Back in, say, 2015, the Costco deli was basically rotisserie chicken and maybe some pre-made sushi if your location was feeling ambitious. Fast forward a decade and the prepared foods section has exploded into this sprawling wonderland of meal kits, frozen entrées, take-and-bake dinners, and bulk-sized sides that promise to save you time and money. But here’s the uncomfortable truth a lot of Costco loyalists don’t want to hear: not everything coming out of that deli case or freezer aisle deserves to go in your cart. Some of it is, frankly, pretty bad.
The Pasta Salad Problem
Let’s start with one that genuinely baffles me: the Costco Tortellini Pasta Salad. On paper, it sounds great. Stuffed pasta, cured meats, mozzarella pearls, olives — basically an antipasti platter in bowl form. The kind of thing you’d grab for a summer barbecue without a second thought. But according to multiple taste tests, the execution misses badly.
The pasta itself tends to be overcooked, which gives the whole thing a mushy texture that no amount of dressing can fix. And speaking of the dressing — there’s way too much of it. Instead of something bright and vinegary to cut through all that cheese and meat, you get this flat, greasy coating that just makes everything heavier. The black olives don’t help either. No fresh herbs, no crunchy vegetables, nothing to provide contrast. It’s monotone in flavor and texture.
At $5.49 per pound, you’d expect something with a little more thought behind it. This is Costco, after all — a place where the rotisserie chicken has basically become a cultural institution. The tortellini pasta salad, though? Most shoppers seem to agree it’s a pass. You’re better off buying tortellini and making your own salad at home, which honestly takes about ten minutes.
Mac and Cheese? Nah.
That brings up another thing that keeps disappointing people: the prepared mac and cheese. I know — it feels almost wrong to criticize mac and cheese. It’s supposed to be foolproof. Noodles, cheese, heat. Done. But Costco’s version has a reputation among regulars for being simultaneously too rich and too bland, which is a combination I didn’t think was possible until I started reading the reviews.
The theory floating around is that the deli uses a premade Alfredo sauce as the base instead of building a proper bechamel. If that sauce isn’t well-seasoned to begin with, everything built on top of it falls flat. You end up with this heavy, greasy bowl of pasta that somehow tastes like nothing. It needs salt. It needs pepper. It needs… something. Multiple Costco shoppers have said they’d rather just make a box of Kraft than deal with doctoring this up, which is kind of a devastating review when you think about it.
The portion is huge, so if you buy it and don’t love it, you’re stuck with a LOT of mediocre mac and cheese. For the price and the Costco brand promise, this one just doesn’t deliver. Save yourself the disappointment.
Shepherd’s Pie Isn’t One
Okay, this one gets people fired up for multiple reasons. Costco sells a prepared shepherd’s pie that, first of all, isn’t actually a shepherd’s pie. True shepherd’s pie uses lamb. What Costco sells is made with beef, which technically makes it a cottage pie. Is this the most important distinction in the world? No. Does it drive a very specific type of person absolutely crazy? Yes. And those people are loud on Reddit.
Naming issues aside, the actual food has problems too. The potato topping gets described as mealy. The vegetables inside are overcooked to mush. The meat filling has this odd sweetness that doesn’t belong. When you’re buying a prepared comfort food, you want it to taste at least as good as the frozen Stouffer’s version you grew up with. This doesn’t clear that bar for most people.
It’s one of those items that looks appealing in the case — big tray, golden potatoes on top, looks homey. But the eating experience lets you down. If you want a solid prepared dinner from Costco’s deli, there are much better options sitting right next to it on the shelf. The shepherd’s pie (or whatever we’re calling it) can stay where it is.
The Burger Kit Disaster
Along the same lines, Costco recently rolled out a bacon cheddar burger kit in their prepared foods section. Meal kits from Costco are usually a pretty safe bet — the chicken street taco kit, for instance, is widely loved. So expectations were reasonable. A burger kit with bacon and cheddar? Sounds hard to screw up. They screwed it up.
The first complaint, and honestly the funniest one, is that the kit doesn’t come with buns. A burger kit. Without buns. Just sit with that for a second. Beyond that hilarious omission, the pre-cooked patties look and feel dry before you even heat them. The included vegetables — lettuce, tomato, the usual suspects — arrive already looking wilted and sad. At $6.49 per pound, you’re paying a premium for the convenience of… what exactly? Having someone else put raw ingredients in a plastic container?
Shoppers on Reddit were quick to point out that buying frozen burgers and cooking them yourself would be cheaper, faster, and result in a far better meal. Hard to argue with that logic. If you want pre-prepped beef from the Costco deli, the meatloaf with mashed potatoes is the move — it runs just $3.99 per pound and actually tastes like someone cared when they made it.
Frozen Aisle Landmines
The deli section isn’t the only place where you need to be selective. The frozen food aisles at Costco are massive, and while there are genuinely excellent finds in there, some products ride on hype they haven’t earned. Take the Crazy Cuisine General Tso’s Chicken, a newer addition to many Costco freezer sections. The flavor is decent enough and the ginger in the sauce comes through nicely, but the breading has this spongy, almost soggy quality that undermines the whole dish. If you’ve had the Mandarin Chicken from the same brand, you already know the better version exists.
Then there’s the Royal Asia Vegetable Spring Rolls. These aren’t terrible — they crisp up well, especially in an air fryer — but the edamame filling is overpowering. It dominates every bite. If you’re used to the Bibigo Spring Rolls that Costco also carries, these are going to feel like a downgrade. Not a disaster, but not something you’d rush back to buy again either.
The frozen section is tricky because everything LOOKS good through that little window on the box. The photography is always aspirational. The reality when you open the bag and heat something up can be… different. Which is why it pays to know which items have actually been tested and which ones are just riding on attractive packaging.
What’s Actually Worth It
So what SHOULD you be grabbing? Because I don’t want to leave you standing in Costco feeling paralyzed by distrust. On the prepared foods side, the stuffed bell peppers with ground beef and rice are a standout. Under $4.99 per pound, they taste genuinely homemade — savory beef and rice stuffed into roasted peppers, covered in tomato sauce and melted cheese. Pop them in the oven and you’ve got a full dinner. The chicken street taco kit is another winner at around $15 for 12 tacos with all the fixings, including a lime cilantro crema that’s honestly better than what you get at most taco spots.
Over in the frozen aisle, the Just Bare Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Strips have earned their cult following. The chicken quality is noticeably better than most frozen options, the breading stays crunchy, and kids apparently go nuts for them. The Jones Dairy Farm Chicken Sausage is another quiet winner — quick to heat up in an air fryer, great protein for breakfast, and versatile enough to throw into pasta or grain bowls. Just don’t microwave them too long or the texture goes weird. And if you’re feeling adventurous, the Japanese Hokkaido scallops from East Coast Seafood are apparently incredible — tender, sweet, and easy to sear at home with butter and garlic.
The pattern is pretty clear once you see it. The items that work well at Costco tend to be simple — good ingredients, straightforward preparation, not trying to be too clever. The ones that fail are usually overcomplicating things, cutting corners on seasoning, or packaging something that was never meant to be pre-made. A rotisserie chicken is brilliant at $4.99 because it’s a simple thing done right. A bunless burger kit at $6.49 per pound is a mess because it’s a bad idea executed poorly. Next time you’re doing a Costco run, trust the simple stuff and leave the gimmicky kits on the shelf. Your wallet and your stomach will both thank you.
