Chicken pot pie is the ultimate comfort food With its flaky, golden crust and hearty filling of chicken, vegetables and gravy, it’s no wonder this dish has remained so popular for decades Costco’s chicken pot pies have developed quite a loyal following among members who tout it as a delicious, convenient and affordable meal option. But are Costco’s chicken pot pies really all they’re cracked up to be? Let’s take a closer look at whether these popular pot pies live up to the hype.
A Brief History of Costco Chicken Pot Pies
Costco’s famous chicken pot pie reportedly originated in 1985 from a small restaurant in San Diego called The Chicken Pie Shop. Costco’s founder Jim Sinegal was so impressed with the pies that he arranged to sell them in Costco warehouses. They quickly became a member-favorite. Today, Costco produces their chicken pot pies in-house in massive quantities – around 2 million are sold per year! The recipe has evolved over the years but chicken pot pie remains one of Costco’s top-selling prepared food items.
How Does Costco Make Their Chicken Pot Pies?
One reason for the popularity of Costco’s chicken pot pies is their cooking method. Rather than just warming up a frozen pie, Costco bakes their chicken pot pies fresh in-store. This allows them to use high-quality, fresh ingredients like chunks of rotisserie chicken breast, carrots, peas and pearl onions. The filling is seasoned to perfection before being enclosed in a flaky, golden pastry crust. The pies are cooked in small batches until the filling is piping hot and the crust turns a perfect golden brown. This homemade taste is tough to replicate in a frozen pot pie.
Hit or Miss Crusts
The fresh-baked crust is both the best and most inconsistent part of Costco’s chicken pot pies. When done right, the top crust is flaky, buttery perfection. But the bottom crust seems more prone to issues. Some pies have a nicely baked bottom crust while others are thick and pale or even soggy. This inconsistency is likely due to variances between individual pot pies and bottom crust thickness. Proper baking helps, but it’s a roll of the dice whether your bottom crust will end up crispy or soft.
Savory, Creamy Filling
Opinions on the pot pie filling itself are generally very positive. The gravy is rich, creamy and well-seasoned, though a bit high in sodium. The chicken breast meat is juicy, tender and cut into nice, large chunks rather than stringy pieces. There’s also a generous helping of soft, bright orange carrots, petite peas and slivers of pearl onion throughout the hearty filling. The quality of ingredients shines through in the fresh, homemade taste that’s lacking in many frozen pot pie alternatives.
Satisfying Serving Size
In addition to quality and taste, Costco scores points for value when it comes to their chicken pot pies. These are massive pies, easily weighing over 5 pounds. Each pie contains around 6 generous servings – so feeding an entire family dinner with a salad alongside is no problem. And at just $15 for the whole pie, the price tag is budget-friendly. Freezing leftovers also makes this even more economical as a quick meal to have on hand.
Mixed Nutrition Profile
From a nutrition standpoint, Costco’s chicken pot pies are relatively high in protein thanks to all that chicken goodness. But they are quite high in sodium, with over 50% of the daily recommended limit in each serving. Lower sodium diets may need to refrain. But otherwise, the pie provides a decent boost of vitamins A and C, iron, potassium and B vitamins. As an occasional treat, not too shabby. Just don’t eat the whole pie yourself!
Kirkland vs Food Court Version
Costco offers both Kirkland and food court/deli versions of their famous chicken pot pie. The deli variety seems to get lower marks, with complaints of slimy, overly starchy gravy and dry chicken. Kirkland’s version comes out ahead on crust quality and moisture. But the deli pie does contain more veggies like whole baby carrots and peas. It comes down to personal taste preference on this one.
Tasty but Not Perfect
Costco’s chicken pot pies earn solidly positive reviews for their convenience, price point and comforting flavor. But the crust inconsistencies and high sodium levels leave room for improvement. All in all, Costco’s chicken pot pie still stands as a delicious grab-and-go meal that will satisfy any comfort food craving without breaking the bank. While not 100% perfect, for the price these pot pies are absolutely worth trying if you’re looking for an easy, homemade-tasting dinner option for you and your family.
