11 Tasty Costco Foods For Under $10 You Should Always Add To Your Cart

I am obsessed with finding the best items at Costco. Of course, there are plenty of recognizable brands throughout the store, but some of the very best-priced options are exclusive to Costco, often under the Kirkland Signature private label. Over the course of a few months, I've discovered some of the tastiest Costco fines under $10 that you simply must try.

If you, like me, love a great deal and are very picky about the type of foods you enjoy, you can almost always count on Costco's own Kirkland Signature foods delivering some great options. No good Costco deal shopping trip is complete without grabbing a delicious, filling meal from the food court, so I'll start there before making my way through the rest of the store to help you discover some awesome options you may not have picked out previously.

At the time of writing, each of these items was under $10, and I personally purchased and sampled each. In fact, most of the items on this list have become regular staples in my home. To determine which items you should add to your shopping cart, I scoured my personal experiences with purchases I've made with Costco, and to help get a fuller picture, I did some research into whatever other options people are loving, purchasing those items to try too. All were absolute winners.

I am a total sucker for smoothies. In college, it was admittedly my primary form of sustenance, and certainly my dose of regular fruit. Admittedly, I was skeptical that the Costco smoothie would be worthy of any kind of affection, but my hesitation was wholly misplaced as this is one of my favorite items to order in the Costco cafe. At $2.99, it's a great deal and a tasty option to walk around with as you shop. If only those Costco carts had cup holders.

The strawberry banana smoothie in the food court is different from Costco's iconic fruit smoothie. This brand-new Costco food court smoothie, true to its name, focuses on strawberry and banana flavors. The ingredients begin with water, but interestingly, pear purée is the second ingredient, followed by strawberries and then a pineapple juice concentrate. There's also apple juice concentrate, and, of course, sugar. All told, while it might be called a strawberry banana smoothie, these aren't the only flavors, but I'm nevertheless happy to see that the smoothie is largely based on fruit.

It might be a Costco food court item that is wildly unhealthy, but I will admit that the chicken bake is one of my favorite meals at the café. One of the best parts about it is that for less than $4, you get a substantial amount of food. The chicken bake looks like an elongated Hot Pocket. Its pastry crust is covered in cheese, and the inside is filled with cheese, chicken, and Caesar dressing.

The times I have ordered the chicken bake, I have always enjoyed it, though sometimes it has been better than others. If you happen to catch a chicken bake on a day where it is freshly made, you get a whole lot of toasted cheese on top of your chicken bake, and the filling is cooked to absolute perfection. On the other hand, if your chicken bake has been on the warmer for a little while, that crispiness won't be quite as prevalent with the cheese, and the insides will feel a little bit more congealed, and a little less freshly cooked and gooey.

Whether it's absolutely fresh or been sitting for a moment, at $3.99, this is one of the most satisfying items on the menu. Pair this with a strawberry and banana smoothie, and you have one enjoyable meal.

I'll fully admit that some of my most favorite items from Costco come from its bakery. Making freshly baked bread may be the quickest way to achieve a cozy smell for your home, but if you are running a little low on time, choosing some freshly made Costco bread isn't a bad alternative. The rustic Italian bread for $5.99 has become one of my family's go-to favorites.

The outside of the loaf is really crunchy, but the inside is perfectly soft. It's the ideal soup bread because it holds its form really well when dipped in soup, but is enjoyable enough to just eat pieces of it. What's more, I have found that it is well stocked enough that you can pretty much count on it being in the bakery. Where some items, like cheesecakes and even carrot cake, tend to disappear quickly, this bread is a quiet all-star, just sitting on the shelf in front of the bakery, waiting to be tried. If my family is planning on soup for the week, it's always something I put in my cart. My family has also used it to make a garlic bread cut nice and thick with butter, garlic, and melted cheese all over the top. Paired with spaghetti, it's one of our favorite dinners and an easy one to have the ingredients for hanging around at home.

