7 Costco Kirkland Brand Frozen Meals, Ranked Worst To Best

Costco offers tons of bulk food items, like fruit, meat, and fish, but what does the frozen section look like? As someone with a toddler, I know how important convenience can be. Freezer meals are a fantastic way to get food on the table when you don't have time or certain ingredients to make a home-cooked meal. If you're buying in larger quantities for a family, Costco can be a good option to save some dollars; all of these meals are a cost-effective dinner option compared to going out to eat for a similar meal. 

However, as I walked the freezer aisles in the warehouse, I soon realized there wasn't much of a selection when it came to Kirkland brand frozen food. Therefore, this list of Kirkland-branded frozen fare is pretty short. There were a couple of additional pizza options than the two included in this list, but I picked a duo that were distinct enough from each other to give variety.

In my taste test, I considered factors like taste, texture, presentation, preparation, and price for each meal, and also considered if the dish delivered on its advertised qualities. Some items were delicious and others missed the mark. Keep reading to find out which made the top spot.

The frozen chicken bakes are made of chicken breast strips with rib meat, three kinds of cheese (mozzarella, provolone, and Parmesan), bacon, green onions, and Caesar dressing. Although the food court serves a fresh version of this meal, I couldn't help but wonder how the frozen version compares. In short, nothing compares to the fresh one you get at the food court. The freshly baked ones are pillowy and filled with juicy chicken, whereas the frozen ones have an overly crispy exterior with burnt-looking cheese, fatty pieces of bacon, and an overly salty taste. 

The last time I bought the frozen chicken bakes, I felt disappointed by the taste and texture. This time, the experience was better, as the crust wasn't as tough and there were fewer gaps between the food and the shell. But, it still ranked last on my list. The inconsistency of the product makes me hesitant to buy it again, too. I'd recommend saving yourself the freezer space (or purchase something else from this list) and just get a fresh one in the store. That said, this frozen version could make an effective Hot Pocket-ish meal, albeit with some overarching flavor issues.

You get six chicken bakes in a box, which is a good deal for the price. But the taste and texture give it the last spot on this list of frozen Kirkland-branded meals. 

The Kirkland Signature beef lasagna is made with USDA choice grade ground beef chuck, vine-ripened tomatoes, whole milk mozzarella, and whole milk ricotta. The beef lasagna was decent as a stand-alone frozen meal, but I couldn't rank it very high compared to the other items on this list. I wanted a bit more from the flavor of the meat. It tasted plain and needed more seasoning to give it a punch. The other components, like the acidic tomatoes and creamy, rich ricotta, seemed to carry the dish more than the beef itself.

There was plenty of sauce, so you don't have to worry about getting a dry bite. The lasagna wasn't oily and had a good amount of cheese too. I followed the cooking directions and found it's generally a good dish and worth a shot if you or your family enjoy eating beef. The price makes it a great value and cost-competitive compared to other brands, given that the lasagna comes in two 3-pound packs. 

The presentation of the actual lasagna isn't as picturesque as the packaging. It's messier and doesn't have the distinguished layers. I love to eat and this dish didn't leave me wanting more. My toddler was not interested in this lasagna either, and instead preferred other items on this list. My family ate the leftovers for a couple of days to eliminate waste, but weren't too thrilled to do so. While, yes, I'd be more inclined to purchase the beef lasagna over the frozen chicken bakes, there are other Kirkland frozen items I'd rather buy instead. 

Pepperoni and cheese are a tasty, classic pairing. The Kirkland pepperoni pizza has a blend of mozzarella and white cheddar cheese, which gives it a creamy, rich mouthfeel. Although the crust had a flaky quality, I found the underside of the pizza to be a bit firm and overly crisp. The crust was thin and the cheese and pepperoni were salty. It says on the packaging that it has a double layer of pepperoni slices, which explains the overlapping pieces, but that's not presented in the photo on the box — which just looks like a standard pepperoni pizza. Nevertheless, this is a solid pick if you want a generous amount of meat on your pie.

The box says it's spicy pepperoni, but I didn't pick up on any type of heat. The pizza was not overly oily either; I usually dab a napkin on the pepperoni pizza from the food court to absorb the oily pools, and I was pleased that wasn't the case here. But then again, it's not supposed to be a replica of the food court version, as this pizza was much smaller and had a slim crust. Given that you get four pizzas in a pack, the price is a bargain, especially when you compare to other popular frozen pizza brands from the grocery store. It wasn't my favorite frozen item, so I didn't rank it too high, but it has an acceptable value and taste.

The Kirkland Signature eight-pack of breakfast sandwiches is advertised as being made with applewood-smoked bacon, cage-free eggs, and cheese on a spiral butter croissant. Now, I wouldn't say it's equivalent to an authentic croissant. It's denser, not as flaky, and definetly not shaped like a croissant. However, it had a buttery flavor and slight flakiness to it, which added more dimension.

