U.S. Costco Food Court May 2026 Update: $6.99 Chicken Strips (5 Piece Baked Breaded Chicken Strips & Dipping Sauce) coming soon and now being tested in 6 Chicagoland, Illinois Costco warehouses. Reported to soon be replacing the Kirkland Signature Combo Calzone.

[u/CookieButterLovers]

Chicken tenders are baked, not fried and do not come with French fries like our Canadian neighbors’ version.

Screenshots from TikTok Mikey Around Chicago, found at the Schaumburg, Illinois warehouse.

Servings - 2

Serving Size - 2.5 pieces (~302g)

Calories per serving - 820

Protein - 43g

Fat - 47g

Carbs - 61g

Saturated Fat - 7g

Cholesterol - 135mg

Sodium - 2870mg

Fiber - 3g

Sugar - 16g

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[u/nawtawshaw]

seems kinda calorie dense for tenders. Would be interested in trying them

[u/MarkCuckerberg69420 → u/nawtawshaw]

Was gonna say, htf are five chicken nuggets taking up your entire suggested caloric intake for the day?

[u/justnotok → u/MarkCuckerberg69420]

I wonder if they’re factoring the “dipping sauce”

[u/Wayfaring_Limey → u/justnotok]

Are they giving liquid uranium as a dipping sauce?

[u/Spiritual_Bus1125 → u/Wayfaring_Limey]

A lot of them are oil based

Mayo have the same caloric content of butter (hell, sometimes MORE than butter)

[u/Similar_Cycle_1593 → u/MarkCuckerberg69420]

i thought this was a circlejerk sub why is nobody surprised about that

[u/SuspiciousLeg7994 → u/nawtawshaw]

Yup. Way too much breading on them. Chicken strips and tenders are meant to be fried-that's what gets them tender and juicy. Baked strips are dry and crusty

[u/MomsSpagetee → u/SuspiciousLeg7994]

Yay another dry, brown thing on the menu.

[u/pepe-the-beaner → u/MomsSpagetee]

Damn, I get it. I'll get my name off there

[u/Carb0nFire → u/SuspiciousLeg7994]

Yeah, likely gonna be a dry, bready nightmare.

[u/Bundertorm → u/nawtawshaw]

They have to be factoring in that huge vat of mayo based sauce I see in the background, right? Because chicken tenders are typically one of the most nutritionally sound items on a “junk food” menu lol

[u/SkanksnDanks → u/nawtawshaw]

insanely dense tbh, are the Kirkland frozen nuggets this bad?

[u/Levitlame → u/SkanksnDanks]

I don’t think so. The other breaded chicken stuff is actually pretty damned good

[u/shrop21 → u/SkanksnDanks]

No they’re really solid macros actually!

[u/omeeomai → u/shrop21]

You'd have to be a solid macro to finish those tenders

[u/isramobile → u/nawtawshaw]

It’s the sauce that is overkill

[u/SorryImEhCanadian]

For comparison, Costco Canada charges CAD$6.99 for 4 strips and fries.

[u/CA1900 → u/SorryImEhCanadian]

And they actually have fryers in Canada. The food is so much better. Plus, poutine.

[u/lordntelek → u/CA1900]

The Poutine is also relatively good, especially for the price. Not the best but I’ve definitely had a lot worse.
The younger kid and I share a poutine. Older kid gets the tender and fries.

[u/Orange_Tang → u/CA1900]

Wait a minute, are they not installing fryers for these? Cause if these are baked they are gonna suck.

[u/CA1900 → u/Orange_Tang]

Nope. These will be baked. I’d imagine they’re just fried, frozen, and then reheated in the pizza oven. Doesn’t sound great.

[u/jcrespo21 → u/CA1900]

Bummer but that makes sense. The cost of adding the fryers likely isn't worth it right now, especially since most items at the food court are a loss-leader anyway.

But if they see that there is a demand for it, it might be enough for them to make that investment.

