The Kirkland Frozen Beef Patties Costco Fans Keep Buying Over Higher-Quality Meat

Leave it to Costco to get shoppers buying frozen over fresh. While grill masters and burger chefs typically tout homemade burger patties as the tastier option, many Costco customers are buying frozen, pre-made burgers instead. This largely has to do with convenience, although that's not to say that the taste quality is less than freshly made patties, according to many warehouse shoppers. 

Costco's Kirkland Signature 18-pack of ⅓ pound frozen burger patties costs $36, equating to about $6 per pound. For comparison, Costco sells 88% lean ground beef for around $6.23 per pound depending on location. The frozen patties have come in multiple variations including ground beef, ground sirloin, and grass-fed; however, the sirloin patties may be harder to find depending on location. In a Reddit post with over 300 comments, numerous shoppers confess to buying these pre-made frozen patties instead of making their own. In reply to the original poster's review of the different versions on offer at Costco, one Redditor states, " ... I usually make my own burgers with grass-fed and just tried the Costco pack for the first time and decided I don't need to make my own anymore. I thought they were excellent."

While some Redditors question why you wouldn't make your own patties, the general consensus is that buying them pre-formed saves significant time prepping, which is especially important when feeding a crowd. Additionally, it's easy for an individual or couple to grab a frozen patty or two without having extras that are wasted. 

The answer to which type of beef is best is based on personal preference, although the blue bag, the ground beef patties, are a popular choice. The Kirkland Signature Ground Beef Patties are 75% lean and have 24 grams of protein per serving. In the aforementioned Reddit thread, the original poster declared the ground beef patties the best-tasting burgers over the sirloin or grass-fed options. As others point out, this is likely because fattier meat has more flavor. This ratio also happens to be the beef-fat ratio Andrew Zimmern uses for the best burgers. 

Still, the Kirkland Signature Grass-Fed Beef Patties have a 80/20 lean meat to fat ratio, which is another popular ratio for burgers. A few people attest that they find the grass-fed burgers to be the tastiest, particularly consumers who grew up eating grass-fed beef and are acquainted with the differences in flavor it presents when contrasted with its grain-fed counterpart. Whether grass-fed or grain-fed beef tastes better is a matter of opinion; however, in general, grass-fed is described as having an earthier, beefier taste, while grain-fed has a milder, juicier flavor and higher fat content. If grass-fed sounds good to you, you might try out Costco's version — they're the patties in the green bag.

Indeed, at one point in some warehouses, Costco offered other options for its frozen patties, including grass-fed wagyu in gray packaging and Angus ground chuck in a black bag. The warehouse chain seems to have tried crafting a frozen patty for every taste, so keep your eyes open for new iterations next time you're in the frozen section.