This Fan-Favorite Costco Item Is Sure To Get You In The Fall Spirit

If you're not interested in cooking dinner but don't necessarily want to order takeout, ready-to-eat (or cook) grocery store meals are a happy medium. Seasonal items are often available at these stores for a limited time, such as Costco's massive chicken pot pie, which is back for the cool-weather season. It's ready to bake, so all you have to do is pop it in the oven, let the time pass, and you have a cozy fall meal with ease.

The pie falls somewhere in the $20 range, depending on its actual weight; it's priced at $3.99 per pound. But as much as fans of the dish love its flavor, the pie's presentation gets high reviews, too. The crust is lattice-style, making for a dinner that's equal parts tasty and photogenic, especially if you brush the pie in egg wash before baking it to get that bakery-level finish. You do need to have a little patience, though; the pot pie takes 90 minutes to bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit. So, while it's not exactly the type of dinner you'd whip up when you want something quick, it's still a fan favorite.

Chicken breast is one of the main ingredients in the Costco pot pie, but it's also loaded with carrots and peas, all of which is tossed in a gravy to build up its taste and texture. The saucy base that gives this pie a big flavor boost comes from a blend of cream, rendered chicken fat, and chicken broth. 

Costco fans generally love the pot pie, with one Reddit user calling it "the best store-bought pot pie I've ever had." However, the one critique the pie seems to have is regarding its sodium content; most commenters think it's far too salty. You won't find nutritional information on the product packaging, but the information appears to be available on print-outs in the Costco prepared foods section, and one customer reports that the chicken pot pie contains 830 milligrams of sodium per 5-ounce serving. If you're wary of the salty flavor, some suggest just making your own pot pie using one of Costco's popular rotisserie chickens, which saves you the extra leg work and makes the process much easier than one made entirely from scratch. Plus, there are plenty of ingredients to upgrade a chicken pot pie's flavor without adding too much extra work.