Inside: Our typical Costco shopping list, perfect for families with two or more kids who want NEED to save money on groceries. Get the scoop on what’s tasty, worth buying and cheaper at Costco.
It’s no secret around here that we love Costco.
A year into the pandemic, Costco became an experience for the kids, a destination with books and toys to look at, samples to try, comfy couches to test, with a giant hot dog and soda at the end.
We’ve saved so much money on groceries by shifting more and more of our grocery spending here. Plus, the easy air fryer and ready-made foods are a lifeline for our family of seven.
Also, no Costco post can be complete without gushing about how much I love them as a company. From everything I’ve seen and read, their values completely align with ours, and that’s rare in 2026.
While some of our typical Costco shopping list has shifted over the years, especially as kids drop staple foods and pick up new ones, the Costco staples haven’t changed.
Let me introduce you to our favorites!
An aside: it’s SO frustrating when, after eating the same food daily for WEEKS, a picky eater wakes up one day and decides, hey, I think I’ll pull one over on mom by declaring that I’m done with my favorite food. And that usually happens right after I’ve stocked up on said food. Anyone else???
Related: 9 Secrets to Saving Money on Groceries without Coupons (or Aldi)
A Typical Costco Shopping List for Families
THIS POST PROBABLY CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS. AS AN AMAZON ASSOCIATE, I EARN FROM QUALIFYING PURCHASES. YOU CAN READ OUR FULL DISCLOSURE POLICY HERE.
I’m going to do my best to organize this list by category. Hopefully that will help you look for these items in a systematic way on your next Costco trip.
My only complaint about Costco is how often they move things! Especially some of our snack staples.
I get the marketing strategy – walk by more things, buy more stuff – but it can be frustrating when you can’t find your regular grocery items.
Always remember that Costco’s return policy is THE BEST. You can get your money back on anything you don’t love, so don’t hesitate to use it. I just got money back this week when they changed our favorite tomato soup, and we didn’t like it.
Costco Produce & Bakery Shopping List
Here are our Costco staples for produce and bakery. We don’t buy a ton here, simply because the portions are so HUGE.
Especially with produce, I hate seeing things go to waste. For example, even though their baby carrots are delicious, we simply don’t eat enough of them collectively to make it worth buying at Costco (if your family does, get them!).
- Honeycrisp Apples: we’re picky about crisp apples (spending years in New England will do that to you, I guess), and these are our favorite kind. We buy them at Costco in the off season, when they’re way too expensive at our local grocery store.
- Bell Peppers: we eat a lot of bell peppers! They keep a long time in the fridge, which makes them my favorite kind of produce.
- Fresh Berries: we only buy these when they’re in season. Strawberries, blueberries and raspberries (THIS salad is awesome) are such a good deal in the summertime.
- Baby Potatoes: for a year or more, we regularly roasted half a bag of these in the oven.
- French Baguette: sold in packs of two, this is a staple food for one of my picky eaters. He’ll eat it fresh for a couple of days, and then I turn the rest into garlic bread.
- Pumpkin Pie: this is a staple in our house from September through November! At $6 for a giant pie, you just can’t beat it.
Here are the bakery items (some in prepared foods) we love that are occasional treats…
- Dulce De Leche Triple Layer Cake: this rectangular bar cake is to die for. YUM. We get it for special occasions and birthdays.
- Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake: another rectangular bar cake that we get for Thanksgiving and usually one other time during the year, this cake is delicious.
- Chocolate Chip Cookies: skip the individual giant cookies that are overpriced at the front of the store and get a container of 18 cookies, instead.
- Cupcakes: if we need an easy dessert for an event, these are really good.
- Tiramisu Cups: I get these every year for my birthday. They come in packs of six, and we reuse the glass cups long-term!
- Lemon Blueberry Loaf: this is so yummy.
Costco Meats Grocery List
Here are the meats we regularly buy at Costco. Every family is different, so obviously the meats you buy will be slightly different than ours, but here’s what we buy.
- Chicken Tenders: sold in packs of six, with about 1.5 pounds per pack. Almost every meal that requires fresh chicken, this is what we use.
- Ground Turkey: they don’t always carry this, but when I see it, I grab it. We go through three pounds a week.
- Grass Fed Beef: we rarely eat beef at home, but I like to keep a few of these on hand for when we do.
- Mild Italian Sausage: this is typically around half the cost of the grocery store. We use it for simple sausage, peppers and onions meals.
- Cracked Pepper & Parmesan Chicken Sausage: I use this for my healthy chicken sausage stir fry. It’s SO delicious, packed with flavor so it requires very little additional seasoning.
