Costco Chicken Street Tacos Meal Kit Review
Author’s note: I wasn’t paid to write this review, and I have no affiliation with Costco.
I don’t like jiggly bits. I don’t like them!
I tried the Costco Deli Chicken Street Tacos meal kit. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
I’d give this an enthusiastic 5 stars IF the chicken had better texture and wasn’t full of gristle pieces and jiggly bits. Minus that, it’s completely delicious. Albeit, in a highly processed way.
You get 12 small, soft taco shells, a mound of mild colby-ish cheese, a mountain of cooked, seasoned chicken bits, a heap of shredded cabbage medley, some lime slices, and BEST OF ALL, sauces: cilantro lime and salsa.
The Taco Shells
The soft shells are thick and have an enjoyable texture that improves further if you toast them in a pan. They are little shells, so these are small tacos. I loved the cheese — it’s finely shredded and tastes high quality, much better than I expected.
The Chicken
The chicken bits are…well, they’re meh. The texture is odd, almost like processed chicken instead of fresh. And the aforementioned gristle and jiggle.
I don’t like gristle and jiggle. I don’t like it!
Ok, a disappointment, but not a deal breaker. There’s heavy seasoning on the chicken that is blobbed and clumped in places, but tasty. Not spicy, just lots of flavor.
The Veggies and Limes
I’m a cabbage fan, so I loved the shredded cabbage medley. You get some purple and green cabbage, carrot shreds, and some odd broccoli bits. It’s crisp and crunchy and doesn’t taste old or wilted. You can make your own cabbage slaw if you have leftovers. Mmm, cabbage! The world needs more cabbage.
The lime wedges are a bit dry, and they get drier if it takes you a couple days to eat this. This doesn’t matter much, because you’ll be squeezing the lime juice out and discarding the carcass.
The Salsa
The salsa is HOT. Yum! It’s thick, too. A little goes a long way. Which is good, because there’s only enough for an itty-bitty dollop on each taco.
(Looking for another salsa review? Perhaps you would enjoy my silly review of the Publix Greenwise Organic Hot Salsa.)
The Cilantro Lime Crema Sauce
I loved the cilantro lime crema sauce, and I’d buy this meal kit again just for that. It’s creamy, but thin (in a good way). It’s got a nice fresh zing and brightness. I liked how it soaks into the other ingredients and coats the cabbage in flavor. Because it has a cream/buttermilk base, it satisfies the need for sour cream as a condiment. This sauce is one of the best parts of this meal kit, IMHO.
(You know what else is a great sauce for tacos? This Mexicali Dip from Aldi. You can read my sassy review here.)
Heating Instructions
The instructions simply say to heat the tortillas and chicken to 165 and top with condiments. I microwaved mine, which worked fine, and seemed to keep the chicken juicy and the tortillas moist. It took about 40 seconds on “High” for each taco.
I also tried toasting the tortillas in a pan and cooking the chicken in a skillet, and this also worked, but was more time consuming. I’d choose the stove top method if I was preparing this meal kit for a whole family, but microwave is more sensible if you are just eating one or two tacos at a time.
Ingredients in Costco’s Chicken Street Taco Meal Kit
Here are the ingredients:
- Chicken (chicken, water, salt, maltodextrin, paprika, honey, corn starch, sugar, peppers, onion, spices, citric acid, yeast extract)
- Tortillas (water, corn masa flour, bleached enriched flour [wheat flour, vitamins B3, B2, B1, iron, folic acid], wheat gluten, salt, dextrose, leavening [sodium aluminum and monocalcium phosphates, baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate], oat fiber, SSL, safflower oil, mono- & diglycerides, fumaric acid, potassium sorbate, calcium propionate, sodium propionate, sorbic acid, cellulose gum, guar gum, lime)
- Salsa (tomatoes, onions, peppers [chili, jalapeno, bell], water, tomato paste, cilantro, spices, onion, celery, garlic, corn gluten, xanthan gum, yeast extracts, spice extracts, salt, vinegar, citric acid, acetic acid, lactic acid, cellulose gum, calcium chloride)
- Cilantro Sauce (cultured pasteurized skim milk, cream, water, canola oil, vinegar, modified corn starch, soy protein, salt, gelatin, non-fat milk, lemon & lime juice, onion, xanthan gum, natural flavors, spice, low-fat buttermilk, red wine vinegar, cilantro, chilis, garlic, sea salt, salt, pumpkin seeds, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate, enzymes)
- Cheese Blend (cultured pasteurized milk, salt, enzymes, artificial color, natamycin)
- Limes
- Green & Red Cabbage
- Broccoli
- Carrots
I don’t give this meal kit any awards for natural ingredients, as there are many preservatives and even artificial colors present. This is a more highly processed meal kit than other offerings from the Costco Deli. Bummer.
Price and Servings
I’m impressed by how much food this is — the tray is deeper than it looks. It’s sold by weight at $5.49 per pound. My whole package cost about $16. That seemed like a lot of money, but it’s almost 3 pounds, and if you eat small meals like I do, it’s 6 half-pound meals.
Each taco cost $1.33. Not a bad value. You can also add your own beans or rice for more mileage. The pile of cheese is impressively large and there’s probably more chicken here than I can actually eat on 12 small tacos.
This is a Kirkland Signature (Costco store-brand) item, and the product# is: 11545.
Shelf Life
The expiration date on my package gave me several days to consume this from the date of purchase.
Dramatic Conclusion
This meal was quick and easy to prepare. I loved the crisp veggies and the cilantro lime crema sauce and the hot salsa. I didn’t love the chicken texture. Or the ingredients. The tacos are small, but a reasonable price per serving.
The End.
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