By Wirecutter Staff
Costco offers virtually anything you can think of, from a $950 wheel of cheese to car rentals. But it’s the great buys on staples and little luxuries that keep us coming back. To help you navigate the store’s vast offerings, Wirecutter experts assembled some of their favorite Costco purchases.
Note: Some of Costco’s products are only visible online depending on your location, so you may not be able to purchase all items on this list.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTKerrygold Pure Irish Butter
Kerrygold is some of the best supermarket butter you can get. It has a higher fat content than your average grocery-store butter. This means it’s soft and silky—not waxy and crumbly—even right out of the fridge. And it’s made with milk from grass-fed cows, which gives it a richer flavor and a beautiful golden color. Kerrygold is widely available in stores, but only Costco sells a 2-pound box of it, both in salted and unsalted varieties.
“We’re a butter-heavy household, and we go through a Costco box every month or two. My husband turns some of it into ghee for cooking, while the rest goes into baking projects or gets spread on my morning toast. At this point, I’ll never buy anything else,” says kitchen senior editor Marguerite Preston.
Nuts
The large bags of Kirkland Signature brand nuts at Costco are a great value across the board. Not only are they less expensive than nuts you’ll typically find elsewhere, but they’re also consistently super fresh.
“I’ve never gotten a batch that tastes stale or rancid. They’re always sweet and delicious,” says Marguerite, who goes through bags and bags of the raw pecans and whole almonds in her household. Marguerite prefers the raw ones because they’re more versatile for cooking––and you can always toast and season some to your liking if you want.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTPure Vanilla Extract
If you’re someone who bakes frequently, it doesn’t take very long to run through those teeny tiny bottles of grocery store vanilla extract. The Costco Pure Vanilla Extract is 16 fluid ounces of well-balanced extract that is perfect for all sorts of basic recipes—from cookies to banana bread. “I love the Costco vanilla extract for casual recipes. It’s a really great deal! And I save my pricier Nielsen-Massey vanilla bean paste for recipes where the vanilla really needs to shine,” says kitchen senior staff writer Lesley Stockton.
Universal Bakery Traditional Aussie Bites
Although they look like nothing more exceptional than little puck-shaped granola bars, Aussie Bites are truly in a league of their own. They have a rich, buttery flavor (butter is the third ingredient), and a soft, crumbly texture that’s somewhere between a chewy oatmeal cookie and cake.
“They’re packed with good things like oats, coconut, sunflower seeds, and dried apricots, and somehow manage to avoid the cardboardy, dusty oat flavor that is the downfall of so many granola bars I try,” says Marguerite. In fact, they’re so good that one Wirecutter editor caught her local coffee shop selling them for several bucks a pop.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTKirkland Signature Albacore Solid White Tuna in Water
Deputy editor Christine Cyr Clisset, who grew up in a commercial fishing family that fished for and canned their own tuna, swears by Kirkland Signature tuna. “My family has a high bar for canned tuna, and we all love Kirkland’s quality. The meat is firm, which means they’re using whole cuts to can. When you open a mushy can of tuna, they’re generally canning lower-quality bits and pieces. The cans from Costco are really delicious and I'm always sad when I have to eat tuna from the grocery store instead.” Her favorite preparation is a tuna-salad sandwich liberally sprinkled with pickled jalapenos.
Novaform ComfortGrande Mattress (Queen)
There’s a reason we picked the Novaform ComfortGrande as our best foam mattress under $1,000. It’s a great value! As we write in our guide, it’s “made from layers of foam that are as dense (and probably as durable) as the foam in many of the mattresses that cost twice as much. Testers loved its cuddly yet supportive feel, but some found it to be too firm.” You can often find it even cheaper in the warehouse at the same time as online sales, so as long as you have a way to haul this bed-in-a-box to its home (it’s not huge but it is heavy!), you’ll save yourself some cash.
Time it for predictable mattress sale seasons, and you can get steeper discounts—even if you don’t get the timing perfectly right. “I was shopping at Costco just before Labor Day and couldn’t wait on buying a mattress, so I purchased the Novaform and lugged it home,” says supervising editor Marilyn Ong. “Sure enough, it went on sale days later. I returned to Costco with just the receipt and they refunded the difference.”
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTEmbryolisse Facial Moisturizer
Don’t sleep on Costco’s beauty section–they often stock multipacks of high-end products at a big discount. We were thrilled to see classic French skincare brand Embryolisse on the shelves. Senior beauty editor Jen Hunter loves the creamy, lightweight Lait Crème Concentré. “It’s basic in the best way,” she says. “It doesn’t try to do too much with a lot of potentially irritating ingredients. It just moisturizes and soothes my extra sensitive skin.” Bought separately, a 2.54 ounce tube usually costs around 30 bucks, so two big tubes for under $40 is a steal.
Deals!
Costco is often a really good value ($5 rotisserie chicken), though we do recommend that you comparison shop before making any big purchases. And they often have great deals on those already-solid prices. The Wirecutter Deals team tracks prices on Wirecutter picks every day of the year, and they regularly see great discounts on Apple products, and kitchen items like our budget pick immersion blender, the Braun MultiQuick 7, and one of our favorite mug warmers, the Ember Mug² (grey only). “Costco offers semi-regular discounts on some Wirecutter picks at lower prices than we see at other retailers anytime outside of Black Friday,” says Deals senior editor Nathan Burrow.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTMentioned above
- This Costco-sold mattress provides extreme comfort at a reasonable price and is built to work for almost anyone.Why We Love the Novaform ComfortGrande Mattress
- A great memory-foam mattress hugs, cuddles, and cradles you just right. We’ve tested dozens to find three we recommend.The Best Memory Foam Mattresses You Can Buy Online
- In our quest for the best immersion blender, we've considered 63 models, interviewed pros, and pureed gallons of soup, smoothies, and sauces. Here's what we found.The Best Immersion Blender
- If you rarely get to enjoy your coffee or tea before it gets cold, we can relate. Here are a few great ways to make sure every sip is a warm one.The 3 Mug Warmers We Love for Keeping Our Coffee (and Tea) Hot
Further reading
It’s No Secret: We’re Big Fans of Costco
by Ganda Suthivarakom
In this week's newsletter: A lot of us here shop at Costco, so we’re always excited when we see top picks we recommend being sold there at great prices.
4 Ways Wirecutter Staffers Spark Joy While Working From Home
by Sarah Witman
These are the tried-and-true strategies of our experienced work-from-home team to make working from home suck less.
The Best Cheap Mattresses (Under $500)
by Caira Blackwell
It takes some effort, but you can find a decent, comfortable mattress that won’t break the bank. Here are five we recommend.
The Best Mattresses for Back Pain
by Joanne Chen
There is no actual “best” mattress for back-pain sufferers, though one that feels medium-firm to you is likely to be the best choice. We have six to recommend.
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