Deal Overview
Warehouse grocery stores Costco and Sam’s appeal broadly to families with many mouths to feed. Bulk staples and quality offerings for less, though abundant, come at the expense of variety. Costco boasts lux brands and organic foods alongside Kirkland private label offerings. Sam’s carries more household brands you know and love but the quality is a step-down from Costco across the board.
Supplementing our routine grocery run, we fill about half of our needs at a warehouse store. We’ve had memberships at both for the last two years but have only gone to Sam’s once, shopping at Costco almost exclusively. For that reason, I’ll refer to the chicken in question as the $5 Costco Rotisserie Chicken because thats the only place at which I’ve ever purchased them. The same offer exists at Sam’s for those that prefer to shop there.
What's the big deal about a Costco Roasted Chicken?
A bit of an unsung hero, these roasted chickens represent both marketing and a gift. They aim to keep folks coming into the store to get their chicken and many other things you didn’t know you needed.
In fact, stores take a loss on each chicken they produce. I’ll say that again: every chicken you buy from a warehouse store costs them more to make than they charge you to take the chicken home – now that’s a Deal! If that’s not enough of a reason to eat more Costco rotisserie chicken, I don’t know what is!
What’s more is that you can use the carcass and “wiggly” carrots, celery stalks/leaves, and wilting parsley, waste you would otherwise trash, to boil many cups of delicious chicken stock. It tastes twice as nice as the store-bought alternative, costing you only your time and energy. Now that I routinely make homemade stock, I haven’t needed to buy grocery store stock in years.
The Value of the Meat
Pictured are two items every kitchen would benefit from having: a scale to weigh ingredients (and packages) and these versatile bowls. If you’re interested in getting yourself a scale or a set of these Pyrex mixing bowls, click those links!
The bowls overlap as a mixing bowl, serving dish, and for easy storage. They’re super durable and save time serving those three purposes. We asked for one set as a wedding gift and have used it so far for about 12 years.
One major consideration to the value of Costco rotisserie chickens is that their price is immune to inflation. Warehouse stores are poised to keep selling these chickens for $5 each no matter the cost or inflation in the economy around it. And so while other chicken prices rise by as much as 22%, the great Costco baked chicken holds steady at $5 a… headless chicken.
That got me wondering: what’s the true value, then?
In order to figure out the true value you can squeeze out of one Costco baked chicken, we first had to got a sense of how much meat is on those bones. Size varies somewhat, so we pick the largest chicken by visual appearance.
As you can see pictured left, we were able to get just over 2 pounds of mixed white and dark meat off of one chicken. I’d guess it was about 1/3 dark and 2/3 white meat. I didn’t bother with the wings to save time.
We turn this meat into 2-3 meals for our family of 4. Juicy, delish and “nutrish!”
Comparing apples to apples, they sell the same Costco rotisserie chicken meat as white meat alone for $6.25 per pound. A bundle of Costco organic chicken cost $2.99 per pound.
This values our bowl of deboned chicken at $12.83. What then to do with the remainder of the carcass to make the most of every opportunity? Pop it in the freezer for stock.
Let's Make Stock (and less Trash)!
Aw yeah! Instead of throwing the chicken carcass or veggie waste away, throw them into a freezer bag and freeze instead. When you have a few rounds of stock ingredients in reserve, turn a half day while watching sports or a movie into a stock session.
It’s easier than you might think to make a huge bucket of chicken stock. I learned how during a video cooking course by our partner Rouxbe back in the day. The best part is:
- It’s a simple and forgiving recipe
- Requires no bone roasting
- Can be made entirely from waste ingredients
- has Lower sodium than canned: it’s reduced well instead
- Can be substituted for beef stock (which is often yeast)
- Cuts the cost of making soup and sauces drastically
- Makes you feel good recycling and repurposing
We do the same with remnants of holiday Turkeys to make turkey stock. It’s richer than chicken and makes for a more bountiful spin on chicken soup if you want a more rib-sticking alternative.
What then to do with the spare bones, meat, herbs, and veggies we separate from the both?
Can You Compost the Stock Solids, including Bones?
