Costco’s Newest Prepared Meal Has Customers All Fired Up

Now that the weather is warmer, many of us are in grilling mode and ready for burgers and all things slathered in BBQ sauce. But sometimes, we still need dinner quickly, and for those who don't have time to pull out the grill and cook up some burgers, Costco has you covered.

The warehouse store is known for its ready-to-eat meal kits, such as meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Some heating or assembly may be required, but all the food in the kits is fully cooked.

When social media influencers, such as Costco Hot Finds on Instagram, post about these kits, there are always naysayers. They often complain about the ingredients not being 100 percent natural or that you could make the meal from scratch for less money. But in general, people are excited about a meal that's quick to get on the table.

However, the latest Costco meal kit is garnering more than the usual amount of cynics.

Costco’s Bacon Cheddar Burger Kits

Laura Lamb, the voice behind Costco Hot Finds, recently posted about the new Bacon Cheddar Burger Kits at Costco. They contain fully cooked burgers loaded with bacon and Cheddar mixed right in, lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese slices, and burger sauce (it looks a lot like Big Mac sauce). The components come separated inside the kit. You only need to heat the burgers and add your own buns. 

The kit costs $6.39 a pound. Lamb's kit cost $18.30 and included four burger patties plus all the fixings. In her voiceover, Lamb says she was "blown away by how tasty it is" and that the burgers are a "ten out of ten."

In the comments, most people were less than impressed.

One of the biggest complaints comes from a misunderstanding. Lamb doesn't specify that the burgers are precooked in the video, but all Costco's meal kits come fully cooked. There are over 900 comments on the post, and probably half of them are from people who assumed that raw meat was next to fresh vegetables in the kit, but they were wrong.

Some complained that it didn't come with buns. Others complained about the number of ingredients. But there was a large number of commenters who used one judgmental word: lazy.

Costco Fans Are Divided About the New Burger Kit

"That's pure laziness," said one commenter. Others said, "OMG this new generation is so LAZY!!!" and, "Are people that lazy? Nevermind, yes they are…"

Fortunately, many people understand that buying a precooked meal is not lazy.

"Lazy, no," one calmer commenter said. "Sometimes things are going on during the day that keep other people busy and unable to stay and man the kitchen the entire day." More commenters made good points: "Meal kits like this are key to my ability to actually eat at home instead of out of the house" and "Older or disabled would find this easier." Another person noted the positive impact of buying portioned food, which prevents overbuying.

There's also the affordability of this. It's a "Good deal!!" as one person commented. The four bacon cheeseburgers with all the fixings (minus the buns) are $18.30. That's $4.58 a burger. If you're paying attention to the price of fast food bacon cheeseburgers recently, they're almost always over $5 each. 

Complainers will always be complainers, and they came out in full force on this post. But in the end, it's the taste that counts. Are they any good? Lamb thinks so. And so does one of her followers who was honest about their looks versus their taste: "I made these Saturday night. Agreed they don't look appetizing in the package, but they are really good!"