I tried 3 store-bought rotisserie chickens, and the best looked and tasted good

I love to cook extravagant meals. But after a stressful day at work, it's nice to leave the worry behind and treat myself to something nice and simple. That's when rotisserie chickens come in handy.

These (typically) hot and juicy chickens come fully cooked and make an easy meal by themselves or can be used in recipes.

I tried rotisserie chickens from Meijer, Kroger, and Walmart to see which one was the tastiest.

Weighing just under 2 pounds, Meijer's $6.99 rotisserie chicken was the smallest bird I sampled.

I don't expect a rotisserie chicken to look like a Michelin chef just pulled it out of the oven, but this one was a nice golden brown. I thought it would look delicious on a formal dinner table.

The Meijer chicken also stayed together when I pulled it from its container.

Each bite of Meijer's chicken was flavorful. The legs were especially juicy and even the breast meat wasn't too dry.

I really liked the skin. It was crunchy without being too crispy and had a salty, herby taste that wasn't overwhelming.

This chicken would've gone well with a heaping scoop of mashed potatoes.

I decided to look through the ingredient list on each chicken and I was surprised to see sodium phosphate in Meijer's bird, which I was not familiar with.

I did a quick search and, according to Mashed, sodium phosphate isn't necessarily a bad thing. Companies commonly add it to chicken to keep the meat fresh and moist, which makes sense because this bird definitely tasted the freshest to me.

Nothing else on the ingredients list stuck out to me, and the container said the chicken had no hormones or added steroids, which I appreciated.

When I picked up the bagged chicken at Walmart, the zipper at the top popped open. Thinking the bag was defective, I picked up two more. But in all cases, the zipper would come undone as soon as I touched the bag.

My guess is that the Walmart chicken, just over 2 pounds, was too heavy for the little zipper. On the drive home, I worried the bag would topple over and the chicken would roll out.

Walmart's rotisserie chicken was the cheapest at $6.97.

Walmart's chicken literally fell apart into its pool of juices when I tried to take it out of the bag. I had to get tongs and remove each piece of chicken individually.

By the time I was ready to taste the bird, it was just a pile of parts.

Despite purchasing Walmart's bird last while grocery shopping — a good hour and a half after putting the Kroger chicken in my shopping cart — I thought it was the coldest.

It wasn't a huge issue and didn't impact my review, but I was surprised. I think the open bag had a lot to do with that since the other chickens came in enclosed containers.

The chicken was very greasy, mushy, and much too juicy for my taste. Every piece, whether it was a thigh, leg, or even wing, was dripping with juices. But it wasn't the succulent chicken I imagined, it just felt wet.

When I bit into the chicken, it reminded me of the consistency of baby food because it just wasn't quite solid enough.

Though it was the cheapest and largest bird in my taste test, I wouldn't buy Walmart's rotisserie chicken again.

None of the ingredients stuck out to me (just a long list of seasonings with no additives). But I thought almost everything else about it let me down, from the broken bag to the chicken's lack of structure and flavor.

That said, I could see people who really like juicy meat choosing this bird.

Kroger's Simple Truth brand is a staple in our house. According to Kroger's website, the brand delivers "simple foods that can be enjoyed the way nature intended."

According to its label, Kroger's chicken was raised cage-free, fed a vegetarian diet, and has no added preservatives, antibiotics, or hormones.

It was also the most expensive at $9.99 for a 2-pound chicken.

I thought Kroger's bird lacked spices. It wasn't bad, but I didn't think there was anything memorable about it.

The skin is usually my favorite part of a rotisserie chicken, but this bird was so mildly flavored that I couldn't tell the skin and meat apart aside from the texture.

But I think the lack of spice is handy if you're planning to use the chicken in another recipe. My husband and I turned ours into a delicious chicken-noodle soup the next day.

I thought Walmart's chicken was too wet, but the Kroger Simple Truth bird wasn't juicy enough for me.

I found the breast meat particularly dry but the legs and thighs could've been juicier, too.

On a positive note, I liked that the ingredient list for this chicken was the shortest, with only chicken, water, and sea salt.

If you want a rotisserie chicken that looks and tastes good, I believe Meijer is your best bet. It could probably feed a whole family for under $7.

If you're buying a rotisserie chicken to add to a meal, like a casserole or soup, Kroger may have the upper hand. There's not as much flavor, but that works to its advantage when cooking another dish.

Walmart's chicken just wasn't for me and I couldn't get behind its packaging or taste. That said, I might've just gotten a dud.

The next time I need a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, I'll think of Meijer's tasty bird.