Costco's New Food Court Sandwich Is Topped With Bacon Jam

Bulk-grocery-shoppers and carnivorous foodies, lend us your ears: The Costco food court just dropped a new chicken and bacon sandwich. To be clear, this double-meat debut doesn't contain strips of crispy bacon. Instead, the bacon aspect comes in the form of a sweet-savory bacon jam. News of the chicken-bacon beauty comes from a thread on the r/Costco subreddit. According to the original poster, the photo of the menu board was taken a week ago as of August 4, so it's unclear exactly how long this new menu item has been available.

Another thread on the same Costco subreddit comes from an ostensible store employee with more detailed information on the new sandwich, including photos of the store deli instructions for how it's prepared. Per the post, the chicken and bacon sandwich ($6.99) starts with Dijon mayo spread across the bottom of a roll, which is then topped with sliced oven roasted chicken breast, a slice of cheddar cheese, two tomato slices, "green leaf rib" lettuce, and finally finished with the top half of the bread roll, which is smeared with a scoop of bacon chutney. Costco has yet to release its proprietary recipe, but typically, bacon jam is some combination of tender diced bacon and sweet caramelized onions rendered in the bacon fat, which all come together in a sticky mixture of brown sugar, smoked paprika, and Worcestershire sauce.

According to fans in the comments section of the Reddit thread, the chicken-bacon sandwich is served cold, and runs for the same price as Costco's turkey sandwich. Some lament the caloric density (920 calories per sandwich), while others note the consistency of Costco's ciabatta bread and its tendency to overpower the fillings of other sandwiches on the food court menu — especially when untoasted, where the bread tends to lean a tad dry. Overall, fans seemed less excited than perplexed about this new menu addition, instead requesting other retired food court favorites be reintroduced to the menu.

Costco's food court has emerged as the center of some fairly heated press lately, and not just surrounding the viral cookie (which totally lives up to the hype, for the record). Specifically, Costco's sandwich sector is leading the newsreel. In November 2023, Costco released a $2 breakfast sandwich many fans called an exact dupe for Starbucks' Double Smoked Bacon, Egg, & Cheddar Sandwich on a butter croissant, accruing rave reviews and instant popularity. Still, these sammies belong to Costco's Kirkland brand, not the ready-to-eat food court, and come frozen. A year ago, Costco launched a controversial $9.99 roast beef sandwich, a high price tag that immediately turned food court fans' appetites, drawing mass negative feedback. Time will tell whether this newly-launched chicken and bacon jam combination will find a solid fanbase or fall to the wayside like its similarly-priced roast beef predecessor.