At a time when online grocery shopping is often the most convenient option, Costco is one of the only stores I still visit in person.
As an executive member of 18 years, I count on the store’s items to help me feed my family of five without spending a fortune.
And although I always love trying new products, here are nine tried-and-true items that almost always end up in my cart.
Costco is a great place to buy red meat in bulk.
Red meat is expensive nowadays, so I like to buy ground beef in bulk at Costco.
I divide it into four freezer bags to spread over several meals, including Egyptian-style kofta and beef stew.
Pita bread is a staple in my house.
I use Kirkland Signature pita bread for Egyptian-style hawashi sandwiches — a filling lunch that’s inexpensive to make.
I’m hoping Costco comes up with a whole-wheat version of this pita in the future.
My son makes an excellent seafood pasta using Kirkland Signature farm-raised tilapia.
Each of the Kirkland Signature frozen tilapia loins is individually wrapped, making it to make it easy to thaw just the amount I want to cook.
My teenage son has mastered a tilapia bake in the oven with Lawry’s garlic salt, black pepper, ground cumin, ground coriander, onions, and peppers.
He serves it with spaghetti for a seafood pasta that costs about $5 per person — way less than we’d pay at a restaurant for a similar meal.
Amylu Andouille chicken sausages are delicious.
My whole family loves the spicy Amylu Andouille chicken sausages. Sometimes we grill the entire links. Other times, I slice and cook them in a skillet with onions and peppers, and serve over rice.
I always buy a pack of Kirkland Signature organic eggs.
I like to combine Kirkland Signature organic eggs and some chicken sausage to make a baked egg casserole. However, these never go to waste, as the whole family enjoys having eggs for breakfast.
My whole family loves the Columbus turkey bacon.
No one in my family complained when I replaced pork bacon with Columbus uncured turkey bacon. This package includes four vacuum sealed packs, making it easy to portion and store.
Turkey bacon works great with eggs for breakfast, and as part of one of our favorite quick meals: bacon-chicken sandwiches.
I love buying Poppen smoked Norwegian salmon slices.
Costco is the only place near me I’ve been able to find Poppen smoked Norwegian salmon. The slices are thicker and easier to separate than most other smoked salmon I’ve bought.
Plus, it comes with a delicious honey-mustard dill dressing that makes it an easy meal to enjoy with pita bread, lettuce, and red onions.
Kirkland Signature chicken breast fillets taste great when baked or thrown in the air fryer.
We use the Kirkland Signature lightly breaded, fully cooked chicken breast fillets for those aforementioned bacon-chicken sandwiches.
They can be baked or air fried, and they’re a great shortcut for meals calling for breaded chicken.
The BelGioioso Italian cheese board is so versatile.
The BelGioioso Italian cheese board comes with slices of provolone, fontina, Parmesan, and Asiago.
These slices work great for cheeseburgers, grilled cheese sandwiches, or on a charcuterie board with crackers, fruit, and cold cuts.
Curious to know what other shoppers put in their carts? Check out our other Costco diaries here.
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