Costco Kirkland Signature Egg Bites Vs Starbucks: Which Is Better?

Welcome to Dupe Detective, a column where I'll be reviewing a name brand food product's competitor product to find out how well it compares to, or even beats, the original.

When Costco replaced a frozen, at-home version of Starbucks Egg Bites with an equivalent Kirkland Signature product, the brand behind Costco's Kirkland Signature Sous Vide Egg Bites turned out to be a company called Cuisine Solutions. One of Cuisine Solutions' clients is none other than Starbucks. While the two products contain slightly different ingredients, there's still reason to believe that the Costco Egg Bites are more similar than they are different compared to their Starbucks inspiration, based on that shared origin.

From my local Costco in the suburbs of Las Vegas, I picked up a box of Uncured Bacon & Gouda Egg Bites, and then ordered the equivalent Bacon & Gruyère Egg Bites from a Starbucks also near my home. Previously, Starbucks won The Takeout's egg bite battle between Starbucks and Dunkin' — that said, Costco's advantage over Dunkin' is that its Egg Bites are purportedly from the very same supplier as Starbucks' winning product. Ahead is a rundown of each item I tried, before my thoughts on whether or not Costco's dupe is any better than the original egg bites that inspired it.

While I normally like to try a dupe before its name-brand equivalent, initially uninfluenced by how it compares to the real thing, I started with Starbucks' Bacon & Gruyère Egg Bites this time around. Since I knew the two products were similar going in, I wanted to have Starbucks' fresh in the cafe to get the best sense of what set it apart. I then took another order home to compare more directly to Costco's Egg Bites.

What first stood out to me about the Starbucks Egg Bites was their texture, balancing an airy fluffiness with a bread-like density. I even picked up a flavor that reminded me of sourdough bread at first, only to realize it was coming from the gruyère cheese. Sourdough tastes different from other breads due to acetic acid built up during fermentation, and that is, in fact, present in gruyère too. 

More prominent was its bacon, which surprisingly lacked oiliness, contributing a straightforward combination of light smoke and pork fat. That rich flavor complemented its structural lightness pretty nicely. Plus, a healthy distribution of bacon pieces added a satisfying textural contrast. I tend to find egg-based foods off-putting on occasion, so I was surprised by how much I liked Starbucks' Egg Bites — thanks to the unique flavor of the gruyère cheese and a standout texture, I thought they were quite a bit better than a standard breakfast plate of eggs and bacon.

Biting into my first Kirkland Signature Egg Bite, prepared following the microwave instructions listed on its box, I was struck by how genuinely similar it was to the Starbucks product. That impression, however, changed once I actually tried the two kinds of Egg Bites back-to-back — looking past that surface-level similarity revealed they were more different than I had initially thought.

Texturally, my Costco Egg Bites were light and airy, but in a manner that I found closer to pudding than bread. The gouda cheese they use in lieu of gruyère lacked some of the acidity I enjoyed in the Starbucks version, instead just adding a general sort of umami-rich fattiness. When making a copycat Starbucks Egg Bite recipe, then, actual gruyère is paramount, because the gouda ended up altering its character quite a bit. That said, a milder cheese flavor allowed its bacon more prominence, foregrounding fatty pork and more smoke compared to the Starbucks Egg Bites. 

Another unique quality I enjoyed was a bit of hardened cheese on the outside of a couple bites, giving them some extra heft in both the texture and flavor departments. While prominent bacon and a soft-yet-substantial consistency made me think Costco's dupe was pretty similar to Starbucks Egg Bites at first, unique characteristics like a different cheese flavor and smokier bacon revealed themselves over time, both for better and for worse.

Costco's Kirkland Signature Egg Bites are very good. According to Reddit, they're among a number of frozen Costco foods worth buying, and I found them well deserving of that designation. Lacking access or desire to go to a Starbucks — or even a Trader Joe's, which also makes a dupe of the fan-favorite Starbucks snack — Costco's product is great on its own terms, satisfying in every way an egg bite should. I just happened to find Starbucks' Egg Bites superior.

I found that the two main qualities setting Starbucks' apart from Costco's Egg Bites were their bread-like texture and the sharp acidity of the gruyère cheese. I also noticed that the Starbucks bites had more bacon in them, but Costco still used enough that the difference didn't really affect my enjoyment. 

While my instinct was to try the Starbucks Egg Bites as fresh as possible, the backup Starbucks order I brought home was still slightly better than Costco's Egg Bites, even after both some travel time and sitting out on my dining room table. There are certainly valid reasons to prefer patronizing Costco over Starbucks, and anyone with such a preference likely won't feel anything other than happy with Costco's product. Nevertheless, the straight-up best version of a bacon-and-cheese egg bite is the original from Starbucks.

At my local Costco, located in the Las Vegas-adjacent Henderson, Nevada, a box of 10 Uncured Bacon & Gouda Egg Bites — divided into five sleeves of two, for what it's worth — costs $11.79. The Starbucks I visited, also in the suburbs of Las Vegas, sells two Bacon & Gruyère Egg Bites for $5.75. So, four Starbucks Egg Bites are about the same price as whole Kirkland Signature box, meaning Costco's price point is less than half that of Starbucks.

Nutritionally, one serving of two Starbucks Egg Bites totals 300 calories, 20 grams of fat, 12 grams of which is saturated fat, 215 milligrams of cholesterol, 680 milligrams of sodium, 9 grams of carbs, 2 grams of sugar, and 19 grams of protein. Two Costco Egg Bites, meanwhile, equal 250 calories, 16 grams of fat, 9 grams of which is saturated fat, 200 milligrams of cholesterol, 680 milligrams of sodium, 9 grams of carbs, 2 grams of sugar, and 17 grams of protein. So, while Starbucks' Egg Bites are fattier and higher in cholesterol, they're also more filling and higher in protein content.

The day before I actually tried them, I picked up a box of Kirkland Signature Uncured Bacon & Gouda Egg Bites from my nearest Costco in the suburbs of Las Vegas. The following morning, I visited the Starbucks closest to my Las Vegas home and got two orders of Bacon & Gruyère Egg Bites, one of which I ate in the cafe, the other of which I took to-go. I wrote down my initial thoughts on the Starbucks product on my phone.

Once I got home, I prepared two Costco Egg Bites per the microwave instructions listed on the box. (I don't own an air fryer or toaster oven, which were the other two recommended heating methods.) After letting them sit for a couple minutes to cool to proper eating temperature, I finished one full egg bite while jotting down my thoughts on Costco's product. Then I alternated bites of the remaining Costco Egg Bite and the Starbucks ones I took home. A couple hours later, I had two more Costco Egg Bites to solidify my thoughts and even out the quantities I had of each. My assessments are based entirely on this experience, and not any past thoughts I may have had on the featured products or brands.