Totally. You can even do this in your garage or apartment to build the nutrients for a garden or urban gardenshare plot.
If you feel guarded about composting chicken products, it’s probably discomfort with the possibility of bad bacteria that, if eaten, would make you sick. However, you’ve just killed that bad bacteria by boiling.
Good bacteria is an important part of breaking down compost material but how do we best set the up to succeed?
Large bones do need to be broken up if you would like the composting process expedited; spent brewing grains seeded with friendly lactobacillus bacteria are often available from local breweries or can be sourced online. Done right, you’ll can produce rich organic compost with minimal effort.
As I’m a novice at this, I’ll defer to the experts in a video I’ve attached to the left detailing the process. Composting is easily done in both the urban and rural settings to keep valuable nutrients out of the landfill.
And the Packaging?
You can get creative with this. Many retailers now bag these to reduce waste inherent in dome shaped containers like these. That makes it all the more important to recycle and reuse them.
You could:
- fill it with soil, seed, and mist to germinate seeds
- as a water basin for the kids while painting
- as disposable food storage or to marinade meat
- as disposable mixing bowls for camping or dirty jobs
With a few on reserve, we often just recycle the container. Though plastic, this is acceptable.
The True Value of a Costco Rotisserie Chicken
We break the value you get down into several parts:
1. The meat – $12.83
2. The stock – $4.00 for 10 cups
3. The container (uses listed above)
4. Solid waste removed from stock that will eventually become compost if desired.
– It’s about impossible to quantify the value of compost. Let’s assume $3.17, though completely arbitrary, something like a third of a bag of prepared organic soil, to simplify the math.
5. Time banked by not having to cook
– this will vary based on the cost of what you would otherwise have cooked. The major benefit here is the time saved. Preparing sides to accompany the chicken is effortless. But when you’re getting a chicken every week, it’s crucial to mix it.
We do this by using the chicken meat as an ingredient in other meals to keep it interesting. The more Costco rotisserie chicken we use, the less preparation, dishes, and energy used. The possibilities are endless!
The True Value of a Costco Rotisserie Chicken is ~$20 Each
If you use every resource at your disposal!
How Do We Maximize this Deal?
Let’s take this killer everyday deal to the max by saving on a new membership while adding coupons on the other things you’ll buy:
Costco Anywhere Citi Visa
A Costco card would provide another 2% cash back.
Rarely, the Chase Freedom Flex offers 5X Chase points. I usually buy visa debit gift cards elsewhere to get 5X Citi or Chase points. You can get five times the value of 2% cash back.
Gold Star Executive Membership
This costs an additional $60 more than the basic membership, providing a 2% annual rebate to celebrate your anniversary.
If you spend $3,000/year at Costco, this pays for itself. Any more than that is money in the bank.
Stack with Coupons
Costco offers a variety of merchant rebates and cycling coupons on many other staples. You can often save an additional 15-20% beyond their bulk pricing this way. If you buy 3-6 months' worth of whatever you'll need effectively every bulk level discount is sweetened by those stacked coupons and rebates.
Membership Discount Options:
Groupon Discount Membership
Groupon and Livingsocial offer an insane Summertime deal for new members.
For the $120 Executive membership, they offer a $40 gift card and a promo code for $40 off an online order of $250+.
It's an insane value but isn't often available; check by clicking this box.
Make sure to subscribe to our newsletter if you want the head's up.
Everyday Discount Membership
This offer is always available but isn't the best for gold star members compared to the two below.
Gold Star members get $10
Gold Star Executive members get $20
click this box to access.
Employee Discounts
Costco employees get a free membership but no discount beyond that.
Students and Teachers get $30 off
Military, Government and Healthcare workers can get $20 off by clicking this box to verify their employment.
Dosh Discount
Click this box to download the Dosh App if you don't have it. They offer $20 off of either a standard or Gold Star Membership during sign-up, in-store.
This is the best everyday membership discount option that's always available.
What About Animal Welfare?
Costco has come under scrutiny after this video and this New York Times article were released in 02/2021. A Mercy For Animals investigator released dark, crowded living conditions with overgrown, immobile animals, pictured injured in their Nebraska chicken farm. Some animals prematurely die before processing can occur.
