16 Healthy Costco Items to Buy (And What to Avoid!)

Costco wants you to think the giant granola tub and the red box crackers are health foods. They're not. One has more sugar than a Snickers, the other is refined flour with a heart-healthy sticker slapped on the front. There are 16 pantry items in that store genuinely worth buying, and a handful of traps that look almost identical to them. Today we're going through all of it. Number 1. Kirkland Extra Virgin Olive Oil The 2-liter Kirkland Extra Virgin Olive Oil tin is one of the best buys in the entire building, and most shoppers walk right past the large tin because the smaller glass bottle looks more familiar on the shelf. Here's why the tin matters. A few years back, UC Davis ran independent lab tests on dozens of olive oils sold in U.S. grocery stores. A significant percentage of bottles labeled extra virgin didn't actually meet international standards for that grade, meaning the oil inside was either blended with lower quality oils or had already degraded past the point where extra virgin was accurate. Kirkland's olive oil was one of the few that passed. You're paying roughly $17 to $20 for oil that is actually what the label claims, which is more than you can say for a lot of $12 bottles sitting on a grocery store shelf. Use Kirkland olive oil for salad dressings, roasting vegetables at medium heat, and finishing soups. One thing most people don't know, the tin stays fresher, longer than a clear glass bottle, because light degrades olive oil quality fast. Once you open the tin, try to use the olive oil within a few months. The flavor at the beginning of the tin and the flavor at the very end are noticeably different if you let it sit too long. What to skip in the oil section, the large plastic jugs of vegetable oil blend sitting a few shelves over. The price looks appealing. The health profile doesn't hold up. Most nutrition researchers today have serious concerns about highly refined seed oils consumed in large, repeated quantities over time. Number 2. Canned Wild Alaskan Pink Salmon. The six-pack of canned wild. Alaskan pink salmon sits near the canned tuna. And most shoppers grab the tuna out of habit. That habit is worth reconsidering. Wild salmon contains significantly more omega-3 fatty acids than farmed salmon. And most Americans are chronically low in omega-3s without realizing it. Low enough that it shows up in cardiovascular health markers over time. The wild Alaskan label matters here. Pink salmon from Alaskan waters is one of the most sustainably managed fisheries in the world. And the mercury levels are very low because pink salmon are small, short-lived fish that don't accumulate mercury the way larger species like tuna do. Per can, the Costco six-pack works out to noticeably less than what a single can cost at most grocery stores. Use wild salmon in homemade salmon patties. Just canned salmon, an egg, some breadcrumbs, and whatever seasoning you like. Or stir wild salmon into pasta with olive oil and capers. Or serve the canned salmon cold on top of a green salad with a lemon vinaigrette. The pantry shelf life on canned wild salmon runs two to three years unopened. So buying the six-pack at once is genuinely practical, not just bulk buying for the sake of it. Number 3. Organic Quinoa. The four-pound bag of organic quinoa near the rice and grain section is one of the clearest price advantages Costco offers over regular grocery stores. Whole Foods charges nearly double per ounce for a comparable organic quinoa. Even a standard grocery store brand runs significantly higher per pound than the Costco price. Quinoa earns the complete protein label for a specific reason. Quinoa contains all nine essential amino acids, which almost no other plant food can claim. Rice doesn't. Oats don't. Most legumes don't on their own. For anyone eating less meat or simply trying to get more variety in protein sources without always reaching for another chicken breast, the four-pound Costco bag is a smart buy that lasts a long time. Quinoa works as a breakfast bowl topped with fresh fruit and a drizzle of honey, as a cold grain salad with chickpeas and cucumber, as a dinner side dish in place of rice, or mixed into soup during the last few minutes of cooking to add protein and texture. The four-pound bag stores well in a sealed airtight container in the pantry for up to three years. Number 4. Raw Walnuts and Raw Almonds. Costco's nut prices are genuinely hard to beat almost anywhere, and two bags in particular are worth grabbing every trip—the raw walnut halves in the large resealable bag and the raw whole almonds in the big poly bag. Walnuts specifically deserve a closer look. Walnuts are one of the best plant-based sources of ALA omega-3 fatty acids, the kind that supports cardiovascular and brain health. The research on walnut consumption is consistent enough that the FDA allows a qualified health claim on walnut packaging. A one-ounce handful of raw walnuts several times a week is the amount that shows up repeatedly in long-term cardiovascular studies. The Costco bag of raw walnut halves costs less per ounce than almost any grocery store option, including generic store brands. Now, slow down before reaching for anything in that aisle labeled bold mix, honey roasted, or seasoned. Those bags are positioned right next to the raw nuts and the packaging looks similar at a glance. Flip the bag over and read the nutrition label. The sodium on some of those seasoned mixes runs 160 to 200 milligrams per small handful. The honey roasted varieties carry 8 to 10 grams of added sugar per serving. That's not a nut snack anymore. That's a candy-adjacent product in a nut bag. Raw or dry roasted with minimal added ingredients is the filter to use every single time in the Costco nut aisle. 