Costco’s prepared meals can be a lifesaver, and members love them. They’re quick and easy to serve to your hungry family, and they’re a good deal for a fresh pre-made meal. The latest addition to the prepared meals section, a classic grilled cheese and tomato soup combo, is being slammed, though — and we gotta say, we’re pretty perplexed, too. Who at Costco thought this was a good idea?
‘I Can’t Wrap My Head Around This One’
Grilled cheese and tomato soup from a can (or box) is one of those comfort food meals that’s also incredibly easy to make. It’s so simple that many people use it as their default can’t-even-adult-right-now meal. That can’t be said for any of Costco’s other prepared meals, like meatloaf and mashed potatoes, baked mac and cheese, and chicken tacos, which actually feel like they’re worth it.
“This is literally my ‘I’m too exhausted to cook meal,’ I open a carton of tomato pepper soup and make grilled cheese sandwiches,” said one commenter in a Reddit thread about the Costco grilled cheese and tomato soup meal. “This looks like almost as much work…”
“I will never understand premade grilled cheese sandwiches, and don’t even try to explain it to me,” commented another Redditor, and we’ve gotta agree. As much as we understand that convenience foods can really save time and sanity, slapping some cheese on two slices takes about as little effort as possible. Since you still have to heat up these premade grilled cheese sandwiches anyway, what’s the point?
The weird part about this new Costco meal is that the bread slices are already toasted — we can’t imagine they’re anything but soft by the time they’re for sale — and they have a big pat of butter on each one, so they expect you to cook them on a pan a second time anyway. “I can’t wrap my head around this one,” wrote one Redditor. None of it makes sense to anyone.
‘They’re All Like $12-15. That’s Three Chickens!’
Beyond the this-is-bizarre factor, there’s an even bigger problem: the price. These grilled cheese and tomato soup kits are $5 per pound.
“I thought this was a great deal for $5, then realized it’s per lb…,” said the comment with the most upvotes in the thread. “No thanks.”
“[The packages] are all like $12-15. That’s three chickens!” said another, breaking the cost down by how many $5 rotisserie chickens you could buy for the same price. When they put it that way, especially since there’s little protein in this meal, it seems like a terrible deal.
“Horrible deal,” agreed another Redditor. “For that price, you can make many sourdough grilled cheese sandwiches and much tomato basil soup. If you buy all the ingredients at Costco, you save even more per ounce.”
“This is literally a meal that takes 5 mins to make from scratch,” chimed in another commenter.
“I’m a big fan of a lot of their premade stuff, but this one is so pointless to me. Definitely for the price. If it was like five dollars or under, maybe sure why not,” wrote another.
Even if you’re intrigued by premade grilled cheese, this really does seem to be a rare miss by Costco on the value front. It’s hard to come up with something that would be a worse value, but one Redditor nailed it: “Next item to come from the Costco brainiacs… premade PB&J!”
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