We buy the Costco chicken alfredo about once a month when we are in the mood for an easy pasta dinner. The quality of the ready to cook dinner is a little hit or miss but, in general is pretty good.
Keep reading and we will cover the most commonly asked questions about the chicken alfredo including:
- How long to cook the meal?
- Is the alfredo any good?
- How to “doctor up” the meal?
- How many people will it serve?
How Long Do You Cook the Chicken Alfredo?
The instructions for cooking the chicken alfredo are:
- Preheat your oven to 400F.
- Remove the clear plastic lid.
- Cover the meal with aluminum foil.
- Place on a cookie sheet on the center rack of the oven.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes until an internal temperature of 165F is reached.
We have found the cooking time of 60 minutes to be pretty reliable. We also like to take the aluminum foil off during the last 5-10 minutes to let the cheese brown up a little.
Is Costco’s Chicken Alfredo Good?
Usually the chicken alfredo is very good. The pasta is consistently tender and the sauce is rich, creamy, cheesy and satisfying.
The wild card in the equation is the chicken.
Sometimes the chicken is tender and juicy which makes the overall dish spectacular. This happens about 90% of the time.
Sometimes the chicken is dry and tough and we end up eating around it and just enjoy the pasta and sauce. Even when the chicken isn’t great this meal is still much better than Costco’s Shepherd’s Pie.
The last one we cooked had the dry chicken and, when I went back and looked at some of the pictures I took for this article, I could see through the lid that the chicken looked dry right from the start. Next time I buy this I will look a little harder at the package and not just grab the first one I can reach.
How to Doctor Up the Chicken Alfredo
If you want to doctor up this dish then there are a couple of things you can do.
- Serve the pasta with a nice Caesar salad.
- Top the pasta with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano after it has cooked.
- Add diced sun dried tomatoes.
- Dust with red pepper flakes.
- Add 1/2 cup milk, cream or chicken stock to the pasta before cooking.
How Many People Will the Chicken Alfredo Feed?
The chicken alfredo typically comes in a tray that holds a little over four pounds of food.
If you are just serving the chicken alfredo for dinner then plan on feeding four people.
If you are serving the alfredo with a couple of side dishes then you will have enough to feed six people. Some side dishes that would go well with this dish include:
- Salad (Caesar or Greek)
- Garlic bread
- Steamed broccoli
- Grilled asparagus
- Sautéed summer squash
