Costco Vs Trader Joe's: Who Sells The Best Orange Chicken?

There may be no product as well-known to Trader Joe's shoppers as the Mandarin Orange Chicken. The store is filled with frozen meals that are affordable and easy to cook, and though there seem to be endless fan-favorites and hidden gems, there may be none as popular as the frozen orange chicken. Like many of Trader Joe's most popular products, the Mandarin Orange Chicken is a solid dupe for restaurant takeout at a third of the price, and with very little cook time. It's a near-perfect product (as far as Trader Joe's products go), and one I'd happily pick up almost every trip.

Hearing that Costco has a comparable orange chicken was enough to send me running for a bag. As with all things Costco, this orange chicken comes in a gigantic box containing enough food for an army, at an astonishingly low price that rivals even Trader Joe's affordable aisles. Ultimately, though, the comparison comes down to taste: Does Costco's chicken hit the mark even better than Trader Joe's? To find out, I tried both side-by-side, comparing the value, nutrition, and flavor to find out which one would take up residence in my freezer long-term.

Costco sells its own branded Kirkland products, which are highly regarded and bring in a staggering amount of money each year. Beyond this, Costco sells plenty of other brands, always at larger sizes and lower prices than you'd get at any other store — a benefit of shopping at a members-only wholesale club. Crazy Cuizine is a brand carried by Costco that sells frozen Asian cuisine, namely General Tso's chicken, chicken potstickers, and Mandarin orange chicken.

Crazy Cuizine is one of two brands created with Day-Lee Pride, a subsidiary of the Japanese Nipponham Group. Day-Lee Pride products focus on Japanese cuisine and are sold largely through Asian grocery stores and independent grocers. The Crazy Cuizine line is sold through mainstream grocery stores and offers a more Asian-American cuisine in bulk sizing for superstores and club stores like Costco and BJ's, with no reduction in the quality or value.

Because Trader Joe's does such a good job of keeping up with viral trends and seasonal must-haves, it can be hard to believe that the very first store opened in Pasadena nearly 60 years ago. The concept has always been the same: Provide internationally-inspired products to new customer bases, at prices that anyone can afford. This has evolved from Trader Joe's earliest iterations, which included products imported from international producers; now, we see products branded with Trader Joe's own logo, made everywhere from California to Italy and Mexico. This has also created a robust freezer section loaded with totally unique, internationally-inspired products that range from pretty authentic to vaguely related, and many with an Americanized flair.

The orange chicken was first added to shelves (or freezer boxes) two decades ago, in 2004. Since then, it has gained so much popularity that it was inducted into the Trader Joe's Hall of Fame in 2023 as not only the best entree, but also a favorite overall; the most coveted position in the rankings.

Costco and Trader Joe's specialize in two very different things: Bulk sizes and single-serving entrees. Where in Costco you'd likely pick up an entree that can be split into several meals, Trader Joe's packages many of its meals for one. The Trader Joe's orange chicken is a larger product that does provide four servings, and it is still dwarfed by the Crazy Cuizine's 13-serving quantity. With more servings comes a higher price tag, but considering that it could be used for many meals or to feed a large party, it's useful to break these numbers down.

If you simplify the costs as price per serving, the Costco Crazy Cuizine chicken comes out to $1.28 per serving, according to the serving size written on the box. By the same measures, Trader Joe's chicken comes out to $1.37 per serving, just 9 cents more than the Costco version. You could break this down further by considering that Trader Joe's serving size is slightly larger (by around ½ ounce), but it's more useful to consider whether or not you are likely to eat 13 servings or just four — if you have a small freezer, the latter might be a better choice.

The first thing we generally think of when comparing nutritional values is the calories, which is the most obvious measure of whether or not something is healthy (though high-calorie foods aren't necessarily unhealthy). In this case, the Trader Joe's orange chicken is calculated at 320 calories per serving, while the Costco Crazy Cuizine orange chicken is a little bit less at 260. This isn't a huge difference, especially considering that the Trader Joe's serving size is slightly larger, which may even out the numbers when compared like-for-like. That being said, it's just as important to compare things like sodium, fat, sugar, and protein so that you can understand what those calories really mean.

