Costco Pre-Made Meals Everyone Is Secretly Obsessed With

Costco is something of a modern phenomenon among grocery stores. That's because shopping at Costco is not a standard grocery excursion but an experience. There's a kind of magic to walking in with friends/family and seeing all that stuff on display. It also has its own restaurant, which is petty slick. Costco has picked up a kind of cult following, and this is in no small part due to its family appeal. At Costco, you have your pick of a diverse lineup of pre-made meals: hulking dinners rich in flavor and calories, ready to take home, pop in the oven, and feed a sizable family.

From lasagna and chicken quesadillas to gyros and salmon, there is something for everyone in the Costco pre-made meals section. But the true appeal is this: They're so tasty and easy to make that the effort-to-pleasure ratio is simply out of control — minimum price and work, maximum flavor and quantity. Here is a list of fan favorites, positively reviewed selections from the Kirkland range of heat-and-eat dinners. If you're not secretly obsessed with these easy-access dishes, you probably haven't tried them yet.

A new 2025 special, the Kirkland fried chicken and mashed potatoes meal are a convenient way to enjoy a little Southern comfort food, no deep fryer required. As the latest pre-made Costco meal, this entry is stepping into a world of competition. But customers have good things to say, and it's looking pretty good for this new fried-chicken offering. On Reddit, one user foresees themselves eating quite a lot of this stuff, saying, "If this comes to my Costco, I'm dead before the next Olympics." You'd have to consume a lot of fried chicken for that to happen, but maybe it's just that good. Another user from the same thread confirmed how good the chicken is, saying, "I tried them the other day and they are pretty fire in my opinion."

Another customer wrote, "My family of four ate this up! It was $16 and worth every penny. Made the dill pickle bagged salad with it and it was perfect." Coming in at $4.99 per pound, this seems like another solid deal from the Costco savings lineup. That said, this meal only showed up in April of this year, so your local Costco may not have it just yet. In the meantime, Costco sells rotisserie chicken and mashed potatoes separately, so you can always buy each item and prepare your own chicken and taters meal while you wait.

Costco already sells rotisserie chickens, but did you know it also places some of those hunks of tender meat into the signature enchilada meal? There are mixed opinions of this one, but like Costco itself, the rotisserie chicken enchiladas seem to have their own little cult following. Even when someone posts a negative review on Reddit, there are still plenty of comments in support of these pre-made enchiladas. One lone snacker had this to say, "I love this thing. I buy them regularly. Yea, it's $23, but it makes for MULTIPLE meals if a lone person is consuming it."

Another Redditor says, "Love them, takes way longer to cook than instructions state though." So maybe keep an eye on your meal as it's in the oven to avoid under or overcooking. For those who are sensitive to the heat of Mexican-style cuisine, one comment mentioned that it was a bit spicy, "I think it has a little kick to it, but I'm sensitive to any 'heat'. That being said, it's totally worth it!" Overall, it sounds like people think this one is a winner.

No place does mac and cheese quite like Costco, and this is like the premium version of the store-bought stuff. Move over, frozen mac — Costco's ready-to-bake oven mac is the heavy, cheesy champ of pre-made dinners. It's made with Alfredo sauce and three different cheeses: Parmesan, cheddar, and Romano. Like most other Costco pre-mades, this one is sold by the pound. Just one of these bad boys runs about 4 pounds, so you're getting a good deal of mac and cheese here.

Heating it will likely take about an hour, so plan accordingly. You can also add other things like sautéed vegetables or throw in some Costco rotisserie chicken for a meatier mac. Plenty of fans seem to like it as is, though. This Redditor had only good things to say after doing a tiny bit of tinkering with their meal, "First time trying the Costco Mac & Cheese. I added toasted bread crumbs for extra texture! Omg delicious!" A couple people in that same thread describe Costco's mac and cheese as bland, but others recommend preparing the mac using a smoker and adding bacon bits. It surely wouldn't hurt to throw in some Tabasco and a little salt and pepper. Sounds like the best way to go is to experiment — turn your mac and cheese into something special.

The undisputed best way of consuming a vegetable is to stuff it with things like meat. Well that's exactly what Costco does with its ready-to-bake stuffed bell peppers. This pre-made meal catches shoppers' attention with its bright red and yellow peppers, and it's a great weeknight dinner option for the busy bee. Each pack comes with a whopping six bell peppers, and each pepper is stuffed with a heaping helping of ground beef and rice, topped off with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

The peppers come out of the oven nice and crispy, and there's something awfully satisfying about how they crunch with each bite. The ground beef is combined with tomato sauce and onions, so expect some very strong flavors here. The cheese on top is noticeable, but not so much that it encroaches on the presence of the other flavors. This meal is perfect for a small family's dinner, and you can really round out the whole thing with a homemade salad (remember to season those greens). To be fair, stuffed peppers are not too difficult to make, which means that you can do it yourself and enjoy a lot more customization that way. But in terms of convenience, Costco's version (which will run you approximately $18 to $20), can't be beat.

