Costco is selling a tray of Korean BBQ (Beef Bulgogi) in the refrigerated deli section. The Korean BBQ, Item Number 36946, is made with USDA Choice grade chuck beef, a sweet and salty bbq sauce and a pile of sliced onions.
The meal contains raw beef that needs to be fully cooked instead of just heated through.
We bought the Korean bbq meal the other day and did NOT like it. The meal had potential but in the end it had three major flaws:
- Extremely Sweet
- Extremely Salty
- Too Expensive
Your family might like this meal but it is not something that we will buy again.
For More Reviews of Costco’s Meal Options from the Deli Please See the Following:
- Costco Chicken Pot Pie (Instructions, Calories, Review)
- Costco Yakisoba Stir Fry (Instructions, Calories, Review)
- Costco Beef Chili (Instructions, Calories, Review)
- Costco Chicken Enchilada Bake (Instructions, Calories, Review)
- Costco Chicken Salad (Instructions, Calories, Review)
Cooking Instructions for Costco’s Korean BBQ
The cooking instructions for the meal are:
- Preheat a skillet on Medium High heat.
- Pour the contents of the tray into the skillet.
- Cook the bbq until the meat strips are well browned and have reached an internal temperature of 160F.
In reality it is just about impossible to accurately measure the internal temperature on meat strips so just plan on cooking for 10 minutes.
Additional Cooking Considerations
There is nothing special about the cooking instructions provided by Costco. There is no reason this has to be cooked in a skillet and it will turn out fine if you decide to use an oven or air fryer.
If you do go with an oven or air fryer then make sure you transfer the beef and onion mix to an appropriate container first as the plastic tray it comes will melt at high temperatures.
Some people believe the sauce is overwhelming (too sweet and salty) and suggest transferring the beef and onions to the skillet with tongs to leave behind much of the sauce.
You can doctor the meal up by adding more sliced onions or mushrooms. You can also add some chili paste for a little spicy kick.
Flavor
The meal is flavorful but very salty and extremely sweet.
To get an idea about how sweet the meal is all you need to do is look at the ingredient list for the bbq sauce. The primary ingredients in the bbq sauce are:
- Soy Sauce
- Sugar
- High Fructose Corn Syrup
- Pears
- Onions
- Kiwi Juice
- Apples
So basically it’s a mix of salt, sugar and high fructose corn syrup along with other sweet fruits. You really want to serve this with some rice to help soak up some of the sweet/salt overload from the meal.
The beef itself is relatively tender but could have been better if it had been cut/sliced into smaller pieces.
Costco Korean BBQ
Ingredients
- 1 tray Costco Korean BBQ
- 2 cups Uncooked Rice
- 1 head Bib Lettuce
Instructions
- Start by heating a pot of water (4 cups) and start cooking the rice.
- Heat a skillet or wok over Medium High heat.
- Add the contents of the tray of Korean BBQ to the skillet. Do not add off of the sauce if you prefer the meal to be less salty/sweet.
- Cook the bbq, stirring often, for about 10 minutes until the onions have softened and the beef is nicely browned.
- When the rice is finished cooking prepare the meal.
- Serve the Korean bbq on top of the rice with a side of lettuce leaves for making wraps.
Calories in the Korean BBQ
One serving of the Korean BBQ (a little over 5 oz) has the following nutritional information:
- Calories = 210
- Fat = 1.5g
- Cholesterol = 55 mg
- Sodium = 1,240 mg
- Carbohydrates = 23 g
- Protein = 18 g
The nutritional information confirms that this is a high salt, high sugar meal. The sugar and salt is coming from the BBQ sauce so if you want to cut back on them then do not use all of the sauce that comes in the tray.
Price
The Korean BBQ is Item Number 36946 and is found in the refrigerated deli case with the other take and bake meal options.
The meal currently costs $7.99 per pound in comes in trays with a little over three pounds of food. As such you should expect to pay around $25 per tray.