Costco’s version of shepherd’s pie is a little bland; definitely not my favorite pre-made meal from them!
Today I’m reviewing the Costco Kirkland Signature Shepherd’s Pie.
The pre-made meals from Costco are amazing for a quick and convenient dinner/meal. I’ve reviewed quite a few of them, but my current favorites are the Costco Kirkland Signature Chicken Pot Pie and the Costco Gyro Pita Greek Style Meal.
Location in Store
The Kirkland Signature Shepherd’s Pie can be found in the pre-made meal/deli section at Costco and the item number is 11683.
Taste
I love homemade shepherd’s pie that I’ve had in the past. The idea of meat, potatoes and vegetables being mixed together to form one convenient casserole is appealing to me. What I wasn’t sure about in Costco’s version was the cheese on top of the shepherd’s pie. I’ve never had cheese on my shepherd’s pie before.
I gotta say, I didn’t love this. The cheese on the top didn’t really add much flavor and was just kind of weird tasting. The potatoes were creamy, tasty enough, but not really flavorful. The meat has a bit of gravy that I didn’t love and found really bland and there’s only a small amount of peas and corn mixed into the shepherd’s pie. It wasn’t awful… it was just underwhelming.
Nothing about the Costco Kirkland Signature Shepherd’s Pie made me want to have any more than a few bites. It didn’t taste at all like homemade shepherd’s pie, which I expected, but also didn’t taste as good of quality as Costco usually has in their pre-made meals.
Cost
The price is dependent on the weight of the shepherd’s pie. I paid $20.33 Canadian, which seems overpriced to me after tasting it.
Convenience
The best before date says the Costco Shepherd’s Pie is good for five days from the date this was packaged. It’s really easy to heat up, you just pop it in the oven at 320 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 to 40 minutes. The Costco Kirkland Signature Shepherd’s Pie could easily feed six people or a family of four with leftovers.
Nutrition
I feel like Costco’s Shepherd’s Pie has way too many ingredients. 1/8th of the tray is 310 calories, 16 grams of fat, 490 mg of sodium, 24 grams of carbohydrates, three grams of fibre, three grams of sugar and 18 grams of protein. I’m pretty sure most adults would eat about 1/6th of the tray!
I didn’t love the Kirkland Signature Shepherd’s Pie and wouldn’t buy it again. I was hoping for a convenient comfort meal, but just found it lacked flavor.
Scoring
Taste: 6/10
Cost: 7/10
Convenience: 10/10
Nutrition: 4/10
Overall
Walk on by!
Costco carries other pre-made meals that are way better in my opinion!
What’s your favorite pre-made meal to buy from Costco?
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).
We had the shepherd’s pie for dinner tonight. We enthusiastically loved it. The ratio of meat to veggies was perfect. I provided gravy to our gravy addict because of the mashed potato topping but the rest of us loved this pie sans gravy. We paired it with a salad on the side and it made for a very satisfying meal. I liked the fact that it was not salty or highly seasoned. I’d rather salt my own meal than suffer through a salt bomb. It could have used a bit of salt and pepper but I did not add any and still enjoyed it immensely. We’ll be buying this again as the convenience can’t be matched.
I think this Shepherds Pie is Great. It’s so close to my own that it doesn’t pay me to make my own. I prefer the less salt. People can add more if they.
want to. I enjoy every variation but this is my favourite. I buy it all the time and many of my guests request it.
What is up with the allergy warning about it containing “fish, molluscs or crustaceans”. It’s shepards pie for crying out loud! None of those things should be anywhere near it
Worcestershire Sauce
Simple, prepared in deli where those products are as well. Just being in the same room need to have that qualification
Cross-contact. They don’t have allergen-free prep spaces.
The cooking instructions are so small I was not sure whether to cook ar 300 or 380 degrees I gather 380 is the correct answer I had to estimate how much longer and at what temperature to cook it since I cooked it for 45 minutes at 300 degrees.They should make the instructions clearer With small print a zero and an eight can be mixed up
Hi. Try taking a picture of the instructions with your phone, then expand the picture so it’s easier to read. 😏
I was at Costco and ut was a sample. It was delious😋Bought it and it was yummy. I came to this website looking for a temp for the oven. Here it said bake 300. I got home checked pie and it said 380. Maybe that’s why it was runny??
We really like this shepherd’s pie. We also like Costco’s chicken pot pie. We’ll buy them again. I froze the shepherd’s pie, defrosted it, then put in hot oven. It came out quite nice.