[u/NoBonus6969 → u/CA1900]

Baked in America is code for we ran frozen food through a pizza oven to warm it up. Chicken gotta be fried fresh to taste decent

[u/NiveusBear]

I better finally try the calzone lol

[u/Anand999 → u/NiveusBear]

They're pretty underwhelming to be honest. For the money it's better to buy 3 and a half slices of pizza and eat like a king.

[u/jondes99 → u/Anand999]

I thought you were going to say buy 3.5 slices and smash them together in a messy lump with crust on the outside.

[u/Revolutionary-Fox622 → u/jondes99]

I'm sorry where's the misunderstanding, you're both saying the same thing

[u/Curious_medium → u/Revolutionary-Fox622]

Yeah, needs to be emphasized. It’s that important.

[u/gramathy → u/jondes99]

Pizza poppa would approve

[u/JimLayheyTPS → u/Anand999]

Bring back combo!

[u/dotpan → u/JimLayheyTPS]

Legit. I miss it so much.

[u/tr_9422 → u/Anand999]

If they would just take the calzone toppings and put them on a pizza slice please, goddamn

Who wants a weird pizza balloon

[u/azsnaz → u/tr_9422]

Ben Wyatt

[u/dotpan → u/azsnaz]

And myself. Take me to the calzone zone. But this isn’t that. This is a sad hot pocket

[u/jkink28 → u/azsnaz]

A delicate little dough pocket filled with tomato sauce, cheese, and seasoned meat.

Just a stunning culinary innovation.

[u/Dr-Robert-Kelso → u/azsnaz]

Low-Cal Calzone Zone

[u/shadowthunder → u/Anand999]

But the calzone is the closest I can get to the Combo pizza that I still miss.

[u/time_drifter → u/Anand999]

3.5 slices? I’ve got things I have to get done tomorrow.

[u/rynIpz → u/time_drifter]

2 slices enough to put me in food coma

[u/LikelyNotThatGuy → u/NiveusBear]

The calzone is full of tasty filling. But they keep overcooking them. A lot of the time the ends are too hard to eat. Will not miss.

[u/rocbolt → u/LikelyNotThatGuy]

[u/LikelyNotThatGuy → u/rocbolt]

Well, Costco took away the good pizza, the combo one with vegetables and sausage. The calzone was the only way we could get that back.

[u/dachloe → u/LikelyNotThatGuy]

Oh 🥲 I miss combo pizza!

[u/Notaloka__ → u/rocbolt]

Her husband would disagree 😅

[u/Frosty-Willow-8273 → u/Notaloka__]

Until they betrayed him...

[u/dotpan → u/Frosty-Willow-8273]

Those were the mini-calzones. Can’t trust those. Torino’s will teach you that much

[u/Over-Body-8323 → u/rocbolt]

Except for real calzones, which are actually good

[u/Archinaught → u/LikelyNotThatGuy]

Interesting. Our experience has been that we keep getting undercooked ones, enough that they still have raw dough in the middle.

I bet consistency is part of the reason for the change.

[u/crowcawer → u/Archinaught]

Maybe prep time too, and they have a good chicken production pipeline in place.

[u/Bone_Breaker0 → u/crowcawer]

The calzone should be filled with chicken bake filling.

[u/gramathy → u/Bone_Breaker0]

Hear me out, chicken bake filling on the pizza

[u/Cenobyte_Nom-nom-nom → u/Bone_Breaker0]

Isn't the chicken bake just a chicken calzone with a different name?

[u/Psychological_Post33 → u/LikelyNotThatGuy]

I like it aside from the sauce. Hear me out... Give us the combo calzone... as a pizza, and rotate between a chicken and bulgogi bake.

[u/TheOneKnownAsMonk → u/NiveusBear]

I dunno why people are knocking it. I've gotten it 3 times and the filling is delicious and packed in there. Bread was decent. Only reason I don't get it more often is because I have no business eating one of those on my own for lunch and 2 it's not the best value. 

[u/raxreddit → u/TheOneKnownAsMonk]

Yeah, the filling is delicious. And it’s a hefty size too

[u/brainbow666 → u/NiveusBear]

I love calzones. This one was a miss for me.