5. Organic Chia Seeds The large bag of organic chia seeds in the health food section used to be something you could only find at specialty stores for a significant premium. Costco changed that math considerably. Two tablespoons of chia seeds contain around 10 grams of fiber, roughly a third of the daily recommended amount for most adults. Chia seeds also absorb liquid and expand to many times their original size, which slows digestion and helps you feel full meaningfully longer after a meal. For anyone dealing with blood sugar swings or mid-morning hunger that hits before lunch, adding chia seeds to breakfast is one of the simplest adjustments available. Stir two tablespoons into morning yogurt, blend chia seeds into a smoothie, or soak chia seeds overnight in almond milk with a little vanilla extract and a small spoon of honey for an easy chia pudding. The overnight chia pudding takes about two minutes of actual hands-on effort, and then the refrigerator does the rest. The Costco price per ounce on chia seeds is among the lowest available anywhere, including online bulk retailers. Number 6. Canned Chickpeas and Black Beans. Costco sells multi-packs of canned chickpeas and black beans, and the organic versions appear regularly, sometimes under a Costco-exclusive label, sometimes under a national brand on sale. Either way, the per-can price beats most grocery stores by a meaningful margin. Beans are one of the most consistently research-supported foods for long-term health. The communities around the world studied specifically for exceptional longevity—populations in Sardinia, in Okinawa, and in Loma Linda, California—all eat beans as a dietary staple, not an occasional side dish. High fiber, substantial plant protein, very filling, and inexpensive per serving. Chickpeas in particular are worth buying in volume, because chickpeas are one of the most versatile foods in a healthy pantry. Roast chickpeas in the oven with olive oil and smoked paprika for a crunchy snack, toss cold chickpeas into salads, blend chickpeas with olive oil, lemon and garlic for homemade hummus, or simmer chickpeas in canned tomatoes with cumin for a quick weeknight dinner. Canned beans last two to five years unopened on a pantry shelf. Stock up when the organic multi-packs are in stock. 7. Kirkland Organic Chicken Broth The six-pack of Kirkland Organic Chicken Broth is one of those pantry items that quietly makes everything else you cook better. Lower-sodium than most national brands, made with organic chicken, and priced well below what six individual cartons cost at a regular grocery store. Having good chicken broth on hand changes how you approach cooking grains, soups, and vegetables. Cook quinoa in chicken broth instead of plain water, and the flavor difference is immediate and significant—no seasoning required. Braise a pan of greens or vegetables in a splash of chicken broth instead of oil, and you cut calories without giving up any richness in the final dish. Use chicken broth as the base of a quick weeknight soup with whatever vegetables need to be used up before the end of the week. Each carton stays shelf-stable for over a year unopened, so buying the six-pack at once isn't overbuying—it's just efficient. 8. Kirkland Rolled Oats The large canister of Kirkland plain rolled oats is one of the best values in the breakfast section, and the health case behind oats is stronger than almost any other breakfast food on the market. Rolled oats contain a specific soluble fiber called beta-glucan, which has been shown in multiple clinical studies to lower LDL cholesterol, the kind associated with cardiovascular risk. The FDA approved a heart health claim for oats back in 1997, making oats one of very few foods with that designation. The beta-glucan content is meaningful primarily in whole rolled oats. Quick oats and instant oats are more processed, which reduces the fiber structure and the resulting benefit. Here's where a lot of Costco shoppers make a mistake. The flavored instant oat packets are stacked close to the plain rolled oat canister and they look appealing. The apple cinnamon packets, the maple brown sugar packets? Those packets contain 12-14 grams of added sugar per serving. Some of the lower-sugar versions still run 8-9 grams. That's not oatmeal functioning as a heart-healthy food anymore. Buy the plain rolled oat canister. Add your own fresh or frozen fruit, a spoon of almond butter, or a very small drizzle of real honey. You