8 Chicken Products To Buy At Costco & 5 To Ignore, According To Customers

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Costco's food selection is many things to many people — some shoppers may stick solely to frozen snacks, for example, while others might mostly shop for raw meat. Under the umbrella of chicken alone are prepared meals, frozen entrees, and bulk packages of white meat, among numerous other kinds of products. A given shopper's favorite chicken product, then, could be completely foreign to a Costco customer who typically shops in different parts of the store.

Of course, one inevitable byproduct of Costco's expansive inventory is the fact that not every item is a winner. The following is a breakdown of the very best and worst that Costco's wide selection of chicken has to offer. Products were chosen based on two primary factors: ample discussion online, and a prevailingly positive or negative opinion. Items that were only ever seldom discussed years ago, or items garnering divisive opinions were ineligible. So, after aggregating opinions online from Costco shoppers, these are eight of Costco's very best chicken products to buy and five that are better off ignored. More information on the selection of these products can be found in the methodology slide at the end.

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Virtually every Costco shopper has an opinion on the Kirkland Signature Rotisserie Chicken. Even those who have somehow never tried it have doubtlessly seen shoppers lining up in front of the deli's hot food case for a fresh batch. Sure, the Costco rotisserie chicken isn't perfect — maybe don't scrutinize its nutritional facts — but at a famously inflation-avoidant $5 price point, there are few better deals in grocery stores than this.

A whole seasoned chicken for $5 pretty much justifies itself, but some creativity can improve what is already a killer deal. It's possible to make the most of Costco's rotisserie chicken by turning it into multiple meals, like soups or sandwiches, for example. One poster on the Reddit board for frugal living even shared a detailed routine that stretches one Kirkland Signature Rotisserie Chicken into at least three nights' worth of dinners, extending one $5 purchase just about as far as humanly possible. "Usually just some chicken the first night with a salad or something," they wrote. "But that night I'll break down the chicken and put all the meat into a Tupperware and make stock with the carcass. Next day I'll make a big batch of enchilada sauce with the stock. Followed by that I make enough enchilada for one dinner with leftovers and another portion frozen for a free meal down the road."

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The famous rotisserie chicken is far from Costco's only option for a convenient chicken dinner. In the freezer aisle, customers can find a chicken nugget-adjacent product, packaged under the store's house Kirkland Signature brand, described as Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Chunks. Each bag contains 4 pounds of chicken, and includes instructions to prepare in the microwave, oven, or air fryer.

In a Mashed comparison between the Kirkland Chicken Chunks and Just Bare Chicken Chunks, the Costco product compared favorably to its counterpart for its bolder flavor, slightly superior nutritional content, and greater value. One Reddit user started a thread in praise of the product, and found them to be similar to Chick-fil-A nuggets. "Wow!! I LOVE when an item from the grocery store tastes just like something you would get from a restaurant, and let me tell you, that is 100% the case with these chicken chunks/chicken nuggets from Costco!" they wrote. "This huge bag and will make do for the best Chick-Fil-A Nugget copycat I've ever had!"

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On Costco shelves are plenty of special treats, like the frozen Detroit-style pizza that has Costco shoppers obsessed. Of course, it's entirely feasible to ignore those and prepare a home-cooked meal using just raw ingredients from Costco. Unfortunately, based on ample complaints from customers about the Kirkland Signature brand boneless skinless chicken breast, any recipe using white meat chicken is better off with meat from another grocery store instead.

One word used to describe the Costco chicken breasts with some regularity is "woody," referring to a sort of undesirably excessive firmness, indicated by striation reminiscent of a tree trunk. Alternately, some customers have found the Kirkland Signature boneless skinless chicken breasts to come out rubbery — another shade of overly tough. "I hate to say it, but the generic Walmart chicken usually cooks up better than the Kirkland chicken for us," wrote one Reddit user. "I love Costco, but their chicken isn't the best for the price."

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For some, the food court's Chicken Bake is merely a key ingredient in Costco's forbidden glizzy, which will change the way you think about hot dogs forever. But there are still plenty of fans of the Chicken Bake sans hot dog, for whom it's one of Costco's defining foods. Even some of those chicken bake fans might not know that in the freezer aisle are boxes of Kirkland Signature brand frozen Chicken Bakes, allowing customers to prepare a version of the food court staple at home. One box contains six Chicken Bakes.

First off, it's worth noting that in each frozen Chicken Bake are green onions, lending the frozen version its own distinct flavor compared to its food court counterpart. That's not the only significant difference between the two, given a general sort of sentiment among shoppers that the frozen Chicken Bakes taste different beyond just their onions — likely a factor of their preparation off-site, versus the fresh chicken bakes being prepared in food court kitchens. Different though they may be, many fans of one are fans of the other. "Make sure you cook them in the oven so they're actually crispy. It tastes very similar just not AS cheesy as the ones in the food court. They are also a little smaller," wrote one Reddit user. "If I get a chicken bake craving and don't want to run all the way to Costco or they're closed, these do the trick just fine."

