One of my top five favorite Costco prepared meals is the Kirkland Signature Mediterranean Pasta Salad, so when I spotted this Summer Fresh Mediterranean Orzo Salad in the refrigerated deli section at Costco, I wanted to give it a try. This Mediterranean orzo salad is a little different from the Kirkland Signature version because it contains olives and uses orzo pasta. Find out what I thought of this pasta salad available at Costco and whether I’d buy it again by reading my review below!
Location in Store
The Summer Fresh Mediterranean Orzo Salad is located in the refrigerated deli section of Costco near the dips and other packaged salads like the Stonemill Kitchens Homestyle Red Potato Salad and the Summer Fresh Crunchy Grain Salad. The item number is 2052147.
Taste
The Summer Fresh Mediterranean Orzo Salad definitely tastes like a classic pasta salad, with soft orzo, feta and olives. The orzo is a little on the mushy side for my liking, and I would prefer it to be slightly firmer.
Even though there aren’t a ton of olives in the salad, their flavor is quite noticeable and gives the entire dish a mild, tangy taste. There’s also a decent amount of feta, which adds some creaminess and saltiness. The pieces of yellow pepper are quite small and a bit mushy too. This salad is okay and has some nice flavors, but I didn’t find it particularly amazing.
Cost
The package contains five smaller 200-gram round plastic containers of Mediterranean orzo salad and costs $13.99 Canadian. I think that’s a reasonable price, especially considering that the salad comes conveniently portioned into individual containers.
Convenience
This Mediterranean orzo salad can be enjoyed as a side dish, or you can add some protein, such as chicken or steak, and serve it as a main dish for lunch or dinner. Since the salad comes in individually portioned containers, it’s also convenient to pack for lunch. The best-before date is only about two weeks from the date I purchased it, and the salad needs to be kept refrigerated.
Nutrition
Calories
A 140-gram or ¾-cup serving contains 270 calories, 13 grams of fat, 32 grams of carbohydrates, two grams of fibre, two grams of sugar, six grams of protein and 320 milligrams of sodium. Keep in mind that 140 grams is not the entire container, so if you eat the whole container, you’ll be consuming significantly more than these amounts.
Ingredients
The ingredient list is fairly simple, with ingredients you’d typically use to make a similar Mediterranean salad at home. My only preference would be to use extra virgin olive oil instead of canola oil. The Mediterranean orzo salad contains wheat, dairy and mustard.
Scoring
Taste: 6/10
Cost: 7.5/10
Convenience: 10/10
Nutrition: 7/10
Overall
Walk on by!
Overall, I’d rate this Costco Summer Fresh Mediterranean Orzo Salad a 6/10. It’s okay but I didn’t love how powerful the flavor of the olives were
Have you tried the Costco Summer Fresh Mediterranean Orzo Salad? What did you think of it?
Please note that this review was not paid for or sponsored by any third party. This product was purchased by Costcuisine for the purpose of producing this review. The opinions in this review are strictly those of Costcuisine. Costcuisine is not affiliated with Costco or any of its suppliers. In the event that Costcuisine receives compensation for a post from the manufacturer of a product or some other third party, the arrangement will be clearly disclosed (including where the manufacturer of a product provides Costcuisine with a free sample of the product).
