Sam’s Club vs Costco Prepared Meals: Which Warehouse Club Offers the Best Deals?

By Mary | Senior Staff Writer

Apr 30, 2019 @ 11:31 AM MDT

Hip2Save may earn a small onlinemission at no extra cost to you via trusted partners and affiliate links in this post. Prices and availability are accurate as of time posted. Read our full disclosure policy here.

Dinner is served!

If you don’t want to feed your family fast food and don’t have time to cook, stop by your local Sam’s Club or Costco deli and check out their prepared meals. Both clubs offer a variety of meals for easy and affordable dinner ideas – all you have to do is heat it up! Each dish feeds around a family of four, so consider adding a side dish or vegetable, salad, or rolls and dinner will be ready in no time! 🍽

But, are you wondering which warehouse offers the best bang for your buck on these prepared meals? Check out FIVE of our favorite prepared meals at both Costco and Sam’s Club and which store offers the best prices. Then, just pick it up, heat it up, and your family will gobble it up! 😋

1. Stuffed Peppers

🏆 Sam’s Club: Stuffed Peppers – Just $3.99/lb

Red, yellow, and orange peppers filled with a browned beef mixture and topped with mozzarella cheese. The tray contains six stuffed peppers.

Costco: Stuffed Bell Peppers with Ground Beef & Rice – $4.29/lb

Six red, yellow, and orange peppers filled with a ground beef and rice mixture, topped with a shredded cheese mixture.

“Oh my gosh, my family loves the stuffed peppers! They are so darned good and great for leftovers!” – Hip Sidekick Lina

2. Enchiladas

🏆 Sam’s Club: Rotisserie Chicken Enchiladas – Just $3.47/lb

Hand-rolled enchiladas made daily with authentic red enchilada sauce, rotisserie chicken, Cotija, and Colby and Monterey Jack cheeses.

Costco enchilada bake with rotisserie chicken

Costco: Enchilada Bake with Rotisserie Chicken – $4.69/lb

Made with cooked chicken, tomato paste, white rice, cheddar cheese, and fresh bell peppers.

3. Pasta Classics

🏆 Costco: Mac and Cheese – $3.29/lb

Made with enriched pasta, cheddar cheese, cream, milk, Romano cheese, and Parmesan cheese.

Sam’s Club: Five Cheese Stuffed Shells – $3.98/lb

Gourmet, five cheese stuffed shells topped with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese.

4. Chicken Alfredo

🏆 Sam’s Club: Fettuccine Chicken Alfredo – $3.99/lb

Fettuccine pasta with rich, creamy Alfredo sauce, premium grilled chicken strips, and shredded Parmesan cheese.

Costco: Chicken Alfredo – $4.29/lb

Fettuccine pasta with a rich, creamy Alfredo sauce, chicken breast strips, and topped with Parmesan cheese.

5. Chicken Salad

🏆 Sam’s Club: Rotisserie Chicken Salad – $4.98/lb

A tasty onlinebination of dressing, celery, and rotisserie chicken breast.

Costco: Chicken Salad with Rotisserie Chicken – $4.99/lb

A delicious mixture of cooked rotisserie chicken breast, dressing, eggs, and celery.

🏆 BONUS: Dessert

If you’re looking for a delicious dessert, both Costco and Sam’s Club offer delicious options! As an idea, you can pick up a 42oz Fresh Fruit Bar Cake with Vanilla Mousse for just $15.99 at Costco. Or, consider grabbing a 75oz Mixed Berries Topped Cheesecake for just $15.98. I don’t think you could go wrong with any of these yummy options! 😋

Sam’s Club versus Costco: Whose costs less?

Excluding desserts, at an average of $3.94 per pound, Sam’s Club offers the best deals on these prepared meals versus Costco’s $4.48 per pound, (a per-pound difference of $0.54)! Sam’s Club wins! Still, with only a 12% difference in pricing, you can’t go wrong with either club when you need a quick, delicious meal!

Do you have a favorite prepared meal from Costco or Sam’s Club?

Please share in the onlinements below!

Check out these 8 ways to Shop Costco or Sam’s Club without a membership!