Ingredients in Costco Deli Chicken Pot Pie
Here is my best attempt at typing out the ingredients:
- Filling (Water, Chicken with natural juices, Carrots, Green peas, Onions, Modified corn starch, Chicken stock concentrate [Chicken broth, Yeast extract, Salt, Sugar, Chicken fat, Onion powder, Natural flavors, Xanthan gum], Vegetable purees [Carrot, Celery, Onion, Canola oil], Nonfat dry milk, Hydrolyzed soy protein, Hydrolyzed corn protein, Salt, Sugar, Corn starch, Yeast extract, Natural flavors, Onion powder, Rice flour, Maltodextrin, Turmeric [Color], Soybean oil, Wheat flour, Celery, Canola oil, Carrot powder, Extractives of carrots, Xanthan gum, Spice extractives, Parsley, Thyme, Citric acid, Nisin [Preservative], Black pepper
- Crust (Enriched flour [Wheat flour, Vitamins B1, B2, B3, Iron, Folic Acid], Vegetable oil (Canola, Palm, Palm kernel], Water, Sugar, Dextrose, Salt, Citric acid)
- Rotisserie chicken (Chicken breast meat, Water, Seasoning [Salt, Sodium Phosphate, Modified food starch, Potato dextrin, Carrageenan, Sugar, Dextrose, Spice extractives)
My Costco chicken pot pie cost ~$22. These are sold by the pound at $3.99 per pound, so each pie is a slightly different price.
I weighed mine after baking, and it was 5.5 pounds exactly, which is 88 ounces. If you divide that into 12 servings, it is a generous 7.3 ounce serving for each slice.
The pie comes in a plastic box with a tight-fitting lid. After baking, I put my pie back in the box to refrigerate for leftovers. I’m a big fan of Costco’s plastic pie boxes. Unfortunately, I can’t eat the pie boxes.
There won’t be a next time.
I’m sorry if you’re one of the people who loves the Costco Deli Chicken Pot Pie. We aren’t going to see eye-to-eye on this. I know this must be a popular product, because my local Costco has had a huge, prominent, continuous display of chicken pot pies in Deli for the past couple months. Of course, the display case is ALWAYS full, so maybe they aren’t selling that many? Who knows.
I previously reviewed Publix’ Deli Chicken Pot Pie, which exceeded my expectations, so I was cautiously hopeful that Costco’s version might delight my taste-buds. Morgan Freeman voiceover: But it did not delight her taste-buds.
The appearance in the deli case was promising — the pies had a homemade look, with the lattice crust strips and fresh, unbaked appearance. Unfortunately, the Costco Deli staff did not bother to actually “lattice” the strips — the raw pie crust pieces are just laid on top of each other, instead of “woven” together. The strips are also NOT crimped in any way to the edges of the pie crust, so they slide around and fall apart during transit. It would only take 2 minutes to do the extra weaving/crimping steps before selling, so this seems odd. I ended up rearranging the crust pieces carefully at home and crimping the edges myself before baking.
Despite following the baking instructions exactly, I ended up with a dry, nearly burnt pie crust and very dry chicken inside. My oven tends to “underbake” rather than overbake — I usually have to bake things longer or at a slightly higher temperature to get the same results as everyone else, so this seems strange. If I were to bake this again, I would try covering the pie with aluminum foil for the first hour and then removed the foil for the last 30 minutes. It might also help to cook at 350 instead of 375. Strangely, the bottom crust wasn’t overbaked. It was actually too soft, although very brown.
I guess the biggest turn-off is the slimy gravy. The gravy is thick, but transparent, and appears to be thickened with “modified corn starch,” rather than flour. Instead of a creamy texture, it’s more like sticky snot. I could probably look past this unpleasantry, if there wasn’t so MUCH of this gravy! My pie was full of it. After eating through the top layer, there was an ocean of the slimy, jiggly gravy on the bottom crust layer. I picked the vegetables and chicken pieces out of it and ate them. But I couldn’t eat that gravy.
Happily, there is an abundance of tender vegetables in this pie. The carrots are whole baby carrots, which cooked evenly and thoroughly and maintain their bright orange color. The peas are soft without being mushy. There aren’t any other veggies here — no celery or potatoes.
