Costco Gyro Meal Kit Review
Not bad. But for the price, I’d probably just grab some take-out instead.
Don’t hate me, Costco fans. I tried the Costco Gyro meal kit. Here are my thoughts:
I love how all the ingredients are individually packaged and separated from each other. If you have picky eaters, it will be easy to adjust the gyros for each person. You get six gyro wraps, a big pile of lamb/beef meat, a small cup of feta cheese, a bowl of chopped tomatoes/cucumber, a little cup of diced red onion, and two tzatziki sauces, plus an ocean of romaine lettuce.
The meat is pre-cooked, but the instructions said to heat it in a pan. So I did. And a LOT of oil came out. And the meat shrunk. Alas, cruel world! I do like how thinly shaved it is, and it has a great seasoned flavor — although not as zesty as some might prefer. I may have cooked mine too much, because the edges got crispy. I like crispy.
I’m lazy, so I put a gyro wrap on top of the meat in my pan and let it warm from the steaming meat. Basically, I cooked them both at the same time. Worked great. The wraps are thick and puffy, but not very big.
There is not enough tzatziki sauce. Or maybe I’m a greedy monster. But, there wasn’t enough for me. The tzatziki is thick and creamy, with a bit of tanginess and a pleasant cucumber flavor. It tasted great with the pungent feta crumbles.*
There’s too much romaine lettuce. Don’t get me wrong, I love romaine, but there’s WAY more than I could ever eat on six gyros. There’s more than I could eat on 12 gyros. A huge amount. So. Much. Lettuce. Since you’re paying by the pound for this meal, just realize you’re paying for a lot of thick lettuce. I’d rather pay for something else. Like tzatziki sauce.
The cucumber and tomato medley is… unfortunate. My meal kit was packed “today,” and yet my cucumber chunks were already wilted and the water had separated and pooled in the bottom of the bowl. Sad, sad cucumbers. Their sadness is contagious. The tomato chunks were swimming around in that sadness.
Since the meal kit “sell by” date is a few days in the future, you could possibly end up with some truly miserable cucumbers chunks. Clinically depressed cucumber chunks. Just sayin’.
Anyway. The finished gyro was mighty tasty. I added a little salt, but otherwise it was quite satisfying. Not a big meal, tho. I think a hungry person might need at least two gyros. Maybe three! So the meal kit might only feed 2-3 people. It’s currently $20, which is pretty steep for that many meals. Especially since you have to prep the food yourself & wash a pan. Especially since the meat shrinks. Especially since you’re paying for a ton of lettuce. Especially since there isn’t enough tzatziki!
Although I enjoyed this, for that price I think I’d just grab some take-out.
Ingredients and Shelf-life
It took me a few days to eat my gyros. I finished before the “sell-by” date on the package, but the veggies had turned into disgusting, inedible, liquid mush long before the “sell-by.” I find this troubling — they should last at least as long as the “sell-by.” I would definitely check the “packed” date on the package and only buy a kit that was packed THE SAME DAY you buy it. And then eat it quick!
*I realized later that the tzatziki sauce is primarily canola oil and water and “non-fat dry milk”. There’s some yogurt in it, but not as a main ingredient (yogurt is the fifth ingredient, after water, canola oil, cucumbers, and non-fat dry milk). Ugh! Traditionally, tzatziki is yogurt-based. The Costco version tastes good, but after seeing what is in it, I’ll pass.
The gyro meat is a combination of beef and lamb and breadcrumbs and…other stuff.
Below is a full list of the ingredients. And the cooking instructions.
Price and Servings
This sold by weight, at $6.49 per pound. My kit cost about $20. As mentioned above, there are technically six gyros in the kit, but they are small and the meat shrinks by a substantial amount. I think you would be fortunate to get 3 adult servings from this kit. I’m a 5’1” hobbit, and I ate two gyros.
At that price, I don’t deem it a great value, nor is it more convenient than ordering take-out. I might consider this kit if I lived somewhere that didn’t have good gyro take-out, or it was somehow much more convenient for me to run into Costco on my way home from work, versus stop at a restaurant.
Author’s note: I wasn’t paid (or even encouraged) to write this review, and I have no affiliation with Costco. Now pass the tzatziki sauce!
