Costco pre-made meals are usually convenient but how do they taste?
Please note that this review was not paid for or sponsored by any third party. I purchased this product with my own money and the opinions in this review are strictly my own. I am not affiliated with Costco or any of its suppliers. I am just a fan of the company. I write these reviews to help my fellow shoppers.
Hi everyone! It’s Natalie from Costcuisine. I want to say thanks for reading the reviews posted, I love reading all the comments and feedback! If you like the reviews you have read and would like to read more Costco food reviews visit my Costco food review blog.
I can’t pass the deli and pre-made section of Costco without seeing what convenient meals they have and if there’s anything new.
The pre-made meals from Costco have made my life easier countless times. My only gripe is that I’ve fallen deeply in love with pre-made meals and salads from this section only to have them discontinued. The lasagna seems to be one of those items that has stuck around for long enough for me to feel confident spending the time to review it. I have to ask though, does anyone remember the bean salad, the Mediterranean pasta salad or the chicken quesadillas? I miss those!!!
I was slightly skeptical about the Kirkland Signature meat lasagna from Costco and it took some time for me to come around to buying it, but it’s actually really good. I assumed they would skimp on meat and cheese but that is not the case. Costco is very generous with the amount of pork and beef in the lasagna and there definitely was a substantial amount of cheese. It’s a super tasty lasagna. The sauce was slightly on the sweeter side for me, which I enjoyed. It is seasoned well, not too salty and basically tastes as good as the lasagna I have ordered in local restaurants. This lasagna has cottage cheese, romano and mozzarella so I think Costco is making the effort to make it taste authentic!
The cost varies depending on the weight of your lasagna (I always look for the most expensive and heaviest, hoping it will last us two meals). The one I bought was $13.67 Canadian which is totally reasonable. Although nothing beats homemade lasagna, you’re looking at a pretty hefty bill and a lot of hours in the kitchen making it from scratch. I’ve attempted this once, it cost me about $60 in ingredients and four hours of my time. I have so much respect for those who cook from scratch all the time! You can probably find a cheaper frozen lasagna at the store but I don’t think those taste quite as good.
I wish Costco would list nutritional information on their pre-made items. I always find myself trying to guess the nutritional stats on these items, but I never really know. This lasagna is probably moderately high in calories with a mix of fat, carbs and protein. One positive is that all the macronutrient groups are covered in this lasagna. The one ingredient listed that I feel is unnecessary is “concentrated soy protein”. I don’t know why that needs to be in the lasagna. In general, lasagna is not the healthiest dinner, but it’s all about portion control. Note that this lasagna is not gluten-free, vegan or vegetarian and it states that it contains soy, possibly nuts and fish.
Do you ever have those Friday nights after a long work week where you want something cheap and easy to make for dinner? This is made for those nights. It’s so easy to make, you just bake it in the container it comes in. I like to cook mine on a baking sheet just in case any spills over and I also like to broil it for a few seconds at the end to get it nice and crispy on top. This freezes well uncooked, and leftovers freeze and reheat fine as well. I love that it has a longer best before date; you have five days to cook it, which makes it a perfect item to pick up on the weekend and then use during your busiest night. Also, I don’t know about your work potlucks, but mine are full of chips and soda. I think bringing a lasagna like this would be greatly appreciated!
Overall, this lasagna is delicious, priced well and convenient to prepare. It would be nice to have nutrition information listed in the future. I would definitely repurchase this again and I’ll keep one in the freezer from now on for those nights when I don’t feel like cooking a big meal!
Nutrition: 4/10
Taste: 9/10
Cost: 9.5/10
Convenience: 9/10
What’s your favourite discontinued or current pre-made deli item?
Why is nutrition important, this is a deli meal. It would be the same as making it at your house. Do you add up all the nutritional panels when you cook to let your family know what the nutritional levels are? To give it a rating of 4.5 out of 10 isn’t fair as for all you know it could be one of the most nutritious meals you’ve ever eaten.
My thoughts. We love it and it gets a 9.5 across the board.