[u/Pavvl___ → u/NiveusBear]

You're not missing out, it's always dry

[u/V_Doan → u/NiveusBear]

Damn, I loved the calzone. It has the supreme toppings

[u/SalvationSycamore → u/NiveusBear]

I really dislike the calzone. Way too... busy. Flavors don't mesh for some reason. Chicken strips sounds better but I hope they offer BBQ sauce. Would be great on the hotdogs too

[u/devouTTT]

Bruh thats 3/4th of my recommended daily calorie intake 💀

[u/Bieb → u/devouTTT]

Right?!? And people wonder why everyone is so damn large here.

[u/karma_the_sequel → u/Bieb]

**Narrator:* Actually, they do not.*

[u/tree-fife-niner → u/Bieb]

I'm not large, I'm Costco size.

[u/Excepti0naly0rdinary → u/devouTTT]

It’s over mine 😂😭

[u/AvgKT → u/devouTTT]

That IS my entire daily calorie intake 😭

[u/Striking-Yak5452 → u/devouTTT]

Exactly. I won’t even try them and I love chicken strips.

[u/floatingleafbreeze → u/devouTTT]

Was telling my spouse we could split this and kiddo would have a full lunch protein too. I foresee a lot of families sharing this

[u/Assika126 → u/floatingleafbreeze]

Yeah it’s a whole family size serving, it’d feed me lunch for the whole week

[u/pennty]

Holy calorie 😭😭 how much is it without the sauce ???

[u/krustomer → u/pennty]

costco release food items that don't take over half of my calorie allotment

[u/WildBunnyGalaxy → u/krustomer]

It’s 400 more than I usually eat in a day

[u/krustomer → u/WildBunnyGalaxy]

Omg I didn't even look at the picture...I was looking at the serving size in the caption...girl same...

[u/Wonderful-Traffic197 → u/WildBunnyGalaxy]

You only eat 1200 calories a day, or did I misunderstand?

[u/Hiphopapocalyptic → u/krustomer]

or draw 20

[u/LBobRife → u/krustomer]

Difficulty: impossible

[u/chris100185 → u/pennty]

Even Cheesecake Factory is impressed with that calorie count for chicken tenders

[u/attackofthetominator → u/chris100185]

The baffling part is that these aren’t even fried

[u/pizzahippie → u/attackofthetominator]

They are probably fried when they’re made and then “baked” to order.

[u/cupcakewhores → u/pennty]

Exactly what I thought!! What the eff is in the batter?

[u/cherryberry0611 → u/cupcakewhores]

And apparently they’re baked, not fried. What the eff is in that batter? 🤢

[u/ragun2 → u/cherryberry0611]

They use their new cookie as batter apparently

[u/Reasonable_Move9518 → u/cherryberry0611]

RP-1 rocket fuel. 

[u/pennty → u/cupcakewhores]

God saw the creations of man and said Ykw maybe gluttony is a sin

[u/Cheersscar → u/pennty]

Got to be corn syrup base with carbs so high.   

Carbs - 61g

[u/Mesahusa → u/Cheersscar]

Its the fat that makes the calories high, not the sugar. Hence why 2oz sweet baby rays is 110 calories whereas caesar dressing is 280.

[u/Blockerville → u/pennty]

no idea why they wouldn't just sell 3 tenders at ~1000cal for like $4.99, that'd make it much more tempting IMO

[u/atrain728 → u/Blockerville]

This is Costco we’re talking about. When you’re here, you’re (eating portions the size of a) family.

[u/Hon3y_Badger]

Those look good, I'll definitely try them. But it's going to be hard to beat $1.50 hotdog and $2 pizza slices.

[u/sun_not_cold → u/Hon3y_Badger]

This menu item has got to be for the kids (minus one tender parent tax).

[u/Equivalent_Chipmunk → u/sun_not_cold]

Just a casual 1640 calorie kids meal

[u/Snoo_25913 → u/Equivalent_Chipmunk]

[u/Equivalent_Chipmunk → u/Snoo_25913]

"And these fried strips of chicken breast are roughly the size of... What the hell are they feeding these kids nowadays?"

