4 Costco Meats To Buy And 3 To Avoid

Costco has built shopper loyalty on the promise that bulk is the way to maximize value and savings. Costco offers everything, from home appliances and grilling equipment to everyday grocery staples, including butcher-quality meat. Folks shop Costco's meat department with plans of filling their freezers for less, but the at-home gourmand can also treat their dinner party guests to high-end cuts without the high-end prices.

But not all bulk is better. Even at Costco, it pays to take a second look at cost versus value. Value looks different for different shoppers, of course, but in the meat department, it's helpful to know the basics.

Costco's deals are evolving based on product availability and consumer demand, so don't be afraid to pause and browse when shopping in Costco's meat department and see what's newly available. The average adult is happy with a ½ pound of boneless meat, that goes up to ¾ pounds for bone-in options. If you're cooking for kids, plan for half that. When you're shopping in Costco's meat department, there are lots of great choices, but also some we think you'd be better off avoiding. Prices may vary.

There are a lot of processed foods that are great examples of why pre-cooked proteins are not best for flavor or quality. But, when it comes to Costco's rotisserie chickens, it's a pre-cooked, ready-to-eat meat that is commended by shoppers consistently as a quality, item customers buy every time they shop. The chicken is roasted in-store and ranks high for flavor (even when compared to Sam's Club), making it a quick and easy meal option that can quickly transform into dishes like chicken salad avocado cups.

Plus, at the affordable price of just $4.99, something Costco doesn't seem to be budging on anytime soon, the average 3-pound rotisserie chicken feeds a family for just $1.25 per adult portion. It makes these chickens a popular choice among many families, who can spend less than $20 to purchase several at once, prep meals for the entire week, and use the bones to make homemade chicken stock. That's a high-value, versatile buy if we've ever heard one. Not sure what you'd make with all that chicken? Browse Costco's ready-made meals in the meat department for inspiration — Costco uses its unsold rotisserie chickens to make them.

Before you protest about convenience, let us explain. It's true: Those pre-pressed, perfectly circular burger patties are undeniably effortless. But it's a time-saver that comes at the cost of flavor and texture.

Pre-formed burger patties deny the home cook control over the tenderness and flavor. Packages rarely label the fat content or cuts of the beef used in making the patties, and that can make a big difference on how juicy those final bites are. Shoppers also can't know how much the meat was manipulated while making the patties and overworked ground beef is a recipe for dry, dense, and often tough burgers, no matter how skilled the grill-master flipping them might be.

The best advice? Check Costco's meat department for the ground beef multi-packs. We've seen quality organic and grass-fed varieties, as well as options that offer a fat content around 80/20 or 85/15, which are both ideal for juicy burgers.

One of the most cost-effective meats available at Costco remains the whole pork loin. It averages between 8 to 10 pounds for less than $30, meaning that a shopper willing to get their knife dirty can yield a satisfying 16 to 20 adult portions for around $2 (or less) a person.

But it's the versatility that really makes pork loin shine as a solid Costco meat department win. Those 16 portions can be butchered into whatever cut works for you and your kitchen needs. A single loin can yield three to five roasts, or 10 to 15 chops, or 8 to 10 pounds of stew and stir-fry meat — or any combination of those that you like.

Not sure where to start? Trim off the ends to square the loin, reserving those hunks to chop for stews and stir-fries. Portion one or two roasts, then slice pork chops the rest of the way. Or, keep your kitchen stock varied by season. Carve a beautiful selection of 2-inch thick pork chops and practice cooking them perfectly in a pan or on the grill over the summer. Then, come winter time, pick up another pork loin on your next Costco run exclusively for slow-cooking roasts. With a cut this inexpensive and versatile, it's one you can afford to experiment with.

Oh, we understand the temptation of owning your own leg of prosciutto. We can imagine it displayed at a dinner party, with our prettiest knives displayed beside it, ready to hand-slice strips for our guests to indulge in with a selection of fine cheeses.