The sandwich had an ample portion of bacon (two slices cut in half), but there was a lot of bread compared to everything else. If you like crispy bacon, this is not for you, as the bacon was soft and sometimes chewy. Honestly, I wanted more egg and cheese. Overall, it's a satisfactory breakfast option that delivers on its advertised ingredients. It had directions for cooking it in a microwave or air fryer, but I used a toaster oven instead. Cooking it in the toaster oven made it more appetizing, but it took longer than the directions said it would. I enjoyed the pepper on the egg because it gave it a flavor boost, but there were some discrepancies, as one sandwich was loaded with the spice while another had one literal pepper speck.

These are a convenient and inexpensive breakfast when you're not in the mood to whip something up from scratch, but I'd be inclined to zhuzh it up with sauce, spinach, or something else. It was oily on the fingers, so if you buy a pack, be sure to keep a napkin at the ready. I ranked this product in the middle because the taste, texture, and value weren't as impressive as other frozen Kirkland meals I tried.

The Kirkland Signature Italian sausage and beef lasagna is made with similar ingredients as the beef lasagna, except this one has Italian sausage. I appreciated the mix of sausage and beef flavors. The taste of the sausage was prevalent and brought dimension to ground beef, which doesn't have as much of a flavorful pop. I greatly preferred the flavor of this selection to the beef-only lasagna.

This dish, however, was quite oily. After taking it out of the oven, it had a pool of reddish grease on the edges. It's noticeable as you eat it, and it makes the corners of your mouth oily. I baked it per the directions, and can appreciate the texture of the cheese on top. Again, the lasagna is a good value, and for some reason, this one was cheaper than the beef lasagna. Like the beef lasagna, it didn't have the thick, defined layers that were portrayed on the packaging.

I've had quite a lot of frozen lasagnas in my lifetime and I especially like the mixture of the zesty Italian pork sausage and beef, as the sausage does the brunt of the work flavor-wise. The ricotta was delicious and impactful, too. My toddler enjoyed this lasagna and kept signing for more. The sausage has a light heat to it, but not so much that my toddler noticed. The flavor, value, and ingredients earned this frozen meal the third position from the top. 

This box comes with 30 pieces of tempura shrimp and several soy dipping sauce packets. You can cook these shrimp in an oven or an air fryer. I did them in a toaster oven and they came out perfect. The directions specified not to overcook the shrimp, which I assume would impact the texture. Luckily, the shrimp were perfectly cooked on the inside and were not that chewy, which can happen with seafood. I found the outside quite crispy; it had a satisfying, flaky crunch. The packaging comes in a resealable plastic baggie (which I loved) and the soy sauce packets are tucked on the sides. Be sure to double-check yours because I only saw four packages total and had to ration the sauce, only to realize there were two more packets hidden on either side.

While the tempura shrimp were the highest-priced item on this list, they are a convenient option to serve at a party when you don't want to batter and cook the seafood yourself. The shrimp were large and satisfying. I love tempura batter, whether it's on shrimp or vegetables, and I found that these shrimp have both a pleasing flavor and crunch. While it doesn't beat fresh tempura or supporting your local sushi joint, this Kirkland version is a terrific option when you want to serve something without having to put in a lot of effort. Granted, there was quite a lot of oil that comes out during cooking, but this is to be expected given the fried aspect of the dish. The shrimp have a fantastic taste and texture, and dare I say, look as good as the packaging.

I didn't have high hopes for the supreme cauliflower crust pizza at all. I've had plenty of cauliflower crust pizzas in the past and they are usually hit or miss — and usually err on the miss side. Many times, they are excessively crisp or burn quite quickly, but that wasn't the case for this Kirkland pie. 

The cauliflower crust pizza did require a bit of monitoring in the oven, though. If you don't leave it long enough, it comes out a bit floppy. I kept it in the oven longer than was directed, until it was firm, but not crispy. It has a buttery taste and a mild cauliflower flavor. I like that there's sausage, pepperoni, and roasted vegetables on this pie because all the toppings add dimension, flavor, and texture. The toppings were not evenly dispersed when I took the pizza out of the box, so I quickly moved them around to ensure they weren't all concentrated in one area. The pizza seemed a tad salty, but I was generally pleased with the taste and impressed by the cauliflower crust. 

The package comes with two pizzas and is the cheapest item on this list. This item is a satisfactory value compared to store-bought cauliflower crust frozen pizzas. The flavor of this pie was much better than the pepperoni, the crust had considerably more dimension, and I liked that it included sausage and vegetables too. This is a great frozen Costco find whether you're gluten-free or not. While I liked the tempura shrimp, this item offers more variety in terms of flavor, which made it the number one choice for me. 

I purchased these frozen meals from my local Costco in San Diego and I tried each item first-hand to come up with this ranking. Since these items range from lasagna to breakfast sandwiches, I wanted to be as fair as possible and give each one an even playing field. To do so, I made each dish exactly as directed and ate it as soon as it was made. The only exception to this was with breakfast sandwich and tempura shrimp, which were made in a toaster oven rather than what was recommended on the box. But, this alteration in the cooking method didn't impact its ranking. 

I tried the foods on different days to prevent getting overloaded. Once I had tasted each dish, I evaluated it based on things like taste, texture, and appearance, but I also wanted to factor in the price and whether or not it delivered on its advertised qualities. Although Costco has a lot of frozen food options, I focused on Kirkland-brand items in the freezer section specifically for this review.