Recipe Ideas for Kirkland's Canned Roast Beef from Costco (2024)

The Kirkland Signature Canned Roast Beef at Costco was a pleasant surprise that my family really enjoyed. I bought the canned roast beef on a whim but will not hesitate to buy it again to keep as a pantry staple.

The canned roast beef is incredibly tender, tastes great and is perfect for when you need to get a meal on the table fast!

What Comes in the Cans of Roast Beef?

Each can has a net weight of 12 ounces that is roughly distributed as 8 ounces of beef and 4 ounces of broth.

The beef is fully cooked and a mix of Bottom Round and Top Round. The label says that this is a Product of the USA but I haven’t been able to figure out if that means that is made with American beef or beef from Brazil, etc that is cooked and packages in America.

The beef is incredibly tender and I was able to flake it apart with my fingers with little effort.

The picture below is a pretty accurate representation of what the beef looks like AFTER the broth had been poured off. I will freely admit that before you pour the broth off the contents of the can looks pretty dreadful.

If what you want is a rich, savory piece of of fully cooked beef with plenty of gravy then head over to the refrigerated section at Costco and check out their fully cooked pot roast.

Recipe Ideas

Let me share how we devoured the first can and then we will go over some other ideas that immediately came to mind for using the roast beef in different recipes.

The thing to keep in mind when using the beef in recipes is that it is extremely tender but is a little lacking in beefy flavor. This means that it pairs well in many dishes but you do not want to try to make it the star of the show.

Roast Beef Sandwiches

I poured the contents of the can, beef and broth, into a bowl and heated things through in the microwave for about two minutes.

Once the beef was hot it was added to a brioche hot dog bun along with:

• Sautéed mushrooms
• Horseradish Cream Sauce
• Shredded Cheese

I meant to add some grilled onions in there but things went a little sideways and it didn’t happen. I got to tell you, this simple roast beef sandwich was way more delicious than it had a right to be.

There was enough meat in the can to make four hearty sandwiches.

Other Recipe Ideas

After we realized how tender and convenient the canned beef was it was fun thinking up other ways to put the meat to use. After all, you get four cans in a pack and it would get a little boring eating sandwiches all the time 🙂

The beef would be perfect for:

• Beef Stroganoff (Creamy mushroom sauce with egg noodles)
• Adding to Vegetable Soup
• Making a Breakfast Hash (Potatoes and Onions along side some scrambled eggs)
• Served with Mashed Potatoes and Peas
• Thicken the broth with Better Than Bullion and corn starch then serve over rice

The product is shelf stable and have a great portion size so they are super handy to keep in your pantry for an easy weeknight meal when you forgot to take stuff out of the freezer 🙂 You can keep these cans right beside your stash of Costco Canned Chicken and you will be prepared for anything!

Calories and Nutrition

I took a peek at the nutritional label and was pleasantly surprised by what I saw as the canned roast beef appears to be very healthy.

A single serving is two ounces and has the following calories and nutritional information:

• Calories: 80
• Fat 1.5g (2% DV)
• Cholesterol: 40mg (13% DV)
• Sodium: 180mg (8% DV)
• Carbohydrates: 0g (0% DV)
• Protein: 15g

I expected the beef to at least be loaded with salt but that is not the case. The beef is low in calories, fat, cholesterol, sodium and carbohydrates.

I have seen folks arguing about whether or not 2 ounces is accurate as a serving size but even if you double things up to a 4 ounce serving then the nutritional information still looks pretty good to me!

Price

We bought the four pack of 12 ounce cans for $18.99 which works out to a cost of $0.396 per ounce.

The per ounce cost translates into a cost of about $6.33 per pound.

At first glance paying about $6 per pound for roast beef seems pretty reasonable. On second glance I realized that the cans are about 30% water and paying $6 per pound for water is not something that I am excited about.

I think it is fair to say that the canned roast beef at Costco has a decent price but is not a screaming bargain by any means. That being said, how much is it worth to you to be able to whip up a tasty, hearty dinner in just a few minutes 🙂