14 Costco Staples That Taste Homemade

There are few things more unfortunate than spending hours in your kitchen on dinner or dessert only to be tragically disappointed by the end result. Cooking is fun, sure, but what if you could achieve a tasty, hearty meal while preventing these culinary disappointments from happening in the first place? That's where Costco comes in. With shelves of to-go salads, snacks, and dinners that can last you through the week, Costco has an abundance of meals that may remind you of (and in some cases, are actually even better than) their homemade counterparts. Even the most seasoned home cooks might be humbled by the variety of high-quality dishes and snacks at the popular retailer. You may be used to making many of these at home, but after taking the plunge and buying them at Costco, it will be nearly impossible for you to pick your kitchen knife back up. 

Costco shoppers have flocked online to sing their praises about these dishes. We scoured customer reviews across several platforms and relied on personal experience to create this list. From meatloaf, to shepherd's pie, to its delectably popular chicken pot pie, these Costco foods don't just have convenience and low-cost going for them: They're good enough to remind us of homemade. 

Instead of buying basil, pine nuts, and Parmesan cheese at the grocery store to make a woefully small batch of pesto, Costco's got you covered for less than the price of those ingredients and double the flavor. As with most items on Costco shelves, this one's big — the pesto comes large 22-ounce container that will last a whole lot longer than a homemade batch. Moreover, at under $12, the return on your pesto investment is sky-high. 

The ease and affordability of picking this vibrant green jar off the shelf is only outshined by its better-than-homemade taste. Imported Italian basil and only a handful of other ingredients like garlic, sea salt, and extra virgin olive oil combine in a classic but deliciously fresh sauce you can use for just about anything — coating pasta, dolloping on pizza, or as an unexpectedly bright topping on a burger or sandwich.

It may seem like an exciting project to whip up your own tuna poke bowls in your home kitchen, but Costco's ready-made versions taste authentic and are great for meal prepping throughout the week. These poke bowls are made daily and are available in the deli section, bringing fresh, high-quality seafood to your table. There are actually a couple of different poke bowls to choose from to scratch any flavor-itch you might have, including a creamier, spicy poke and a pungent, sharp wasabi poke. Both iterations are topped with green onion and tossed with sesame seeds, and they are packaged in large portions for around $21 each. 

Steam some rice and add lettuce and radishes like this homemade Korean poke bowl, portion it out for the days ahead, and you have a week's worth of sweet and spicy lunch that will put homemade flavor in your kitchen, no cooking necessary. You'll feel like a bona fide chef without cluttering your kitchen with dirty pans and mixing bowls.

Okay, let's get the obvious out of the way: No packaged snack can truly recreate the charred, overly sweet goodness of a freshly made s'more. But as special as this snack is when assembled beside a roaring flame, it leaves in its wake an unfortunate mess of stickiness and smoke. Costco's s'mores clusters have the gooey warmth of a campfire treat without all the cleanup and hassle. The sticky, kettle-cooked caramel is sweet and decadent enough to trick you into believing you're biting into an oozing marshmallow straight from the fire. 

Consumer beware, though: These snacks are dangerously tasty, with reviewers across the web touting how difficult it is not to finish the entire bag in one shot and their desire to buy several bags at once. At under $13 a pack, Kirkland's Caramel S'mores Clusters won't burn a hole in your wallet or your marshmallow.

While a homemade Caesar dressing might not be worth the effort, Costco's salad kit has that characteristic restaurant-quality richness that is difficult to replicate at home. This box contains crisp romaine lettuce, grated Parmesan cheese, toasted croutons, a lemon wedge, and, of course, Costco's in-house Caesar dressing made with classic ingredients like anchovies, egg yolks, and mustard. Eaters of this salad say it is incredibly easy to put together and emphasize the salad's fresh flavor; it tastes like one you'd make right at home in the best way possible. 

As one of the best aspects of a homemade salad is access to garden-fresh ingredients, the fact that Costco has this detail covered is an awesome bonus that means the comfort of a delicious salad is always closer than you think. The salad also comes with two separate dressing containers, so those who like their salad dressed on the lighter side have full control. For those who like it more heavily dressed, feel free to use both packs and drench it just as you would at home.

