Why Customers Aren't Happy With This Ground Meat Option At Costco

A package of ground turkey can be the base for an easy weeknight dinner, like homemade turkey burgers or vegetable turkey lasagna. If you're shopping at Costco, however, there's one brand you may want to avoid: Butterball.

A Costco customer took to Reddit to post about their disdain for the brand, writing, "I can no longer deal with their turkey mush ... Aka Butterball Ground Turkey." They went on to describe it as "meat paste in a pouch" and complained about its sticky texture. The comments are full of Costco fans who wholeheartedly agree. One user added, "There also is a weird sweet smell that emits when you cook it." Yet another shopper wrote that eating this turkey meat "gave [them] the ick." One Costco patron noted that they usually love ground turkey, but this brand's texture and taste are "a special kind of terrible." A few different users even wrote that they only buy this meat to make food for their dogs, which is hardly a good look for Costco.

In fairness, the thread also features a few commenters either defending the ground turkey or arguing that all ground turkey has that mushy texture. Some Reddit users blame Butterball, not Costco, for the product's poor quality, but others counter that Sam's Club — Costco's rival — has superior ground turkey options.

While the taste and texture of Butterball's ground turkey are enough of a deterrent for some Costco fans, other shoppers have additional complaints — like how much meat comes in each package. In the same Reddit thread, one user wrote, "What drives me crazy about this is the 1.7 pound packages. In what world does this amount make sense?" Many other shoppers agree, noting that recipes rarely call for that exact amount of ground turkey. This means that customers often have to buy more than one package. Another user added, "I'm not a stickler on things but for some reason the 1.7 pound weight gets to me. Just make it an even 2!!"

Certain Reddit users have an even more serious complaint: finding bones in their Butterball ground turkey. One shopper wrote, "I always get little chunks of bone in mine, too," adding that the package is like "meat paste with bone shards." Many commenters had the same experience, with one commenter writing, "This is the worst part. I thought I was crazy or maybe it was bits of seasoning I put in there causing the random tiny hard pieces."

Of course, Costco has plenty of exciting, high-quality items that are worth your time — like the nine must-try new items that we highlighted for summer 2025. Unfortunately (if not surprisingly), Butterball's ground turkey isn't one of them.