14 Highly Rated Costco Food Items You Can Find Right Now

Remembering the best time to shop at Costco to avoid large crowds is a life skill, and so is making an efficient shopping list. It's easy to add a bunch of food items to your list to try, but it helps to know how others who've tried them feel about the products before you spend your hard-earned money. There's nothing quite like buying a Costco-sized version of something only to get home and realize it doesn't meet your expectations.

We've scoured the Costco food section for the best of the best in all categories so you don't have to. Only the top-rated items have made our list, so you can make your shopping list with confidence, knowing that there's a high chance you'll be happy with what you buy. You might even see something on our list you haven't heard of yet, but sounds delicious. Before your next Costco trip, take a look at this list of highly rated Costco food items that you can find right now so you don't miss out on what could be your next favorite purchase.

After trying them, you'll likely realize why Built Puff bars are our favorite for protein. Each bar has 17 grams of protein and a soft, gooey center. The bars are also gluten-free, so more people can enjoy this sweet way of hitting their protein goals. The Built Puff protein bar variety pack at Costco comes with a total of 14 bars: seven coconut and seven brownie batter bars.

According to the ratings, the perfect sweet treat does exist, and it's Lotus Biscoff cookies. You can enjoy these on their own, or take things to the next level by pairing them with a hot cup of coffee for a sweet pick-me-up. Each box of Lotus Biscoff cookies at Costco contains four sleeves of perfectly dippable, crunchy cookies.

Nature's Bakery fig bars variety pack includes two flavors — blueberry and raspberry — of the delicious, whole-grain snack bars. The bars are vegan, made with real fruit, and don't contain any high-fructose corn syrup. Each box has 40 bars that everyone in the household can snack on at home or on the go.

Opening up a bag of tasty chips can feel like a small moment in paradise. That's probably the reason why the island variety pack of Hawaiian kettle-style potato chips has such high ratings from Costco customers. You can snag a variety pack with original, sweet Maui onion, hulapeno, and luau BBQ flavors. Each box contains 30 1.5-ounce bags, ideal for satisfying all chip cravings.

Invite some of your favorite people to feast on Alaska bairdi snow crab. They come in 2-pound bags of five, so you can prepare either one bag or serve up all 10 pounds of this crab straight from Juneau, Alaska. The crab is already cooked and flash frozen, so it's ready to thaw and eat whenever you need a quick, divine-tasting seafood meal.

If you want to become a morning person, try Yerba Mate. It's not quite an energy drink. Yerba Mate beverages are made from the yerba mate tree in South America and will give you the wake-up you need to get moving. Find out why Costco shoppers love Guayaki yerba mate tea when you try the 12-pack of the Enlighten Mint flavor in 15.5-ounce cans.

Give yourself a sweet treat without an overwhelming list of ingredients when you snack on Unreal dark chocolate coconut minis. These treats are gluten-free, vegan, and contain only three ingredients: organic coconut, Fair Trade dark chocolate, and cassava syrup. Each coconut mini is individually wrapped, so you can keep one with you for whenever you need it.

Costco offers a 20-pack of delicious dark chocolate and milk chocolate-covered wafer cookies, complete with hazelnut filling: Kinder Bueno chocolate and hazelnut chocolate bars. Buying so many at once is a dream come true for those with a sweet tooth. These bars taste great on their own or broken up on some chocolate ice cream for the ultimate dessert.

A well-crafted homebrew is worth the time and effort, but convenience should be just as welcome. The Nescafé Taster's Choice instant coffee is so well-liked by Costco shoppers that you can almost guarantee you won't regret the purchase. Instant coffee is great to have on hand for busy days or for the perfect coffee to take camping, and this house blend will last you over 200 cups.

Bob's Red Mill organic quick cooking steel cut oats might be the best way to enjoy one of the most versatile breakfast foods. You can add your favorite fruits and sweetener, or even toss in a few hemp seeds for added protein, and the best part is that the oats themselves only take seven minutes to prepare. This means you can prepare a delicious, healthy meal even on your most chaotic days. This 7-pound bag of oats contains roughly 88 servings for you to get creative with.

If you can't decide which pasta shape to buy, the Garofalo organic pasta variety pack, made in Italy, is a good place to start. It comes with six packs — two of each pasta shape: penne ziti rigate, casarecce, and gemelli organic pastas, all made from durum wheat semolina. Each bag contains nine servings for multiple pasta nights or one big gathering.

It's true that if you've been overlooking cauliflower pizza, you may be missing out. The Kirkland Signature cauliflower crust pizza supreme is a good place to start. This pizza two-pack is more than just a quick dinner solution after a trip to the store. It's gluten-free and loaded with delicious toppings, including a three-cheese blend with pepperoni, sausage, and roasted vegetables, all on a crispy cauliflower crust.

The ratings on this snack could be so high simply because it's adorable to look at. But thankfully, the Meiji Hello Panda chocolate creme-filled cookies are delicious too. This snack box contains 32 bags of these small chocolate cookies. Even better is that each cookie has a picture of a panda on it for some extra cute snacking.

Finding the perfect oat milk for your daily coffee (or for anything else) can be quite the challenge. So once you do discover your brand, it's okay to purchase six cartons at a time. The Califia Farms cafe oat milk is highly rated and is ideal for mixing with coffee and for steaming. Whether you enjoy a simple homebrew or aim to become better than your local coffee stand, this oat milk is worth a try.