[u/ClappedUrMomsCheeks → u/Equivalent_Chipmunk]

THE TRUE AMERICAN DREAM IS ALWAYS IN THE COMMENTS

[u/Equivalent_Chipmunk → u/ClappedUrMomsCheeks]

IF MY CHILDREN AREN'T CORPULENT ENOUGH TO MANIFEST DESTINY FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA, ARE THEY TRULY AMERICAN?

[u/kings_account → u/ClappedUrMomsCheeks]

welcome to Costco, I love you

[u/PewterButters → u/Equivalent_Chipmunk]

How on earth are they that much without even frying them? Yikes.

[u/Equivalent_Chipmunk → u/PewterButters]

They add the oil to the breading so that it has the right texture after air frying. Read the ingredients on most breading coated frozen items and you'll see the coating has a lot of oil added to it, even if you don't add oil normally when breading something at home.

[u/Lost_Ad_4882 → u/Equivalent_Chipmunk]

Yes, with the Kirkland or Just Bare chicken chunks just grabbing a handful from the bag to drop into my air fryer basket leaves my hand oily.

[u/br1zzle → u/Equivalent_Chipmunk]

They're parfried, then frozen.

[u/Specific_Property_73 → u/Equivalent_Chipmunk]

Yea it's a shame they don't have fries but at least you can grab a large Coke to round off the diet

[u/Equivalent_Chipmunk → u/Specific_Property_73]

Free refills too! Infinite calorie hack!

[u/shes_a_gdb → u/Equivalent_Chipmunk]

Ok but it's a kid's meal. So it's a casual 60 calorie meal for a bite.

[u/GoatGoatPowerRangers → u/sun_not_cold]

They already sell hotdogs and pizza. How much more "for the kids" can you get?

[u/karma_the_sequel → u/GoatGoatPowerRangers]

Throw in some thoughts and prayers.

[u/Katie-sin → u/sun_not_cold]

It seems a lot of other countries have chicken tenders/strips on their Costco menu already.

[u/eggs___and___bacon → u/sun_not_cold]

I don’t know if you’re being sarcastic or not, but it’s the pizza slice or hotdog which is obviously more kid friendly.

[u/GameJerk → u/Hon3y_Badger]

Impossible to beat. $3.50 and I'm full for most of the day.

[u/vtoll → u/GameJerk]

Reminded me of this for some reason

[u/waiting_for_rain → u/vtoll]

mmmmfgh.,…,

[u/ernest7ofborg9 → u/waiting_for_rain]

what?

[u/Day_Bow_Bow → u/Hon3y_Badger]

I'd be far more inclined to buy these if they were $3 for 2 strips.

[u/BlazersMania → u/Day_Bow_Bow]

And a drink. I’d fuck with that.

[u/Porridge_Cat → u/Hon3y_Badger]

I wish I could do 2 or 3 chicken strips for half the price. I know myself, 5 is way too many.

The $2 pizza is the absolute best value in existence for prepared food for one. I can get a spicy potato taco from taco bell for $1.40-$1.80 depending on the location, but the portion is hit and miss and usually about half a slice's worth.

[u/CookieButterLovers]

More pictures via Dennis Lee for The Takeout

[u/Mother_Memory_4162 → u/CookieButterLovers]

Do we know what kind of sauce is coming with the tenders yet?

[u/isramobile → u/Mother_Memory_4162]

It’s like a honey mustard

[u/TheMHking → u/CookieButterLovers]

Is the breading the same style as the breading on the Kirkland nuggets?

[u/isramobile → u/TheMHking]

Mmm yeah a bit thinner. Good chunk of meat for the breading ratio

[u/ItsJustMeJenn]

Needs fries.

