This Costco Buy Makes Weeknight Dinners Easier than Takeout

Patty Catalano
Patty Catalano
Patty is a recipe developer and food writer. She worked Alton Brown’s Research Coordinator and podcast producer and in the Oxmoor House test kitchen. She loves maple syrup, coffee and board games. Patty lives in Atlanta with her husband and two children.
updated Sep 8, 2022
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Every month, Costco gives us a new reason to fall in love with the warehouse. When the calendar flips to fall, it is time to fill my pantry with back-to-school necessities, and Costco is my first stop. Filling lunch boxes isn’t my only kitchen task this autumn, because I still take the lead on stocking up for weeknight dinners.

For weekly meal planning I rely on a combination of fresh and frozen groceries. Luckily my favorite frozen food shortcut is right there in Costco’s freezer section. Just Bare Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Chunks are the frozen chicken nuggets that everyone in my house can agree on. That’s why the four-pound bag of chicken nuggets is the best thing to buy in bulk this month.

Credit: Patty Catalano

What’s So Great About Just Bare Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Chunks?

Chicken nuggets are easy enough to make from scratch, but this bag of bite-sized breaded chicken is for nights when dinner needs a jumpstart. These nuggets are made with lean chicken breast meat from antibiotic-free animals. (The packaging indicates that no hormones or steroids have been used on the chickens, but the use of those substances is prohibited by federal law in any poultry.) The chicken chunks are naturally irregularly shaped, and most of them are a generous size, with just a few bits of breading-only bites at the bottom of the bag.

What’s the Best Way to Use Just Bare Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Chunks?

Save money and time by serving these as a DIY fast-food dinner with nuggets and fries hot from the oven or air fryer. They’re also great in a fried chicken salad — especially when it’s topped with honey mustard dressing. You can also make a chicken Parmesan-style spaghetti, topping strands of pasta with cooked nuggets, your favorite marinara, and mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Or nestle the nuggets in lettuce leaves with diced mango and serve with teriyaki sauce for dipping. The list is endless because anything a chicken breast or tender can do, these nuggets can do better.

Find it in stores: Just Bare Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Chunks, $19.99 for 4 pounds

Have you tried Just Bare’s chicken nuggets? Tell us how you serve frozen chicken nuggets at home.

Filed in:
Frozen Foods
Product Review
Dessert