Where can you find better roast chicken?

Every now and then we need to simplify things a little when cooking. Whether it’s choosing pre-packaged instant mashed potatoes over homemade potatoes or tearing open a packaged salad instead of getting out the cutting board, there are plenty of ways to save a little time in the kitchen. When it comes to taking shortcuts at dinner, however, there are few alternatives that can compete with roast chicken. Pre-cooked, juicy, and big enough to feed the whole family, roast chickens are not only convenient, but delicious too.

There are plenty of places to grab a pre-cooked poultry, so Mashed is here to help. Since both Walmart and Costco offer their own rotisserie chickens, I set out to find out which is better. Price, taste, appearance, and shredability were all important factors in determining which poultry is king of the chicken coop. Read on to learn more about both brands’ takes on rotisserie chicken and find out which should be the focus of your next meal.

Value is a major factor in fried chicken, and in that regard, Costco can’t be beat. The megastore’s chickens weigh a whopping three pounds and cost just $4.99. While Walmart’s 2-pound, 4-ounce chickens aren’t exactly cheap, they’re also not the best deal at $5.97. For those of you who don’t want to do the math, Costco’s chicken costs just over 10 cents per ounce. Walmart’s price per ounce is quite a bit higher, at just under 22 cents.

Both options are available in-store daily, but you can also add them to curbside pickup at Walmart. Likewise, both Walmart and Costco package their birds in plastic bags. For Costco, this is a recent change that brings both cost savings for the company and some serious environmental benefits.

Both chains also offer unique variations on their chickens. Walmart sells a lemon pepper chicken for the same price as the regular variety and pre-shredded chicken in 1-pound containers for $9.97. Costco offers its rotisserie chicken in several pre-made variations, including a nearly 3-pound container of chicken salad.

Chicken is generally considered a fairly healthy dish, but there’s a reason why fried chicken tastes so good. The chickens are slow-cooked to retain as many natural juices as possible. Seasonings and additives are also important, as shown by the ingredient lists for fried chicken from Walmart and Costco.

Walmart’s ingredient list is pretty straightforward, the first three ingredients being chicken, water and sea salt. Next is a seasoning blend of dried chicken broth and rosemary extract. The chicken is also rubbed with a seasoning blend that includes garlic powder, salt, dried lemon zest, citric acid, dried parsley and other natural flavors. Salt shows up a few times in this list and helps explain why a 3-ounce serving contains 250 milligrams of sodium, as well as 250 calories and 19 grams of fat.

Costco’s ingredient list reads similarly: chicken, water, a seasoning blend of salt, sodium phosphate, modified food starch, potato dextrin, sugar, dextrose and spice extracts. Both brands also use carrageenan, a stabilizer with little to no nutritional value that’s made from red seaweed. While Walmart lists its nutritional information right on the bag, Costco is a bit more evasive. According to numerous online sources, a 3-ounce serving contains 140 calories, 7 grams of fat and 460 milligrams of sodium.

I’ve had Costco fried chicken many times before, so I knew what to expect. The chickens are large and quite picturesque thanks to their golden brown exterior. Separating the meat from the carcass is fairly easy, though inevitably messy. The white meat is extremely tender and juicy, but no more tender than a properly cooked chicken breast. The same could be said about the dark meat. Ultimately, this is a good chicken, but there’s little distinct flavor that would distinguish it as a fried chicken from a home-cooked, slow-pulled chicken.

Size is the deciding factor when evaluating Costco rotisserie chicken. There’s just so much meat in it and for the price, it’s an unbeatable deal, especially when you can make multiple meals out of a single chicken. As a Costco member, I won’t be stopping buying these pre-cooked chickens anytime soon, but after testing Walmart’s version, I may re-evaluate my chicken of choice depending on my needs.

Aesthetically, Walmart’s chicken isn’t the prettiest. A strong seasoning mix makes the chicken look two-toned, with a charred top and sides that lean more into the pale category than golden brown. Inside, however, Walmart knows how to cook a chicken. The meat separates just as easily as Costco’s, if not a bit fattier. The ratio of dark meat to white meat is higher, which is reasonable considering Costco’s chicken breasts are so large.

What Walmart loses in appearance and quantity, it more than makes up for in taste. This is a fried chicken with character. Every bite, regardless of the type of meat, is savory and slightly salty. The meat is tender, although Costco’s white meat was a tiny bit easier to cut by hand. In addition to taste, Walmart also wins the juiciness race by a wide margin. The first indication that this might be the case actually came before I tore the chickens open. When I took them out, a significant amount of liquid from Walmart’s chicken leaked into the packaging. Costco, on the other hand, left only a few drops of liquid here and there, nothing to write home about.

We all have certain biases, and I admit that I have biases when it comes to fried chicken. The one from Costco was the best I’ve ever had, and besides, they’re huge, so I assumed the Kirkland chicken would win this chicken fight handily, but I was wrong. Walmart just has better tasting chicken. It’s juicier and more flavorful, but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect for every occasion. One of the benefits of fried chicken is the versatility it offers. There are a ton of dishes you can make with a fried chicken, and not all of them are best suited to a more flavorful chicken. And at the risk of sounding like a broken record, Costco’s value for money just can’t be beat.

Ultimately, there are no losers in this chicken competition. If you want a lot of meat at a low price, go to Costco. If you’re more interested in a chicken that can stand on its own, drive to Walmart. Either way, you don’t have to cook a whole chicken, so that’s a win.

To ensure my rotisserie chicken wasn’t sitting around for hours, I visited Costco and Walmart in the morning and picked up a chicken from each. I took both home and photographed them before cutting up and tasting both chickens. Each was rated on appearance, taste, texture and handling, as well as size and price. Neither Costco nor Walmart knew about this rating in advance and neither I nor Mashed were compensated in any way by either store for this article.