Join The Discussion

onlinements 50

Diane April 30, 2019 at 11:40 am MST

Thanks for the post Hip2Save team! I would love to see the results of a taste test between Costco and Sam’s Club prepared foods, especially with Stetson’s opinion for the male perspective. Any chance this might happen? Thanks!

Reply3

Jen April 30, 2019 at 11:44 am MST

I totally backup this suggestion as well.

Reply1

J.H.509 April 30, 2019 at 11:56 am MST

Same here!! Let’s hear Stetson’s opinion!! My husband loves to eat but I’m always skeptical of these prepared meals. :-\

Reply

Amber (Hip Sidekick) April 30, 2019 at 11:59 am MST

Neat idea, Diana! Thanks a bunch for the suggestion! I’ll be sure to pass that along to the team!

Reply
gege1804 April 30, 2019 at 12:15 pm MST

I like that idea. Taste test.

Reply

Jocelyn OConnor April 30, 2019 at 11:48 am MST

My Sam’s used to have 4 rotisserie leg quarters for 3.99. I assumed there were the leftovers from the whole chickens they didn’t sell the day before. I used to get them all the time until they stopped offering them.

Reply4

dbld-amber April 30, 2019 at 1:04 pm MST

I just saw them for the first time yesterday. Bought them and they were delicious. I pulled more meat of the bone than the traditional whole chicken and for less

Reply
Minnesotamom April 30, 2019 at 6:42 pm MST

Yes you’re right. I work at Sam’s and you bet that is exactly what we do. But sometimes we don’t have extras to make it into the breasts or legs.

Reply
Jamie April 30, 2019 at 7:41 pm MST

Mine too! I get one almost every week. Today I made it into chicken and rice soup,but it can be Quesadillas, enchiladas, chicken pot pie…..on and on. Sometimes they don’t have any out,and I ask the ladies working behind the glass. Often the haven’t put them out yet…but sometimes they don’t have any from the day before. $3.98,all white meat. My top reason for loving sams. Besides scan and go

Reply
Tricia April 30, 2019 at 8:49 pm MST

I have found the packages of 4 legs and packages of 4 chicken breasts cut from the Rotisserie chickens at Sam’s Club in Toledo OH. I have found them at very near Closing time &/or early morning.

Reply

DSch April 30, 2019 at 12:11 pm MST

Well, this is ironic. My DIL swears by Costco and when we are visiting, she will get the prepared meals (Stuffed Peppers and Chicken Alfredo) to make visiting easier on all of us. I’ll vouch, they are good. We are not close to a Costco, so are members of Sam’s. As I don’t typically buy prepared meals from there, honestly, cannot vouch for them nor did I even know they had onlineparables, but glad that H2S has enlightened me and will certainly give them a whirl.

Reply
Debbie April 30, 2019 at 12:19 pm MST

I’ve had the chicken pot pie from Sam’s, and it’s really delicious and really big.

Reply
Kristie April 30, 2019 at 12:40 pm MST

The Costco mac and cheese is yummy!!!

Reply1

Sara April 30, 2019 at 2:13 pm MST

It is also really oily. It leaves puddles.

Reply

Maggie April 30, 2019 at 12:49 pm MST

Funny story, my daughter and I stopped into Costco after a doctor appointment looking for a quick dinner and grabbed the mac n cheese. I’m reading the directions in the check out line and realize it has to cook for almost an hour !!! Holy cow, I can throw together homemade mac n cheese quicker than that ! I had my daughter run it back to the deli and we went home. That said…… I do like to try the ready made meals when they are on special, we really liked the shepheards pie and the pot pie. Waiting for the chicken street tacos to be on sale. For us they are mostly a treat , not something we buy very often.

Reply
Zoey April 30, 2019 at 12:52 pm MST

I think it’s honestly better to spend the 12% for better quality ingredients in my opinion.

Reply
Garfield April 30, 2019 at 1:07 pm MST

I do think Costco’s presentation is better and they usually don’t hold on to the more expensive ingredients. onlinepare the chicken Alfredo for example.

Reply1

Dana April 30, 2019 at 6:07 pm MST

I onlinepared the stuffed peppers. Sams’ definitely looked better. Not trying to argue though! 😉

Reply1

Dana April 30, 2019 at 6:08 pm MST

and I thought both alfredos looked pretty good.

