Costco is plenty of folks favorite place to grocery shop. Its got bulk buys for wholesale costs and generally offers high-quality grocery items. And, while the 50-pack of flour tortillas, eight jars of peanut butter, and giant olive oil jug may seem like must-have items at the time, the resulting cost can be astronomical. Because, even with those wholesale costs and supposed savings, checking out at Costco can leave you with a staggeringly large bill. The problem is that its sometimes hard to know whether buying in bulk ends up actually saving you money in the long term, or if youre buying too much of something you dont need and wont use, which means wasted money.
There are three shelf-stable grocery items that are absolutely worth the Costco hype, though. At Costco, take advantage of bulk pricing on cereal, canned food, and dry beans. These keep well and are sold at a fantastic per-item cost that most grocery stores couldnt imagine, even on their best sale day.
Heartland Dry Pinto Beans, 25 lbs | Costco.
Stock up on canned food
Canned food is typically much more affordable than frozen or fresh options, but also totally underrated. Thats a shame because there arent generally major nutritional or flavor discrepancies between canned food and fresh. Dont sleep on these goods at Costco — which makes the already pretty affordable food type even more affordable. Canned beans, tomato sauce, and corn are solid buys that can be added as extra veggies to an endless list of dishes. But, dont stop at canned vegetables. Costco also offers great deals on canned proteins like chicken, tuna, and even salmon. All of these are great for weeknight dinners when you need to make something quickly and affordably.
For example, Costcos Del Monte canned corn 12-pack of 15.25-ounce cans is offered for just $12.99, or around $0.08 per ounce, whereas at Kroger, a single 15.25-ounce can is sold for $1.50, about $0.10 per ounce. That might not seem like a huge difference, but when you consider the per ounce cost of Costcos on a bulk scale, the savings quickly stack up. Cotscos Kirkland brand tuna is not only decently priced ($2.49 per can), but it also offers our top-rated tuna brand. Wild Planets Albacore Wilda Tuna in a 6-pack of 5-ounce cans for $19.99, or roughly $3.33 per can, while a single can of the stuff is $4.00 at Kroger.
My brother gave me a Panera gift card from Christmas so we also had take out one night last week. Have you tried their salads? The chicken cobb with avocado is my favorite. {The HH likes the Thai chicken salad}. We also had a breakfast dinner this week too. Because really, who doesn’t love pancakes and eggs for dinner? And homemade {frozen} lasagna too.
Costco has a great refund policy, they’ll pretty much take anything back {even moldy beef sticks!} and I love that.
When you cook, double the recipe… and pop the extra portions in the freezer. Once you get the hang of doing this, you’ll never go back to cooking one meal at a time.
The HH received a giant pack of beef sticks {barf!} in his stocking this year and when he went to open them up we noticed a tear in the package. All those poor, delicious beef sticks had mold on them, so I took them back to Costco to exchange them.
In the past I would occasionally buy those giant jars of pasta at Costco thinking they were a good deal. But then I’d end up tossing out the last 1/3 of the jar because we wouldn’t use it in time before the sauce went bad. So now when I use those big bottles of pasta sauce I simply freeze the extra sauce. Seems like a no brainer, right? To make the sauce stretch even a little more I add in a few extras. My basic recipe is a giant bottle of sauce, 1 cup of water and a bag of shredded chicken or taco meat. I simply heat everything up, use a little for that night’s dinner, and then freeze the rest to use on a busy weeknight.
10 Prepper Items you NEED to buy at Costco | Emergency Food Storage
FAQ
Does Costco have pinto beans?
Is it cheaper to buy canned or dry beans?
Are dried beans healthier than canned?
What are the best dry beans to store?
Where to buy dried beans?
1. Best Place to Buy Dried Beans at a Low Price: Webstaurant Store 2. Best Place to Buy Online for Convenience: Amazon 3. Best Place to Buy High-Quality Dried Beans: Nuts.com 4. Best Place to Buy Organic Beans for Convenience: Costco 5. Best Place to Buy High-Quality Organic Beans: Thrive Market 6.
Do Cocoa beans go bad?
The raw cocoa or cacao bean can be stored in an air-tight container in a cool, dry, dark place. If all of the air is removed cocoa beans will last for up to a year or longer. However, they can go bad and may show signs of mold from humidity and have an off-aroma or flavor. Roasted cocoa beans will start to lose their flavor after about one month of storage. When purchasing cocoa bean powder, be sure to read the manufacturer’s suggested use-by date. Cocoa powder can last up to three years when properly stored.
Should you buy canned or dried beans?
That’s important because if you’re buying in bulk, you’re going to want something that can keep for a good long while. Dried bulk beans are preferable to canned bulk beans. Here’s why: More flexibility on flavor: When you buy canned beans, they’ve already been cooked and soaked in additive and sodium-rich water.
Where can I buy beans at a low price?
They’re relatively inexpensive, they have a long shelf life, and they’re readily available at both brick-and-mortar stores, as well as online. If you want to buy beans in person, Costco is the best place to go. The best place to buy bulk beans online at a low price is webstaurantstore.com. For higher quality, nuts.com is a great option.