You may be wondering if Costco rotisserie chicken is gluten-free. I’ll share more about what’s in Costco’s rotisserie chicken and why it’s safe to consume on a gluten-free diet. This post contains affiliate links. Please read my disclosures.
Did you know that Costco sold 91 million rotisserie chickens in 2018 alone? That means there’s a good chance you or someone you know has enjoyed this 3-pound bird for dinner this week.
Rotisserie chicken tastes good and makes for a quick and easy dinner on a busy night. Plus, the price can’t be beat at Costco. Each bird costs only $4.99, and that price never seems to change.
In this article, I discuss what’s inside Costco’s famous rotisserie chicken and test the bird for hidden gluten using my Nima Sensor. Remember always to check ingredient labels because ingredients sometimes change without warning.
Is Costco Rotisserie Chicken Gluten-Free?
Costco rotisserie chicken is gluten-free, and here are three proof points:
(1) The ingredients in Costco rotisserie chicken don’t contain any gluten. The ingredients include whole chicken, water, and seasoning [salt, sodium, phosphate, modified food starch (potato, tapioca), potato dextrin, carrageenan, sugar, dextrose, and spice extractives].
While modified food starch could contain wheat, the vast majority of modified food starch in the U.S. comes from corn or potatoes. Costco identifies the source of its modified food starch as potato and tapioca vs. wheat. Dextrin also could be derived from wheat, but Costco clearly states on the ingredient label that it uses “potato dextrin.”
(2) Notice the bottom of the label in red where it says, “No preservatives, MSG, gluten, artificial flavors, or colors.” For a company to label a product “gluten-free,” it must contain less than 20 parts per million (ppm) of gluten per the FDA gluten-free labeling guidelines.
(3) I also put Costco’s rotisserie chicken to the Nima Sensor test. Nima is a tool many people in the gluten-free community use to test their food for hidden gluten. I put a small chicken sample into the single-use Nima test capsule, and within two minutes, Nima displayed a smiley face. A smile means the product is free from gluten.
Is Sam’s Club Rotisserie Chicken Gluten-Free?
You may wonder if Sam’s Club’s rotisserie chicken, labeled Member’s Mark rotisserie chicken, is also gluten-free.
While I didn’t personally test the Member’s Mark bird with my Nima Sensor, I can confirm that Sam’s Club Member’s Mark rotisserie chicken is labeled gluten-free.
Make Your Rotisserie Chicken Last for Two Nights
Like me, you probably feel hard-pressed to put a nutritious, filling dinner on the table every night. It’s not always easy to do when you’re on a gluten-free diet when the safest meals are always prepared at home.
The Costco three-pound rotisserie chicken is too much for my family to eat in one night, and I hate wasting food. I try to make my money go further by turning the chicken into two weeknight meals.
On the first night, we eat the chicken alongside roasted potatoes or rice and either a salad, steamed broccoli, or sauteed Brussels sprouts.
Then I pull the leftover meat off the bones and place it in a storage container. I then wrap the bones, skin, and carcass and put them in my fridge.
The following day, I make what I affectionately call Chicken Carcass Soup. I put all the bones, skin, and carcass into a large 10-quart pot filled with water.
I add carrots, celery, parsley, an onion, and Kosher salt and bring the mixture to a boil. Once the mixture is boiling, I reduce the heat and simmer the chicken parts, covered, for 6-8 hours.
After the bones have been simmering for 6-8 hours, I use a slotted spatula to remove the chicken parts from the broth. I also removed the whole onion and discarded it.
What’s left behind is a beautiful chicken broth with softened vegetables. If the broth needs extra flavor, I throw in a few bouillon cubes, such as the Not-Chick’N bouillon. This will add richness to the broth.
About 30 minutes before dinnertime, I bring the soup to a boil, add gluten-free brown rice noodles, and cook the noodles until al dente before turning off the heat. I then add the cold shredded chicken to the broth and serve the soup hot.
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My leftover rotisserie chicken is made into chicken vegetable noodle soup. Right after dinner, I reserve any large chunks of meat-ziploc & put in fridge. Carcass, skin & fats go into slow cooker along with 1 large carrot coarsely chopped, 2-3 stalks celery-cut into thirds, 1 onion quartered, 2 cloves garlic smashed, 1-2 whole bay leaves, about 1/4 tsp sea salt and about 6 peppercorn, whole. Cover with water. Bring to a boil and then turn down to simmer overnight. Next morning, drain & throw away solids. Put liquid gold back in slow cooker along with chopped meat, 1 diced carrot, 1 stalk celery minced and1/2 medium onion chopped. Cook on medium all day. About 15 minutes before serving, put a bunch of video noodles in. Serve.
Hi!
I usually make three meals with the Costco rotisserie chicken. One is eating it warm with a side dish. Then I shave the remainder meat off the bones, chop and use in a pasta salad the following day. Then I make bone broth with the carcass and skin and some other ingredients in an Instant Pot, cooking on high pressure for 30 min. We like making ramen soup with this broth, adding Lotus noodles (from Costco) and vegetables of choice, and even an egg.
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