So iconic is Costco's $5 chicken, also on shelves are a few products that boast their inclusion of Kirkland Signature Rotisserie Chicken meat. One of those products is the Kirkland Signature Chicken Salad. Missing from the equation is the rotisserie chicken's value — served in roughly 3-pound containers, the chicken salad may be suitable for multiple meals, but at a considerably higher premium. Customers also just don't enjoy the Kirkland Chicken Salad all that much.

One common complaint about Costco's chicken salad is a general lack of flavor. Some customers, even in conjunction with insufficient spices, find the chicken salad too salty. One Reddit user even started a thread dedicated to just how lackluster they found their first Kirkland Signature Chicken Salad experience. "I don't know how they can turn those lovely roast chickens into something so awful," they wrote. "I tried doctoring it by adding more chicken and some lemon and rosemary ... like my favorite chicken salad recipe ... but just ended up tossing the entire thing. It's just gluey."

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Yet another way Costco offers ready-to-eat chicken is in cans. One package includes six cans, each of which weighs 12.5 ounces. One serving — and a can contains 3.5 servings in total — nets 13 grams of protein. For its protein-rich nutritional content and the ease with which precooked, canned chicken can be used in various chicken-based recipes, the Kirkland Signature Canned Chunk Chicken Breast is a popular product with certain Costco customers.

Fans of the product online have recounted using the Costco canned chicken to make recipes like chicken salads, quesadillas, sandwiches, Buffalo chicken dip, and enchiladas, in addition to others. Of course, it's also possible to eat the canned chicken on its own as a source of lean, albeit lightly seasoned protein. "These things got me through college. I would constantly eat chicken quesadillas, sandwiches, and put it on all my salads," wrote one Reddit user. "It's fantastic for being canned chicken."

Amylu

For some of the more straightforward types of products on Costco shelves, like pantry staples and premade deli entrees, Kirkland Signature is oftentimes a shopper's best bet. It's in the realm of precooked, refrigerated, or frozen entrees that some of the third-party brands Costcos carry really shine. One standout chicken product by an outside brand is Amylu's Sesame Ginger Chicken Crumbles.

While the name suggests that a package will simply contain seasoned chicken, also included in each refrigerated box is a packet of mandu sauce. The intent, presented clearly on the outside of its packaging, is to house both the chicken and sauce in lettuce leaves for an easy lettuce wrap entree. For what it's worth, some fans of the product enjoy them in this recommended fashion, while others make their own original chicken crumble-based dishes. No matter the case, Amylu Sesame Ginger Chicken Crumbles have plenty of fans among Costco customers. "Our family loves 'em," wrote one Reddit user. "I know some people were dunking on them yesterday for not being visually appealing — fair, it's not gorgeous. But you know what is appealing? Dinner on the table in 15 minutes that isn't totally loaded with junk."

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With a classic chicken stock recipe, it's plenty feasible to prepare chicken stock with simple ingredients at home. Nevertheless, that takes time, and for those short on time, a prepackaged chicken stock may well be the preferable option. With that said, Costco members in need of a prepared chicken stock might want to opt for something other than Kirkland Signature's Organic Chicken Stock product.

For what it's worth, Costco's organic chicken stock isn't necessarily of a poor level of quality. A majority of Costco customers with an opinion on the matter, however, prefer either Better than Bouillon — a sort of chicken stock concentrate, also available at Costco warehouses — or preparing a chicken stock at home. The $5 rotisserie chicken is, naturally, a favorite among shoppers for use in an at-home chicken stock recipe. "If you're buying a rotisserie chicken anyway, 100% make your own stock!" wrote one Reddit user. "It's easy and ... always tastes better than store-bought."

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Many Costco stores stock pretty solid selections of Asian products, especially in the refrigerated and frozen foods departments. One standout premade chicken item in the refrigerator aisles is the Sukhi's company's Chicken Tikka Masala — technically British-Indian in origin, but still comfortably under the umbrella of South Asian food.

Costco, of course, revolves around products in bulk quantities, and one box of Sukhi's Chicken Tikka Masala contains two pouches of chicken, just one of which can make for a moderate meal paired with a simple carb. While there are plenty of Costco members who have shared online that the Sukhi's Chicken Tikka Masala is a staple of their shopping trips, a minor criticism among even fans of the product is that it's insufficiently spicy. But with a dash of red pepper or hot sauce, the product lives up to what those customers believe to be its full potential. Extra spice, however, isn't the only ingredient shoppers add to their tikka masala. "My family is a big fan, even the little kids," wrote one Reddit user. "I always steam then sauté green beans in a big pan, dump this on top, then serve all over white rice. Makes it a more complete meal, still fast."

In addition to the Kirkland Signature Chicken Salad, Costco uses its famed rotisserie chicken as the protein in a Kirkland Signature Enchilada Bake, available refrigerated in the deli section. Typically weighing in at over 3.5 pounds, one tray of the Kirkland Signature Enchilada Bake contains chicken, flour tortillas, two kinds of beans, cheddar cheese, bell peppers, chipotle sauce, and cilantro. Also like Costco's chicken salad, the enchilada bake has disappointed more customers than it has left satisfied.

