Costco Deli Butter Chicken Meal Kit (Review)
Author’s Note: These are my own unbiased opinions. I have no affiliation with either Costco or Kirkland.
Never again.
This Costco Butter Chicken has a strange aftertaste. And, that’s one of the nicest things I’m going to say in this review. You’ve been warned.
This is 100% not an item I would buy again. In fact, I had to throw away the rest of the pan, after choking down one small serving. I’m a frugal person, so this made me very sad. I am pretty confident this is the worst Costco Deli item I’ve purchased so far.
(If you are wondering what is the BEST Costco Deli item I’ve tried, it is hands-down the Mac and Cheese. You can read my glowing review here.)
Anyway. Let’s back up, shall we? This meal kit is available in the cold cases of the Costco Deli. It’s sold by weight, but most trays are approximately the same amount of food — about 2.5 pounds. The meal kit comes with the Butter Chicken (in sauce), and a stack of small naan loaves. (I counted 8 naan loaves, total. But they are mini-sized.) No rice. I made my own basmati rice to go with this. Because, rice.
Cooking Instructions
The instructions on the package said to bake for 45 minutes at 375. I followed the directions to remove the plastic lid and cover with foil first. I did agonize briefly over whether the naan loaves were supposed to stay in the tray, or be removed before baking, but I finally decided the instructions would have certainly spelled it out if they need to be separated from the rest of the meal before baking.
Ha ha ha ha ha.
I think this was a fatal error. My naan loaves were browned and crunchy on top, and stiff, toasty, dark pretzels on the bottom. In fact, the bottom two loaves were so bad, I had to throw them away. Meanwhile, the middle loaves were almost soggy, from the steam. Based on this, I would say, take the naan out before baking. Or at least half-way through. Or something. As Napoleon Dynamite said: “Gosh!” I’d probably opt to warm the naan in a skillet, rather than baking, TBH.
The Naan Loaves
Even though the naan are not large, having 8 loaves means you don’t technically need rice or anything else to make this a full meal. For me, with the basmati rice I made, there was way more naan than I actually needed. And that’s fortunate, since half of it was too crunchy to eat.
The surviving naan was fluffy. I did really love the layers inside the loaves — when I ripped them apart, they were soft inside and had several enjoyable strata. My overall impression of the taste is that they have a surprisingly rich, savory flavor, and are a bit on the salty side. There is buttermilk in the ingredients, which provides a palpable twang. Unfortunately, there was odd aftertaste in the naan, too.
The Sauce
The sauce is bland. Full stop. It does have some savory flavors — perhaps fenugreek and cumin? — but not a single drop of spiciness. It doesn’t have a gingery or peppery taste. Minus the heat, the flavor wasn’t as multi-faceted as the Indian food I generally get from a good restaurant. Mine also needed salt. But I almost always think that.
(If you are looking for another Costco option for Indian Food, I recommend this Chicken Tikka Masala from Sukhi’s. It is also lacking spiciness [sadly], but has a better flavor profile.)
The sauce didn’t start out very thick or creamy, but it improved significantly after baking —and then stirring — and letting it cool down a bit. It was watery on top right out of the oven, so definitely stir it well.
The Meat Quality
I also did not like the chicken. It appears to be entirely dark meat, and there are some of the dreaded “jiggly bits.” By now, you all know how I feel about “jiggly bits.” Ha. If you’re a fan of dark meat, you might enjoy this. I don’t think I would have minded if it was, say, 30% dark meat, but having the entire bowl be only dark meat was not my cup of tea.
Ok, back to that strange “aftertaste.” I mean. I sat and thought for a while to come up with a way to describe it. It tastes like chemicals. It tasted bad, whatever it was. I actually worried that it might be something leaching out of the black plastic tray that it baked in. You may have seen the recent news articles that warned people to avoid black plastic food containers (especially if the food has to be heated in them), due to toxic contamination from recycled plastics with banned flame-retardant chemicals.
I certainly hope that isn’t the case. Regardless, I definitely would have preferred this meal to be packaged in an aluminum pan, like most of the other Costco Deli offerings.
If I had this to do over, I would have simply heated the butter chicken sauce in a skillet on the stove. The entire baking process was completely counterintuitive (and time consuming), with poor results.
Ingredients in Costco Deli Butter Chicken
Here’s my best attempt at typing out the ingredients, from the label:
Butter Sauce
- Water
- Yogurt (Milk, Protein Concentrate, Enzymes, Cultures)
- Tomato Paste (Tomatoes, Citric Acid), Milk (with Vitamin D3 added)
- Cream
- Onions
- Sugar
- Salt
- Modified Corn Starch
- Canola Oil
- Spices
- Garlic
- Dehydrated Garlic
- Caramelized Sugar Powder (contains Potato Maltodextrin)
- Turmeric (color)
- Onion Powder
- Natural Smoke Flavor
Mini Naan
- Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Vitamins B3, B1, B2, B9, Iron, Ascorbic Acid [dough conditioner], Enzyme)
- Buttermilk (Non-fat Milk, Dry Buttermilk, Bacterial Culture)
- Water
- Soybean Oil
- Cultured Wheat Flour
- Eggs
- Sugar
- Baking Powder (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Baking Soda, Cornstarch, Monocalcium Phosphate)
- Sea Salt
- Ghee (clarified Butter)
- Wheat Gluten
- Dextrose
- Dextrin
- Carrot Fiber
- Yeast
Tandoori Seasoned Chicken
- Chicken Thighs (cooked, deboned)
- Berbere Seasoning (Annatto, Salt, Paprika, Spice, Dextrose, Garlic Powder, Sugar, Onion Powder)
- Soybean Oil
- Sodium Phosphates
- Vinegar
You are getting some great ingredients in this meal, like real cream, and yogurt, and buttermilk. You are also getting sodium phosphate.
I think having the label state clearly (at the top) that this is made with dark meat, or chicken thighs, or whatever, would save some unnecessary frustration. The ingredients label is a confusing jumble, and it would take a while for even the most diligent shopper to isolate the fact that there are only “chicken thighs” in this meal.
Price and Servings
This is sold by the pound at $5.99 per pound. My tray weighed 2.6 pounds and cost $15.57. Per ounce, this meal costs 37 cents.
I’d hazard you will get two very large, restaurant-style meals from this. Or, 3-4 much more petite meals. It will stretch farther if you add your own rice, like I did.
Shelf Life
My package had a “sell-by” date roughly 3 days after the “pack date.”
This is a “Kirkland Signature” (Costco store-brand) item, and the product # is: 34146.
Dramatic Conclusion
I would not buy this again. In fact, it was so terrible, I threw the leftovers away. This pained me. It pained my wallet. It was a tragic waste of food and money. The yucky aftertaste, the crunchy naan, and undesirable meat texture, combined with the overall weak flavors, makes this an unappetizing meal.
But, if you do decide to buy this, make sure you don’t cook the naan with the chicken! Just sayin’!
The End.
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