Has Costco Really Changed Its Food Court Chicken Bakes?
You might have jumped for joy when you heard Costco was bringing back its chicken bakes to the food court. But some Costco members have been consulting one another on Reddit when they were less than impressed with the food court menu item they once knew and loved. The Reddit poster described the latest bake they bought as being quite thin with very little filling. The worst part of the description might have even been that the chicken bake was dry, which should never be the case thanks to the Caesar dressing that goes into the delicious item.
Some even thought the chicken bake recipe had changed prior to its return. In another Reddit post from two years ago, the chicken bake a customer received was so different from the norm, the poster actually asked if there were two different manufacturers behind the chicken bakes. They even wondered whether or not the big-box retailer's food court perhaps used the frozen kind if they ran out of the fresh ones, but this isn't the case either. All Costco chicken bakes are made fresh in the food court.
It's all about who makes the chicken bakes
The unfortunate reality, it appears, is that the chicken bake might have been less than great due to the employee that made it. In the most recent Reddit thread concerning the beloved food court item, a former Costco food court employee explained that they always made the chicken bakes at their location because they were the best one on staff for rolling the ingredients into the pizza dough.
In fact, the former employee even shared the recipe in the thread. That means those disappointed customers can try to make it themselves at home, even if that does require more effort than stopping by the food court on the way out. The Costco chicken bake recipe calls for 3 ounces of chopped grilled chicken, an ounce and a half of bacon bits and mozzarella cheese, and Caesar salad dressing mixed together and all wrapped up in a third of a pizza dough. Once it's formed, brush the outside with more Caesar salad dressing, sprinkle with Parmesan, and bake.
With that in mind, it's possible that the employee perhaps used too little chicken, bacon bits, or mozzarella cheese when making the failed chicken bake. So, for those who are getting thin and dry chicken bakes, maybe ask for more filling the next time you visit your local store.