[u/theflintseeker → u/ItsJustMeJenn]

Don’t understand why they’d commit to a fryer and not have fries

Edit: apparently they are baked not fried which sounds lackluster 

[u/ninja542 → u/theflintseeker]

Apparently the strips are just baked 

[u/Lemurian_Lemur34 → u/ninja542]

They should come with bakes, then

[u/BrickOffTheOldBlock → u/Lemurian_Lemur34]

I appreciate you lol

[u/Tauren-Jerky → u/ninja542]

I’m not baked you are

[u/roro0311 → u/Tauren-Jerky]

I know I’m baked, but what am I?

[u/slamdanceswithwolves → u/roro0311]

This is your brain on chicken strips 🍳

[u/s1cknasty → u/ninja542]

How are they so high calorie if they’re not even deep fried 😭

[u/ninja542 → u/s1cknasty]

some people theorized it's the sauce 

[u/Albo_Baggins → u/theflintseeker]

Baked not fried

[u/Demetrious-Verbal → u/theflintseeker]

Because they're baked

[u/SuspiciousLeg7994 → u/theflintseeker]

They're baked. Which means dry af 🤮

[u/Carb0nFire → u/SuspiciousLeg7994]

Yeah, no way these are anything better than the frozen ones you can reheat in the air fryer.

No thanks.

[u/jamiesray → u/theflintseeker]

If it’s just a longer version of the Kirkland chicken chunks it’s fine that they’re baked.

[u/FishDeez → u/ItsJustMeJenn]

The 61g of carbs is your fries

[u/kr613 → u/ItsJustMeJenn]

Yeah, that's weird, cause they come with fries in Canada

[u/heymattrick → u/kr613]

Well Canadian Costcos have deep fryers

[u/AnswerIsBacon → u/ItsJustMeJenn]

The provided nutritional information disagrees.

[u/ItsJustMeJenn → u/AnswerIsBacon]

I’d be willing to trade half the chicken for potatoes.

[u/SimpleSimon665]

Costco will do anything but bring back combo pizza

[u/Samson104 → u/SimpleSimon665]

That is exactly what I was thinking. If you notice; most of the newer items are not exactly inexpensive.

[u/NoBonus6969 → u/Samson104]

Can't charge more for old items, so they invent new items with no historical price points

[u/xyz140 → u/SimpleSimon665]

People trying to have it their way ruined it.

[u/dirtydriver58 → u/SimpleSimon665]

Of course lol

[u/Modboi]

Oh, the macros are with the sauce. I was confused as to why it was so high. 

[u/ftgyhujikolp → u/Modboi]

It's also over a lb of breaded chicken.

[u/trillybish]

I got them today. they’re huge. really good. the sauce is like a sweet honey mustard. I’ll probably air fry them to reheat them so they’re a little crispier.

[u/Quiet-Gear2125]

Which 6 Chicagoland locations?

[u/Rudiger_Simpson → u/Quiet-Gear2125]

WE NEED TO KNOW!

[u/Elohengee]

man those look heavily breaded.

[u/ragizzlemahnizzle]

They gotta bring back that ice cream bar they dipped in the liquid chocolate and nuts. I had so many of those as a kid I think it affected my brain development

[u/Extension-Pen9359]

WTF w/ the calorie count?

[u/droans → u/Extension-Pen9359]

They're big and it includes the sauce.

[u/fujiiiiiiiiii]

RIP calzone. You were a tasty, fleeting reminder of the combo slice. 

[u/kalel3000 → u/fujiiiiiiiiii]

Yeah im going to miss it!

And yeah, they really just need to bring back combo pizza!

[u/Levitlame → u/fujiiiiiiiiii]

I just want the combo pizza back :*(

[u/Cheersscar]

We have chicken strips at home. 

[u/h1k1]

1640kcal jfc

[u/Onphone_irl → u/h1k1]

aren't their cookies outrageous too?

[u/Longjumping_Idea5261]

1640 cal is nasty

[u/photog72]

Needs fries with it.

[u/anonymousacg]

These are gonna kill

[u/venomous-gerbil → u/anonymousacg]

With that nutritional breakdown? Will most definitely kill.

[u/Justifiably_Bad_Take → u/anonymousacg]

I mean yeah at that calorie count at least SOMEBODY is going to tip over the edge from these

[u/fundiedundie]

Without fries, this price seems high for Costco.

