My fingers still feel greasy from eating this Costco Kirkland Signature Pulled Pork
Please note that this review was not paid for or sponsored by any third party. The opinions in this review are strictly my own. I am not affiliated with Costco or any of its suppliers. I am just a fan of the company. I write these honest reviews to help my fellow shoppers.
Okay maybe that’s an exaggeration but I kid you not, Sean, my husband stated this exact sentence the morning after we ate this for dinner. “I feel kind of gross from eating that pulled pork last night, it’s kind of how I feel after I eat 3 hot dogs but worse”.
I saw a lot of people posting about this pulled pork on social media. Apparently it’s quite popular with individuals on the Keto diet. Keto is a high fat, low carb diet. I am not on Keto but wanted to try this product as I love pulled pork and I was drawn to this due to the fact it says it has a smoked flavour.
It is super convenient, basically it’s a bag of pork sitting in a tray, you puncture the sack and microwave it for about 7 minutes then just pour the pork into the tray. If you don’t want it to look like a perfectly molded cooked rectangle of pork after you pour it out of the bag, it requires you pulling at it with two forks to give it that real “pulled pork” look. It does pull apart very easily which is a positive. Is high protein and also does not have any massive hunks of fatty meat. It does have nice subtle smokiness as well.
It is extremely greasy, basically it smells like you’re cooking up a big batch of bacon. When I tried to cut open the bag of cooked meat to pour it into the tray I could barely hold on as the bag was so slippery with grease. Then when I poured it into the tray it the pork sat in a nice ocean of grease. To me this looked and tasted like a really fatty cheap ham or even spam cooked and pulled apart. It also does not really have a barbecue sauce with it so if you like barbecue sauce-y pulled pork you need to add your own. It’s quite salty as well so sodium watchers look out. Overall I did not care for this and will not repurchase it.
My dislike for the pulled pork may have to do with the fact I make my own leaner pulled pork in the slow cooker using half of a cut up pork tenderloin from Costco. It’s much cheaper, lasts 3 meals, tastes great and is very lean, it can be a little dry but that problem is solved by adding a little barbecue sauce to your bun or pork. I will post the recipe!
Nutrition: 3/10 (if you’re on a Keto Diet this is probably perfect but if you eat carbs, fats and protein this is not that great for you, I recommend making your own with a pork tenderloin).
Taste: 3/10 (not the worst but I’m ALMOST turned off pulled pork by this)
Convenience: 9.5/10 (super convenient, only work is pulling it apart to make it looks more appetizing)
Cost: 4/10 (compared to a pork tenderloin from Costco this is quite expensive and the tray is not that big
Have you had this? What did you think? What’s your favorite way to use pulled pork? Tacos, sandwiches, salads?
Yeah following the directions isnt enough. I nuked it per instructions, drained the grease, then added my own carnitas seasonings and threw into a cast iron pan and cooked on 450 for 15 minutes and came out nice and crisp. Do not over cook or it will dry out.
My package was congealed fat clinging to grizzled pork, smoked heavily to the point of being ham. Not really pulled but grizzled thoroughly. No piece was spared. I think it may be meat scraps from the cutting block.
If only it was like the beautiful artwork on the package.instead of shameful deception.
I made a trip to Costco today to buy some Kirkland Pulled pork, was disappointed I couldn’t find it anywhere today. I’ll check again in a couple days. I try to keep some in freezer to have on hand. I’m a fan of it!
Just had this. Have made my own pulled pork and used for soups. This is extremely salty. I don’t think I can use it in soup. This is nothing but stringy ham. I may throw it away because I don’t know what to do with it. I will not eat it. I tried it with rice. Food waste is a sin.
Disgusting. More fat than protein. Not a good ratio. This can not be real smoked meat. Smoke flavoring added. Do not purchase this item.
Had company over for lunch and planned pulled pork sliders. We bought 3 packages of this ”brisket” This was a ”pulled pork” total bust. It contains curing nitrates. Was just shredded ham along with the grissle. Not even close to ”pulled pork”. Will be returning one left.
Costo ues to sell ”real” pulled pork but this aint it.
NEVER BUY AGAIN!
It is shredded canned ham.. Not pulled pork at all.. Was able to doctor it up with our own homemade pulled pork sauce.. Won’t buy again..
This stuff is nasty.
My elderly dad was allowed to go to Costco unsupervised 😉 and came back with this. It was barely edible. Tasted like spam and so artificial it was unpleasant. Serious rip-off.
Agree, not my favorite!
I just tried it and separated it into 5 separate dishes with different sauces. My wife and I loved it…nice smoke flavor and I have smoked my own pork shoulder in a real smoker then finished in oven for 4 hrs. This is a convenient meal…warm up in boiling water or try the cast iron pan…shred it up, add your favorite sauce and enjoy!
Thank you for your comment! Glad you liked it!
You people are nuts. This pulled pork is delicious. This is what pulled pork is suppose to taste like. Porky and fatty. If you go to any bbq joint that’s what it is. To me pork tenderloin is too lean and tasteless. The only thing that saves it is the sauce. This is made with pork shoulder or pork butt which that is what pulled pork is suppose to be.
I don’t think it’s the worst dish in the world, but a quick look at the ingredients will tell you that it is “Pulled Ham”. A listed ingredient is Sodium Nitrite, and that explains why this looks and tastes more like sweet, somewhat greasy, shredded ham. It’s pink, even after being heated to way higher temperatures that turn uncured pork to that “well-done” brown color.
I don’t have an aversion to nitrites in my meats, but pulled pork is a dish that doesn’t need it for preservation or flavor.
This pulled pork was the worse I ever tasted or fixed. Breaking it up before heating it I found huge chunks of fat and hard stringy bites that were not edible. Half of the package I bought was thrown away. Worse ever.
Follow the directions on the package and you will end up with the same greasy inedible concoction the review and most people leaving comments reference. However, putting it in a cast iron pan and cooking it on med heat to render the fat changes everything!!! It’s never going to compete with properly prepared Carolina / Texas / Memphis / etc. style pulled pork, but it’s pretty damn good, very damn easy, and very damn inexpensive! Just prepared it tonight and panicked when I saw the greasy mess that came out of the microwave. I threw it in a cast iron pan on the grill out of desperation. 30 min later, magic! The kids loved it!!!
Agree returned two packages to Costco, awfully fatty and greasy. Clearly not up to Kirkland brand standards.
This is Awfull. Full of fat and gristle. Went down the disposal.
Shame on you Costco for putting this in your store. I’m going to be wary of anything that says Kirkland from from here on.
Agree completely. This is not worthy of Costco!!
This is not pulled pork. This is ham. H
Isn’t ham pork? 😑
I agree it’s very very greasy! But we like the flavor and the zero carbs, so I shred it and crisp it slightly by broiling in the oven on a cookie cooling rack over a pan. It turns into delicious carnitas, and quite a bit of the grease drains off.
Thanks for the review of the pulled pork. I was curious about the product; it sounds too greasy & salty for my taste.
It is quite greasy and salty! Actually my husband had the leftovers andsaid it was not edible and the fat had all congealed in the fridge.