The shepherds pie and chicken pot pie from Costco are so gross! They put so many onions in them, that it is all you can taste! There should either be less onions or possibly sauté them first so it doesn’t taste like you are eating raw onions!
That’s your OPINION because you don’t like ONIONS. Self centered much?
I’m eating one right now. and it is great I even baked it in a toaster over/airfryer (my house burned down so it’s very convenient for me. maybe my standards are low because of the fire but without much of a kitchen it sure was delishious compared to the standard “children’s menu” faire that I’m able to pull off.
First time buyer of this Costco product and I am to say it is not bad, it sure is wonderful in comparison to the Shepherd‘a pie from White Spot which is three times as expensive and has practically NO meat in it! But, some people will add ketchup to the plate to add flavour.
Haven’t bought this for a while because the price went up so much.
This is crap. What happened. We use to love these things for the family. Have to admit I thought it looked different when I bought it. Should have picked up on that. Are they farmed out now? Never again
I thought Costco shepherds pie was great. Calorie and nutrition wise is fine.
I will buy it again.
I disagree with the portion (feed 6 people or a family of 4 with leftovers?!)
I would say this will feed hungry 3 adults, with either no leftovers, or far less than a single serving left over. Given the price, it might not be the best choice for a premade meal unless you really like shepherds pie.
If eaten with a side dish and salad, perhaps it will be suitable for a family of 4 with leftovers, but I eat 1/3 of this by myself if it’s the only thing on the menu. I am not a big guy.
No cheese anymore, disappointing, but I don’t mind a lack of salt. You can always add it if you like salty stuff, but you can’t remove it. I am a believer that salt does not equal flavour. I prefer savory. The price is fine, considering that a good premade shepherds pie in a grocery store would be almost as expensive, but noticably smaller (and frozen, which may not be desirable).
Not my favorite premade meal. I have never been a shepherds pie type of person.
But it’s quick and easy unless you freeze it, which will add an hour to the cooking time.
I am satisfied with this product, but there’s better things to get.
We have eaten this shepherds pie in the past and quite enjoyed it. Tonight we had it and what happened? The whole thing was watery and flavourless. Barely any peas or corn and very bland potatoes. We used to really enjoy the cheese, nice crispy touch… but now no cheese? Very disappointed! What happened?
I think they recently changed the recipe!
I used to like the shepherd pie but something has definitely changed. It was full of watery liquid – had to drain. The ground beef is flavourless, clumpy and tough. Our Costco does not put cheese on top but maybe that would help with the flavour? I’m actually returning this tomorrow and demanding my money back it’s so awful.
I dissagree. We had this for the first time tonight, and while it is not made by me, and I was surprised about having cheese on top, we both(hubby and I) liked very much! Did not taste the cheese really, but it did give it a nice crust!! Will buy it again!!
I bought this product a couple times and found it not bad but had to make package gravy to put on it (a bit dry) . Not a lot of flavour very bland . I did like it but the last two times I have made it I have a real upset stomach to the point where I was vomiting . Don’t understand but I will not buy it again.
Oh no Patti! That’s rough. I understand why you wouldn’t buy it again.
I’ve recently had the same issues after eating their Shepherds pie. It didn’t do that to me four-five months ago but definitely does now. My only guess is the amount of grease that sits ontop after cooking it. It was never like that before so they must have changed their beef. It was something I once loved for a quick meal but not anymore. I tried one again recently and same thing, hour’s later and I’m hugging the toilet.
I would agree with another comment that the recipe has changed. I am in favour of a lower sodium content, but the product has become lackluster and not worth the price. There are other pre-prepared dishes at the Warehouse that are better. Sad to see a great Shepherd’s Pie go so wrong.
We used to buy this occasionally & really enjoyed it…. found it quite flavourful. A year or so ago we were tremendously disappointed in the product & thought we had a bad batch…. found it totally flavourless. I spoke to someone in the food prep area who reluctantly admitted they had been directed to change the recipe to substantially reduce salt content. We will not buy again.
Thanks for taking another hit for the team. I’ve always wondered about this dish and suspected it tasted about what you described. Wondering if the mashed potatoes are just the bagged stuff add water or real potatoes? I found their dishes are pretty hit and miss, with the best probably being the manicotti. I have a theory the reason their best before dates are so short (often half of other stores) is so they have time to repurpose the meat for dishes like this.