Consumers rave about this beef chili from Costco, which is topped with cheddar cheese and ready much faster than one made on your stovetop. Bean-truthers can rest easy, as this chili features an abundance of pinto beans suspended in a richly spiced gravy with a mountain of ground beef for good measure. No more wasting time chopping onions and garlic for a chili that might be less than the sum of its parts. This chili, according to some reviewers online, even beats out Costco's incredibly popular rotisserie chicken in terms of its best food item. For around $20, you can get a 4-pound tub of chili that will freeze beautifully for months. 

While many love Its homey simplicity, others say the chili is begging for a homemade touch. If you want to add a little something later in the week as you get down to the last of the chili in your fridge, upgrade it with a little pickle brine. This improvement recreates the flavors of your chili and it will feel like the classic recipe of your youth, good as new.

There's something so cozily informal about chicken and waffles that it often seems like a homemade dinner, even if it doesn't sound like the most pleasurable dinner to make at home. Costco's version of the homey meal eliminates the splattery fuss of deep-frying chicken and pulling your waffle iron from the void of your appliance closet. This meal comes with four sweet waffles and as many pieces of fried chicken, making this an excellent choice for a family dinner that saves time and money while serving up double the flavor. And speaking of flavor: If you want a little extra sweetness or need to kick things up a notch, Costco includes both real maple syrup and a fiery hot honey you can drizzle all over this indulgent meal. 

Trying to achieve the signature balance of sweetness from maple syrup and the savoriness from peppery fried chicken is a tall order in your home kitchen, which is where Costco comes to the rescue. Reviewers are pleasantly surprised by this relatively new addition to the retailer's prepared food section, which marries real maple syrup, soft waffles, and fried chicken which crisps up again wonderfully in the oven.

With creamy, buttery mashed potatoes and a sweet, sticky meatloaf that bakes in under an hour, you won't believe you aren't eating this at a restaurant. Two pats of real butter sit on top of the mashed potatoes, ready to melt once you stick them in your oven. The potatoes are made from Yukon golds, which make dense, decadent mashed potatoes, and might actually be the very best potato for mashed potatoes.

 Along with the very filling, onion-laced meatloaf, this is consistently rated among the best options Costco has to offer in its prepared food sections. One of the best parts is that it bakes in its own container, so no need to dirty another pan just to reheat this meal at home. If you're not won over by the smell of the meatloaf and the potatoes wafting from your oven, the taste will do the trick. You'll come home from your Costco trip with a feast worthy of the finest chefs and no mess or disappointment to speak of.

This creamy, simple dessert in Costco's bakery section serves up deliciousness without hours of baking a cheesecake at home. Thankfully, Costco's cheesecake, both the original and its many variations — including tiramisu — is near-universally obsessed over, and for good reason. There are actually four components to this dessert: a sweet piping of frosting, a thin layer of a tangy sour cream topping, the rich cheesecake itself, and a crunchy, toasty graham cracker crust. Whipping up something this elegantly straightforward at home would be a journey you might not want to embark on. Moreover, each slice costs about a dollar, which is almost too good to pass up. 

Costco does sell seasonal specialty cheesecakes, such as cherry and pumpkin, but the simplicity of the Kirkland Signature cheesecake makes it a wonderful blank canvas for you to work your own artistry if the urge strikes. Top with berries or other seasonal fruit and this will taste like you spent hours and hours on it.

A classic for a reason, Costco's pumpkin pie features a glossy custard that would impress even the most seasoned piemakers. Its subtle but warming taste will take you right back to your grandparents' kitchen during the holidays, smelling of sweetness and spice. Some reviewers say it tastes as close to homemade as any store bought pie they've had. This is likely because the very first ingredient in this pie is pumpkin itself, rather than some highly processed mystery substance. In other words, you could say you spent several loving hours constructing this pie, and people would be quick to believe you.

At a whopping 58 ounces, this pie is massive, and even more mouthwatering with a sub-$7 price tag. As the weather gets cooler and the idea of leaving the warm blankets on the couch and making dessert becomes less and less exciting, this pie will be just the ticket. In theory, it will last days and days in your fridge (or even longer in your freezer), but if those online are any indication, it will be gone long before then.

