The Most Important Question You Should Ask Before Ordering At A Grocery Store Deli

A big step up from frozen dinners or just-add-water instant meals, your supermarket's deli is a lifesaver when it comes to getting food on the table in a flash. Whether you're grabbing a couple of salads, a dependable veggie wrap, or some breaded chicken cutlets, the food's freshness is perhaps the most important indicator of how good it will taste. That's why you should always ask the person working behind the deli counter when the items were prepared — it's the surest way to check the quality of your prospective purchase.

If you're picking up packaged meals from the refrigerator case or warmer, sometimes you can simply check the label. Often, the date and time the food was made, as well as when it needs to be sold, will be printed on the label. However, according to the USDA, there are no universal federal regulations when it comes to food labeling, so the package may not specify when the item was prepared. Of course, for foods that are held behind the deli case and portioned by a worker, asking is the only way to get that information.

Once you establish that the foods in the case are fresh with the help of an employee, you'll still have to decide what to buy. There are some things that always taste better from the deli and other items that should definitely be skipped. Classic creamy deli salads — like chicken, tuna, egg, and potato salads — are go-tos for good reason. Grain-based salads featuring ingredients like bulgur wheat, couscous, quinoa, and farro hold up very well, as do dishes made with legumes and hearty vegetables.

Pasta salads or anything made with dressed, leafy greens tend not to be the best choices because they can get soggy fast. Some sandwiches and wraps can also be unpleasantly wet — it's very important to find out when these were made since it can be hard to judge the texture through a sealed package. Better yet, get something made to order at a grocery store deli that makes fresh subs, like Publix.

Soups, stews, braised dishes, and casseroles are also great options, as they keep and reheat very well. When buying a rotisserie chicken, you should pay attention to how long it has been sitting under the warmer, even after checking that it was prepared that day. Breaded or battered foods, like chicken tenders, fried eggplant, or coconut shrimp, can be worth buying as long as you'll be reheating them in the air fryer or oven (not the microwave) when you get home.