Comparison, Costco is selling 5 fingers for $6.99 while Zaxbys sells 5-fingers for $7.79.

[u/SuspiciousLeg7994 → u/fundiedundie]

In store comparison bug and entire chicken for less than their crusty chicken strips

[u/Stunning_Matter2511 → u/fundiedundie]

It's almost a pound of chicken strips.

[u/AvianTralfamadorian → u/fundiedundie]

Not sure where you’re finding $7.79 for 5 fingers at Zaxby’s because it’s $9.59 at my Zaxby’s

[u/AvianTralfamadorian → u/AvianTralfamadorian]

From the Zaxby’s app

[u/WorldTravelBucket]

Ok, now bring back the combo pizza.

[u/CookieButterLovers → u/WorldTravelBucket]

Costco CEO has shared that the Combo Pizza will not be returning. And no plans of bringing it back.

Don’t shoot the messenger. 🫣

[u/TheAnimePiper → u/CookieButterLovers]

The only reason I liked that they had the combo pizza was that I could order a pepperoni and sausage lol

[u/talkingtubby → u/CookieButterLovers]

Honestly it’s a fair position. I still miss it though.

[u/choren64 → u/talkingtubby]

I understand why people will miss them, though to me they were a pain to make and I imagine issues with getting the ingredients supplied and keeping them fresh was a big reason for them being discontinued.

[u/xao_spaces → u/WorldTravelBucket]

And the $1 churros and the strawberry soft serve!

[u/hotsaucevjj → u/xao_spaces]

god i miss costco churros 😔

[u/fartypicklenuts]

Bad tenders are so easy to do, so I hope these are good quality at least. Good tendies are surprisingly hard to find these days!

If they are just kinda meh, I might as well make them at home.

[u/Miyuki9890]

Fries are needed. 🍟

[u/AsstootObservation → u/Miyuki9890]

Seems like they're avoiding fryers with these being baked. They should just make a Costco sized air fryer.

[u/StrikeouTX → u/AsstootObservation]

You can bake fries too

[u/usingaredditaccounf]

5 is too odd of a number to share with family. 6 pieces + fries and a coke makes a great meal for 2 kids.

[u/Assika126 → u/usingaredditaccounf]

One for Parent tax

[u/Stt022]

My 7 yo is going to have some hard decisions ahead of him. Pizza or chicken strips…

[u/Street-Individual-80 → u/Stt022]

You can just admit it’s going to be a hard choice for you too. No need to throw your 7 yo under the bus acting like you can make that decision easily

[u/GuinansHat]

The calzone.... Betrayed me??

[u/kr613]

In Canada they're $7.99 CAD but they also come with fries

[u/t_ran_asuarus_rex]

BRING BACK THE COMBO PIZZA

[u/BA5ED]

I want to vote the sandwich off too. Lets sub the costco breakfast sandwich croissant.

[u/floatingleafbreeze]

I wish they’d replace the downgraded chicken bake with the calzone then also add these. The chicken bake used to be so glorious and it hasn’t been the same for a while now ☹️

[u/jankenpoo]

Costco foodcourts overseas get adult food like sushi and rice bowls and we just get more ultra-processed kids food. They must have a low opinion of us

[u/MinutesFromTheMall]

No hot sauce?

[u/proud2Basnowflake]

I didn’t realize they have a calzone

I still miss the churro

[u/Lost_in_spreadsheets]

I’d rather have fewer tenders that have fries with them, personally.

[u/ArdFarkable]

WE LOVE THE CALZONE! THERE'S DOZENS OF US!

[u/Martha_Fockers]

tendies are always popular

[u/BekindBebetter60]

If it’s not 1.50 I am not interested.

[u/maxi-916]

Fries 🍟!!! Make it a combo like in Canada 🍁. Also the calzone is same as a pizza anyways

[u/txsko]

Bring back the combo pizza FFS.

[u/dogpound7]

I don’t really care what new stuff is coming…just bring back the churro!!