Costco Organic Chicken Nugget Gluten Free - Golden Platter
Costco has had a few different brands of chicken nuggets over the years, but very rarely do you see an organic chicken nugget. Over the past decade, you may have seen a Tyson brand, Perdue brand, or the beloved dino nuggets, but now Costco is clearly upping their chicken nugget game with the Just Bare Chunks as well as these Golden Platter Organic and Gluten Free Chicken Nuggets.
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Organic Gluten Free Chicken Nuggets at Costco
The Golden Platter Organic Chicken Nuggets cost $10.99 for a 2 pound bag and can be found in the frozen food section with the other breaded chicken products. While organic, the cost per pound is over $5 which is quite a bit of a premium compared to other chicken items. It is also a very interesting idea to take organic chicken and process it into a chicken nugget.
It would seem like those who enjoy frozen chicken nuggets may not care so much if the chicken is organic, and those who do want organic chicken may be turned off by the fact that it is processed food even if just processed minimally. To me, the market for organic gluten free chicken nuggets seems to be limited, but Golden Platter appears to be doing rather well in Costco.
Take a look at our full review and testing of all 3 Costco Chicken Nugget products.
Gluten Free chicken Nugget INgredients
Now, I typically don’t discuss ingredients until near the end of a product review, but due to the nature of this product, it feels appropriate to mention the ingredients early on. I am pleasantly surprised with the ingredients on the packaging of these organic chicken nuggets, mainly because I can recognize almost every single ingredient on this list as well as understand the purpose of each ingredient. I’ve made my fair share of homemade chicken nuggets/chicken tenders and my ingredient list would look very similar to what ingredients Golden Platter uses for this chicken nugget. As you can see, every ingredient is organic and these organic nuggets are made of chicken breast, water, sea salt, and an organic batter.
These are made with high quality ingredients, Costco Golden Platter Chicken Nuggets are Gluten Free (GF) and organic.
First Impression
Immediately upon opening the bag, the first thing I think of when I see these organic chicken nuggets is that they reminded me of Mcdonald’s Chicken McNuggets. While frozen, both the color and breading looked very similar to cooked McNuggets. The only thing that would stop me from thinking this is a bag of frozen Chicken McNuggets is the shape. These were mostly round in shape and about an inch wide. I’m disappointed that this is what I recognized first. It’s not the first impression you want with an organic, gluten free, and “healthier” chicken nugget.
Cooking Methods
For this review, I’ve cooked the organic chicken nuggets in 5 different ways. For the first two methods, I followed the heating instructions on the bag and cooked some in a convection oven as well as made a batch in the microwave. The third way I cooked them was in the air fryer. Without specific air fryer instructions, I had to improvise – I went with 400° and an initial plan to check and flip at 4 minutes in. Finally, I will be testing these by heating them in a pan with cooking spray and another batch with a small amount of canola oil.
Microwave
Like anything that comes from the frozen food section in Costco, the microwave usually provides the least appealing option. I followed the directions on the bag and heated 5 gluten-free chicken nuggets on a small plate in the microwave for 1 minute. They came out warm, but that is the extent of the positives. The breading was soggy as expected and didn’t provide a good eating experience.
Oven Baked
The only other option listed on the bag was to bake them in the oven at 425° for 11 minutes while flipping halfway through. After the baking process, they came out much better than in the microwave. There was a nice crunch on both sides of the nugget and it was certainly an enjoyable bite. I didn’t really hate the light golden brown color that came out, but I would have preferred just a little bit more color. When I cook these again, I plan to use a little bit of cooking spray on them and cooking them for a few minutes longer.
