Grocery Store Tour for Vegans: Costco

The mecca of suburban consumerism lies within the walls of Costco. But who minds, really? They treat their employees well, the stores are clean, and in non-pandemic times, you can score free food. During these strange times, they were also one of the first stores to require face coverings to protect the health of both their employees and customers.

Costco is a great source for all kinds of items, from electronics to housewares to apparel  and good food. When it comes to buying staples for my pantry, no one can beat Costco for the quality and price of these items. They carry lots of national brands and their signature Kirkland store brand. Plus, there’s always something new to try.

What are my must-haves here?

• Baking items
  • Organic sugar. You can’t beat the price. It’s less than $8 for a 10lb bag here vs. $2.69 for 24oz. for Kroger’s store brand.
  • King Arthur flour. Yes, at 12lbs, it’s a big bag, but I’ve already been through one of these during quarantine! And it’s a great price!

• Oils
  • Kirkland brand organic olive oil
  • Chosen Foods brand avocado oil (a great neutral oil that is my favorite sub for canola or vegetable oil)

• Himalayan pink salt, which is my favorite type of salt. $6.69 for 5lbs. as opposed to over $3 for your typical spice jar of this salt.
• Maple syrup. The Kirkland brand is outstanding!
• Canned tomatoes. I love the Kirkland brand organic tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and tomato paste.
• Vegan snacks. This trip, they had my favorite Kettle brand wavy chips, Hippeas, and a variety of tortilla chips, including Late July and Garden of Eatin brands. I bought the potato chips…

• Rolled oats. In addition to making hot oatmeal, these are great for making overnight oatmeal, oat flour, energy balls, or homemade granola!

What I expected to find this trip, but didn’t:

• Beyond Burgers. I’ve seen these mentioned, but my store did not have any this visit!
• Yeast. As this essential bread making ingredient disappeared from grocery store shelves, this was the one remaining places that had it in stock. Sure, it’s a huge package, but for the price, it was a solid investment for quarantine baking. It seems the shortage has now hit Costco as well.

Other recommendations:

• Produce in bulk. If you love to juice, this is a great source for carrots, celery, etc.
• Frozen fruit. They have a great variety for making smoothies and throwing in overnight oats.
• Dave’s Killer Bread and buns. Two loaves or a 16 pack of buns. Great if bread is a big item in your house. Great price for these items!

• Nut butters. We’re all stocked up for now, but you can’t beat the quality for the price for the Kirkland brand almond butter and creamy peanut butter.

• Vegan prepared foods. Explore the areas near the produce and in the canned foods. Lots of good things, including Sabra hummus, salsas, and Taste of India pouches.
• Soy and almond milks in bulk. Great if multiple people in your family use this!
• Cuisinart toaster oven/convection oven/air fryer. I have an older version than the one currently in stock at Costco, but I absolutely love it. In many of the vegan pages I visit, the topic of “the perfect air fryer” is frequently discussed. This one always receives several endorsements.

We tend to visit Costco when we are running low on any of the pantry staples. We were almost out of olive oil and flour this week! So next time you’re running low on essentials, I highly recommend checking out Costco!

Are you a member of Costco? What are your favorite items here? I’d love to hear about it! I’ll be taking a break next week to spend time with my family, but I’ll be back first week in August. As always, I hope you all are safe and healthy.