- Rotisserie Chicken: no Costco shopping list would be complete without rotisserie chicken! As of this writing, they are still $5 each, and we get 1-2 every single time we go. I shred it as soon as I get home and freeze it or use it right away.
Related: 27 Easy Costco Rotisserie Chicken Recipes (Because $5 Is a Steal!)
Costco Prepared Foods Shopping List
We keep these on hand for my husband to make for himself for lunch during the work week if we don’t have leftovers.
He hates to cook, and I don’t LOVE love cooking, so these prepared foods are a lifesaver!
- Fresh Meatballs: we go through phases with these. The teriyaki pineapple ones are yummy, but we more frequently buy the basil pesto meatballs. They are delicious on their own, or as part of a meal.
- Chicken “Burgers”: these are part of the rotation, and they freeze well. They’re not AMAZING, but they’re pretty good.
- Tomato Basil Soup: they recently switched this at our local Costco for the Kirkland brand, and while I usually like Kirkland’s products, it’s not as good in my opinion. My kids use it as a dip for grilled cheese, so they don’t notice as much. If they bring back the old brand, I highly recommend it as a soup!
- Panera’s Broccoli Cheddar Soup: the prices at Panera lately, MAN. But the price is so much better at Costco. Pair it with baguette or top with croutons for a complete meal.
- Pulled Pork: we buy this a couple times a year. One of my kids and I love pulled pork sandwiches. We use half for a meal and freeze the rest for later.
- Scalloped Potatoes: why go to the effort to make scalloped potatoes when you can get them at Costco? Seriously. They’re delicious.
- Irish Beef Stew: a must-have in the winter!
Costco Frozen Aisle Grocery List
The frozen section was our first major draw to Costco. We’d tried BJs and Sam’s Club before, and nothing really appealed to us. But Costco consistently had the items we enjoyed, which is why we stuck with it.
We have a small deep freezer in our laundry room, which is why we can purchase frozen items in bulk.
- Just Bare Chicken Nuggets (Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Chunks): in my opinion, these are the closest you’ll get to Chick-fil-a nuggets at home. They’re so easy, my 7-year-old can make them in the air fryer herself!
- Cilantro Chicken Wontons: these are super delicious, and even better with a teriyaki glaze or Japanese barbeque sauce drizzled on top.
- Pork Wontons: one of my kids prefers these won-tons.
- Green Chile Chicken Firecrackers: a great snack or easy meal made in the air fryer. We do a lot of grazing in our house.
- Frozen Meatballs: these make for super easy meatball subs.
- Marie Callendar Pot Pies: one of our kids gets most of his vegetables with these, and my oldest used to eat them regularly.
- Frozen Individual Pizzas: this is an on again, off again thing for us. But we’ve definitely relied on them in the past, whether it be Kirkland brand or a different brand.
- Frozen Fruit: strawberries and blueberries are occasionally cheaper here than the local grocery store.
Many of these are staples, but they regularly feature new products as a test, which we are happy to try!
Related: A Week of Grocery Spending in 2024 ($350 a Week for a Family of 7)
Costco Dairy and Bread Shopping List
We save so much on these staple grocery items compared to our local grocery store.
- Heavy Cream: we get a quart every time we got, and it’s easily $2 cheaper. We use heavy cream in our cooking regularly.
- Eggs (Brown & White): sold by the two dozen, these are definitely cheaper than the local store!
- Salted Butter: a little bit cheaper than the local grocery store, we go through so much butter that buying in bulk is worth it.
- Whipped Cream: we use whipped cream for hot chocolate, waffles and sometimes pancakes. Sold in packs of three, it keeps for a long time in the fridge.
- Yogurt: we rotate the kinds of yogurt we get and how frequently we get it. If individual yogurts are on sale, we give them a try.
- Meier’s Italian Sandwich Bread: this is our regular sandwich bread, and $2.50 a loaf is much cheaper than the regular price. When it’s not BOGO at the grocery store, I get it at Costco.
- Naan: I love chicken BBQ naan pizzas in the air fryer. And when I make Italian wedding soup, my kids love dipping toasted naan in the broth.
- Hawaiian Sweet Rolls: this has been an on again off again grocery list item for us. Our kids used to love ham and cheese sliders, and they are slowly making a come back. So much cheaper at Costco than the local store.
- Dave’s Killer Bread: my husband has been on a healthy eating kick for the past two years, so we buy this bread regularly. It freezes well!
- Hamburger Buns: half the price for decent quality hamburger buns? Yes, please! We keep them in the freezer and defrost individually.
- English Muffins (Occasional): our local grocery store regularly puts these on sale for buy one get two free, and we don’t eat them enough to make it worth getting them at Costco frequently. But if my kids liked English Muffin pizzas (instead of bagel pizzas), I would buy them at Costco all the time because the price is right.
