These Costco Prepared Meals Are Perfect For When You're Feeling Sick

The changing of the seasons brings many wonderful things like crisp autumn evenings, colorful fall foliage, and cozy nights around the table sharing warm plates of comfort food. The trouble with the approach of autumn, however, is that it also means the beginning of cold and flu season. There is little worse than trying to figure out how to feed yourself (much less the whole family) when under the weather. Fortunately, a quick trip to Costco is the solution.

When under the weather, the menu is all about comfort food. Warm, hearty dishes like soups, stews, and casseroles are just what the body needs to start feeling better. The wide variety of popular Costco prepared meals should cover just about any palate and diet, but we've selected a few options that really are the ideal way to care for yourself when you're sick. Steaming soups and creamy pastas — this list has everything you might desire, and all of it is easily available ready to eat (or almost ready to eat) from that favorite warehouse chain.

For those that would rather not leave the house, or that let their registration lapse, you can order Costco products through Instacart without a membership. Big dishes of comfort food at reasonable prices delivered right to your door is hard to beat that when you're under the weather. Costco will supply a wide variety of prepared meals that make it from fridge to table in a flash, making that cold a little easier to bear.

There is no sick-day food more iconic than chicken noodle soup. The simple combination of shredded meat, soft vegetables, and tender pasta floating in a warm, salty broth is as healing as it gets. The condensed can in the pantry may be the go-to, but it doesn't hold a candle to a freshly made bowl. Costco has one of the best store-bought chicken noodle soups, a house-made rendition that is sure to lift spirits and put that virus on the back foot with the first spoonful.

The ingredient list is simple, featuring basics like celery, onion, carrots, egg noodles, and Costco's famous rotisserie chicken. Unlike the tiny cubes of meat that might come in a can of condensed soup, this ready-to-eat container is filled with large hunks of chicken on top of diced vegetables and full-size noodles. According to Costco, it's also a means by which the brand combats food waste, taking unsold rotisserie chickens and repurposing them into dishes like its chicken noodle soup.

When you're feeling ill, nothing hits the spot like chicken noodle soup, and it really needs no accompaniment to be the perfect meal. It can easily be made more filling by adding a loaf of fresh bread from the Costco bakery to the order or even just some crackers. With those in your belly, you'll be feeling better in no time.

Purchase Kirkland Signature Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup at Costco for around $18 per container.

For illnesses that drag on or seem to keep coming back, it's nice to have a change of pace in the soup department. For something that hits many of the same notes as the above feel-better staple while also providing a novel flavor profile, Costco stocks containers of chicken tortilla soup. Those unable to cure their cold with chicken noodle due to the wheat will be thankful that this soup is gluten free.

For those who have never tried it, tortilla soup (or sopa azteca) is a Mexican dish featuring chicken, vegetables, and fried tortilla strips floating in a rich broth flavored with onion, garlic, tomatoes, and chiles. The soup is fairly mild, though those sensitive to spice may notice that the warmth and piquancy helps to clear their sinuses. Just like chicken noodle soup, this Mexican delight is brothy and warm, easy to eat, and has a way of immediately tamping down those cold and flu symptoms.

To enjoy this Kirkland Signature soup, all one needs to do is toss the container in the microwave until warm. To enjoy it at its best, though, a few small touches can make a big difference. Top tortilla soup with fresh herbs like cilantro to boost its aromatic freshness and nutritional content or dress it up with comfort-focused toppings like corn chips, diced avocado, shredded cheese, and sour cream.

Buy Kirkland Signature Chicken Tortilla Soup at Costco for around $11.

Next up on the list of warm, hearty, ready-to-eat meals available from Costco is the Kirkland Signature Beef Chili. This freshly made item, like the chicken noodle soup, fills a role more similar to that of the tortilla soup thanks to an ingredient list that includes at least a little bit of heat. It is certainly the most filling of the three, being filled out with ground beef, kidney beans, and pinto beans as well as tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, garlic, and all the rest.

When a brothy soup isn't enough to satisfy, a nice bowl of chili is the perfect place to turn. And, according to customers, the Costco offering is a particularly good one. "Blows the overrated rotisserie chicken out of the water," wrote one fervent Redditor. An advantage to chili, as compared to the previously mentioned soups, is that it is easily customizable. Thus, those members of the family fortunate enough not to be feeling the effects of the latest sickness aren't stuck with yet another bowl of chicken soup.

There are countless excellent chili toppings that can transform a bowl, like shredded cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips. Likewise, a warm pan of cornbread from a box on the side never upset anyone either. Even just spiking the heat with some all-purpose hot sauce lets every diner dial the meal to their personal preferences.

Grab Kirkland Signature Beef Chili at Costco for around $18 per container.

Soups are certainly the standard when it comes to sick-day meals, but sometimes a big bowl of broth just doesn't sound satisfying. Soups are easy to eat, yes, but when you're both under the weather and especially hungry, a cheesy, creamy pasta dish straight out of the oven is the more enticing choice. At Costco, the best option for just such a dinner is the Kirkland Signature Chicken Alfredo with Penne Pasta, a rich, filling prepared meal ready in less than 10 minutes.

This pasta dish, a tantalizing combination of chicken breast and penne pasta topped with Alfredo sauce and parmesan cheese, arrives in a metal container ready for the oven. All one needs to do is warm it up and melt that cheese, and dinner is served. Those that wish to enhance the nutritional qualities, however, should note that chicken Alfredo goes great with both zucchini and spinach, either of which could be quickly cooked and either served on the side or mixed right into the dish.

Of course, when a cold takes hold, the best move is often to just stick to whatever you are most motivated to eat. In that case, Costco's frozen garlic toast makes an excellent accompaniment to the chicken Alfredo bake. You can even prepare in the same hot oven.

Nab Kirkland Signature Chicken Alfredo with Penne Pasta at Costco for around $21 per container.

Right alongside that warm dish of Alfredo pasta, we have another oven-ready Costco meal in this chicken enchilada bake. If the craving for Mexican flavors is there, and the tortilla soup doesn't cut it, this meal is the ticket. Just like the Alfredo pasta, this enchilada bake arrives in an oven-ready metal tin, meaning all you have to do is remove the plastic top, toss it in, and enjoy the warm aromas while you wait for dinner to finish cooking.

Don't expect the same sort of enchiladas that you get at the local Mexican restaurant. Rather than individually rolled morsels, this bake is laid out like a Mexican-inspired lasagna, with plenty of chicken, beans, bell peppers, chiles, corn, and rice sandwiched between tortillas, drowned in sauce, and then topped with a layer of melted cheese. The degree of spice imparted by the chiles can be somewhat variable, so sensitive customers may want a bit of sour cream to cool things down.

By itself, there is plenty here to feed a family of four, but some like to serve it alongside corn chips or other sides. It can be quite saucy (usable as a dip even), so chips or a side of rice are an easy way to make the meal go even further. Or consider serving this bake with a light ensalada de pepino or a nutrient dense Mexican kale salad.

Purchase Kirkland Signature Rotisserie Chicken Enchilada at Costco for about $26.