While the bread is enjoyable, the sweet breakfast treats from Costco are even better. For only $8.99, you can pick up a lemon blueberry loaf. This is the ideal breakfast sweet bread because it is sugary without being too sweet. The top is decorated with a nice drizzle of frosting over a lovely crumble. The loaf looks tasty enough that it could've come from a more upscale bakery, and would surely impress as part of a spread for a brunch or morning gathering.

On weeks where my family doesn't choose muffins, we select one of these loaves. I only wish that there were more flavor options to choose from, or that Costco bakers rotated the flavors on a more regular basis. Although the lemon blueberry is enjoyable, it would be fun to switch it out with some different types of loaf cake. If you're one who regularly visits Starbucks for various pastries, you could find an even more enjoyable slice of breakfast loaf with one of these, and it'd be a whole lot more reasonable, too.

I fully admit that every muffin I've tried from the Costco bakery has been outstanding. In fact, I could put any of the flavors on this list and have them be a must try for you and your family. However, my favorite of the bunch is the lemon raspberry, even if the other flavors are enjoyable, too.

For $6.99, less than $1 per muffin, you get a pack of eight large muffins. These are the type of muffins you might find at a bakery, simply staring at you while you make your coffee order. They are moist and gooey, and absolutely full of tasty, plump fruit and other ingredients. My favorite part of the lemon raspberry flavor is that you can actually feel those seeds from the raspberry throughout the muffin. The texture of these is excellent and a most delicious way to start your morning. Though the blueberry muffins are a close second, if you'd like an ultra-moist muffin, lemon raspberry is the way to go. I've consistently found them to be the most moist of the offered flavors.

Since becoming members at Costco, my family and I have visited at least once a week, sometimes more than once a week. On those many visits, I enjoy visiting the bakery to see if anything has changed or to check out any offerings I may have missed in the past. When choosing the absolute must-grab items for this piece, I came across these morning buns for $9.99, which I had not noticed before. I decided to give them a shot, and I'm so glad I did.

I am an absolute lover of all things cinnamon rolls. The process of making them, smelling them, and of course, eating them as one of my favorite breakfasts. When I saw these morning buns, I thought they must be similar, though a little less iced. The morning buns, though they look a little hard, are actually quite soft. It's a texture somewhere between a croissant and a regular cinnamon roll. Though there's no typical cinnamon roll frosting on top, you do get the flavors of something like cinnamon sugar toast swirl throughout the bun. They are distinctly different from a cinnamon roll, but those that enjoy cinnamon rolls will also find these a great bite.

One of the easiest-to-love items of all of these under $10 all-stars is these butter croissants. The croissants are absolutely huge for the $5.99 that you pay, and you'll certainly enjoy these over the course of a week while you drink your morning coffee or even as a snack midday. After a few bites, you'll be convinced to purchase them over and over again.

The texture of these butter croissants is airy and flaky. I often found that while eating them, the pastry would unravel itself a little, showcasing just how flaky and perfectly done these croissants are. The butter flavor is present, although it's not overwhelming in any fashion. These aren't a particularly sweet flavored bakery item, nor were they expected to be. Instead, they offer a nice, basic but enjoyable bread. Throughout their stay on my counter, I even grabbed one as an evening snack every now and again. If you like croissants, consider giving these a try. I dare say you'll be impressed.

Perhaps the most iconic food item in all of a Costco's prepared meal category is rotisserie chicken. For less than $5, you can pick up a whole rotisserie chicken in a bag that makes picking up and taking with you easy as can be. On the several times I have visited Costco in the evening, I've even seen customers venture into the store strictly for a rotisserie chicken, only to leave within moments of purchasing it.

I love using rotisserie chicken as a quick meal hack and a way to use cooked chicken in, say, chicken and dumplings or in my favorite chicken casseroles. If you need to save yourself a little time on prep, rotisserie chicken is a great way to do it. There are plenty of weeknight meals you can make with a rotisserie chicken.