Costco Grocery, Snacks & Drinks Grocery List
This last category is a catchall for any food items not covered in previous categories.
- Nutella: we use this for peanut butter and nutella sandwiches, and pretzel rods dipped in nutella.
- Honey Nut Cheerios: one of our kids eats this regularly.
- Kellogg’s Extra Berries Special K: a recent addition, we enjoy this cereal.
- Olive Oil: much cheaper than the local store.
- Vegetable Oil: one of our kids enjoys homemade fries, so we buy vegetable oil in bulk.
- Better Than Boullion: I keep a jar of this in the fridge on the off chance that I’m out of chicken stock. It keeps forever and works well in a pinch.
- Rice: We get one giant bag a year, or so.
- Heinz’s Simply Ketchup: sold in big bottles of three, this is our favorite Ketchup.
- Maple Syrup & Fake Syrup: we buy both of these from Costco – so much cheaper!
- Spices: from Minced Onion to Garlic Powder to Chili Powder, Costco has it all for less. I typically refill my McCormick jars with my Costco spices (because space in the spice cabinet, and keep the rest in the pantry.
- Cinnamon: For all the baking things.
- Vanilla: SO much cheaper than the store.
- Chocolate Chips: dear Costco, please bring back Kirkland brand chocolate chips? Pretty please? In the meantime, we will reluctantly buy Nestle’s.
- Ghirardelli Brownie Mix: we buy maybe 1-2 of these a year. There are 6 packages per box.
- Krusteaz Pancake Mix: this giant bag lasts forever! And it’s the easiest breakfast to customize – add frozen blueberries or chocolate chips as you go.
- Pumpkin Bread Mix (Seasonal): when they sell this bread mix, we buy it. So good!
- Little Bites Muffins: one of my kids eats these regularly. They currently have cake mix and blueberry. They also have chocolate chip in the Kirkland brand.
- Goldfish (Former): if your kids love to snack on goldfish, they are so much cheaper at Costco! We go through goldfish phases in our house.
- Scoops Tortilla Chips: why are chips so freaking expensive right now?! We keep these on hand all the time to go with our 20-minute chicken tortilla soup. You could also keep them for snacks with guacamole cups, also cheaper at Costco.
- Chocolate Chip Granola Bars: these died out with the kids about a year ago. But they were a shopping list staple for a long time, and the Kirkland brand is packed with chocolate chips.
- Starbucks Hot Chocolate Mix (Seasonal): ridiculously cheap in a large tin, this is one of our favorite hot chocolate mixes. We also use it to make Mochas at home.
- Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate Packets: sold in boxes with 30 packets each, a few kids enjoy this hot chocolate more than Starbucks (crazies).
- Seltzer Water: I rotate which brands I get in the spring and summer, usually whatever is on sale. They have Spin drift, Waterloo, Polar Springs, and more – so many options.
Related: 27 Easy Snacks for Kids (Mostly Healthy Options)
Costco Paper Goods Shopping List
Again, it’s SO much cheaper to get your paper goods and kitchen staples in bulk at Costco.
- Paper Towels: so much cheaper when you buy in bulk!
- Toilet Paper: we used to get this through Amazon subscribe and save, but it’s just as easy to get it at Costco and maybe a bit cheaper? Toilet paper price comparisons break my brain. We are trying to shift more of our spending to Costco.
- Foil: we use this to make pizza bagels in the toaster oven.
- Parchment Paper: we use this all the time for easy clean up baking.
- Gallon-Sized Ziplocs: I recently switched to Kirkland gallon ziploc bags, and they’re amazing. Another purchase I moved from Amazon subscribe & save.
- Toothpaste: I used to get toothpaste for free couponing…$2.20 a piece will have to do.
- Bath Towels: I’m just starting to dive into the home goods section at Costco, and their bath towels rock! At $7 a towel, you can’t go wrong.
Meals Ideas to Go With Your Costco Shopping List
I’m sure I’m forgetting things, so I will update this list as I remember them.
Unfortunately, sometimes Costco stops carrying things if they’re not popular enough. But many of the items on this list are staple items they will continue carrying long-term.
Here are several posts with Costco meal ideas…
- 20-Minute Stovetop Chicken Tortilla Soup
- 27 Easy Costco Rotisserie Chicken Recipes
- 27+ Easy Costco Meal Ideas (Low Prep & Delicious)
- 20-Minute Healthy Costco Chicken Sausage Stir Fry
- Simple & Sweet Rotisserie Chicken Salad
What’s on your Costco shopping list? Share in the comments: I’d love to hear!