Let's look at Trader Joe's first: The fat is at 10 grams, and the protein content is an impressive 22 grams. Where the nutrition is less impressive is the sodium and sugar, which total a whopping 570 milligrams and 16 grams, respectively, per serving. The Crazy Cuizine nutrition facts differ slightly, offering 7 grams of fat and much lower 13 grams of protein, with 500 milligrams of sodium and 14 grams of sugar. The biggest difference appears to be the protein, which is doubled in the Trader Joe's portion — so if you are focusing on protein, this may sway you toward buying that option.

With both brands being relatively similar in value and nutrition, what may make the biggest difference in choosing which one to buy is simply the taste. Right away, the differences are noticeable, even before cooking: The chicken pieces in the Trader Joe's version are lighter in color with a less uniform shape and contain many small, crispy pieces. The Costco version is a deep golden brown and mostly all the same shape, essentially like a box of nuggets. Baked up and eaten plain, the differences are also obvious — while Trader Joe's chicken tastes plain but crispy and airy, the Costco pieces have a hint of zesty orange flavor infused within the dense breading. The Trader Joe's chicken pieces seem to lean closer to a true orange chicken, which is dark meat (Panda Express-style) coated in cornstarch and double-fried to be crispy and light.

Orange chicken was actually invented and sold first by Panda Express, which is why it is often used as a baseline for other orange chicken recipes. Orange chicken sauce should be zesty but balanced with soy sauce, rich in flavor, and uniquely both sweet and sour. Crazy Cuizine and Trader Joe's do this slightly differently: Crazy Cuizine's orange sauce is more tangy, with a flavor that's heavier on orange zest, or even orange juice, than soy sauce. Trader Joe's, on the other hand, is more savory, with a stickier, saltier sauce most likely made with more soy sauce. Both are acceptable, but Trader Joe's pushes ahead: The flavor is more balanced and savory than Costco's zesty version.

While the Crazy Cuizine orange chicken is good enough to satisfy hungry families craving the tangy taste of orange chicken, the Trader Joe's version is much more flavorful and closer to the typical takeout flavor you'd expect of crunchy, saucy orange chicken. Because both are similar in price and nutritional value, what really matters is the taste and texture, which Trader Joe's nails all the way through. The chicken is clearly made in a similar fashion to Korean Fried Chicken, which is notoriously crunchy, and is coated in a savory-sweet sauce that is neither too sweet nor too tangy. The Crazy Cuizine, on the other hand, was far too sweet for my tastes, leaning too heavily on what seems to be artificial orange peel flavoring.

There are other reasons to buy the Trader Joe's orange chicken: If you've got intense fitness goals, you may enjoy the benefits of the high-protein entree, especially with a calorie count that isn't dissimilar to its competitor (and that's likely far healthier than actual takeout). The only reason you may want to pick up a box of Crazy Cuizine? Maybe you have a large family — but in that case, you could also just pick up a few extra packs of the Trader Joe's version for a dollar or two more. Personally, I think it's worth it for better chicken.

I wanted to compare each side-by-side by using the same method as instructed by the box, and since Trader Joe's only has directions for oven-baking, I baked each and followed the directions for saucing from there. The Costco sauce is defrosted in water and mixed into the chicken in a bowl, while the Trader Joe's sauce is heated on the stove and tossed with the chicken in a skillet for a stickier result. Before saucing, I tried a few pieces of each plain, testing the taste of the breading, the texture of the crunchy exterior, and the tenderness of the meat inside. Once sauced, I then compared how the sauce tasted, taking note of tanginess, saltiness, and the use of aromatics. The better of the two had a more tender meat, a more airy crunch in the breading, and a more savory sauce packed with layers of flavor.