In response, Costco released this statement detailing their commitment to animal welfare in September 2021. Rather than agreeing to the Better Chicken Commitment Initiative, Costco enrolled the input of Dr Temple Grandin instead. Over 200 companies, mostly meal kit producers, restaurants and high-end grocery stores, have committed to this initiative. Neither Costco or Sam’s are among them.
A professor of animal behavior and welfare at Colorado State University, Dr Temple will provide an action plan for improvement. She will then follow up in 2022 to gauge implementation of those goals; those curious about what she might recommend can read more on her website. She’s an interesting choice – the majority of her papers are focused on livestock rather than chickens.
I think chicken farming in its current widespread form is akin to prison. Free range chickens are grown in very similar conditions with a fenced “yard” to get a bit of sun. It hardly seems the ideal alternative and I still love cheap chicken. Any bargain priced chicken you buy is raised in similar unfortunate conditions and most of us will struggle to spend 3-4x as much on pasture-raised chickens.
Some consumers have decided not to buy this product until conditions improve for the animals. One forum of interest relevant to this controversy is this facebook group of nearly 20,000 members. I can understand the position of those that abstain but see this as a symptom of the larger problem around animal welfare and the food production industry in this country.
This story feels a little too much like propaganda with standard corporate damage control tactics to me. If you show me a massive warehouse full of chickens and then cut to scene where several are being shoveled into the back of a truck bed, it is unsavory, but represents the unfortunate nature of the operation. The animals deserve better, sure, but what is that sensible alternative?
If there’s anything Chipotle has shown us, it’s that responsible, affordable food can be delivered at reasonable prices. Many others are following suit. If this is a priority that resonates with you, you have option to reward their superior stewardship over Costcos. What do you think?
The Bottom Line
I know, it seems a trivial thing: it’s just a chicken. But there’s more here than meets the eye. The Costco rotisserie chicken has been the key to maintaining reasonable food costs during inflation in our household. When beef prices go crazy, we buy less beef, and more Costco chicken instead.
At this point there’s no question, we just grab a Costco baked chicken every time we’re there. Considering the true value potential of each chicken being something like $20, net $15 consumer surplus plus whatever you don’t have to buy while you can eat chicken instead, you might find yourself buying more Costco rotisserie chickens.
Anyone who rules themselves out of a warehouse membership might reconsider given the value proposition of a Costco rotisserie chicken alone. College students, divorcees, empty nesters, retirees and most especially large families can derive great benefit. When you add a few dimensions to get a discounted membership and take advantage of other savings opportunities, you’ll enjoy stacked benefits in spades.
Those put off by the controversy can opt to solely support companies that align their practices with ethical animal treatment.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Though the whole chickens they sell at Costco are organic, neither the packaging for the costco chicken nor the rotisserie meat mention the animal is organically raised. They do mention the animals are raised without steroids or hormone use, however.
Direct from the label: “whole chickens, water, seasoning (salt, sodium [phosphates]), potato and tapioca starches, potato dextrin, carrageenan, sugar/dextrose, and spice extractives are the ingredients in costco rotisserie chicken.
By virtue of the presence of Carrageenan alone, this isn’t Whole30 approved.
Yes, no ingredients containing wheat or gluten protein are used during or adjacent to its preparation. All safe here.
No, it’s not keto-friendly because sugar is used.
No, garlic is not used.
No dairy products are used.
No MSG is used.
Yes. Costco is working to revise their methods to eliminate the majority of antibiotics used.
By the end of 2022 they vow to raise their Costco rotisserie chickens 95% free of antibiotics important to human medicine (Source linked below).
They will also unveil a future plan to completely remove 100% of antibiotics important to human medicine by the end of 2022. Some small degree of antibiotics important to human medicine will remain in their raising process until this plan is completed.
Note these plans DO NOT cite complete removal of antibiotics.
Carrageenan otherwise called “Irish moss” is a common additive to foods used to keep the juices thicker, or “more gelatinous,” so that they’re retained. This makes for a moist and juicier chicken.
As the moss is red, this causes the juices to turn a light shade of pink. This is not blood. Your chicken is not undercooked.
