Florida Man Buys Kirkland Chicken From Costco. Then He Opens The Packet Of ‘Thighs’

Though Costco is known for selling high-quality meat, especially beef, the retail giant has come under fire before over its chicken. In particular, customers have complained about “woody” or stringy chicken breasts. While the issue wasn’t unique to Costco, complaints became widespread.

More recently, however, one Costco customer from Lakeland, Florida, complained about a different chicken problem, this time involving chicken thighs.

TikTok creator Kenneth (@kennethodelljr) had just opened several packs of Kirkland boneless, skinless chicken thighs when he noticed that much of the meat didn’t exactly look like the thighs he expected.

What Was Wrong With The Costco Boneless Chicken Thighs?

“So I buy some chicken thighs from Costco,” Kenneth begins. “I get the Kirkland brand skinless, boneless thighs.”

He says he opened three packages from a six-pack so he could start marinating them.

“And this is what I get out of the three packages,” he says before turning the camera toward the meat.

Kenneth counts six intact thighs.

“One, two, three, four, five, six thighs,” he says.

But surrounding them are numerous much smaller pieces of chicken.

“And then a whole bunch of little pieces,” he says.

The smaller pieces appear similar in color and texture to the thighs themselves, just broken up into irregular chunks.

“I don’t know what happened here, but this is insane,” Kenneth says. “What happened? Costco, make it make sense.”

One possible explanation is that some of the meat separated or was trimmed into smaller pieces during deboning and processing, rather than every package containing only intact thigh portions.

Do Other Costco Customers Have Complaints About Chicken Thighs?

Costco shoppers have complained about the thighs too, although the complaints are different from the better-known woody chicken breast issue.

In one r/Costco thread specifically about boneless, skinless chicken thighs, a shopper said the packages contained an unusually large amount of liquid and described the meat as “slimy and awful.”

They also said that particular batch felt “weirdly spongy.”

More recent complaints have popped up as well.

In a May 2025 r/CostcoWholesale post, one customer said that for the third time, one or more thighs in a package appeared unusually white or discolored and had a texture that seemed “partially cooked.”

Another commenter in the same thread said several packages had an unpleasant smell, while the final two were so bad they threw them away.

Possible Explanations

Some commenters encouraged Kenneth to take the chicken back.

“I work there. Bring them back,” they wrote. “Talk to the meat manager n. They take quality very seriously.”

Another believed at least some of the smaller pieces could actually be particularly flavorful parts of the thigh.

“These are the darkest of the dark meat it’s the oyster of the thigh. It attaches the thigh muscles to the spine,” they wrote. “It’s the tastiest part of a chicken. Save them for sauté, casserole, soup.”

Kenneth wasn’t the only shopper who said they’d encountered smaller pieces.

“I have been finding this with the chicken thighs I have been buying,” another commenter wrote.

One viewer said that’s exactly why they avoid boneless thighs altogether.

“That’s why I buy skin on with the bone. Clean it myself and I have bones for stock and crispy skin snacks,” they wrote.

BroBible has reached out to Costco via its contact form and Kenneth via TikTok messages for comment.