Reply

dina April 30, 2019 at 1:11 pm MST

Always have been on the fence between Costco and Sam’s Club, I like them both! Really would look forward to Stetson’s opinion as a follow up post! Sure he won’t mind a week of taste testing yummy meals!

Reply
Kara April 30, 2019 at 1:54 pm MST

I have tried all of the mentioned meals from Costco and they are all yummy and got 2 👍🏻! I usually try to get them when there is an instant coupon offered to make it a better deal. (They offer it often on the chicken Alfredo)

Reply
Chris April 30, 2019 at 2:12 pm MST

Here’s what we like and dislike from both stores. Costco stuffed peppers and the shepherds pie are amazing. Costco quinoa salad and the chicken rollers are meh. Sam’s Club chicken pot pie is pretty good. Sam’s Club meatloaf is disgusting

Reply2

Amber (Hip Sidekick) May 1, 2019 at 7:59 am MST

Thanks a bunch for sharing your likes and dislikes, Chris! We sure appreciate the feedback!

Reply
Sue May 31, 2020 at 4:23 pm MST

I’m surprised I actually like Sam’s club’s meatloaf better than Costco’s.

Reply

Kris April 30, 2019 at 2:21 pm MST

My husband and I just purchased the rotisserie chicken enchiladas from Sam’s last week as our Easter meal. (I loathe cooking) They were fabulous! We made some spanish rice to go with them and we had leftovers for days! Can’t beat that. We will definitely be doing this more often!

Reply
Josie April 30, 2019 at 3:05 pm MST

The Costco chicken salad does not have pasta in it. You have it titled Pasta Salad with Rotisserie Chicken. No pasta. It does, however, have WAY too much mayo — and the chicken often tastes like it has been kept uncovered in the cooler and absorbed the smells from other foods. So I don’t buy it anymore. My husband likes the green tortilla chicken rolls from Costco — but I can’t stand them because of the same off-taste of the rotisserie chicken.

Reply1

Ana May 1, 2019 at 1:01 pm MST

Those green roll up things seem mushy to me.

Reply

Melissa April 30, 2019 at 3:26 pm MST

Chicken pot pie from Sam’s is amazing. Usually sold out at ours!!

Reply
Jenny April 30, 2019 at 4:52 pm MST

We looooove the Costco stuffed peppers! Even my picky kids like them and they’re hearty so 6 servings for us per container.

Never tried the Sam’s club ones but definitely can vouch for the Costco peppers!

Reply
Jen April 30, 2019 at 5:24 pm MST

Sprouts is a good option also if you are near one. They have single servings of several varieties, but recently I found a double serving size of the pesto pasta with chicken. It is very tasty and I’d buy it again!

Reply
Nicole April 30, 2019 at 5:37 pm MST

I feel like this is misleading. You may pay a little less at Sams, but you get much better quality at Costco!

Reply1

peggy April 30, 2019 at 5:49 pm MST

Costco is a better quality,if you ever get anything that seems off. they will gladly refund your money. Never go anywhere else.

Reply

Kristen April 30, 2019 at 5:42 pm MST

Don’t forget the ridiculously cheap Fresh rotisserie chickens for dinner less than five dollars add some rice and a salad and you’re all done ✅ dinner is served 😋

Reply
Amy April 30, 2019 at 8:32 pm MST

We had tried a couple prepared foods from Costco in the past and weren’t huge fans! We recently tried some of the Sam’s Club meals and LOVED them!!!! My favorites are the stuffed shells and the chicken pot pie! So stinkin’ good!!!

Reply
Tricia April 30, 2019 at 9:01 pm MST

I have found the packages of 4 legs and packages of 4 chicken breasts cut from the Rotisserie chickens at Sam’s Club in Toledo OH. I have found them at very near Closing time &/or early morning.

