Sam’s Club and Costco regularly face off, especially when their lines overlap, making it worth figuring out which one truly offers the better value. In this round, both retailers have released their own take on the Marry Me Chicken ready meals, inviting a side-by-side comparison to determine which is the smarter buy.
Marry Me Chicken is a playful label assigned to a creamy tomato pasta with chicken, crafted to be so delicious that it’s joked to prompt proposals. While individual adaptations vary, they generally follow the same framework: tender, juicy chicken paired with a rich, creamy sauce and some form of tomato—whether tomato paste, fresh tomatoes, or sun-dried varieties. The exact ingredients depend on whose recipe you fancy the most.
The Differences
Costco and Sam’s Club adopted similar approaches, yet their dishes diverge in meaningful ways while still aligning with the Marry Me Chicken concept. The clearest distinction is that Sam’s Club prepares its own version in-house within the ready-made meals section, alongside offerings like mac and cheese and potatoes. Costco, by contrast, outsources theirs, sourcing Rana brand Marry Me Chicken. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this, but it’s worth noting because it affects where you’ll find it in the store.
Next, let’s look at price and portions. Each package is designed to feed a family of four, and when I prepared both, there was plenty to go around. It seemed to me that Sam’s Club’s portion looked a touch larger than Costco’s. On price, Costco clearly has the edge. Their dish runs around $12 (with slight fluctuations and occasional sale pricing). Sam’s Club, on the other hand, typically runs about $15–$17. The gap isn’t huge, but it can matter if you’re watching costs. Also, because Sam’s appears to include a bit more pasta, the value proposition may balance out with Costco’s in the end.
The Taste
Now for the most crucial part—how they tasted. Price is one thing, but the flavor has to carry the dish. I’m not sure if I’m simply not a big fan of Marry Me Chicken in general, or if these particular versions fell short. In my view, both versions left something to be desired.
Costco’s version used pappardelle, which cooks quickly and sits directly in the sauce. Because the pasta is relatively fresh, it’s prone to overcooking, so watching it closely is essential. I also noticed that insufficient stirring led to clumping, which isn’t pleasant. Flavor-wise, it was merely okay, leaning more toward a vodka-sauce vibe than a true Marry Me style sauce.
Sam’s Club, au lieu d’utiliser des nouilles, a choisi le tortellini — et je suis fan des tortellinis, alors j’avais de grands espoirs. Ils ont aussi conservé une sauce plus crémeuse et ajouté des tomates séchées pour une pointe de saveur tomate, avec des épinards pour compléter le plat. Malgré ces éléments positifs, le goût ne s’élève pas vraiment; toutefois, les tortellini eux-mêmes étaient vraiment bons.
My main gripe was shared by both brands and stems from using pre-cooked chicken: the pieces come too large. Bite-sized chicken is what works best in a meal like this. Costco addressed this by having the chicken packaged separately, so I could chop it to a more manageable size. Sam’s Club, however, mixed the chicken right into the dish, leaving me with no easy way to downsize bigger chunks—short of removing pieces, trimming, and returning them to the pot. In short, this was the biggest flaw I found, and it’s a common issue for both products.
The Verdict
So, which one should you buy? In my view, I’d pick the Sam’s Club version again. Both weren’t brimming with flavor, but I believe that adding a touch more garlic and a knob of butter to the Sam’s chicken would have been a simple, substantial upgrade. Costco’s version lacked depth, and because its sauce isn’t purely cream-based, figuring out how to enhance it felt more challenging. Plus, the noodles cook quickly, leaving little time to adjust the sauce properly, making it feel like more effort to improve Costco’s Marry Me Chicken than Sam’s Club’s version.
None of them tasted awful, but both benefit from a little extra seasoning. If you have to choose and you’re chasing that Marry Me moment, I’d go with Sam’s Club.