Rather than making time-consuming cupcakes and an unpredictable buttercream that might fall short, Costco's chocolate birthday cupcakes pack a sweet flavor into an adorable, convenient package. Featuring moist cake, silky buttercream, and colorful confetti sprinkles, Costco's cupcakes are an amazing option when you got everything covered for a party except the dessert. 

According to someone claiming to be a Costco bakery manager on Reddit, these relatively recent additions to the warehouse are here to stay. They apparently are replacing Costco's previously popular mini cakes, which were quite a bit larger. In this more manageable size, however, you can feed a crowd without needing to divide up slices. For $8.99, you can have a dozen cupcakes worthy of any home baking aficionados. If chocolate doesn't float your boat, Costco has vanilla versions that are just as cute, colorful, and easy to snatch from the shelves.

This item needs little introduction. The Costco chicken pot pie is a flaky meal that freezes well, making this a dinner that pays. Though its sturdy, flaky crust is a delicious addition, online reviews emphasize how many vegetables are packed into the filling, which adds a more intense savoriness to the thyme-tinged gravy. The flavor of the filling is so good that Costco's pot pie clears the one from Sam's Club in a side-by-side taste test. Not only that, but the addition of carrots, peas, and other bright and colorful veggies makes this a dish that's as pretty as it is delicious. 

Try adding an egg wash to the prim lattice crust before you bake it for a pie that practically glows when it comes out of your oven at home. As with most things from Costco, the chicken pot pie is quite large, and at around $22 a pop, very good value as well. It would be a restless afternoon rolling out pie crust and chopping vegetables to get a chicken pot pie that looks and tastes half this buttery and wholesome.

Though it seems rather modest in appearance, this loaf in Costco's bakery actually hides a deep sweetness that customers rave about. Studded with plenty of cranberries and walnuts, this bread delivers on its promise with a moist, dark crumb. Have it toasted with butter, or, better yet, use it in place of regular sandwich bread for a twist on your classic French toast recipe.  

Breadmaking at home can be rewarding when it turns out correctly, but a million little conditions like humidity, heat, and the strength of your yeast can completely deflate your glutinous dreams. Like many of Costco's bakery selections, the cranberry walnut bread has spawned numerous copycat recipes across the internet — but at the end of the day, you'll be so grateful you stuck with the convenience and yeasty brilliance of the original. The cranberry walnut bread costs around $9, and consumers note how hearty and filling it is.

Consumers go wild for Costco's macaroni and cheese, made with a sauce so smooth it is the definition of creamy. The sauce uses a three-cheese blend which lends it an unbeatable homemade richness. Instead of rather plain, austere macaroni noodles, Costco's version uses large, lively corkscrew noodles, or cavatappi, that cling to the sauce. Once again, as it comes in about a 4-pound container and adds up to around $13, this massive meal is easy to freeze if you so choose. It makes in its foil pan as well, leaving no mess in your kitchen where a homemade one would. 

Plus, while the run-of-the-mill store-bought macaroni and cheese is a gloopy shell of its former self once reheated, many report online that Costco's actually reheats quite well after its first bake. To spruce up leftovers, you could drizzle on some of Kirkland Signature's basil pesto (at the top of this list) for an intriguing Italian flair with a homemade depth. Not that it needs it: This meal is so wonderfully cheesy that you will choose this over one made at home.

This version of a shepherd's pie is pure comfort right out of the dish, and will feel like a full meal because it very much is one. Using Costco's silky mashed Yukon gold potatoes and a salty beef and vegetable gravy, this shepherd's pie also freezes beautifully; you'll buy two just so you can have lunch for the next few weeks. There is a small wrinkle to the label of shepherd's pie: Since this pie is made with beef rather than lamb, it is technically a cottage pie, according to this home chef who recommends 15 secret ingredients for the best shepherd's pie. 

Technicalities aside, consumers flock to this bake-at-home meal in Costco's deli section, which has amazing reviews online and is one of the more popular selections at the retailer. The potatoes are topped with parsley, adding a nice grassy freshness that complements the unctuous gravy. After about forty-five minutes in the oven, this will be piping hot and ready to serve, so delicious you'll imagine a chef whipped this up right in your kitchen.