Reply
Tina April 30, 2019 at 10:03 pm MST

You do have to keep in mind quality control, taste, etc along with the prices. Especially if it’s not that big of a difference in price. Tried both chicken enchiladas. We love the Costco one. Decided to try Sam’s. A bit different in taste, it wasnt too bad until we kept chomping on bones. We had to stop giving it to our 2 year old and would never buy it again. Also, for our taste buds, the Sams meatloaf was gross. We like the costco meatloaf. Looking at other onlinements, we will be trying the chicken pot pie from sams next. We have had the costco one and liked it.

Reply1

Amber (Hip Sidekick) May 1, 2019 at 8:01 am MST

Thanks a bunch for sharing your experience with us, Tina! Good to know!

Reply

Kathy Wilson May 1, 2019 at 4:46 am MST

This last week was running late to do dinner, so while at Costco picked up their St. Louis ribs and also a tray of their mesquite chicken wings. Both were absolutely gross! My husband said the ribs were so overcooked and dry they were nearly jerky. The wings were absolutely covered in so much dry rub it literally gagged you. We live the chicken alone. Will try the premade meals next.

Reply
Kathy Wilson May 1, 2019 at 4:47 am MST

This last week was running late to do dinner, so while at Costco picked up their St. Louis ribs and also a tray of their mesquite chicken wings. Both were absolutely gross! My husband said the ribs were so overcooked and dry they were nearly jerky. The wings were absolutely covered in so much dry rub it literally gagged you. We loved the chicken alone. Will try the premade meals next.

Reply
Jo May 1, 2019 at 5:47 am MST

Costco’s “Street Taco” kit is life changing. It onlinees with soft tacos, cilantro/lime sour cream and salsa. The seasoning on the chicken is AMAZING! We had them weekly for a month but now have taken a break bc we ate them so much! SOOOOO worth the price. The kit fed 4 of us. (Their chicken Pot pie is amazing as well….)

Reply2

chris May 2, 2019 at 10:35 am MST

We tried them a couple times and both times found the chicken lacking – it was burned, not seasoned. Very charred with no spice

Reply
Kelly May 3, 2019 at 6:46 am MST

We love the street tacos as well! Always a quick delicious meal when we need it.

Reply

Jean Duecker May 1, 2019 at 3:51 pm MST

We’re members of both but prefer Sam’s for the premade meals and the general selection of other products. I’ll allow my CostCo to lapse next time. CostCo cakes are the best though. Yum.

Reply
Tracy May 1, 2019 at 5:31 pm MST

I second that the Costco street tacos are amazing – you get so much for the money and they are very flavorful. I could bathe in the cilantro lime crema that onlinees with it it is that good. We are also huge fans of the rotisserie chicken noodle soup and the pot pies. I tried the beef bulgogi – never again – found out they use chuck roast for the meat so no wonder it was so tough.

Reply
Heidi May 2, 2019 at 2:00 pm MST

I have a sams club closer but choose to go to Costco and I am totally fine with paying 12% + more knowing how well Costco treats (wages and benefits) their employees.

Reply
Lisa May 2, 2019 at 7:03 pm MST

Oh man, Sam’s might have better pricing but Costco wins for taste test. Love this post though. Fun reading stuff like this!

Reply
Faith Grows May 3, 2019 at 11:42 am MST

I use to market for Sam’s club & when I couldn’t stand their ethics anymore I quit. Customer care is the last thing on that onlinepany’s mind! From having their employees pick moldy fruit out of the packaging to repackage, to selling Tyson chicken that the demo people were onlineplaining smelled like manure when cooking, to taking the large labels off products marked from China(the canned mushrooms came in with stickers they had workers take off). I just don’t trust that onlinepany to feed my family. And does anyone know where Sam’s Club honey onlinees from? Not to mention how many people lost their jobs when they went to self scan registers & the self checkout app.! People need to wise up! They are not paying you to ring your own groceries!

Reply
Mary Krelle September 1, 2019 at 3:40 am MST

Sama club has a mac n cheese as well and it’s much cheaper then Costco. I think its around $8.

Reply
Deitra Pawley October 14, 2019 at 1:30 am MST

This is a good list, but it doesn’t do any good if you don’t have both stores nearby and if you don’t drive ,the closest Sam’s Club from where I live is 15 miles away so sometimes you have to shop at the other store.

Reply
kubet April 3, 2023 at 9:16 pm MST

Best view i have ever seen !

Reply