Why Some Costco Shoppers Are Avoiding This Prepared Meal Like The Plague

Sometimes, whether or not you enjoy something comes down to tempering expectations. That may be the case with Snapdragon's Stir Fry Chicken Pad Thai, a Costco exclusive heat-and-eat meal. While some consumers claim that this product, by any other name, would taste as bad, others say that, while it's nothing like pad Thai, it's edible, at least, once you come to terms with that. But certainly, reviews may cause you to think twice about purchasing this product. Colorful descriptors of it from disappointed consumers on Reddit and Costco's product page include "worse than cat food" and "an abomination." Pad Thai may generally be one of the Thai foods everyone should try at least once – but not this one.

A main sticking point seems to be the sauce. While the ingredients list doesn't look too out of the ordinary for pad Thai (sugar, onions, tahini, fish sauce, tamarind paste, lime juice, etc.), it does contain tomato paste — and at least one reviewer reported it as tasting too strongly of tomato. Tomato may not be unheard of in pad Thai — some people use it as a substitute for tamarind, a key flavoring ingredient that can be hard to find — but you wouldn't expect it to be the dominant flavor. On the other hand, several people seemed to find the Snapdragon pad Thai pretty bland, and one reviewer said the fish sauce smell was so strong after heating it up that it activated their gag reflex. So, there are a variety of reasons why this particular pad Thai isn't to people's taste.

To the point that this pad Thai can be flavorless: Snapdragon recommends finishing it off with some scrambled eggs, crushed peanuts, and a squeeze of lime. The meal itself is naturally peanut-free (it uses tahini rather than peanuts for nuttiness). But while this may be a bonus for people with tree nut allergies, it could help to explain what people feel is missing from the dish. And who doesn't love the extra tang that fresh lime juice brings to a plate of pad Thai? Some shoppers say they've added flavor by incorporating sesame oil and red pepper flakes, or recommend adding shredded rotisserie chicken and extra veggies. A serving size naturally comes with 20 grams of protein, but adding eggs and extra chicken would certainly give it a boost.

Another plus is that the pad Thai comes in a pack of two complete meals. So, if your household has differing dietary needs, you could customize the two meals accordingly. It's also naturally gluten-free.

For Costco regulars wondering what to put in their cart besides the Snapdragon Stir Fry Chicken Pad Thai, the bulk retailer does make several Asian-inspired snacks we recommend. These include Ajinomoto's Vegetable Yakisoba, another stir-fry-type dish that has a glowing 4.6-star rating on the Costco website (compared to Snapdragon pad Thai's 1.8 stars).