Not likely, the tray is coated. The metal taste likely came from the consumer using cheap cutlery and the tomato reacting to the tin in the utensil.
I bought some for the first time & loved it. My wife wasn’t so crazy about it though. After seasoning it to my taste it was as good as those in the restaurants. Wish they had a smaller version since I love lasagna but won’t buy the big portion since my wife don’t like it.
Haven’t tried the Lasagna but loved the Shrimp Nest. Haven’t seen them on the shelf in a long time.
I purchased one of these last week and it tasted like metal! I’ve had this in the past and it was pretty good but this time it was horrible. My kids couldn’t eat it either.
Likely the aluminum is leaching out of the foil….the acidic sauce has this reaction on foil.
It doesn’t cost a fortune nor hours in the kitchen making lasagne. I make mine in the slow cooker… and DAMN it’s good! The first time I made it in the slow cooker I layered it (like your supposed to) but now I make the lazy man lasagne. Tastes exactly the same but I crumble the noodles and mix EVERYTHING into a bowl. Then once throughly mixed I pour the mixture into the slow cooker and top off with cheese. Mrs. Dash is your friend for seasoning.
We really like the Costco lasagna, justctried it ourselves! What I really miss that’s discontinued is the seafood pasta!
We really like this lasagna too, as well as the shepherd’s pie and pizza. Our favourite was the Kirkland chicken burritos! They were discontinued so long ago but we still look to see in case they bring them back. We also like the Kirkland Chicken Tortilla soup.
We love the stuffed peppers. We have never been disappointed by them.
I liked the meat pies but haven’t seen them there for ages. I’ll have to give the lasagna a try.
You guys both have great Costco product sites, would you be able to put a bit of pressure on Costco to print the nutritional information for these types of products they make and sell? We often stay away from them because we don’t know.
We enjoy the pre-made Stuffed Bell Peppers.. Easy to pop into the oven with a bit of broth in the pan covered with Tin Foil for awhile.. then uncovered to finish off
I have not tried this lasagna but will give it a try. I use to buy a carrot cake loaf and they have discontinued. Sure wish they would bring that back. Everyone I served it to would comment on it. Agree, their pizza really awesome!
I really like the pre made meals at Costco. We don’t eat them often but when I’m working I know it’s a quick filling meal for my family. We have had the chicken pot pie, chicken penne, shepherds pie-my son’s favourite-rwvioli(?) which I haven’t seen in awhile and we just tried the meat lasagna. I usually make my own lasagna-old family recipe-and am very particular.
I found the Costco lasagna was pretty good. It was “solid” as in well layered with cheese, meat and sauce. I did find the sauce a bit spicey. It may well become another favourite.
My favourite premade meal from costco is their chicken pot pies they are a amazing
We like this lasagna as well, I cook it up we have it for a meal, with a salad and buns, then I portion out for lunches. I wish it had the nutritional info as well. I think the butter chicken is decent as well. We bought he dry ribs last night but didn’t think much of them. I also really like the chicken breasts stuffed with cheese and asparagus. yummm
I love this lasagne as well and I agree nutritional information would be a bonus. Costco had a beef Bulgogi stir fry that was my ‘lazy quick dinner’ that is no longer available. I used to serve it over rice and my family loved it.
I haven’t tried Kirkland Lasagna but will do now I have read this ! We don’t eat lasagna a lot as your right it’s very costly and time consuming to make . I make almost everything from scratch ,even bread though 🙂
Anyways I LOVE the zinetti frozen lasagna it tastes like the Marks and Spencer frozen lasagna I would buy in the UK years ago haha!
The only premade item I have tried is the quinoa salad . It’s fabulous when you have company over !
My only criticism is that it’s very heavy on the dressing .
I agree the nutrition info ie calories ,sodium on the packaging would be a bonus .
I suspect it would deter consumers though if they did as prepackaged foods are usually super high in sodium especially .
Going to Costco tomorrow so will pick a Kirkland lasagna !
Thanks for your review and have a fab weekend 🙂
Costco still has the best and cheapest pizza around for the size. I love it!!!!