The first time I purchased one of these rotisserie chickens, I was surprised to see it in a bag rather than a hard plastic case like I've seen in other grocery stores. However, the plastic bag is perfect, especially with the handle on top. If you don't expect that you'll use the whole rotisserie chicken and in one go, there are even reheating instructions right on the bag.

I am very finicky about the type of eggs that I choose to purchase at the store. For a few years, I was a vegan, so eggs were strictly off the menu, but once I began eating beef, eggs, and dairy products again, I paid closer attention to the kind of lives these animals enjoyed while contributing to our grocery stores.

It's easy to get confused between the different types of eggs out there. With labels like organic, free range, pasture raised, and cage free, choosing what makes the most sense financially and ethically can be a bit of a chore. The biggest difference between these different categories is how much space the chickens enjoy throughout their lives. The free-range label on the Heirloom Fresh eggs indicates that the chickens had access to the outdoors, should they want it. With this alternative living situation, it can feel like you're paying for the chickens' rent at checkout. They tend to be a whole lot more expensive. So, when I saw 18 eggs for $7.79, it was an easy purchase. Comparatively, I've seen a dozen free-range eggs for roughly that same price at Publix.

These eggs are blue rather than white or brown, and the yolks inside are a deep amber color. Flavor-wise, I don't notice much of a difference between these or any of the other free-range eggs that I have tried in the past. If your family is very conscious of choosing free-range eggs, this is an outstanding get.

Like any new Costco family, the first few times my family visited, we tried to take note of the various brands that were offered throughout the store, mentally marking down our favorite brands as options we could select from Costco. I noticed right away that Costco carries Kerrygold butter. It's my family's go-to for cooking and baking, so we go through it quite regularly. It wasn't until recently that I noticed that Kirkland produces a solid alternative.

Kerrygold comes from Ireland, but Costco's Grass-Fed Butter comes from New Zealand. New Zealand has a climate that allows for its cows to enjoy nearly year-round pasture grazing. As a result, that grass-fed aspect becomes much easier because their diet doesn't necessarily require supplementation through other foods. As soon as you open a foil-wrapped batch of this butter, one of the very first things you'll notice is just how yellow it is. This is as a result of the vegetation in New Zealand that apparently allows for higher levels of carotene in milk.

All of this is great, but exactly how would it compare to using Kerrygold? I put it to the test, and I must say, I have found a great alternative to Kerrygold. Like Kerrygold; it is sold in a very large pack, but while Kerrygold is over $15 at Costco, Kirkland's grass-fed butter comes in just under $10.

I am far from a sommelier. However, I do enjoy a nice glass of wine at dinner here and there. I'm just finding my way into reds, so I was tentative to choose one that I would enjoy, but after reading some reviews online, the Kirkland Malbec sounded too good to pass up.

Pouring myself a glass, I was thrilled to taste that the wine is very easy to drink. It doesn't have any uncomfortable bite when you first sip it, and there's a richness to it that it doesn't seem like it came from a $6.99 bottle of wine. If I ordered this wine at a more fancy restaurant, I can definitely imagine being impressed with it, readily ordering it again the next time I visited. After one glass, I was totally convinced that this is a wine that even casual wine drinkers can enjoy. It feels like the perfect wine to enjoy after a busy day, simply sinking into the couch to enjoy a good book, or as I did, crochet.

The success of this tasting has inspired me to try other wines under the Kirkland Signature label. I understand that the rosé may be a delicious choice, too. That's probably the next one on my list, and it's also priced under $10.

In the case of most of these items, they are selections I've added to my car over and over again after becoming a Costco member. In fact, some of them are such regular purchases that it's hard to imagine going back to a time before Costco played such a role in my kitchen. To help create this list, I considered some of my family's favorites under $10, and then to help fill out the list, I did research into what products people were loving.

From there, I filled my shopping cart and got to tasting. I prized such important aspects as flavor and texture, and if the individual items tasted good and had a solid texture for the item represented, they ended up on this list.