One common complaint is its cost, totaling $6.80 a pound, and often exceeding $20 for one container. Of course, if it were tasty enough, cost would be a non-factor, but a fair number of shoppers have found the enchilada bake lacking in that department too. One common complaint is that its tortillas are a non-factor, effectively dissolving into a liquid-y slop. "After baking, the tortillas are pretty much just a slimy mess, which makes for a very unpleasant mouth feel," wrote one Reddit user. "The flavor was okay, but without any solid texture from the tortillas, it's basically a big chunky soup. 1/10 will never try again."

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One of the joys of shopping at a Costco warehouse is trying new products. That could mean, say, a frozen chicken lettuce cup entree purchased after enjoying a sample, or just a Kirkland Signature alternative to a grocery store staple. Foster Farms chicken offers little novelty to most shoppers, for whom the chicken company's products are readily available at most competing grocery stores. Nevertheless, at Costco are what the brand calls its Take Out Crispy Wings, and they rank among the warehouse chain's tastiest chicken products.

A Costco bag of Foster Farms Take Out Crispy Wings is unsurprisingly huge, weighing in at 4 pounds. A fair number of customers who regularly purchase the product have shared that they don't even prepare the wings with their included Buffalo sauce, finding the bare wings to be of a high enough quality on their own to warrant purchasing. "I always have these wings in my freezer, they are so, so good," wrote one Reddit user. "I do not use the sauce though, I make my own Parmesan garlic or use Buffalo Wild Wings dry seasoning. Delicious."

Real Good Foods

Costcos typically stock a variety of products by the Realgood Foods brand, which boasts high protein content, low carbs, and low sugar in its frozen entrees. One Realgood item of note in Costco's freezer aisles is a box of Chicken & Pepper Jack Cheese Burritos. Ideally, one frozen burrito would serve as a convenient snack option for those in search of something with a minimal nutritional cost. Unfortunately, Costco customers who have tried them have found the Chicken & Pepper Jack Cheese Burritos to be of a subpar quality and not worth purchasing even after taking their nutritional content into consideration.

In online discussions of the Realgood Chicken & Pepper Jack Cheese Burritos are numerous customers who were drawn to the product for its protein, carb, and fat content — relative to total calories, with the goal of muscle growth in mind — but found the burritos simply too bland to enjoy. "I bought these 'real good' burritos yesterday thinking they'd be a yummy fast lunch option," wrote a Reddit user in the opening post of a thread dedicated to the product. "Sadly when I tried them, I quickly discovered that the burrito had little to no cheese inside and the chicken was so dry it was like eating saw dust. I have no idea how a burrito could get that dry after cooking it for a single minute."

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On the flip side of the Realgood Foods coin is the similarly health-oriented Just Bare brand. Whereas Realgood Foods produces a variety of frozen entrees, many of which garner criticism from Costco shoppers, Just Bare specializes in chicken products, and they're largely enjoyed by Costco members. Among the brand's offerings in Costco's freezer aisles are the Just Bare Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Chunks.

Like Foster Farms' wings, in one bag of Just Bare chicken chunks is a formidable 4 pounds of chicken. One serving — of which there are about 22 in a bag — boasts 16 grams of protein. Fans of the product enjoy the chicken breast chunks in equal parts as quasi-chicken nuggets, and as a protein in dishes like ramen or a Buffalo chicken sandwich. While Kirkland Signature's bag of frozen chicken chunks and the Just Bare version each has its proponents, some Costco members find the Just Bare product to be superior overall. Some people have even compared these Costco nuggets to Chick-fil-A as well. "I was loyal to the Kirkland version for a while, but these were on sale last time and I'm not going back," wrote one Reddit user. "These are less breading, less salty and more tender. Big fan. My hack is toss them with chili crisp, cilantro, and spring onions."

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Determining this list of chicken products from Costco that stand out on either the positive or negative end of the spectrum first required searching for discussions of chicken items among Costco shoppers. Those discussions predominantly came from Reddit, given that Costco accounts on platforms like Instagram and YouTube more frequently showcase products than they critique them.

Costco's chicken inventory, of course, is considerable and varies from store to store, so this list is not exhaustive. It does, however, cover a fair number of the most widely and recently discussed products that have generated strong opinions in one direction or the other. An item was left off this list of if it was divisive — meaning a mix of both positive and negative thoughts made it hard to categorize, if it failed to garner much discussion, or if it simply hadn't been discussed recently as of this article's writing. In that latter case, maybe customers had glowing things to say about an item, but it was only ever talked about five years ago, suggesting it hasn't been widely available on Costco shelves for some time. Each item on this list, then, met each of those criteria, landing it a spot as either one of the eight best chicken products at Costco, or one of the five best skipped over.