decide what goes in, and the beta-glucan benefit stays intact. Number 9. Kirkland, Natural Almond Butter. The Kirkland natural almond butter, the large jar with the grinding wheel graphic on the label? Ingredients? Almonds, salt, is one of the cleanest nut butters available at any price point in any store. No added sugar, no palm oil, no stabilizers or emulsifiers to keep the almond butter shelf-stable and smooth without separation. The separation that happens in the Kirkland almond butter jar is actually a quality indicator, not a flaw. The oils are real, they're unmodified, and they behave like real oils behave. Stir the jar thoroughly when first opening, then store the jar in the refrigerator after opening to slow the separation down. Now look at a few of the other nut butter products in the same Costco aisle. Some jars labeled natural peanut butter list sugar as the second or third ingredient. Some of the chocolate hazelnut spreads are positioned near the nut butters, as if they belong in the same category. They don't. The Kirkland almond butter is the one to buy. Two tablespoons on whole-grain toast or stirred into morning oatmeal is a genuinely solid source of healthy fat and protein that holds you over for hours. Number 10. Dried green or brown lentils. Costco sells a large bag of dried lentils for just a few dollars, and dried lentils might be the single most underutilized healthy food in the entire pantry section. Lentils are high in plant protein, high in iron, high in folate, and high in soluble fiber. One cooked cup of lentils delivers around 18 grams of protein and 16 grams of fiber, numbers that are hard to match with almost any other plant food at that price per serving. Unlike dried beans, lentils require no soaking overnight. Dried lentils go straight from the bag into a pot and cook in 20 to 25 minutes. Add dried lentils to soups during the last half-hour of cooking. Simmer lentils with canned tomatoes, garlic, and cumin for a simple weeknight dinner that costs almost nothing per serving, or cook a batch at the start of the week and use cold lentils in salads with roasted vegetables and a lemon dressing. The large Costco bag lasts months in a sealed container and costs less per serving than almost any other protein source in the building. Number 11. Organic unrefined coconut oil. Costco carries large glass jars of organic unrefined coconut oil, and the word unrefined on the label is the one that changes everything about whether this product is worth buying. Refined coconut oil goes through a deodorizing and bleaching process that strips out many of the naturally occurring plant compounds present in raw coconut oil. Unrefined coconut oil, also called virgin coconut oil, skips that process entirely. The Costco jar is unrefined, which is what you want for medium-heat cooking and baking. The price per ounce is significantly lower than what health food stores and specialty grocery stores charge for the same product. The science on coconut oil for daily heavy use is still evolving, and the conversation is legitimate. Coconut oil is high in saturated fat and shouldn't replace olive oil as a primary cooking fat. But as one of several fats in a varied kitchen, used thoughtfully for specific cooking applications, the Costco unrefined coconut oil is a reasonable and well-priced buy. Number 12. Unsweetened dried mango. Costco carries more than one version of dried mango, and the two bags look nearly identical from a few feet away in the cart. One version contains only mango, sometimes with a small amount of citric acid to preserve color, which is fine. The other version contains mango and added sugar, sometimes with sulfites listed as a preservative. Both bags use similar photography of bright orange fruit slices. Both bags are shelved in the same general area. The unsweetened version is genuinely a good snack. Natural fiber from the mango, natural sweetness from the fruit's own sugars, chewy satisfying texture, and none of the blood sugar spike that comes from adding refined sugar on top of already naturally sweet fruit. The sweetened version delivers roughly the same sugar per ounce as a bag of gummy candy. Flip the bag over, read the ingredient list, and put back any bag where sugar appears. The one that just says mango is the one that earns a place in the cart. Number 13. Canned sardines in olive oil. Sardines are not glamorous. Sardines also happen to be one of the most nutrient-dense foods available in the entire Costco pantry section, and most members walk past the sardine shelf without a second look. Here's what canned sardines actually deliver per serving. Substantial omega-3 fatty acids, significant calcium from the soft edible bones, vitamin D, and vitamin B12. All in a small fish with very low mercury because sardines feed on plankton and live only one to three years. Cardiologists specifically recommend sardines because sardines combine cardiovascular benefits with a mercury profile that makes sardines safe to eat several times per week, unlike larger predatory fish. Costco sells multi-packs of sardines in olive oil that price out noticeably below