The Costco classic that almost every family has tried at least once. Kirkland's meatloaf with mashed potatoes is a dense pairing of two diverse, yet complementary items. They're a classic pair to rival peanut butter and jelly, though they are not quite so iconic a duo (unless you're a frequent Costco shopper). Each kit comes packed with a dense hunk of meatloaf smothered in ketchup, and a fat slab of mashed potatoes with a thick square of butter on top just waiting to melt in your oven.

To cook it, you need about an hour for it to sit in the oven, and once you remove it, it's best to wait at least 10 more minutes before serving, lest you burn your mouth in the pursuit of this succulent supper. You'll need a sheet of tin foil to cover the whole thing up while it cooks, and if you have leftovers, the tinfoil is a better lid than the one that came with the meal due to how difficult it is to get the latter back on. At $3.95 per pound, you can expect to pay about $16 to $20 for the whole meal. It's so hearty and flavorful a meal that you probably won't need any extras on the side or even upgrades to the meatloaf, which makes this one super cost-effective.

Street tacos, fresh from the mean streets of Costco. This DIY taco kit comes with all kinds of goodies to stuff in those tacos. The chicken itself is heavily seasoned, but the whole deal comes with things like a heap of shredded cheese, flour tortillas, shredded cabbage, lime wedges, and two of the most flavorful sauces you will ever find in a pre-made meal anywhere on this planet. Those sauces are a classic restaurant-style salsa and the deeply addictive cilantro lime salsa that will knock your socks off.

The end result is a series of compulsively edible soft tacos that are perfect for small gatherings, family dinner, or even just one person who really likes tacos. They take barely any time to prep because all you have to do is place the chicken and tortillas in the microwave for a short time. You can also place them in the oven if you prefer, but there's nothing like coming home after work to a near instantly buildable meal. The dual sauces offered work really well together — the red is a bit spicy, and the green is more creamy, allowing you to alternate between sauces with each bite. The kit doesn't come with much of either sauce though, so apply it judiciously.

Costco knows it's got something good in the form of its rotisserie chicken. It's no surprise that it includes it in more than one pre-made meal. This meal is an Italian-inspired treat, and like Costco's other pre-made meals, it requires very little prep. At around $4.18 per pound, you can expect to pay somewhere in the ballpark of $20 for the whole thing. And what you get is just a ton of food, making this one another great choice for feeding a family. The bottom of the tray is loaded up with penne pasta, then comes the sauce, cheese, and chicken — in that order.

To be fair, this meal looks awfully pale when frozen. Some customers might second-guess themselves as they consider placing it in their cart. But once it comes out of the oven, the top is looking crispy, golden, and undeniably edible. There are plenty of flavors here, but if you want to spice it up a little further, you can always add your own helping of cheese or sprinkle a healthy smattering of red pepper flakes on top. This meal comes moist out of the oven, but when attacking the leftovers next day, expect them to be a bit more dry.

If there is one underrated pre-made Costco meal, this is it. The seasoned St. Louis ribs don't get half the love they deserve. They're called "St. Louis" because that's the style in which they are prepared, meaning that the meat gets a rub of brown sugar, dry mustard, coriander, and paprika. St. Louis ribs should not be confused with baby back ribs – these are larger and flatter, making it easier for them to brown on the barbecue. Some customers recommend using a smoker to prep these ribs, which would make them a lot more involved than your typical Costco pre-made meal. You can still just throw them in the oven, though, which might not leave you with the same impactful barbecue flavor, but at least it's simpler.

This pre-made meal is a little more expensive than many of the others on this list. You'll probably end up paying more like $30 for the St. Louis ribs. But Costco's tender ribs boast an excellent meat-to-bone ratio, and even if all you do is oven-bake them, this is an awesome and thematic meal slathered in smoky summer flavor. That said, the ribs are also a bit rich in sodium, so don't forget to consume a tall glass of ice-cold water when you enjoy.

