One of the best Costco hacks is to stock up there with everything you’ll need for an epic bulk cooking session. Costco offers warehouse-size quantities that can easily be broken up into smaller portions for multiple meals and at affordable per-serving prices.
But don’t just stop with the food — it’s also a great place to stock up on tools you’ll need for meal prepping like storage containers, time-saving appliances, and more.
We curated 15 ideal Costco finds to help make your next batch cooking session a breeze.
Editor’s note: Prices are subject to change and may vary by location.
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Rotisserie Chicken
Price: $4.99
One of Costco’s most popular items is their fully-cooked and seasoned rotisserie chicken. It is served in a bag for just $4.99, and is great on its own or as part of a recipe.
Shred up a whole rotisserie chicken to use in this week’s tacos, casseroles, pastas, salads, and more.
MIU Stainless Steel Colanders
Price: $29.99
Food prep usually requires washing tons of fresh produce, legumes, and other ingredients like cooked pasta will need a place to get drained.
Always have a clean colander on hand with this set of three that comes out to just $10 each.
Ground Turkey
Price: $24.59
Ground turkey is a healthier alternative to other meat options, and is a popular substitute for ground beef. This hormone-free, steroid-free, 93% lean, flavorful protein option is available in a four-pack of 1.7 pounds of meat for just under $25.
Cook and toss it in chilis, burger patties, casseroles, chili, and more. Store what you can’t get to in the freezer to use for a future bulk cooking plan.
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Greek Yogurt
Price: $6.99
Greek yogurt can be used in so many meal prep options. This yogurt is often used as the base of breakfasts like frozen smoothie squares, overnight oats and chia, and fruit and yogurt parfaits.
Greek yogurt is also ideal for adding to make-ahead muffins and breads to add protein and fluffiness to the mix.
Oats
Price: $9.99
Ten pounds of rolled oats may sound like overkill, but as a meal prep staple, you’ll be glad to always have some hand. Use them in baked goods like cookies and breads, add them to a meatloaf, make a bowl of them on the stove, or soak them for tasty overnight oats.
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10-piece Ultimate Glass Food Storage Set
Price: $49.99
These versatile glass bowls with lids can be used for preparing ingredients in or to store chopped produce and leftovers for future meals.
They’re dishwasher, microwave, oven, and freezer-safe, and the see-through glass lids make it easy to identify the contents from any angle.
Basil Pesto
Price: $10.69
Instead of blending up pesto from scratch, this customer-loved 22-ounce jar version will make your next bulk cooking day that much faster. Add it to pastas, salads, or marinate chicken in it before grilling for a flavor-packed meal.
While the product is made in the United States, the basil is 100% imported from Italy.
Thai Hom Mali Jasmine Rice
Price: $21.99
Costco sells a 25-pound bag of high-quality, kosher, long grain Thai Hom Mali Jasmine Rice for the mind-bafflingly low price of $21.99.
Cook up a large batch of rice at the beginning of the week to reheat up for lunches and dinners, or stir fry with leftover veggies for another meal.
Midea 11-quart Dual Basket Air Fryer Oven
Price: $99.99
When you’re meal-prepping and short on oven space, this air fryer oven can step in and cook some things in a fraction of the time (and with less unhealthy oils).
The best part? This multi-cooker has two drawers with see-thru windows so you can view your items as they cook.
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Dry Pinto Beans
Price: $21.59
Like rice, legumes have a long shelf life, and stocking items like beans and lentils ensure your meals are filled with healthy proteins.
Cook them ahead of time and toss them in salads, grain bowls, tacos, casseroles, side dishes, and more.
Organic Spinach
Price: $4.89
Nutrient-dense organic spinach can turn bad more quickly because of the lack of preservatives, so you may need to freeze some of this spinach before you finish it, but for less than $5, it’s a no-brainer purchase — especially if you’re getting multiple salads and bowls ready ahead of the week ahead.
Use the spinach as a salad base, in a protein bowl, pasta, smoothie, or dip.
Henckels 3-Piece Cutting Boards
Price: $24.99
It’s always a good idea to have multiple cutting boards when you’re bulk cooking to avoid cross contamination. This affordable coordinating three-piece set is made of food-safe polypropylene.
They’re easy to store, reversible, and lightweight enough to grab at any time of day to prepare your food — and they’re dishwasher-safe.
Frozen Festival Fruit Blend
Price: $24.19
Stocking frozen berries, stone fruit, bananas, and more in your freezer is super convenient for putting together smoothie packs, ready to blend up for the week, or adding to muffins and other baked goods.
Another plus? You won’t have to worry about the fruit going bad if you don’t end up using it for one week.
Immersion Blender with Food Processor
Price: $48.99
This four-cup food processor is perfect for quickly chopping up produce, saving you lots of time and hand fatigue.
There’s even a detachable blade shaft to transform the appliance into an immersion blender if you’re making soups for the week.
10-Piece Knife Block Set
Price: $58.99
Food prepping with the right blades makes a huge difference in time and energy, so make sure you have a versatile high-quality set of knives within reach.
The high-carbon fine-edged blades on this set are meant to stay sharper longer, and it comes packaged in a convenient (and beautiful) knife block.
Bottom line
Bulk cooking and meal prepping are great ways to save more money, and buying items in bulk that you’ll use during your batch cooking at Costco will help your budget even more.
As always, just make sure to stick to your list and only buy ingredients and products you’re actually going to use.
Lucrative, Flat-Rate Cash Rewards
FinanceBuzz writers and editors score cards based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.
Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card
Current Offer
$200 cash rewards bonus after spending $500 in purchases in the first 3 months
Annual Fee
$0
Rewards Rate
Earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases
Benefits
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Drawbacks
- Foreign transaction fee of 3%
- No bonus categories
- Select “Apply Now” to take advantage of this specific offer and learn more about product features, terms and conditions.
- Earn a $200 cash rewards bonus after spending $500 in purchases in the first 3 months.
- Earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases.
- 0% intro APR for 12 months from account opening on purchases and qualifying balance transfers. 19.49%, 24.49%, or 29.49% Variable APR thereafter; balance transfers made within 120 days qualify for the intro rate and fee of 3% then a BT fee of up to 5%, min: $5.
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