7 Costco Kirkland Signature Foods That Aren't Worth The Price

Costco's Kirkland Signature brand is known for having some high-quality, affordable products and name-brand dupes that customers love. In fact, the store brand often rivals, and sometimes even outperforms, its name-brand counterparts, according to its loyal following. But among the Kirkland Signature grocery items you should always grab, some products don't quite deliver on value or live up to the hype. Online reviews and shopper discussions across social media have highlighted several Kirkland Signature items that simply don't justify their price tags.

In some cases, the issue comes down to flavor and texture, in which the store brand products can't compete with the name brand. In others, Costco simply doesn't have the best price. On occasion, customers feel that spending a little extra for higher quality and more consistency is worth it. From prepared meats and seafood soups to frozen treats and protein snacks, these are the Kirkland Signature products that have sparked complaints from shoppers who say they aren't worth the money.

Brisket burnt ends are a Kansas City BBQ staple that are known for being tender, smoky, and caramelized. Unfortunately, the Kirkland Signature burnt ends don't measure up to expectations and simply aren't worth the price, according to shoppers online. The burnt ends cost $14.69 per pound, and the average package is usually between 1.5 and 2 pounds, so you can expect to pay close to $30 for these cubed pieces of meat. Plus, you have to buy and add your own BBQ sauce separately, as recommended on the package instructions.

The product comes fully smoked and seasoned, claiming you just need to add the sauce, but unfortunately, the convenience does not outweigh how disappointing the flavor is. One food reviewer on YouTube gave the Kirkland Signature burnt ends a try and was immediately disappointed to find no smoky aroma upon opening the bag. After trying the brisket, he claims, "To be blunt, it's not good. The meat is dry. I can barely detect the slightest hint of smoke. It tastes like something you've left in the freezer for a couple of years and tried to reheat." He goes on to say that even someone on their worst day who has never smoked meat before could give it a shot and have a better result. Needless to say, this is a pricey Costco Kirkland product that gets a hard pass.

Pot roast is a classic comfort food, but making it is a labor of love. Searing the roast and then slow-cooking it in a bath of beef broth, vegetables, and seasonings can take over 4 hours. So the fully cooked Kirkland Signature beef pot roast (which only requires 10 minutes of reheating) seems awfully appealing. However, customers find the product to be overly fatty and salty. Although pot roast tends to use fattier cuts of beef, customers claim the Kirkland Signature product has large chunks of inedible fat, which drives down the value of the meal.

The pot roast costs $7.59 per pound and is sold at an average weight of 3 pounds. However, once you've picked out the fatty pieces, you're left with significantly less meat. Additionally, one of the best parts of a beef pot roast is the delicious vegetables and potatoes that usually accompany it. If you want these additions, you'll have to buy them separately and add them yourself, as the store-brand roast comes with only the meat and gravy. One commenter on Facebook recommends simply buying a leaner cut of meat and slow-cooking it yourself as a cheaper, less fatty version. While there are some Costco foods you might love more than the homemade version, the beef pot roast isn't one of them.

Lobster is a luxury, and is known for being one of the priciest seafood options out there, so if customers are splurging on lobster bisque, they are expecting a rich, creamy soup base with melt-in-your-mouth chunks of lobster. Unfortunately, Kirkland Signature's version of this soup disappoints on that front. The bisque claims to be restaurant-grade, made with 100% North Atlantic lobster, but customers find it to be simply underwhelming. Not only does it lack actual chunks of lobster, but the flavor has a strange fishy quality, and the bisque is overly salty. In a Reddit thread, customers claim that the product used to have much larger pieces of lobster, but over the years, the quality has declined, and it's simply not worth the purchase.

Another Redditor calls the soup "offensively bad" and claims, "The picture shows a soup teeming with lobster meat and 'lobster meat' is listed as the third ingredient in the soup but believe me when I tell you we found two small pieces of meat in the entire container which were both about a half centimeter." The soup itself is watery and lacking the rich flavor that you'd expect from lobster bisque. If you're looking for an affordable grocery store lobster bisque, you might consider Trader Joe's bisque, which ranks highly among Trader Joe's soups and is one of only five ingredients in the viral TJ's lobster pasta.

Costco's boneless and skinless chicken breasts often receive criticism for being woody, stringy, and tough. One Redditor shared an image of the stringy chicken breast online that commenters call "spaghetti meat chicken" due to the unappealing stringy texture. One Reddit comment reads, "Looks like someone cut out a tongue from an animal." Some shoppers have stopped buying their chicken at Costco altogether due to the woody, tough texture of the meat.

Although buying chicken in bulk is often more convenient and more affordable, the price of uncooked chicken breast isn't actually all that much lower than that of other grocery stores, especially when they go on sale. For instance, chicken breasts from Vons are the same price per pound as Costco when on sale. Some customers recommend purchasing from your local butcher for higher quality and affordable prices as well. Facebook shoppers add that Costco's packaging holds lots of packing liquid, and because it's priced by weight, the deal is not as impressive as you'd think. This Kirkland Signature meat simply isn't worth the price.

The Kirkland Signature ice cream bars are an alternative to the famous Häagen-Dazs milk chocolate almond bars, although customers seem to agree that the store brand simply does not hold a candle to the real deal. The main issue that Costco shoppers have with the Kirkland version is that the chocolate coating around the ice cream is thin and waxy. Apparently, the Costco product does not actually use real chocolate, but a "chocolate-flavored coating", per the product description on the box.

It's a difference customers can taste. One Reddit user writes, "I am the biggest Kirkland fan, but...... I did the side by side challenge with the Häagen-Dazs ice cream bar, and it doesn't come close. The extra $3 is worth it. The quality of ice cream and chocolate is sub par compared to the Häagen-Dazs. Also, the Kirkland chocolate falls apart easier and breaks onto your lap." Between the more authentic chocolate flavor on the outside and the creamier vanilla ice cream on the inside, it's worth splurging a little for the name brand.

Among the many name-brand protein bars sold at Costco are the Kirkland Signature bars, which come in two flavor variety packs: Chocolate chip cookie dough with chocolate brownie and chocolate peanut butter chunk with cookies and cream. Unfortunately, customers claim that some flavors are much better than others, and lament the fact that they cannot buy the flavor they prefer without the less desirable one. Despite having impressive protein macros, customers claim the bars are simply not worth it due to poor texture and taste. One review on the Costco website states that they are "too hard to chew and have visible dry patches throughout the bar."

A disappointed Redditor who regrets buying these bars in bulk comments, "Kirkland protein bars are icky, and since it's Costco I have enough to feed a protein deficient army of soldiers." Some customers recommend putting the bars in the microwave for a few seconds to soften them up, but with so many other protein bar options at the warehouse, it's simply not worth it for many shoppers.

The Kirkland Signature beef back ribs have caused quite a stir online, sparking conversation among shoppers about the surprising lack of meat on the ribs. One customer on Reddit who purchased the beef back ribs and smoked them found "barely any meat on them. 1/10 would not recommend." But while some shoppers feel as though they're getting skimped, others comment that the lack of meat has more to do with the cut of the rib, and not a quality issue with the product.

Back ribs come from the part of the cow that is closer to the spine, where there is naturally less meat, although some customers claim the back ribs from their local butcher are much meatier than the ones sold at the warehouse. Regardless, customers recommend getting a different cut of meat if you're looking for a meatier rib, of which Costco has several options. One Redditor comments, "Look for beef plate short ribs. Those will have a ton of meat on them." Costco also sells pork ribs and beef side ribs that will be meatier than the back ribs and give you a better bang for your buck.