Costco is one of my favorite places to buy healthy food in bulk

There are some things that we go through a lot of so Costco is a natural place to purchase those things over other grocery stores! For my healthy grocery staples, I get some at Trader Joe’s, some at Thrive Market and some at Costco. Today I’m sharing what I get at Costco!

But, the hard part of Costco is that if you don’t have a large family, you may not necessarily need to buy in bulk. So today, I’m going to share what I buy for our family of 3 (including a 5 month old who doesn’t eat solids yet ) so you’ll know what to look for if you’re in a similar situation. I’ve also added a few recommendations from friends of mine. Things that don’t go bad quickly are definitely worth buying in bulk (assuming you have the space to store it!) so use this post to make a list the next time you make a Costco trip.

And if you are shopping with kids, the food court area is great for a fun treat. Grab a churro or ice cream!

Okay, let’s dive into my must-haves!


My Costco Must-Haves
Organic brown rice

I eat a lot of carbs so we go through rice like crazy. We have it for dinner with chicken or as a main dish, like this black bean, brown rice & cilantro dish). I add it to salads and sometimes I even eat brown rice for breakfast! I make a big batch in the instant pot each week to make meals easier.

Quinoa

Great on salads.

Lotus Foods Gluten Free Rice Ramen Noodles

I haven’t tried these yet, but I’m grabbing them next time! A friend of mine says they’re great.

Whole Oats

You could use them in this amazing breakfast recipe.

Chia seeds

I use these for smoothies or chia seed pudding. They’re one of the best plant-based sources of omega-3 fatty acids!

Paleo pancake mix

Great for an easy weekend breakfast.

Food Should Taste Good Multigrain chips

These chips are gluten free and made with flax, sunflower and sesame seeds.

Simple Mills Almond flour crackers

Perfect for a cheese board.

Peanut butter filled pretzels

Tommy and I both love these!! We’ve tried the ones from Trader Joe’s, but the Costco ones are much better.

Extra Fancy Salted Nuts

Super addicting and not your average mixed nuts. Super salty pecans, Brazilian nuts, marcona almonds, macadamia nuts, and yes, lots of cashews.

Sanders Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels

Don’t ask questions. Just get them

RX bars

My husband takes one of these to work every day so we always keep a box around. And I keep one in my car and in my purse for when hanger hits.

Cereal

We buy Frosted Mini Wheats and this Morning Summit Cereal. Morning Summit is super sweet so I use it as a dessert!

Rao’s Marinara Sauce

We love pasta in our house, and this is the best store-bought marinara. It’s made without any added preservatives or coloring and pairs perfectly with whole wheat pasta. (My favorite comes from Thrive Market.

Basil Pesto

This would be great on a homemade pizza or pasta. A friend of mine loves their ravioli and recommends them together.

Kirkland Signature Organic Peanut Butter

There is not a better basic peanut butter on the market. (Yes, it’s better than Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s brands.) It’s just peanut butter and salt, with no added oils or sugar. We buy this in bulk because we go through it like crazy, especially since I make runner’s energy balls each week. I’m not a huge almond butter lover, but those who are love the Kirkland brand.

Raw honey

The jar is huge and the price is great. Snag it.

Organic Maple Syrup

Great price!

Spindrift

We go through a LOT of Spindrift in this house. Move over La Croix.

Organic Kombucha

I love the Ginger Honey flavor.

Kirkland Signature Fresh Organic Chicken Breasts

We go through a lot of chicken since we grill a big batch for dinner and save the leftovers for lunches. It makes a perfect salad topping! Anything we don’t cook that week gets frozen since the packaging makes it easy to split up.

Rotisserie Chicken

The rotisserie chicken is great to grab for an easy dinner.

Kirkland Wild Alaskan Smoked Sockeye Salmon

This smoke salmon pairs perfectly with bagels and cream cheese for a filling post-workout breakfast. Make it fancy with some capers (one of my Trader Joe’s must-haves!).

Fresh Produce

The selection varies, but some of my favorites include:


Organic blueberries
Organic raspberries
Spinach
Mixed greens
Avocados
Bananas
Grapes
Tomatoes
Watermelon (when it’s in season!)
Mangos
English organic cucumbers

Refrigerated Perfect bars

These have whole ingredients in them and taste pretty good!

Organic frozen mixed berries and/or strawberries

I use the mixed berries when I make my own smoothies and I love snacking on frozen strawberries. (I lived on them during pregnancy!)

Veggies Made Great Spinach Egg White Frittatas

A friend of mine recommends these.

Frozen Cauliflower Rice
Dips & Salsa

You need things to dip the chips in, right? Costco has great hummus, guacamole and mango salsa. I’ve heard good things about their avocado spread.

Kirkland Unsweetened Almond Milk

I always opt for non-dairy milk. It froths up surprisingly well for lattes and is great in smoothies. I hear good things about the vanilla flavor too!

Regular Milk

If your family drinks regular milk, I hear theirs is great. They also have eggs in bulk which is awesome if you have a huge family (or just love eggs). If you drink regular half and half, Costco is a good place to get that too.

Greek Yogurt

My husband loves all their greek yogurt selections!

Cheese

Kerrygold Dubliner Cheese: I can’t have dairy while breastfeeding and I miss this stuff. It is SO GOOD. It pairs perfectly with red wine.
Kirkland Signature Cheddar – it’s a perfect cheddar for snacking, sandwiches, grilled cheese, quesadillas, everything.
Sliced reduced fat cheddar and colby-jack cheese. Good for sandwiches.

Kirkland Signature Honey Roasted Turkey Breast

I have this down by the cheeses since that’s where you’ll find it! It’s in the cheese coolers sort of near where the charcuterie type meats are

Daves Killer Bread

Makes great toast and has great ingredients!

Charleston coffee roaster coffee

I’m trying this the next time I go!

Wine

When hosting becomes a norm again, Costco is a good place to grab wine or beer for a party.



Personal Care items

Razors
Toothpaste – we’re a Colgate family
Saline – I love that Costco sells Bio True saline!! They also sell Opti-Free contact solution if you prefer that brand
Charmin Toiler Paper – The Kirkland Signature brand feels like sandpaper. We are toilet paper snobs.
Paper Towels – Kirkland brand works great.
Diapers
Unscented wipes
Sonicare toothbrush & replacement heads (if you like electric toothbrushes)

Batteries

A good place to stock up! There’s nothing worse than needing batteries and not having them.

Coconut oil

It’s a GIANT jar so I decant it into a smaller mason jar to keep in the pantry. We use it enough that bulk makes sense for us, but if you don’t, Trader Joe’s sells it at a great price too.

Olive oil

The jug is huge but we go through it quickly so I buy these two at a time! We buy the Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Avocado Oil

I love cooking with this. It also comes in a large jug, so just be aware! You could always fill up a smaller container and store the rest.

Vanilla Extract

If you’re a big baker, stock up on your spices and extracts at Costco!

Black peppercorns

Fresh ground pepper has much more flavor than pre-ground so we buy this and put it into a grinder. Their pink Himalayan sea salt doesn’t have much flavor though. I get sea salt from Thrive Market instead (post on Thrive coming soon!).

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