What Keeps Costco's Kirkland Rotisserie Chicken A Timeless Fan-Favorite

Costco is a favorite for customers seeking both bulk discounts on common groceries and something hot and ready for dinner after the store. Although Costco has a lot of renowned hot food ($1.50 hot dog combo, anyone?), there's one deli item that arguably stands above the Kirkland competition.

Rotisserie chickens are one of the most popular Kirkland Signature products of all time, and for good reason. Shoppers report that Costco's rotisserie chickens tend to be larger, juicer, and better seasoned than most other grocery store rotisseries, all at the unbeatable price of $4.99 per bird — often significantly less than an entire raw chicken.

The internet is crawling with Costco fans sharing their favorite recipe ideas using this rotisserie chicken, like pho, chicken flautas, butter chicken, chili, and much more. However you eat the chicken, carefully carved or picked over by hand, you can freeze and save the carcasses for homemade chicken stock. Nothing has to go to waste.

There are many important tips for picking the most flavorful rotisserie chicken at Costco or any grocery store. Perhaps the biggest things to look for are taut skin and a decent weight, both of which indicate juiciness, but you should also be sure not to pick a chicken that's been under a heat lamp for too long. Compared to other stores, this is less of an issue at Costco, where rotisserie chickens are replaced every two hours with freshly cooked birds. 

But what happens to Costco's unsold rotisserie chickens? There are several answers to this question, many of which you've probably already seen: Unsold rotisserie chickens are reused in many of Costco's other chicken products. Much of the chicken is resold as shredded white or dark meat, but leftover rotisserie chicken can reappear in items like chicken noodle soup, chicken alfredo, enchiladas, chicken salad, pot pies, and much more, in portions ranging from individual servings to family-size trays. With so many potential applications, both in the store and your kitchen, it's no wonder so many people love Costco rotisserie chickens.