11 Lazy Work Lunches Worth Grabbing At Costco

For some reason, deciding what to eat for lunch on work days can feel like more of a chore than the actual work you do. Takeout is expensive, samey, and often unhealthy, and planning and meal prepping is its own headache. Sure, you remembered to do layered mason jar lunches that one Sunday in March, but what about the other 51 weeks of the year? 

These lazy work lunches from Costco solve the midday sustenance conundrum, with options for everyone. We've compiled both hot and cold options, and taken "lazy" as a spectrum. Some of them require a few minutes of prep, while others come ready to eat or ready to heat and then scarf down. As they're all available at Costco, you can grab a few options when you're doing the big shop and squirrel them away for a week (or in some cases, even a month) of low-effort, affordable lunches. 

While you're at Costco, why not grab a few of the store's rave-worthy bakery treats, too? They're a reward for realistically planning ahead with lunches you can put together even at your mid-work, midday laziest! 

These gyro kits made a return to stores earlier this May and come with six pita breads, gyro meat, crumbled feta, tzatziki, and chopped veggies. Everything comes carefully packaged to keep longer and allow DIY gyro-building that caters to everyone's tastes. Some Redditors found that there's too much filling and recommend grabbing extra pitas or naans from the bread aisle to stretch the kit further. 

The exact price varies based on the weight of the kit, but they're around $23. That's less than $4 per sandwich — cheaper than takeout and nearly as easy. 

Find the Kirkland Signature gyro kit for $7.93 per pound (online pricing).

If you've been sleeping on Costco's excellent D.O.P certified pesto, here's the perfect chance to get on board with the sauce. The 22-ounce jar of pesto might seem intimidating, but grab a package or two of ravioli, and you've got the fixings for a hot lunch that's ready in five minutes. If you're feeling ambitious, stir in a bag of arugula or chopped cooked chicken. Cooked stuffed pasta and pesto should keep fine until lunchtime, and it makes a good cold pasta salad. 

Find Kirkland Signature imported basil pesto for $11.34 (online pricing).

Costco's deli section chicken street tacos are another self-assembly meal kit that provides several lazy lunches for even the hungriest and busiest. The roughly 3-pound kit is designed to make 12 tacos with grilled seasoned chicken, lime and cilantro crema, shredded veggies and cheese, tomato salsa, tortillas, and a few lime wedges. The ingredients come ready to eat, so the only prep you need to do is taco assembly.

Find Kirkland Signature chicken street tacos for $6.23 per pound (online pricing).

A box of these frozen protein bowls from Tasty Bite comes with four, ready to eat in just one minute. Each bowl contains 12 grams of protein and 17 grams of fiber, and unless you throw shredded chicken or a fried egg on top to up the macros, the bowls are completely vegan.

The citrus cilantro bowls have a Mexican flavor profile, but the dressing is packed separately so you can control flavor intensity. You could also add some tortillas to your meal to make tacos or a burrito. 

Find Tasty Bite protein bowls for $13.61 (online pricing). 

The wallet-friendly, ready-to-eat rotisserie chicken is a lazy meal prepper's dream, with tons of uses across weekly meals, like burritos. You just have to mix the meat with beans, cheese, seasonings, and some corn. Stripping and shredding the chicken will take a little work, but it's one annoying task that will get you prepped for a week of midday meals. 

You can either wrap your burritos to heat up at work, or put the mixture in an airtight container in the fridge and assemble the burritos the day you plan to eat them, ensuring fresh burritos and no soggy tortillas. If you're not a burrito fan, you could eat this same mixture over rice, make quesadillas with it, or use it as a salad topping. 

Find the Kirkland Signature seasoned rotisserie chickens for $5.66 (online pricing).

The secret to 10-minute chicken satay and rice is Costco's pre-made chicken skewers. The pack of 14 skewers is minimally flavored with lemon, salt, and garlic and onion powder. So, they're a blank slate for a strong flavor like peanut sauce — just make it using peanut butter and some warm water. You can add garlic, sesame oil, lime, chili flakes, or even a touch of maple syrup, but the basic version of this dish couldn't be easier. Add some minute rice and maybe a side of microwave-steamed vegetables, and you'll be the best-fed person in the break room. 

Find WestEnd Cuisine grilled chicken skewers for $20.42 (online pricing). 

Costco's frozen bags of prepared yakisoba and chicken fried rice from Ajinomoto are the perfect emergency lunch. If you have a freezer and cooking facilities available at work, keep the six-serving bag in there and heat and eat as needed when you're feeling lazy (or forget your carefully prepped lunch). 

Or you could microwave or fry a portion at home and pack it up to go. To go with your carbs, microwave some edamame and finish them with sea salt.

Find Ajinomoto yakitori chicken fried rice and Ajinomoto yakisoba with vegetables for $17.92 and $18.15, respectively.

A DIY adult lunchable packed in something like Costco's Bentgo chill XL lunch boxes would make a fun meal. The details of your lunchable are up to you, but great options include meats and cheese, like Busseto California bite-size salami and provolone, which comes in eight packs. Throw in nuts and dried fruits, such as WildRoots trail mix, along with mini dip pots of hummus, ranch, or guacamole, chopped veggies, crackers, and fresh fruit. You could add a couple of hard-boiled eggs or chicken bites. This would also work as a snack box to hold you over between meals. 

Find Busseto California snackin' bite size salami and provolone cheese and WildRoots coastal berry trail mix for $15.08 and $11.91, respectively (online pricing).

Bagged salads like the two-pack Taylor Farms kits available at Costco come with a dressing, but don't let that limit your imagination. Keep your lazy lunches interesting by varying the vinaigrette, either using bottled dressings or whipping up something simple like a jam jar vinaigrette. You could even upgrade your store-bought salad by adding shredded rotisserie chicken, nuts and seeds, hard-boiled eggs, cheese, or even dried fruit. If you need a more substantial lunch, simply add a base of rice, quinoa, or couscous, or stir in chickpeas or cooked lentils.

Find Taylor Farms chopped salad kits for $7.93 to $10.20 (online pricing).

These Del Real papusas come in a pack of 10 and are filled with gooey mozzarella and birria-style beef, wrapped in real corn masa. Obviously, they're not going to be the best papusa you ever taste. The best papusa you ever taste will be the one an El Salvadorian granny sells you in a parking lot at 10 p.m. But the papusas from Costco are accessible, ready in two minutes, and objectively delicious. Finish with the premade Costco salsa of your choice to make the most of this meal. 

Find Del Real birria and cheese papusas at Costco for $17.01 (online pricing).

Soup and a sandwich is a lunch classic for a reason. Put the combo together the lazy way next time you're at Costco with soup cups and Sandwich Bros melts. The latter comes in a box of 15, so they'll last you for a while.

Kirkland Signature chicken tortilla soup and Panera Bread broccoli cheddar soup both consist of two containers, with six to seven servings in each. If you want to put in a little more effort, pair the soups with a DIY sandwich or wrap made using Costco deli fixings like sliced cheese, deli meat, and maybe some pickles. 

Find Sandwich Bros chicken melts in Costco's freezer section for $14.74, Kirkland Signature chicken tortilla soup for $11.91, and Panera Bread broccoli cheddar soup for $11.34 (online pricing).