Get some ideas on how to use the Kirkland brand Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Chunks to make some amazing and easy dinners.
Kirkland Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Chunks are a newer item from Costco that people are comparing to Chick Fil-A Chicken Nuggets. They can be cooked in the air fryer and used in all sorts of meals from salad wraps to broccoli & rice like Chinese take out or even chicken & waffles!
There is nothing like having a big bag of frozen meat on hand to come up with a variety of different meals when inspiration strikes. See what you can do with the Lightly Breaded Chicken Chunks from Costco.
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💲 How Much Does It Cost?
The price is $13.99 for 4 pounds of chicken. This comes out to being about $3.50/lb. Just Bare makes a very similar chicken that Costco sells for $17.99 for 4 pounds.
Compare the price of this chicken to buying raw chicken at Costco.
🔥 Ways to Cook Them
The back of the bag gives you three options for cooking them. I recommend 2 out of the 3.
- Oven
- Microwave
- Air Fryer
I would avoid the microwave at all costs. You can get them hot but the texture is not going to be crispy. They even tell you that on the package before giving the microwave instructions.
🏆 Air Fryer is my choice. I find that they cook faster in the air fryer and are more crispy all around. Not these are not the most crispy chicken I ever had in my life. They are very comparable the chicken nuggets that you get at Chick Fil-A.
The only reason I would not use the air fryer is if I didn't have one that was big enough to fit what I need to cook. Luckily I have a dual basket air fryer that gives me all the space I need when using both baskets at once.
Here are the air fryer instructions:
- Place the chicken in a single layer in your air fryer basket. Don't thaw first. No need to add oil.
- Cook at 360 degrees until the chicken reaches a temperature of 165 degrees when checking with a thermometer.
- The total cook time will be around 8 to 12 minutes depending on your air fryer and how much you pack the baskets. It's best to cook by temperature.
Here are the oven instructions:
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
- Bake the frozen chicken chunks on a sheet pan in the oven. No need to add oil.
- Cook until the chicken reaches 165 degrees which should take around 15-20 minutes.
If you are reluctant about spending money on a thermometer, check out my podcast episode on Why Thermometers Will Save You Money.
🍽️ 9 Ways to Use Them
No matter which way you choose to cook them, here are 9 different ways you can use them.
- Salads
- Wraps
- Fettucine
- Chinese Take Out Style (Orange, General Tso's, Sweet & Sour)
- Mixed into fried rice
- With Grits
- As Hot Chicken
- Tacos
- Chicken & Waffles
Below I will go into more detail on each of these options with tips on how to make each of them.
Salad
The size of the chicken chunks makes them perfect for putting on a salad. Here is how I made a spinach and bacon salad:
- Prepare the amount of chicken you need in the air fryer.
- Cook up a few strips of bacon in a cast iron pan until crispy. Add the bacon to the pan and then turn it on, the fat will slowly start to render.
- Remove the bacon and break into pieces.
- Add to taste, a little bit of mustard and a light tasting vinegar to the pan to make a salad dressing. Mix well to combine.
- Using a vegetable peeler, peel strips off of a carrot.
- Add the spinach & carrot strips to a bowl, top with the bacon and chicken and spoon the bacon dressing on top of everything.
You can add this chicken to any of the salad kits that you find at Costco.
Or you can use Romaine lettuce or a butter leaf lettuce to make a lettuce wrap and just eat the chicken out of that with some dressing or sauce on top.
Fettucine
Grab your favorite fettucine alfredo recipe. Prepare it like you normally would. Cook your chicken, then dice it up and mix into the pasta. You can add veggies as well.
Want some ideas of what veggies to add? Check out What Vegetables to Add to Alfredo.
Over Grits
My youngest daughter loves her grits. I like using yellow stone ground corn grits for this. You will have to get that elsewhere as Costco doesn't carry grits, at least I have never seen them there and I have been to Costco stores in the south where they love grits.
Prepare the chicken. While I am air frying it, I also air fried some snap peas that I picked up at Costco. I serve both over top the grits. It's simple and tasty, especially if you know how to cook grits correctly, which means never using instant grits.
Chicken & Waffles
This is a classic. I love me some chicken and waffles. The waffle makers I own are the mini Dash waffle makers which you can find from time to time at Costco. The mini waffles go great with these chicken chunks.
They also have a really good price on maple syrup. What you can do is take some maple syrup and mix it with your favorite hot sauce to taste. Pour that all over your chicken and waffles and be ready to be amazed.
Chinese Take Out Style
What people love getting at Chinese take out places is chicken with rice and some type of sauce. Use your favorite orange, General Tso's, or sweet & sour sauce or make your own. Serve with broccoli that you steam first until it's actually tender. Most Chinese places serve broccoli that is barely not even raw anymore.
I really like the Bachan's Japanese Barbeque Sauce. And Costco by far is the best value. I have seen the same price for this sauce at other stores for a much smaller bottle. Squirt this stuff all over some chicken and rice and you will be super happy with your meal!
Fried Rice
That sauce is great to use instead of soy sauce when making fried rice. Make more rice than you need for your meal so you can use the leftovers to make fried rice with diced up chicken.
Tacos
Take the chunks of chicken and throw them into a tortilla along with your favorite taco vegetables and toppings. If you find the 505 Southwestern Hatch Chiles, they would make for an excellent taco topping.
Hot Chicken
Are you a fan of Nashville Hot Chicken? You can turn these chunks into hot chicken. I would cook the chicken in the oven or air fryer. Have some oil that you warm up first along with some cayenne and chili powder. Taste it first. Then drizzle onto your chicken. Serve right away.
Some other seasonings you could use include:
- Smoked and/or hot paprika (learn more about quality paprika)
- Freshly cracked black peppercorns
- A splash of dill pickle juice
- 1-2 tsp brown sugar
- Garlic or onion powder (try shallot powder)
🎧 Podcast Episode - How to Make Dinner from Costco Frozen Foods
Listen to me share a whole bunch of different meal ideas using Costco frozen foods by clicking the play button below..
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