(Hey, do you love carrots? Here is my review of Costco’s Carrot Bar Cake, which includes pineapple, walnuts, raisins, and whole wheat.)
The quality of the chicken meat is much better than Publix’s Chicken Pot Pie — it’s Costco’s own rotisserie chicken breast meat. Even though mine dried out too much from baking, it was still pretty good. Unfortunately, the meat distribution is extremely inconsistent. In some slices, there were huge, unwieldly chunks. But essentially “none” in others. My second slice of pie had only one tiny chicken fragment the size of my thumb-tip. It doesn’t appear that anyone bothered to chop up the chicken before dumping it into the pie. It might have made the gravy less disgusting if it had been distributed in and around the chicken instead of just a thick, sticky trench of it on the bottom of the pie. Probably would have kept the chicken from drying out, too.
I was underwhelmed by the flavors, overall. I can’t tell if it is the gravy or some other factor, but there was a subtle, off-putting aroma from this pie that I can’t quite put my finger on. There was plenty of “salty” taste, but there wasn’t enough savory, rich taste. Some extra celery flavor or butter would have helped a lot, IMHO. The ingredients list onions AND celery, but I did not detect either flavor, and there were no onion or celery pieces. This is a relatively bland pie.
I especially did not like the taste of the crust. I tried to make excuses for it — such as shifting the blame to the over-baked outcome — but the crust just doesn’t have a good taste. It’s not just because it’s dry and has a bad texture — it’s doesn’t have a good flavor. I feel strange saying this, because I’ve been a cheerleader for Costco pie crusts from the Bakery, every time. I don’t know why the Deli is such a different story. This crust needs different “fats” to taste right, methinks. I ended up throwing away almost all my crust.
I am someone who loves leftovers. I love leftovers almost more than I love freshly cooked food. I eat leftovers all day, every day. But, I did not want leftovers of this pie. I tried. Multiple times. My body just did not want to eat this. Since I sunk $22+ into this purchase, that is a huge disappointment. My frugal self was horrified. After a week, I threw my enormous, uneaten pie in the garbage. Sadness.
This massive pie is too heavy and liquid for the aluminum pie pan it is packaged in — it buckles and bends when lifting, and the pie crust breaks and falls off in chunks when this happens. I carefully slid mine onto a large cookie sheet that measures ~16×16 inches; the pie won’t fit on a standard half-sheet pan. Fortunately, no oozing of the gravy during baking.
I followed the cooking instructions from the product label exactly — 375 degrees for 1.5 hours, on the center rack of the oven. As mentioned above, this resulted in a nearly burnt crust and dry chicken. Next time, I might try dialing back the temperature to 350 degrees and/or covering the top of the pie with aluminum foil for the first hour or so.
Just kidding. There won’t be a next time.
Costco Kirkland Signature Chicken Pot Pie Review
FAQ
Is Sam’s Club chicken pot pie better than Costco?
The crust on the Sam’s Club pie was more enjoyable than Costco’s, but the filling is where a majority of the flavor comes from, so I’ve gotta give this one to Costco. Although it doesn’t have a whole lot to do with flavor, I also found that Costco wins top marks for packaging and presentation of the pot pie.
Is Costco chicken pot pie good?
While the chicken pot pie includes quality ingredients like Costcoâs rotisserie chicken, it has been described as overly rich and sometimes dry. This inconsistency in texture and flavor makes it a less reliable choice. The main issues with the gyro meal kit are the dry and underseasoned meat, and a lackluster tzatziki sauce.
What is Costco chicken pot pie filling?
The chicken pot pie filling is made with 1-1/2 pounds of shredded chicken from Costco’s famous rotisserie chicken, peas, carrots, and a creamy sauce. It’s a classic chicken pot pie filling that is sure to satisfy your comfort food cravings.
How much does a Costco pot pie weigh?
The first Costco pot pie (AKA the Kirkland chicken pot pie) can be found in the Costco prepared foods section. This is a fresh, unbaked pot pie that weighs a whopping 5 lbs. (2.27 kg) or more. It contains big pieces of chicken, peas, carrots, and a creamy chicken pot pie gravy.