The Frozen Wings That Some Costco Shoppers Aren't Pleased With

Chicken wings are a party mainstay, as well as one of our favorite snacks. The amount of wings consumed during the Super Bowl is actually astronomical, but many folks enjoy this part of the bird on any day ending in "y." We recently discussed a strategy for cooking up three-ingredient chicken wings that are easy and delicious, but sometimes, you want something even simpler. That's why we got so excited when we saw that Costco, one of our favorite warehouse retailers, had started carrying a four-pound bag of Pilgrim's Crispy Wings with Honey BBQ Sauce. Described as ready for the air fryer, we couldn't help but feel like these frozen wings would also be ready for devouring. That was, until the mixed reviews slightly dampened our enthusiasm. 

Some buyers of these wings really liked them, to be fair. What concerned us were the specifics of the bad reviews, many of which complained about a weird flavor. "Taste straight like fish. Buyer beware. Don't believe me try it for yourself," one dissatisfied customer warned. "Got these for the Broncos game," another customer mentioned. "Terrible. Entire family did not like these wings. Bad after taste." 

The sentiment was echoed further by yet more Costco shoppers: "It is so salty and leaves bad taste to the mouth. It also smell[s] terrible when it's cooking in [the] air fryer. I definitely would not buy this anymore." A more nuanced review still left us scratching our heads: "These wings have a salted, preserved taste/texture to them, almost like ham. The included honey BBQ sauce is actually pretty good though."

Like we previously mentioned, some buyers of the Pilgrim's Crispy Wings actually praised the product — a few were even effusive about it. Several liked the BBQ sauce, which was often described as sweet and flavorful. In fact, at least one buyer compared the wings favorably to chicken bought from big-name eatery Wingstop. What stymied us, however, were the scattered reviews stating that the chicken didn't taste like poultry, but instead had the savor (or smell) of fish or even pork. That right there was enough to raise some eyebrows. Call us purists, but we believe that chicken should taste like chicken. Until we get the chance to actually sample the Crispy Wings ourselves, we will be curious about what the truth of the matter happens to be.

Costco is a frequent stop for dinnertime delights, including stuffed peppers that are a fairly healthy prepared food, and other Kirkland Signature packaged main dishes. When we're stocking up on our weekly or monthly grocery run, it's totally natural to grab something frozen for an almost effortless meal — to say nothing of stocking up for a party or special occasion that calls for chicken wings. If you crave wings, you could always make them yourself, because Costco definitely has the ingredients. If you want a shortcut to delicious BBQ chicken, however, proceed with caution when it comes to the Pilgrim's Crispy Wings. If you happen to love them, maybe leave a positive, detailed review on Costco's website to balance out some of the negativity!