Costco’s food court is elite. The value is fantastic, the offerings are limited but finely curated, and I have shamelessly eaten a hot dog at 10 am.

The warehouse store chain has been rolling out, replacing, and testing quite a few new items lately – churro and double chocolate chip cookie swaps, streamlined pizza options (everything/combo pizza, I still think about you), and rotating sundae flavors.

The latest shake-up is the Signature Chicken Strips, which replaced the calzone. It’s five pieces with dipping sauce for $6.99. Look, I’m not Ben Wyatt from Parks and Recreation, so I have no strong calzone loyalties. A higher-protein option at Costco prices? I’m in.

When I picked it up at the window, my first thought was “wow, hefty,” and that applied to the Costco-sized dipping cup too. A second sauce is only $0.79 if you want one, but you won’t need it.

The strips themselves were juicy, seasoned, and savory, with a solid breading-to-chicken ratio. Mine had some scorched bits, though you’d never know it from the taste. My one gripe: the texture on my first strip was a little tough and stringy, like cutting a steak with the grain instead of against it. All of it was still edible, and the remaining four were fine.

The breading itself had enough flavor that I didn’t need sauce to enjoy them. That said, I absolutely did dip anyway, because the sauce deserves a mention. It was honey mustard but slightly smoky – almost more like a honey mustard BBQ than your standard packet. I liked it better than just dipping it in ketchup, which is my usual go-to for chicken strips.

I also dipped a pizza slice into it because I contain multitudes and because the food-hack potential here is enormous. My fellow foodies are going to have a field day with this one. All in all, not the best chicken tender I’ve ever had in my life but a really, really solid one. I wish I had brought my food scale because the value here is strong, as it is with almost all Kirkland offerings. I’m probably going to choose the $1.50 hot dog combo most of the time still, but I’ll definitely add this to my rotation of eats!

Purchased Price: $6.99
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 1130 – 1640 calories. No other nutritional information available.