Costco is selling fully cooked Garlic Pepper Drumsticks with Ranch sauce in their prepared meals section and I had to give them a try. I love everything about chicken drumsticks and was excited to see how the ones prepared by Costco turned out.
Long story short…the drumsticks were just about inedible.
Keep Reading and we will cover:
- How to Heat the Drumsticks
- How do the Drumsticks Taste
- How to Salvage the Chicken Meat
Heating Instructions
The garlic pepper drumsticks are fully cooked and you can eat them straight from the plastic clamshell packaging if desired.
If you decide you want to heat the drumsticks then Costco provides instructions for either using an oven or a microwave. You do NOT want to heat up the Ranch dressing, only the drumsticks.
Oven Heating Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F.
- Remove the Drumsticks from the plastic packaging.
- Place the drumsticks on a baking sheet.
- Bake the drumsticks for 20-30 minutes until an internal temperature of 165F is reached.
Microwave Heating Instructions
- Remove the Drumsticks from the plastic packaging.
- Place the drumsticks in a microwave safe container.
- Microwave for 5-10 minutes until an internal temperature of 165F is reached.
I heated two of these up in the microwave and they were hot after 90 seconds.
Taste Test
These drumsticks are among the worst purchases that I have ever made at Costco.
The seasoning was burned and bitter.
The meat was drier than sandpaper.
Everything about the drumsticks screamed that they had been severely overcooked and left to desiccate in a plastic shell.
The Ranch dressing was able to cover up some of the nastiness of the drumsticks but was not able to salvage them.
How to Salvage the Chicken Meat from the Drumsticks
I hated the drumsticks but did not want to throw them away as that would be a waste of money and disrespectful towards the animals that died to prepare the meal.
You get around eight large drumsticks per tray, about three pounds, and that is just too much food to waste regardless of how bad it tastes.
I would suggest taking the meat off the leg bone and finding ways to serve it creatively.
You could use the meat to:
- Make some chicken quesadillas
- Add some bulk to Ramen noodles
- Add protein to a Mediterranean Salad
Basically, add the meat to another dish that already has a bunch of cheese or sauce that can cover up the dryness of the meat.
I am slowly working my way through this train wreck of a meal.
On the plus side, I have a big red buddy who thinks this chicken is delicious and he is helping me clean this out of my refrigerator.
You are right they are terrible and such a waste of money, I rinsed mine off, peeled the skin off and covered it in bbq sauce. The rest maybe I can kill the taste with franks sauce and butter. I’m disgusted and upset they’re still selling them.
You’re absolutely right! I bought these and couldn’t believe how dry the meat was. Normally, the dark meat of a chicken is the most moist than the white meat and I was surprised at how dry and tasteless these were. I’m going to have to add these to some ramen tonight.