Costco Deli Chicken Quesadillas Review
Author’s Note: Not a paid review. Not sponsored. I have no affiliation with Costco.
Great flavor, but aw-FUL texture. “Bring me another glass!”
My first thought when I tried these Chicken Quesadillas from the Costco Deli was: “mmm, smokey!” There’s a fabulously deep cheesey-savory-smoked flavor. This is partly from the smoked paprika and chipotle peppers. The cheese is a glorious combination of cheddar, monterey jack, and queso asadero. Excellent balance of sharpness and creaminess.
Chicken
But the chicken texture is terrible. It’s terrible enough to make me forget about all the goodness of the flavors. “aw-FUL.”
Would you like me to elaborate? Of course you would. The chicken is gummy, jiggly, gristly, squashy, and super processed-tasting. All at once. I hate wasting food, so I tried my “manliest” to eat it. But I ended up spitting about half of it out on a napkin. I just could not even.
It reminds me of the meat from Costco’s Chicken Street Tacos Meal Kit. I guess if you like that, you’ll be fine. It does not appear to be Costco’s rotisserie chicken, which the Deli does use for a number of products (such as this Penne Alfredo or the Enchilada Bake).
Filling
There’s a generous amount of filling inside each quesadilla. It’s a homogenous paste of finely shredded cheese, refried bean goop, and diced chicken bits. The outer flour tortillas are soft, thin, and moist. Unfortunately, they are made with hydrogenated soybean oil. More about the ingredients later.
Quick Prep
The quesadillas fry up quickly and reliably, with a crispy-crunchy exterior, and a soft, oozy interior. Mine (magically) did not fall apart, either before or after cooking. Thank the bean paste!
I cooked mine in about a tablespoon of coconut oil per 2 quesadilla pieces, in a ceramic frying pan, on medium-low heat. It takes about 5 minutes total (2.5 minutes per side) to get them crispy-golden. More about the cooking instructions later.
Sauces
You get three different dipping sauces. And this is a major success factor of this meal kit. There are two sealed Kirkland Organic Guacamole packs. And one unbranded “Salsa,” which has a pleasant spicy kick and delicate blended texture (I still added hot sauce to mine). You also get a deli cup of thick sour cream.
I like the little garlicy nudge in this Organic Guacamole. For a packaged product, it has a surprisingly fresh, natural taste. It’s very mellow without any spiciness, despite the jalapeno peppers in the ingredients.
Ingredients in Costco Deli Chicken Quesadillas
Here is my best attempt at typing out the ingredients:
- Four-Cheese Blend: Monterey Jack, Cheddar, Queso Quesadilla/Asadero Cheeses (Cultured Pasteurized Milk, Salt, Enzymes, Artificial Color)
- Flour Tortilla (Enriched Bleached Flour [Wheat Flour, Vitamins B3, B1, B2, Iron, Folic Acid], Water, Shortening [Soybean Oil, Hydrogenated Soybean Oil], Salt, Fumaric Acid, Potassium Sorbate & Calcium Propionate [Preservatives], Sodium Bicarbonate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Mono- and Diglycerides, Corn Starch, Guar Gum, Enzymes)
- Chipotle Chicken (Chicken, Water, Salt, Maltodextrin, Smoked Paprika, Honey Solids, Paprika, Corn Starch, Sugar, Chipotle Pepper Powder, Dried Pepper, Dried Onion, Spices, Citric Acid, Yeast Extract)
- Organic Guacamole (Haas Avocados, Tomatoes, Onions, Red Onions, Lime Juice, Cilantro, Garlic, Sea Salt, Jalapeno Peppers)
- Salsa (Tomatoes, Onions, Peppers [Chili, Jalapeno, Bell], Tomato Paste, Cilantro, Spices, Onion, Celery, Garlic, Corn Gluten, Xanthan Gum, Yeast Extract, Spice Extract, Salt, Vinegar, Citric /Acetic / Lactic Acid, Cellulose Gum, Calcium Chloride, Potassium Sorbate [Preservative])
- Sour Cream (Cultured Cream)
- Refried Beans (Water, Pinto Beans, Lard, Salt, Onions, Chicken Broth Base [Dextrose, Salt, Chicken Broth, Chicken Fat, Onion Powder, Natural Flavors, Canola Oil, Turmeric, and Caramel Color])
Welp. That’s certainly not my favorite list of ingredients. Did I still eat the quesadillas? You bet.
Nutrition Facts
A serving is 1/4th the package (291 grams) and contains 650 calories. You get 38 grams of fat (21 grams saturated fat) and 35 grams protein. There are 42 grams total carbohydrates, of which 4 grams are sugars (2 grams “added sugars”) and 4 grams are fiber. There’s a hefty 40% your daily value cholesterol, and an even heftier 69% your daily value sodium per serving. But you also get a whopping 60% your daily value calcium, and 20% your daily value iron per serving. (Nutrition Facts source.)
Price and Servings
The tray is sold per pound ($5.99) in the Costco Deli. Mine cost $15.93 for 2.66 pounds.
Since there are 4 servings per package, each serving costs about $4. Unfortunately, you can’t buy smaller packages; they are all a similar size/price. I mean, it IS Costco, after all!
This is a “Kirkland Signature” (Costco store-brand) product, and the item # is: 11748.
Shelf Life
The “sell by” date on my package was dated for 3 days after purchase. It took me slightly longer than that to eat mine, and the tortillas were starting to get a bit soggy. I would definitely try to eat within a day or two of purchase.
Cooking Instructions
Here are the official cooking instructions, per the label:
“Using a fry pan, heat 1 ounce of oil. Cook quesadilla for 2.5 minutes on each side or until temperature reaches 165 degrees F.”
I used coconut oil. Worked great.
Dramatic Conclusion
I loved the smokey, savory flavor of these quesadillas. They’re easy to prepare, and full of protein. But I can’t get past the meat texture and quality. It was bad enough that I won’t be buying these again. “Eww, David.”
On the official Awesome-o-Meter, these score a sad “Why, Tho?”
They could have been brilliant. Use better chicken, Costco. I know you can do it.
The End.
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