15 Best Costco Meals to Make When You’re Too Tired to Cook

Between working full-time, household tasks, taking care of our families, and finding ways to avoid money stress, it’s a wonder any of us have time to get things done. Unfortunately, for the most part, we don’t.

With so little time on our hands, it’s often meal preparation that gets lost in the shuffle. If the last thing that you feel like doing after work is making dinner, then this list is for you.

Here are some incredibly easy meals you can make using ready-made items or ingredients from your local Costco.

Translating into the phrase “fire meat,” bulgogi is a Korean dish made of high-end beef cuts coated in a sweet and savory sauce. Mandu, on the other hand, are Korean-style dumplings.

Combine the two and what you get is absolute deliciousness. Plus, these dumplings are ready in only eight minutes.

If someone tells you Costco’s Petite Cuisine Mozzarella Sticks aren’t a full meal, they just might be right. But there are easy ways to rectify the situation. Simply pair a quick salad with these delicious mozzarella sticks and you’ve got yourself a meal.

Have a favorite local place for Chinese takeout? While it’s great to support local businesses, it’s not always the best thing for your wallet. Luckily, you can mimic some of your favorite dishes at home with the help of the Costco frozen foods section.

This highly-rated mandarin chicken comes fully cooked. All you need to do is heat it and add some rice and/or veggies.

Burgers are such an obvious choice that we almost didn’t include them on this list. However, we would be remiss if we didn’t let you know that Costco’s Kirkland house brand makes a great burger patty.

This classic American meal also happens to be one of the easiest ones to put together. Just add a toasted bun and your favorite toppings. Heads up: Hamburger buns will last quite a while if you freeze them.

Since its inception in 1995, Kirkland Signature has come to be known as an indicator of quality. Luckily, Costco offers a wide variety of products under the Kirkland brand, including these tasty chicken bakes.

Made from an enticing blend of cheeses (mozzarella, provolone, parmesan), these chicken bakes are also stuffed with bacon, green onions, and Caesar dressing. Not bad for a quick weeknight meal.

Pesto is one of those foods that tastes amazing homemade. However, there’s no denying that making it yourself takes a lot of work (and equipment). Plus, recipes that include pine nuts can be very expensive. Have you seen the price of pine nuts?

Fortunately, Costco offers a delicious pre-made frozen pesto product. Simply heat it, boil some pasta, and enjoy.

Sizzling fajitas at a restaurant are great, but Costco offers a ready-made fajita bowl that makes a delicious weeknight dinner. 

Instead of the other options on this list which require you to make pasta or rice to accompany your meal, this fajita bowl comes ready to go with chicken, fajita sauce, peppers, and grain.

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These taquitos come already frozen and are easy to make. All you have to do is pop them in the oven or microwave and wait for them to heat up. Made from real cheese, charbroiled chicken breast, and flour tortillas, they’re a wonderful after-work snack or meal.

Sometimes the most simple meals are the best ones. Often underappreciated and misunderstood, the cheese pizza is not just the choice of picky eaters and children at a birthday party.

Pizza is also a delicious meal, especially when it’s dunked in your favorite hot sauce or even just ranch dressing. This Costco-brand pizza is made from 100% real cheese and comes with a delicious breadcrumb crust.

There’s a misconception out there that all prepackaged/ready-made meals are unhealthy. This might have been true at a time when microwave dinners were all the rage, but it’s simply not true any longer.

Case in point: This turkey and bacon cobb salad bowl comes complete with fresh iceberg lettuce and a hard-boiled egg.

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Costco is famous for its rotisserie chicken. Not surprisingly, the company loses money on these chickens, which it sets at a bargain-low price point.

However, since you have to travel to the back of the store to pick up one of these chickens, Costco likely makes up for its losses when shoppers pick up other items. Aside from eating the chickens on your own, you can also cut them up and add them to a stir fry or soup.

A stir-fry on its own is already a pretty quick meal. But, a stir fry out of a box is even quicker. The best news? It tastes way better than “stir fry from a box” sounds.

Made from all-natural ingredients, these Japanese-style noodles come with a delicious savory sauce and frozen vegetables. Another item on this list that’s suitable for vegetarians.

If somebody tries to tell you that a ham and cheese croissant isn’t a suitable meal on its own, then we give you permission to scoff at them. It’s obvious they haven’t spent a great deal of time in France.

These delicious pastries are perfect for when you’re looking for a small dinner or are feeling too burnt out to cook.

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Made from wild Alaskan pollock, these breaded pieces of fish are the perfect accompaniment to a rice or pasta dish. They’re packed with protein, super versatile, and help change things up a bit if you’re tired of eating chicken for the fourth time that week.

Chicken pot pies are about the closest thing to comfort food that you can get. However, there’s a lot of prep that goes into making them, from chopping vegetables to making a sauce. Not to mention if you’re making your own crust from scratch.

Luckily, we live in modern times, and modern times allow us to have a delicious ready-made chicken pot pie at the ready. Pick one up at Costco and see for yourself.

Energy seems to come at a premium these days, and you need to conserve yours whenever you can. Next time you’re wondering what you’re going to make for dinner, try these quick and easy Costco meals.

If you have more than one Costco in your area, don’t forget to check each of them out — different locations tend to carry different products. You can also save more when you shop by using one of these top credit cards for Costco shoppers.