These Mid-Tier Frozen Dumplings At Costco Aren't Worth The Convenience

Frozen food isn't always going to taste as good as the real thing, but you may hope that it comes close enough. Some stores do frozen food better than others, and Costco is one that is known for having some delicious options. However, in Chowhound's own taste test of popular Costco frozen foods, we found its Bibigo pork steamed dumplings to be an item you can certainly skip on. They were soggy, bland in flavor, and an overall bad experience. We found these dumplings to be far from high-quality Korean cuisine, and are not the dumplings to buy if you're looking for the best option. 

Bibigo is a Korean brand that claims to make food with quality ingredients and delicious flavors. It's been around for over 60 years and has been a wildly popular brand in the United States. Costco carries many of Bibigo's products, but you can find this brand at many grocery stores — even Dollar Tree has it on its shelves. While they may be a popular brand, these dumplings were unfortunately not up to par. It wasn't just us either, many discussions online give mixed reviews of Bibigo's dumplings. For a brand with such a high status, we were hoping for top-notch flavor.

Costco may not be the store to shop at for steamed dumplings, but luckily there are other brands out there you can trust. In our own dumpling ranking, we found Laoban dumplings to be the most delicious frozen brand, which you can find at your local Giant. Trader Joe's is another store whose dumplings are popular amongst customers, and with a number of flavors and styles to choose from. Costco also carries another dumpling brand called Mila, which seems to have decent reviews from customers. The downside is that this brand is currently online-only (if you plan to buy it from Costco), so in-store shoppers are unfortunately stuck with the Bibigo brand. 

Of course, you can't always expect a whole lot from frozen food, but the Bibigo dumplings were a major letdown. There are ways to enhance your at-home dumpling experience with stir-fry sauces, but even these options didn't help Costco's product. Steamed dumplings are supposed to be flavorful, juicy, and perfectly chewy, and this brand was none of the above. Surely not all Bibigo products are a miss, but in terms of dumplings, we recommend trying something else.