Forget Chipotle: Costco's Ready-To-Eat Deli Chicken May Be Even Better

Have you ever had a craving for one particular food but simply didn't want to put in the effort or pay the cost to get your hands on it? It could be a late-night pizza or a delicious fried chicken sandwich from a fast food chain on the other side of town — or, maybe even that famous grilled and seasoned chicken from Chipotle.

The fast casual chain is pretty much everywhere these days, but it isn't known for being the most cost-effective food option – though we've got plenty of Chipotle menu hacks to get the most out of your order. Fortunately, you have a copycat option that's just as good, costs a lot less, and comes as a much larger portion — and you can find it at Costco. Yes, Costco's ready-to-eat Flame Seared Chargrilled Chipotle Chicken tastes just like the Chipotle version, and some customers say it's even better.

Shoppers have found a two-pound bag of the deli chicken for just $11 at Costco. Tiktok user @photogami said that, "Out of the bag, there's huge juicy pieces of chicken, nice flame sear marks, and it's so tender that I can break it apart just using chopsticks." After tasting the chicken and making a quesadilla with it, they confirm that it does taste a lot like Chipotle's chicken, with garlic, onion, salt, and lime zest adding to the overall smoky flavor.

The Costco chargrilled chicken gets a lot of love over on Reddit as well. "This is my favorite thing in the store right now," one Redditor says. "It's very easy to cook up and have with rice and some avocado." Another fan adds, "My wife used some to make spicy chicken and vegetable soup. It was amazing."

The catch with this Chipotle copycat Costco chicken, according to fans, is availability. Not all locations have it. "I asked for this at my Costco and they looked at me like I was crazy. I showed her a picture and she said that's what they use in their taco kits but they don't sell it," wrote one Reddit user. In response, another shopper commented that, "I called my Costco to see if they have it and she said it's a deli item and that they only sell it if they have an overstock of it." So if you don't see the chargrilled chicken right away at your Costco, you might want to ask a deli worker if they ever sell it in overstock situations.

Costco has been known to do a pretty good job of making restaurant copycat food items. Its Kirkland Signature Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Chunks are a Chick-fil-A chicken nugget copycat, and the Feel Good Foods Crispy Jalapeño Bites are a pretty solid dupe of Texas Roadhouse's Rattlesnake Bites. Now you can add the Flame Seared Chargrilled Chipotle Chicken to that list. If your nearest Costco has this chicken in stock, it's worth every penny.