You Should Avoid These Grocery Store Rotisserie Chickens—Get These Instead

A rotisserie chicken is one of the quickest, easiest, and most delicious meals that any household can enjoy. There is so much you can do with a rotisserie chicken, which can either provide one meal for a family, or a few meals if you are dining for one.

While it is very common for consumers to pick up a rotisserie chicken from a grocery store with the hopes that it will be a perfectly roasted chicken, many have picked up ones that are dry, tasteless, or—at its absolute worst–have a strange texture that doesn’t resemble chicken at all.

While many grocery chains are regional, there are several nationwide brands that we are all familiar with, like Walmart, Costco, and Whole Foods.

Using Reddit, Yelp, and published rankings, a list of the worst (and best) rated rotisseries chickens have been combined to help you out the next time you shop.

Before rating the chickens, one thing is glaringly obvious between these birds. There is a vast difference in size in the sample chickens. On top of the difference in size, the prices can vary, wildly, too.

While the Fresh Market might have some great options available to consumers, their rotisserie chicken is not one of those things.

Sprouts is known for its high-quality ingredients, even if they do come at a slightly higher price than other grocery stores. The chain’s rotisseries chickens are no exception. Plus, it is made without antibiotics, hormones, or steroids.

Whole Foods emphasizes the quality of its food, but the rotisserie chickens, marketed on the retailer’s website as responsibly raised meats, don’t rank as a top-tier choice compared to other grocery stores.

There is a reason an older gentleman has gone viral on TikTok for wearing his Costco Chicken Shirt. According to Food Republic, Costco’s rotisserie chicken is really good considering the aspects of the test.

Winn-Dixie is a beloved chain that doesn’t have a beloved rotisserie chicken. The pale-colored chicken lacks seasoning and may be undercooked.

If you want a decent rotisserie chicken that is a bang for your buck, Smart and Final have a jumbo-sized over-roasted chicken that has tons of meat on them that many reviewers have called the best chicken they’ve ever bought from a grocery store.

Walmart might have low prices, but that doesn’t mean that every item is going to be high quality. Unfortunately, the rotisserie chicken is a good deal but is not the best choice. Reviews note that the fatty quality of the chicken and the unusual texture do not resemble a typical chicken.

While Sam’s Club is the parent company of Walmart, their rotisseries chicken are a lot better. Sam’s Club’s rotisserie chicken may not be the best on this list—reviews are mixed—but the $5 price makes it a steal.

Kroger rotisserie chicken reviews often say the same thing over and over again: this is a dry chicken. Even generally positive reviews say that these chickens have a chalky consistency while you are chewing them.

If you are a texture person—meaning that certain food textures create an unpleasant sensory experience—you might want to avoid Harris Teeter’s rotisserie chicken. Many describe the chicken’s texture as leaning toward chalky and mushy, which is not what we want from our roasted birds.

While this list might challenge your preferred bird, there is no doubt that we all enjoy a good rotisserie chicken. The National Chicken Council reports that over 950 million rotisserie chickens are sold annually.

“Rotisserie chicken is often very competitively priced and a lot cheaper than eating out,” Anne-Marie Roerink, founder of the grocery market research firm 210 Analytics, said to Consumer Reports.

Rotisserie chickens are not like oven-roasted chickens. “Essentially, all rotisserie chickens are enhanced with a solution [injected into the bird] to keep the birds moist and tasty,” said Tom Super, senior vice president of communications for the National Chicken Council.

The injection solution can include sugar, processed ingredients like natural flavors, gums, and carrageenan, and a problematic amount of sodium.

Among the worst sodium offenders is Sam’s Club. While this is one tasty chicken, the bird has about 550 mg of sodium per 3-ounce serving. According to the Consumer Report, that is about nine times more sodium than a chicken roasted without salt.

Rotisserie chickens from BJ’s Wholesale Club, Boston Market, Publix, Safeway, and Walmart have less sodium, ranging from 170 to 368.

Despite Whole Foods not having the best bird on the block, they do have the healthiest chicken on this list. While the organic plain chicken has a healthy 70 mg of sodium in 3 ounces, the nonorganic plain chicken has 120 mg.

Supermarkets typically prepare fresh rotisserie chickens every 2 to 4 hours, starting around 8 or 9 a.m. and continuing until approximately 4 to 6 p.m. According to Roerink, the best selection is usually available during peak evening hours.

There is a good chance that you will have a good amount of leftovers if you purchase any of these chickens. Cut the leftover meat out of the bird and refrigerate it in a covered container.