But when the guests have gone and your stomach aches from countless slices of prosciutto, and you've barely made a dent in the 13 pounds, what do you do with the leftovers? Prosciutto is a cured meat that requires the right humidity and temperature to maintain its quality. Without those things, your gorgeous whole leg of prosciutto might just succumb to rot, mold, or drying out. This means a cellar, or a significant sacrifice of your fridge space.

If you're one of the lucky home cooks with a cellar and the know-how to evaluate your home humidity levels, by all means, indulge your heart out. For the rest of us, enjoying prosciutto might be better off reserved for the smaller, easy-to-store, pre-sliced packs. Don't worry, arranging the slices can make for an authentic charcuterie experience that guests will love you for anyway.

We have all fallen victim to the power of a well-branded product. The bacon package that screams "craft-made" is tempting with its promises of high-quality flavor, but it usually comes at the cost of a smaller package for more money. And, truthfully, those premium bacon options may not be the best bang for your buck when it comes to cured, smoky pork at Costco.

Costco has a rigorous vetting process for Kirkland Signature products before they are granted the Kirkland name. When a product keeps that Kirkland name for a long time and is available consistently to consumers across warehouse locations, it is a sure-sign of a high-quality, well-loved product. The wholesaler's name brand version of thick-sliced bacon offers the best quality and flavor, all for those affordable Costco prices. Currently, the flavor options for the Kirkland Signature brand thick sliced bacon are Hickory Smoked and Gluten-Free, so try out either one that calls out to you.

Costco's meat department is a mix of consistent fan favorites and new offerings, including premium imports like authentic Japanese Wagyu. It can be a great opportunity for shoppers to try high-end Wagyu for a lower cost than they'd find it offered at luxury grocery stores. Costco manages to offer this savings partially by reducing the cost of butchering. The chain offers large roasts and cuts that require a consumer to do a little at-home butchery for individual steaks.

But not all the Wagyu bulk roasts offer the same yield after butchering. There's a wide range of cost-per-portion between the many Wagyu offerings in Costco's meat department. Unlike the shockingly low $45 per 8 ounces for the Wagyu New York strip roast, the over $1,000 price tag for Japanese Wagyu tenderloin racks up a pricey $90 for the same-sized steak.

Shoppers should keep an eye out for that disparity when they're on the hunt for luxury cuts for less. Any type of authentic Wagyu steak is nothing to turn your nose up at. Other options might include shopping for a mock tenderloin cut that can taste just as delicious, or choosing Costco's American Wagyu tenderloin, which comes in at half the price of the Japanese version.

The sheer sticker shock of $999.99 might make any sort of authentic Wagyu beef a solid "no thanks" for most shoppers. But, for the occasional foodie looking to maximize value and high-end quality, Costco's authentic Japanese Wagyu NY Strip Loin Roast might warrant a second glance.

Wagyu is well-loved for the buttery, incomparable tenderness, but that level of indulgent luxury comes with an understandably high price tag, too. In fact, most authentic, imported Japanese Wagyu will retail for anywhere between $100 to $300 per portion, according to Forbes. Even at Costco, some Wagyu cuts, like the Japanese Wagyu tenderloin, approach the $100 per portion range. That's more than most of us pay for an entire chef-prepared steak dinner at a steakhouse, with wine and dessert included.

But Wagyu can be on the menu for Costco shoppers willing to evaluate the value of a one-time high cost for a luxury bulk purchase. At a guaranteed 11 pounds, Costco's authentic Japanese Wagyu New York strip loin roast could yield 22 8-ounce steaks at just over $45 a portion. Coming in at less than half the cost of average retail portions, that's practically a steal.

The information in this article was compiled through Costco's website, Reddit threads, and my personal experience as a foodie, writer, and Costco shopper who's been filling my family's freezer with a blend of quality and cost-saving meat for over a decade.