Grubpug.com
Bag of frozen Kirkland Signature Chilean Sea Bass from Costco
Cooked plate of Kirkland Signature Chilean Sea Bass from Costco

Last time we went to Costco we saw one of our favorite types of fish: Chilean Sea Bass! The Kirkland Signature Wild Caught Chilean Sea Bass was frozen and ~1.5 lb for $40. When we get Chilean Sea Bass, we usually buy it at another store that sells it for $36 a pound, so this seemed like a fairly good deal.

The frozen Chilean Sea Bass came in individually wrapped and sealed portions, which was very convenient. There were five frozen portions in the bag, and we ended up cooking three of them following the cooking directions on the bag loosely.

Kirkland Signature Chilean Sea Bass from Costco sealed portions
Individually sealed portions

The Chilean Sea Bass turned out nice, buttery, and flaky -- delicious! It wasn't dry or rubbery at all. We are very happy that Costco is now carrying these, as they make for a quick, easy, and delicious meal.

Below are instructions on how we cooked it.

How We Cooked the frozen Chilean Sea Bass (on a tray on a gas grill):

1. Thaw it.

  • The "regular" thawing instructions recommend thawing the portions unwrapped for 8-10 hours in the refrigerator, and the "quick thaw" instructions suggest thawing them in their packaging under cool water for 15-30 minutes, replacing the water every 5 minutes. We had about 4 hours before we were going to cook the Chilean Sea Bass and had forgotten to thaw the portions, so we tried a combination of the regular thaw and quick thaw instructions on the back of the bag.
  • We ended up thawing the three portions inside their packaging under cool water for 5 minutes one time. Then we unwrapped them and put them on a plate in the refrigerator for the remaining 4 hours. The biggest piece was still a little frozen, but the other smaller pieces we had were almost thawed all the way, so we just went ahead and cooked them.
  • 2. Spray a foil tray with Pam, and place the three portions of Chilean Sea Bass on it.

    3. Add a sliver of butter on top of each piece (or whatever seasoning you want).

    4. Turn all three burners on the gas grill to High with the lid closed for 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes, turn the middle burner to Low.

    5. Put the tray of fish on the middle burner, and flip each piece of fish approximately every 3 minutes. We ended up flipping each piece ~4 times and cooked them for a total of about 12 minutes.

  • Note: The instructions on the bag state to cook them for 5 - 7 minutes and flip them once. We probably had to cook them longer because ours weren't thawed all the way.
  • 6. Take it off the grill and serve!

    Overall Rating:
    Delicious
    Food: Frozen Kirkland Signature Wild Caught Chilean Sea Bass
    Price: $39.99 for 1.5 lb bag (5 portions)
    Source: Costco, Tucson, AZ
    Rating: Delicious

    Related

    11 Comments

    REVIEW – Kirkland Signature: Chilean Sea Bass from Costco (Frozen)

    • Vernie

      I have always bought your Kirkland chilean sea bass but the last two times I went to get it you didn’t have it. Have you stopped selling it?

    • Bradley Sullivan

      How can we buy Chilean Sea Bass

    • tiantonio

      “Flilet Mignon of the Sea”. My local Shop Rite started getting Chilean Sea Bass trimmings for $5.99/lb and I cannot be happier. Same Fish as the $29.99/lb Filets but just irregular pieces and edges from when the Filets are cut. Chilean Sea Bass is even hard to overcook due to the natural oils in the fish keeping it moist.

      Frozen Chilean Sea Bass is better than a lot of other frozen fish because most of the time they filet and freeze the fish while still at sea.

      • Peggy

        Everyone talks about the delicious taste, but no one mentions the high level of mercury in this fish! Yikes!

    • Yves

      Well…there’s no such thing as “Chliean Sea Bass” anyway. I guess some folks don’t know that — what we know as Chilean Sea Bass is actually a fish called the Patagonian Toothfish (or Antarctic Toothfish), and is actually a type of cod (only a small portion of fishes are actually caught on the Chilean coast). The name was created in the late 1970s because it sounded a lot more appetizing than Toothfish on a menu. It’s pure marketing. The taste is excellent, and it has always been pricey, but the name is actually branded.

    • Scott

      Here in the Northern AZ store the Chilean Sea bass comes from Australia. HUMMMM…and I thought it came from Chile…still tasty and expensive, but its still better than $34.00 per pound and the 100 mile drive to Phoenix.

    • Diane Miksch

      I was told by a manager that the Chilean Sea Bass is on the delete list. I don’t know why there not selling it anymore. Another man was asking the clerk where the Sea Bass is while I was in line behind him so I know others also like it.

      Costco, Please bring back the sea bass!!!

      • Pettit

        Harvesting Chilean Sea Bass, AKA Patagonian Tooth Fish is illegal. The fishery was devastated and illegal fishing continues to reduce the remaining numbers. Hence the high cost.

    • John B

      Costco price is now (Sept 3, 2017) $46.99 for 1.5 pounds, “wild caught in France”.

    • Hanny

      It is excellent but last time I went to costco I couldn’t find it.

    • Max C

      We bought this a few days ago at Costco in Florida. The package clearly states that it was wild caught in France. So whatever it is, it’s not Chilean Sea Bass.
      But I must admit it did taste excellent!

    Leave a Reply to Yves Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. All fields are required.