If you’re shopping for a large family or need certain items in bulk, a Costco membership is a must. However, the grocery chain also has a popular food court. You must be a member to visit the food court or to shop in-store. There are different membership levels and prices depending on your needs. Costco’s food court is always bustling with activity as people wait for their orders. Options include a slice of pepperoni pizza, fried chicken Caesar salad, hot dogs, and of course, the chicken bake. Members can easily visit the store, order, and then happily head home. But you’ll also see people with full shopping carts lining up in the food court to pick up a quick treat after shopping.

Since it came in first in our ranking of all Costco food court items, I wanted to try the Chicken Bake from the food court menu and compare it to the frozen version they sell in the store. From the cheese goodness to the crust texture, I’ll be comparing the two products in terms of taste, texture, size, appearance, price, and nutritional value to find out if one is better. Read on because I’ll be putting both products through a taste test and determining if there’s one you should avoid.

Costco’s Chicken Bake features chopped chicken breast strips, bacon bits, mozzarella, provolone and parmesan cheeses, and creamy Caesar dressing as the secret ingredient, all wrapped in a hand-rolled crust. It’s available in the food court, where you can order at the self-service kiosk and then wait for your order number to be called. It’s completely coated in crust, making it a portable meal that you can eat with your hands. This is especially convenient if you stay in the food court and eat it, as it’s less sticky that way. You can eat it as is or cut it into pieces, but this might prove difficult with the plastic cutlery.

A frozen pre-packaged version is also available in the protein section of the frozen food section near items like chicken breasts and hamburgers. The food court version is already hot, while the frozen version must be reheated in a microwave, oven, or toaster oven. The frozen casseroles come in a box. Each is individually wrapped for resale and weighs 8 ounces with six casseroles in the box (the food court option does not list the weight). Instructions for reheating the casseroles are provided on the box, as well as on each chicken casserole itself. This is useful if you discard the container to save space in the freezer.

At my Costco in the San Diego area, the frozen chicken casserole is $13.49 per box, while the ready-made casserole is $3.99 in the food court. You should be able to find the frozen casserole in your Costco next to the other frozen meats. If you’re not sure if your store has it, call your local store and ask. I did that and not only did they confirm that they had the item, but they also told me the price and quantity in stock. They will ask if you have a product number as that will lead them to an exact item, but they can also help you if you don’t. I initially looked on Costco’s website to see if they had it, but when I searched for “chicken casserole” nothing came up. However, you can find it on the Costco Business Center website.

As for the food court version, the item was clearly stated on the menu, but that can vary by store. It appears they prepare the food court versions in batches, which explains why the numbers were called in the wrong order. While I was waiting, several people were called whose numbers were called to get their chicken bakes. I waited maybe 5 minutes for my order. Here’s a shopping tip from Costco: Ask the cashier if you can order your food while you pay for the rest of your items. Not all locations have this feature, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.

Access to the nutritional information allows customers to make decisions based on their personal dietary needs. And you’ll see a significant difference in the nutritional values ​​when you compare the two chicken casseroles. The packaged frozen casseroles have the nutrition label clearly visible, making it easy to view the data and ingredients. Each sandwich contains 540 calories, 19 grams of fat, 1,370 milligrams of sodium, 58 grams of carbohydrates and 35 grams of protein.

The food court option only displays calories directly on the menu, but I was able to find more nutritional information online. This chicken bake — which is physically larger than the frozen version — has 840 calories, 32 grams of fat, 2,650 milligrams of sodium, 83 grams of carbohydrates and 52 grams of protein. Notably, if you were to eat the entire food court chicken bake, you would exceed your daily recommended amount of sodium, which is recommended at 2,300 milligrams.

Costco’s Chicken Bake is at the top of the food court rankings for good reason. It’s a fresh and piping hot hybrid of rolled-up calzone and hot pocket, baked to perfection with a browned crust and cheese. The abundance of crunchy cheese on the outside makes every bite tasty. The bread is soft and doughy on the inside but flaky on the outside. You can taste Caesar dressing and a piece of smoked bacon with every bite. Chicken, which can easily get tough and gross, stays supple and juicy, coated in the creaminess of the cheese and Caesar dressing. Plus, there’s a filling amount of chicken.

The only complaint was that the paper bag it came in had a slit in it, probably to prevent sogginess, but I didn’t realize it was packaged that way. It almost fell to the floor when I picked it up while they were calling my number. Once you get the hang of the packaging, it’s a fantastic portable takeout meal. The size is pretty big, which makes it an absolute steal for $3.99. There aren’t many places you can get a meal for that price these days. It’s best fresh, but it’s still pretty good if you refrigerate it and reheat leftovers (best in the oven or toaster oven to keep the crust crispy).

As much as you enjoy the food court, you don’t always have time to venture out to your local bustling Costco to grab something to eat, so Kirkland’s frozen chicken casserole is a convenient option to keep in the freezer. Costco’s website says that this specifically uses Foster Farms chicken breast strips. You’ll also notice that scallions are listed as an ingredient on the front of the package and you’ll see them in your casserole, but I didn’t spot any in the food court variety.

The instructions say to keep the contents frozen and that it’s microwave safe, but there are also cooking instructions for the oven and toaster oven. It says it’s the food court recipe, but even at first glance they look very different. I followed the toaster oven instructions exactly. I put aluminum foil on top to slow down the browning in the last 10 minutes.

Although the cheese looks almost burnt, the crust is lackluster and looks drab and pasty. The cheese crumbles on top are minimal, meaning a lot of flavor is lost. The chicken wasn’t as tender, but otherwise the filling tastes very similar to the food court version. The casserole had more empty space, while the food court casserole was quite stuffed. Also, a small amount of liquid seemed to drip out when I cut the casserole in half.

The Chicken Bake from Costco’s food court looks much more appealing based on appearance alone. Had I tried them individually, I wouldn’t have noticed the subtle differences in flavor and texture, but as I did, the Chicken Bake from Costco’s food court is the winner. Even though I followed the cooking instructions, the bland dough and lack of cheese on the outside really detracted from the overall flavor, appearance, and texture of the frozen take-out casserole. You can see that the cheese is almost burnt while the crust was barely browned. While you can microwave it, that could aggravate the texture and result in a soft, mushy bottom.

If you want the taste of the casserole at home, the pack of six costs about $2.25 per casserole. It still has the cheesy Chicken Caesar flavor, bacon bits, and extra green onions that I didn’t see in the food court version. It still tastes acceptable when you eat it at home without the fresh version to compare it to, but it’s just not one of Costco’s best prepared meals. If you’re a big fan or regular eater of the food court version, you’ll probably notice the differences. Since the food court version is larger than the frozen one, it’s not much more expensive, and you save yourself the 35 minutes it takes to bake.

Next time I would save the space in my freezer for something else and enjoy the hot, fresh chicken bake from the food court. You can’t leave Costco without stopping to buy this must-have food court item.