The Costco Pad Thai That Shoppers Are Completely Fed Up With

Stuck for what to cook for dinner? You can usually count on Costco to save the day and provide something hearty and filling from the fridge or freezer aisle. However, there's one Costco refrigerated ready-meal that shoppers are completely fed up with — the Snapdragon chicken pad Thai.

Billed as a mix of bell peppers, noodles, chicken, and beansprouts in a tangy sauce, customers have found the version of this popular noodle-based meal to be dry and lacking in flavor and texture, according to a thread devoted to discussing the dish on Reddit. For example, the original poster said "the sauce was absolutely dry and the mix of undercooked noodles was not a pleasant experience. Even added a bit of water to the tray, after the general cooking time, to bring some moisture to it. Didn't work. If you choose to try it for yourself, ignore the package instructions and prep the noodles and sauce separately. But honestly, without adding more spices to it to make it more enjoyable I wouldn't waste my time."

One commenter even went so far as to say they returned it it was so bad. Another said, "If they had even gotten the sauce and spices right I probably could overlook the other failings like texture. But nope. Will not buy again." 

While the product is exclusively sold at Costco, it is made by Snapdragon, and contains some of the regular stuff you'd expect to find in this classic Thai dish, such as chicken, tamarind, a sauce featuring fish sauce and vinegar, and long rice noodles. However, it doesn't contain any peanuts, which a classic pad Thai should. It does have 20g of protein per serving (you get two pouches in the box) and is fully cooked; you just need to give it a quick spin in the microwave. But some shoppers reckon it's a far cry from a bona fide pad Thai. One commenter said, [sic] "it was so awful, i couldn't make myself eat it. I ended up making a tuna sandwich. Didnt taste at All like pad thai (idk what it was but it wasn't that) & whatever it did taste like was terrible. I returned it I was so mad. How the hell it made it into costco or (any store for people to purchase) & how it's Stayed there is beyond me. Absolute garbage." 

A YouTube reviewer went through the process of making it per the package's microwave instructions and said, "it's not terrible" but someone else in the video states emphatically, "It is NOT pad Thai." Taking all these reviews on board, you might be better off making pad Thai at home. Our mushroom and chicken pad thai recipe is packed full of umami flavor and takes just 20 minutes to whip up from start to finish while this tofu pad Thai is ideal for vegetarians. And if you're looking for other Thai food ideas, have a read of our article on Thai dishes you should know about.