Costco Staples

I love Costco, but going there every week to buy groceries can be overwhelming, and often I find that I still need to hit up my regular grocery store as well to pick up the majority of my grocery list. We try to go to Costco maybe 2 times a month, but when we do, we stock up on some of our favorite staples.

Let’s just take a stroll around the warehouse. Because Costco can be so overwhelming, with so many options, I like to organize my Costco grocery list in order of which I’ll find them.

First up, the produce section.

Because it’s just the two of us, I don’t like to buy a ton of fresh food from Costco. We just can’t eat it before it goes bad. I usually get a few hearty items that I know will last a while, or that we eat regularly. These items include:

• Apples

• Carrots

• Grapefruit

• Bananas

• Strawberries or cherries if they’re in season

Sometimes, I do end up buying salad mixes, romaine hearts, and avocados. Salad mixes are great for lunches and I can stick any avocados I’m not planning on using right away in my fridge to extend their shelf life. The one thing we almost always avoid is the bakery section. Fresh baked goods go bad very quickly, and also, as tempting as they are, we don’t need 48 cookies or Danishes in our kitchen.

Next up, the meat section. This is where we do the most damage. We love to stock up on meat at Costco and then store it in our freezer until we use it. On any given day, we have at least 4 different types and cuts of meat on hand. Some of our favorites include:

• Chicken breast

• Chicken thigh (skin on, bone in)

• Ground beef

• Ribs

• Pork shoulder

My favorite section to look through for new items is the refrigerated section right next to the meat section. This is where you can find all sorts of dips, side dishes, entrées, and other goodies. We normally stock up on these:

• Breakfast sausage

• Tri-tip

• Carne Asada

• Scalloped potatoes (I personally don’t recommend these)

• Mashed potatoes (but these are great!)

• Fresh ravioli

After the refrigerated section, we circle to the back of the warehouse to pick up our paper goods, if we need them (don’t be a hoarder). We get your standard toilet paper, tissue paper, and paper towels. They also have flavored waters in the back which we often pick a pack of. Usually we get the Vitamin Water type waters but this time we tried out the Kirkland brand sparkling waters and they’re pretty good. Around this section, we also pick up our dish and laundry detergent as well.

Then we make our way to the freezer aisles. Like the refrigerated section, this is kind of a free for all. If we find something that looks good, we usually put it in our cart. These include things like:

• Frozen fruits and veggies

• Soup dumplings

• Chicken Cordon Bleu (which I haven’t seen in so long)

• Fried rice

• Fish (sometimes)

• Beyond Meat burger patties

• Bacon

• Butter

• Chobani individual yogurts

After the refrigerated section, we peruse the rest of the aisles, grabbing any other dry goods we may need (don’t forget the snack aisles in the middle!) Some of our staples are:

• Sandwich bread

• Coffee

• Stevia

• Peanut butter/ jelly/honey/maple syrup

• Granola/cereal/oatmeal

• Chicken stock

• Almond flour

• Spices

• Olive oil/avocado oil

• Pasta sauce

• Pasta/rice

• Soy sauce/barbeque sauce/teriyaki sauce (Kinders brand is our favorite)

• Canned refried beans/black beans/diced tomatoes

• Trail mixes/nut mix/coconut rollers

• Dried mango/Bobo’s oat bars (Bobo’s are a local brand and their bars and bites are so good!)

I know most of you probably shop at Costco pretty regularly, so what’s on your list of Costco staples and fun finds? Let me know in the comments.