quite right. It had a vague sweetness to it that wasn't super specific, like cane sugar or even honey. This vague flavor didn't bode well for the overall taste, but it was certainly better than the smoky-tasting ham.

If you're looking for more of a sweet-leaning ham, Publix has a better option for you, so I would recommend leaving this one in the deli case. Not to mention, the texture of the ham was a little different than the others on this list. I noticed a somewhat spongy, rather than tender, texture that was unexpected, especially compared to some of the other offerings. This distinction is important because it will impact how the meat plays with the bread on your sandwich. If you typically go for a very soft white bread, this sweet ham might make for too soft of a bite. It'll read as more squishy rather than tender when you go to eat your cold cut. This is a meat you'll want some crunchy veggies added to in order to compensate for the squishiness.

You're no doubt familiar with honey ham, but you may not have tried a hot honey ham; Publix has an offering that's definitely worth a try. Though the sweet ham has a very ambiguous sweet flavor, there's nothing shy about the hot honey ham from the Publix deli. Thankfully, this one also didn't suffer from the same texture issue that the sweet ham did, making it an interesting addition to your sandwiches. The spice trails a little at the end, but it isn't overwhelming at all.

With many hot honey creations, the spicy factor can significantly overwhelm the sweetness of the honey, but here, the hot taste wasn't overpowering, although it was stronger than the sweetness. Unlike more basic deli hams, this one offered a significant amount of flavor on a sandwich. The only reason I didn't rank it higher was that I like my hot honey to have more of an even ratio between sweetness and spice.

This tasting was the first time I had sampled capicola. I assumed it would be similar to prosciutto, but they are actually distinct varieties of salami. Capicola, sometimes called gabagool, comes from a pig's shoulder and neck. The variety that I sampled from Publix had a nice spice and balance to it. I appreciated that the addition wouldn't overwhelm or dominate a sandwich's flavor but instead add a nice touch of peppery flavor.

My husband, always one to enjoy salami, really enjoyed the capicola. In fact, right after our tasting, we began brainstorming sandwiches where it could really shine. We imagined a sandwich with ham, capicola, and salami would really celebrate the flavor of the meat. I might be in the minority in where I ended up placing this deli meat, but I found it a little tough, texture-wise, for my liking. I tend to prefer very tender deli meat, and this performed a little too close to jerky for my liking. Still, there are plenty of ways to eat capicola that aren't on a sandwich worth exploring.

Sometimes, simpler is just better. In the case of the Publix-brand deli ham, that was certainly the case. The basic cooked ham in its juices was my favorite of the ham offerings I sampled. It didn't have any odd, confusing, or lingering flavors like the sweet or hot honey did and offered a very simple but tasty bite of quintessential ham.

The construction of the ham was notably different from the others because it didn't have a skin around the outside, leaning even further into that more basic flavor. This is a great meat to include in recipes that call for ham or for sandwiches where there's going to be a lot of other ingredients. The ham all on its own does just fine, but it was a pretty basic deli meat and didn't bring much interest to the table. Still, it was a solid option and a good deli cut if you're looking for something basic.

I love roast beef, but I typically have it as part of a beef and cheddar sandwich, so my roast beef is normally warm and slathered in cheese. This cold deli offering was, like the others I sampled, cold, so it was a departure from what I was used to. Still, I enjoyed the flavor and was impressed by just how rich it actually was. My husband noted that there was a lot of background gravy flavor, and you could actually get a taste of the au jus your roast beef would have sat in.

For those who like cold roast beef on their sandwiches, this would work well, but I can still imagine having some liquidy yellow cheese right over the top and putting it on a soft bun for a really good beef and cheddar. All told, I ranked this meat so high because it felt like it could become whatever roast beef you needed it to be. Even as someone who doesn't typically go for roast beef in the deli, I was impressed by it.

One of my favorite deli meats was something of a surprise. Typically, when I make a cold cut sandwich, turkey is my primary ingredient. However, I normally opt for something that is very basic and pairs well with mayonnaise, lettuce, and tomato — the usual suspects. However, with one bite of this honey-maple turkey breast, I knew I was tasting something special.

This is the kind of meat that's so unique it needs a specific meal to go with it. All I could think of as I was taking in the convincing maple and honey flavor was a McGriddle sandwich from McDonald's. It made me want to break out my breakfast sandwich maker (I use this one from Hamilton Beach) and grab an egg and English muffin to whip up a McGriddle-adjacent sandwich. Although I can imagine having the honey-maple turkey breast as part of a lunch, it really just screams breakfast time. Normally, maple and honey flavors don't really speak to me, but I was so impressed by just how unique this deli meat was that it may have changed my mind.

I wasn't expecting to find the kind of cuts that belong more on a charcuterie board than a sandwich, but my two favorite options certainly fit that bill. Admittedly, there was little that separated the hard salami from the Genoa salami, but I still found myself preferring the Genoa option slightly more than the hard offering.

This salami had a great texture and offered a little resistance in the bite without being too tough. To go along with the texture, the taste was also very enjoyable, offering something of a slightly zesty bite. I would say it was perfect for putting on a show all on its own, rolled up or even sliced alongside cheese as an appetizer. With a smooth exterior, it has a very put-together feel that reminded me of summer sausage. So what could make the Genoa salami better?

Honestly, the rough texture is what sold me on this one. It might not be as pristine as the hard salami, but it offered a different look and feel that could work well in your sandwiches but also on a rustic charcuterie board, even if this cured meat is one of the hardest to pair with wine. Its versatility is what set this Publix deli meat apart from the hard salami and what put it in my top spot.

It was slightly milder tasting than the hard salami offering, but not to a point that it became bland. Instead, it would likely pair even better with other cheeses on your board or ingredients in your sandwich. The rustic look is what makes it seem a little more elevated than it actually is, but the taste is what makes this a great deli meat. Where I had mine sliced thin, you might opt for a sandwich cut or even slightly thicker, depending on your use case.

To make quick work of the ordering process and avoid any confusion or additional waiting, I ordered this collection of Publix brand deli meat ahead of time via the Publix app. I chose to have all meats cut thin so that they would be perfect for sandwiches and rolling up to taste. For sampling, I rolled a slice or two of each meat, and my husband and I sampled each on its own, noting our options. 

Ultimately, I ranked them based on how fresh and enjoyable the taste was, but meats that felt like they had more application than simply lunch meat were given a little preference for the sheer flexibility.