The Party Food You Should Always Order Ahead At Costco

If you've gotta throw down like a boss on a budget, Costco offers the best party platters money can buy. We all feel the warm fuzzies, popping open those bountiful charcuterie, sandwich, or shrimp cocktail trays for our favorite people. But imagine your frowny face if you strolled into the deli department, only to discover the place had been robbed. (Well, okay — sold out, thanks to paying customers.) How can you guarantee that you walk away with your intended haul? Order your Costco party platter ahead.

Complementing a plate of street taco fixins or the much-loved Costco holiday cookie tray, Costco party platter preorders are definitely a thing — they're just not an online thing, yet. Still, the lo-fi process is easy as pie. You can call your local Costco deli department and request your favorite party trays via phone, or stop by the deli in person and fill out a paper form at least 24 to 48 hours ahead of your event. Ever ordered a custom cake from Costco? It's pretty much like that.

We wouldn't be mad about upgrading food court hot dogs with croissants from the bakery as a party meal in a pinch. But only you can judge the awkward vibe in collecting enough free samples to equate to hors d'oeuvres. Make hangry people-pleasing effortless by locking in your Costco order ahead of time and making it your own.

Costco did the prep work of slicing, dicing, baking, deveining, and poaching. (Phew!) But only you can elevate a Costco party platter with touches that feel like home. You'll get total "Omg, she made this grazing board herself" energy by using a few of your other favorite finds from Costco.

It's as easy as swapping out the black plastic of a Costco meat and cheese platter for a wooden serving board — and adding perfect pairings like herbed crackers and dried fruit, plus tasting jars of jams and honey. (Fig preserves go great with cubed cheddar, gouda is living for hot honey, and low-key $17,000 champagne from California Costco is — cough — totally optional.) Level up a sandwich party platter with crunchy textures that contrast soft breads, rich fillings, and creamy dips; think fresh veggie sticks, pickles, and snack bags of your favorite pretzels and chips. The seemingly never-ending shrimp platter comes with the essentials — cocktail sauce and lemons — but you can totally steal the spotlight if you freeze water, cranberries, and rosemary sprigs in a casserole dish to use as an icy shrimp cocktail display. Dust the shrimp with Old Bay seasoning for a festive chef's kiss.

Of course, after a party platter spread like this, you can't skip the dessert board. Maybe Costco's legendary brownies, cookies, French macarons, cupcakes — and those rolled hazelnut wafers no one really knows the name of — aren't technically part of the Costco party platter preorder menu, but that won't stop you from becoming even more popular by arranging a few of these treats together as their own sweet party platter, too.