The Italian Kirkland Find Costco Shoppers Never Pass On: 'When I Do Find It, I Have To Pick One Up'

Costco's deli section is a great place to pick up easy weeknight meals, which usually consist of baking a tray of food with barely any hassle. While most of you Costco enthusiasts are probably aware of the deli's chicken Enchilada Bake (I'm a personal fan of these) and the ever-present chicken taco kit, there's one rotating Italian take-and-bake meal that customers love, but doesn't get nearly as much attention as some of the other deli meals. That would be the Kirkland Signature Italian Sausage and Pasta in Wine Sauce.

The take-and-bake consists of orecchiette pasta, Italian sausage chunks, spinach, fresh grape tomatoes, and shredded parmesan cheese. It's similar to a popular pasta dish that pairs orecchiette with sausage and spinach (or sometimes broccoli rabe), and Costco's version comes in a convenient foil tray weighing almost 4 pounds and costing $5.49 per pound.

A shopper created a Reddit thread to share a picture of the item and wrote, "My store doesn't keep this in rotation, but when I do find it, I have to pick one up." Other customers are also in favor of this product, sharing enthusiastic things like, "Just tried this last week and it was really good. I was afraid the pasta [to] sausage ratio would be heavily skewed to the pasta side and was pleasantly surprised to find it was actually very balanced. Takes longer to cook than it says. But quite delicious!"

The orecchiette (which means "little ear" in Italian) in Costco's pasta bake is actually notable for multiple reasons. These noodles are small, dense, and chewy, and are indeed shaped like a tiny ear. They're a specific shape that's not as commonplace as, say, penne, which tends to be used for dishes like baked pasta. That little ear shape allows the orecchiette to cup sauce, but its chewy texture is really its signature element. You need to be in the mood for that bit of bite, since not everyone's always a fan; one Reddit commenter mentioned, "Some family members said that kind of pasta is too chewy ("toothsome", if you're fancy) the couple of times we've had it in other dishes."

And is it genuinely good? Coincidentally, my wife and I just picked this up from the store last week, and we were actually pretty shocked at how enjoyable it was. While it does look potentially bland (the noodles you see look like they could be dry), the pasta is well-dressed with a silky and satisfying sauce that clings to the little ears. There's actually a generous amount of salty Italian sausage in it, though the pellets are much like something you'd get on a fast food pizza; they remind me of what came on Costco's former combo slice (which no longer exists, but was briefly replaced with a calzone at the food court). The orecchiette is indeed chewy, and the pasta has a tendency to stick to itself, but a good stir post-bake fixes this issue. We do agree with the commenters on the joy this one generates, and even though it's not a permanent Costco item, it's worth trying if you see it come back to the deli from time to time.