grocery store shelf cost. If sardines sound unappealing, try this first. Sardines on a whole grain cracker with a small amount of Dijon mustard and a thin slice of cucumber. That combination is genuinely good. Give sardines two or three real attempts before writing sardines off based on a Number 14. Kirkland Organic Whole Wheat Pasta. The Kirkland Organic Whole Wheat Pasta, available in a large multi-pack, is a pantry staple worth buying every time the organic version is in stock at Costco. Whole wheat pasta contains roughly three times the fiber of standard refined white pasta per serving. That fiber difference matters because fiber slows how quickly starch converts to glucose in the bloodstream, which means whole wheat pasta creates a more gradual and stable blood sugar response after a meal compared to refined pasta. Over time and repeated meals, that difference adds up. The taste gap between whole wheat pasta and refined pasta is minimal when the pasta is paired with a flavorful sauce. Most people who try whole wheat pasta for a few weeks stop noticing the difference entirely. What to skip in the nearby pasta section, the pasta kit boxes, and the pasta side dish pouches, with the included seasoning packets. The pasta inside those kits is fine. The seasoning packets that come with them often run 700 to 900 milligrams of sodium per serving, which is more than a third of the recommended daily sodium intake in a single side dish. Buy the plain whole wheat pasta multi-pack and build your own sauce with Kirkland olive oil, canned chickpeas, and garlic. Number 15. Raw Pumpkin Seeds. The large bag of raw pepitas near the baking and bulk snack sections is the most underrated item on this entire list, and it's one most shoppers walk past without a second look. Pumpkin seeds are one of the richest food sources of magnesium available in whole food form, and magnesium deficiency is more common than most people realize. Studies consistently suggest that a significant portion of American adults don't meet the recommended daily intake for magnesium, and low magnesium is associated with poor sleep quality, elevated blood pressure, muscle cramps, and low energy. A one-ounce handful of raw pumpkin seeds delivers roughly 37 percent of the daily recommended magnesium intake, along with meaningful amounts of zinc and healthy plant-based fats. The Costco bag of raw pepitas costs less per ounce than almost any comparable store or online bulk option. Sprinkle raw pumpkin seeds on salads, stir pumpkin seeds into morning oatmeal during cooking, mix pumpkin seeds into homemade trail mix with dried mango and walnuts, or just keep a small bowl of pumpkin seeds on the kitchen counter as a grab-and-go snack that's actually worth grabbing. Number 16. Raw Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar. The last item is also the lowest cost per use of anything on this entire list. Costco sells large bottles of raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar, the kind with the cloudy sediment floating at the bottom of the bottle, which is called the mother. That cloudiness is the sign that the apple cider vinegar hasn't been pasteurized and filtered into a product with very little meaningful left in it. The mother contains naturally occurring enzymes and beneficial bacteria that form during the fermentation process. Research on apple cider vinegar for blood sugar regulation, specifically for blunting the blood sugar spike after a starchy meal, is early but consistent enough that mainstream physicians are starting to pay attention. One to two tablespoons in a salad dressing or stirred into a small amount of water before a heavier carbohydrate meal is one of the lowest cost nutritional habits you can add to your routine. The Costco bottle size costs less than a small bottle at most health food stores and lasts a long time with regular use. Stock two bottles. Unfiltered apple cider vinegar doesn't expire in any meaningful time frame if stored away from direct light. So that's the full list. 16 pantry items worth buying at Costco. And the specific things to watch out for in each section. If there's one thing to carry out of this video it's this. Costco's shelf labels and packaging are designed to move product, not protect your health. The words natural, wholesome, and made with real ingredients appear on products that don't hold up when the package gets flipped over and the actual ingredient list gets read. That flip, taking five seconds to read what's actually inside the bag, is the single habit that separates a genuinely healthy Costco run from a cart full of expensive processed food with good photography on the front. Here's what I want to know from you in the comments. Which of these 16 items do you already buy at Costco regularly? And if there's a healthy pantry staple that belongs on this list that didn't make the cut today, tell me in the comments. The best suggestions from previous videos have directly shaped future ones. If this was useful, subscribing helps us keep making these. Specific practical information you can use on your very next shopping trip. Thanks for watching.