Air Fryer
Only two heating options were listed on the bag, but from my experience, most frozen products that can be heated in the oven do just as well if not better in the air fryer. With no specific instructions, I generally reduce cooking temperature by 25° and reduce cooking time by a few minutes. In this case, the recommended oven temperature is 425° which is perfect because my air fryer only goes up to 400°. The original plan was 400° for 8 minutes, which is similar to what other frozen chicken nuggets require. Unfortunately, after the 8 minutes, these were still a very light color, so I shook them up a little and put them back in. I continued to check every few minutes until they were that nice golden brown that I was looking for. I don’t know the exact cook time I used for these, but it was 12-15 minutes in total. The gluten-free breading on the air fryer version came out very crispy and the nugget was very uniform in color. The inside chicken retained a lot of the juices withstanding the longer cook time. I would put these just a touch above the oven-baked version.
Pan Cooked
The last two methods used were sauteing them in a pan. The first set I did, I used a small amount of canola oil. Of course, adding in any additional oils will create the crispiest breading for a chicken nugget. In this case, the oil did its job and browned the breading and was the crispiest version of these nuggets, but the color was a little dark and the nuggets didn’t really look as appetizing as I expected it to.
The last chicken nugget in the picture was heated on a pan with just a little bit of cooking spray. The raised portions of breading made the most contact with the pan and ended up a little burnt, which is fine for me. I would have liked the rest of the nuggets to brown up a little more with it as well. The end result was a nice crisp, but not as crispy as the oil cooked nugget.
Review and Final THoughts
Going off these 5 different cooking methods, I preferred the air fried chicken the best. It provided a very nice crispy golden brown all over the nugget including the sides which is hard to do in a pan. With no specific heating instructions, I did have to improvise a little and I did cook the nuggets longer in the air fryer than I originally expected. It was the longest cook time of these methods, but also produced the best overall crispy breading.
For the actual meat, and taste of the nugget itself, I would say this is a very very tasty chicken nugget. I was pleasantly surprised with each bite. The seasoning is on the lower end, but that allows the taste and juiciness of the chicken to really shine through. The chicken tasted very good and is definitely one of the better frozen chicken nuggets products out there based on the taste and quality of the organic chicken. They are very good eaten on their own, but I would recommend using a sauce or a dip to really complement the flavors of the chicken. I tried ketchup, bbq sauce, buffalo, and teriyaki sauce with these nuggets, and all 3 were amazing.
Overall, this was an interesting product for me. The main negative was the look of the chicken nuggets. These are marketed as gluten free and organic so I was a little shocked to see a nugget that reminded me of McDonalds. Organic and McDonalds don’t really go hand in hand, but that’s probably on me, I can’t fault Golden Platter for that. The color was also a little lighter than I like to see with a chicken nugget. In order to give them the nice crispy golden brown breading, I had to cook these a little longer than I anticipated, but that is a minor complaint. The crunch of the breading wasn’t bad by any means when following their oven heating instructions, just not what I expected.
The positives significantly outweigh the negatives here. The chicken was very juicy and tasty. The seasoning is on the lighter end for what you would expect for a frozen chicken nugget and definitely less seasoned than other chicken nuggets at Costco. This allowed the gluten free chicken to really be the star of the meal. Even though I enjoyed the chicken, I’m not sure If I would necessarily be a buyer again. The $10.99 price tag was a little much for me, but granted, I am probably not the intended market. If you are looking for a high quality chicken nugget that is organic and not pumped with salt, then this is the nugget to buy at Costco.
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Greg Larkin is the founder and managing editor of Costco Food Database, the premiere site for honest takes on all things Costco food. A self-proclaimed Costco super-fan since childhood, Greg turned his obsession in a mission to properly rate and review all of Costco’s delicious buys. When he’s not busy navigating Costco aisles, you can find Greg smoking Kirkland Signature meats, meal prepping, or perfecting his homemade jerky recipes.
As a person who, for health reasons, must eat gluten free these nuggets are a great addition to the freezer. Forget that they’re organic. They’re gluten free, they don’t make me sick and $10.99 for 2 lbs is a great deal! Walmart where I am carries another brand that’s almost $12 for 1 lb and those aren’t as good tasting as these.
I am going to have find them at Walmart in RSM, CA. I wish our Costco carried them in SJC, CA. My grandchildren are visiting and only eat All Natural Golden Platter Chicken Nuggets.