Another top dog in the world of pre-made Costco meals is the famous ravioli; a dense, rich tribute to sausage and Italian cuisine. This is a slightly spicy block of dense cheese, sausage, sauce, and noodle layer. Actually, there are no fewer than three types of meat here: zesty Italian sausage, cooked Italian sausage, and ground beef. The box promises 410 calories per serving, but who are you kidding? You're going to enjoy more than one. This lasagna is more than a dinner — it's a lifestyle. Easy, delicious, and relatively fast to make. The firm pasta layer is perfectly al dente, providing that elusive just-firm-enough texture between your teeth.

The rich sausage and tangy tomato sauce create a robust flavor combo that will keep your fork looking to skewer the next mouthful even as you're still chewing. There's also a top layer of mozzarella, which gets even cheesier when you pair it with the ricotta inside each bite. When this stuff comes out of the oven, prepare yourself for an olfactory experience. The aroma of all that spiced meat and cheese in tandem with the cobbled red-gold top layer of the lasagna? Heavenly — and quite affordable at a price of roughly $20.

This dish is a Costco hidden gem. When you get to discussing which pre-made meal to snag, the salmon one seems like it rarely comes up on the list. But that's just a failure of awareness because this buttery salmon rivals any of Kirkland's other dinners in terms of flavor, savings, and quantity. This meal comes with three juicy salmon fillets, and they're topped with a zesty basil pesto butter, sprinkled with happy little bits of dill.

Unlike so many of Costco's other pre-made meals, which tend to take closer to an hour to heat, this one only requires 20 minutes in the oven. To enhance this meal, you can steam a little broccoli on the side, and to this you can even try adding a bit of the basil pesto butter to tie the flavors together. On Reddit, this Kirkland offering seems pretty well liked. One reviewer said of the salmon that it was, "just a few dollars more than if I prepared it myself. For a family: cheaper than fast food but significantly better and not any harder." Others in the thread generally agreed, pointing to things like ease of preparation and value for the family.

Another slice of cultural cuisine is Costco's yakisoba stir fry, another simple heat-and-eat special that has no right to be as tasty as it is. A quick fix for those with a hankering for Japanese cuisine, this pre-made meal cuts out all the fuss of preparing your own stir fry at home. With this kit, you basically just chuck the meat and veggies into a frying pan, sauté for several minutes, add the noodles and sauce, and boom: stir fry city. It comes with wheat noodles, carrots, broccoli, snap peas, and bell peppers. The veggies are pre-chopped into bite sizes, so it's really just a matter of heating and eating (with a little stirring in there, as well).

If you're a fan of any Asian noodle dishes, this one reportedly hits the spot. On Reddit, quite a few happy customers attest to the yakisoba's wonderful flavors and ease of access. One commenter said, "Very good, one of the things I miss most about not having a Costco membership. Add a little sesame oil to take it up a notch." In the same thread, another Redditor gets straight to the point: "These are delicious and easy and fast." Simple and tasty — exactly what you want in a Costco pre-made meal.

This gyro kit has everything you need for a night of Mediterranean delight. Lamb meat, pita bread, and tzatziki sauce. This meal is a little different from the others on the list because it comes with less food. Whereas so many of Costco's other pre-mades come with an almost ridiculous surplus of grub, this one comes with enough supplies to make six gyros — which is fine, except that they run a tad small. A single gyro may not be enough for one lamb lover, which means that this meal might be best suited to a smaller group of two or three people.

This sentiment was corroborated by a Reddit reviewer who said, "It looks to be on the smaller side so I've avoided it because we feed five people every night." But any complaints about flavor are few and far between. Once you combine the meat, lettuce, feta cheese, veggie spread, and tzatziki, you have a full-bodied gyro on your hands. It may not be at the level of a fresh gyro from a street vendor, but it can definitely scratch the same itch in a pinch.

Kirkland chicken is at it again, this time in the form of mouthwatering chicken quesadillas. Substantial and affordable, it's easy to see why this one makes the list of top entries in the world of Costco's pre-mades. Each pack comes with eight chicken-stuffed quesadillas in flour tortillas. You can heat them in the oven or pan-fry them, whichever suits your fancy. They also come with three decently sized packs of sauce, which include salsa, sour cream, and guacamole.

The portions are pretty generous, too. Whichever way you choose to prepare them, be it pan fry, oven bake, or even air fry, it's a good rule of thumb to keep them in the heat until the exterior of the tortillas is crispy and golden. This really accentuates the soft, chewy interior of chicken and melted cheese. A Reddit reviewer mentioned their experience with the quesadillas, saying: "Had them a few nights ago — pretty tasty and fast to prepare. Would definitely buy 'em again." Ringing in at approximately $5.99 per pound, this Costco pre-made is a yummy, reasonably priced trip south of the border.