The Costco Frozen Chicken That Social Media Calls A Chick-Fil-A Dupe

Made with real chicken breast and fried to a golden crisp in peanut oil, Chick-fil-A's Chicken Nuggets are among its most popular menu items. But according to social media, you can make a dupe of the restaurant chain's nuggets in your kitchen using frozen chicken from Costco. Numerous posts attest to the idea that Just Bare Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Bites from Costco taste just like Chick-fil-A's nuggets, and they're a whole lot cheaper when you break down the cost per serving.

From Tiktok to X (formerly known as Twitter), Just Bare's chicken nuggets have been declared a near-perfect copycat for Chick-fil-A. They have the same irregular shape and light but textured breading, and some even say they're better than the fast food giant's version. "It tastes like a cleaner Chick-fil-A nugget," one reviewer said on TikTok and on X, one reviewer said, "These are literally a Chick-fil-A duplicate. Rock solid macros and they're absolutely DELICIOUS. An excellent option if you're in a pinch, as prep is EASY."

An 8-piece order of Chick-fil-A nuggets costs between $5 and and $7 at most locations. Just Bare's nuggets have a serving size that's just a bit smaller — six to seven nuggets, but each bag contains 22 servings, and a 4-pound bag sells at Costco for $18 to 20, depending on the store. A little math shows that Just Bare's nuggets start at about 0.81 per serving, compared to the $5 or more you'll spend at the restaurant.

FYI: Costco sells two versions of Just Bare Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast — "bites" and "chunks". There isn't much that distinguishes the two aside from the wording on the package, and both have been deemed to taste the same as Chick-fil-A.

Just Bare Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Chunks scored second in The Takeout's ranking of frozen bagged chicken. When they're heated and ready to eat, they look almost identical to Chick-fil-A's nuggets, and that's just the beginning of how the two are comparable. Both start with boneless, skinless breast meat from chickens that are raised without the use of antibiotics. Both Chick-fil-A and Just Bare also bread their chicken nuggets in a flour mixture that includes dry milk and some spices (though not all are listed on ingredient labels). 

Toss Just Bare's lightly breaded chicken chunks into the air fryer to get the puffy, crispy texture you expect from Chick-fil-A's nuggets. You can further recreate the Chick-fil-A experience by making a homemade version of the restaurant's iconic sauce (here's what Chick-fil-A sauce is really made of) for dipping. But if you don't want to make your own, Walmart's been selling a knock-off Chick-fil-A sauce that could elevate the meal without any of the extra work.