The Kirkland Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Chunks are my absolute favorite brand of chicken nuggets at Costco. The chicken nuggets are fully cooked, frozen and come in a four pound bag.
The Kirkland nuggets are easy to heat up in an air fryer, or in the oven, are nicely seasoned and are made with real chunks of chicken breast.
Heating Instructions
The packaging provides heating instructions for using an oven, air fryer or microwave. The instructions are:
Air Fryer
- Heat your air fryer to 360F.
- Arrange the nuggets in a single layer.
- Heat for 10 minutes.
Oven
- Heat Oven to 400F
- Place nuggets on a foil lined sheet.
- Heat for 15-20 minutes.
Microwave
- Place nuggets on a microwave safe dish.
- Microwave on High for 3 minutes.
Our Best Method
We tried all three methods and prefer using a modified method of the air fryer instructions.
We use the Ninja Foodie Air Fryer and it seems like we ALWAYS have to cook things at higher temperatures and for longer than the packaging indicates. For the Kirkland Nuggets we got the best results with:
- Temperature: 400F
- Time: 14 minutes
These settings gave us nuggets that were browned, perfectly crispy and heated all of the way through.
Your air fryer may need a different time and temperature so don’t be afraid to experiment. I would suggest following the package directions at first and then adjusting as needed.
Kirkland Lightly Breaded Chicken Nuggets Air Fryer Instructions
Equipment
- Ninja Foodie Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 20 Kirkland Chicken Nuggets Frozen
- 4 tbsp Primal Kitchen Buffalo Sauce
- 2 tbsp Light Sour Cream Daisy Brand
Instructions
- Arrange the chicken nuggets in a single layer on the air fryer basket.
- Set the air fryer temperature to 400F.
- Heat the nuggets for 15 minutes.
- Remove the nuggets from the air fryer and serve with the Buffalo sauce and sour cream.
Notes
- Serve them on skewers with roasted vegetables
- Use them to top a salad
- Slice in half and use to make sandwiches
- Coat in Sweet and Sour sauce and serve over a bed of rice
Taste
My wife and I agreed that these are the best chicken nuggets we have tried from anywhere.
The nuggets are obviously made from chunks of whole breast meat instead of the highly processed goop that comes in the Gluten Free Nuggets from Golden Platter.
The Kirkland nuggets have a better breading to chicken ration than Just Bare Nuggets. I also prefer the seasoning on the Kirkland nuggets as the Just Bare nuggets are just a little too salty.
The Kirkland nuggets are meaty, crunchy and, in our opinion, perfectly seasoned.
Calories and Nutrition
Costco says that a single serving is three ounces and has the following calories and nutritional information:
- Calories: 140
- Fat: 5g
- Cholesterol: 45mg
- Sodium: 530mg
- Carbs: 9g
- Protein:16g
I broke out my kitchen scale and weighed a bunch of nuggets to figure out what a real portion size looks like.
It appears that a 3 ounce serving will consist of 5 nuggets. Of course there will be some variability as the nuggets are not uniform in size.
Ingredients
If you are curious as to what Costco uses to make these nuggets the ingredient list is below:
- Boneless skinless chicken breast
- Water
- Seasoning (sugar, salt, spices)
- Rice Starch
- Breading
- Wheat flour
- Sugar
- Salt
- Nonfat dry milk
- Dried egg whites
- Baking powder
- Spice
- Paprika
The Kirkland nuggets are not Gluten Free or Organic.
Price
The Kirkland Chicken Nuggets are Item Number 1736931 and are located in the freezer section of the warehouse.
I bought the four pound bag for $13.99 which results in a price per pound of $3.498.
Considering that these nuggets are made from whole breast meat and are fully cooked I feel like the price is more than reasonable making the Kirkland nuggets a great value in addition to being super tasty!
