The Costco Chicken That Rivals the One from My Favorite Restaurant (No, It’s Not Rotisserie!)

While I expect my July Fourth spread to include plenty of hot dogs, juicy burgers, creamy coleslaw, and potato salad, I’m also a big advocate for adding chicken wings to the mix. The problem is that I’m plenty busy grilling all afternoon, so I don’t really want to season and fry wings too. I usually just skip them … that is, until I spotted a new tray of ready-made wings at Costco.

The wings are fully cooked and seasoned with garlic — I added them to my cart as soon as I first saw them in stores back in May, and they were so good that I will absolutely be adding them to my holiday spread. 

Costco has a plethora of delicious prepared foods in its deli section. The first time I saw these wings was back in May. I was curious to know more about this new-to-me find, so I asked an employee to spill the full details. The wings were introduced in select stores earlier this year, and have been slowly rolling out to warehouses across the country ever since. Costco’s had a version of these wings since at least 2023, without the side of ranch. They may or may not be seasonal. (I’m guessing they may pop up around special occasions and holidays, like the Super Bowl or July Fourth.)

Like their name clearly states, the wings are coated in a garlicky seasoning that contains sugar, salt, dehydrated red bell pepper, dried garlic and onion, corn starch, and paprika, among other ingredients. They’re fully cooked and blackened, and are $6.49 a pound. Each tray usually contains about three pounds of wings, which ends up being around 30 wings for under $20. As wing fans know, this is such a good deal. 

As soon as I got my hands on a pack, I went home and preheated my oven to 400°F (the package says 350°F, but I do mine slightly higher to get a better crisp) and heated them just enough to be hot (and a bit extra crispy) for 15 minutes. I haven’t had the best luck with store-bought wings in the past; the texture is a little too gummy for my liking. But these Kirkland wings restored my faith in the pre-cooked kind.

They crisped in the oven with ease, and had such a robust bite. They were surprisingly juicy after reheating, too. The tray came with a side of ranch, which was also delicious; the creaminess paired wonderfully with the crispy wings. 

I’d even say that they rival quality restaurant wings — and they are much cheaper, to boot. The garlic flavor was definitely there (and good on its own), but still subtle enough if you wanted to slather the wings in Buffalo sauce or sprinkle on some Parmesan.

Find it in stores: Kirkland Signature Garlic Seasoned Party Wings, $5.99 per pound at Costco

Have you tried Costco’s new prepared wings? Tell us about it in the comments below.