Costco can feel like it was designed for holiday entertaining. Giant desserts, enormous packages of appetizers, prepared entrées, and enough cheese to feed everyone you’ve ever met are all sitting under one roof. But throwing bulk-size everything into the cart isn’t automatically the cheapest — or easiest — way to feed a crowd.
The trick is knowing when Costco’s size actually works in your favor. A platter that feeds a couple dozen people can save serious prep time, while a massive package nobody finishes just creates expensive leftovers. Costco’s holiday entertaining options include everything from prepared meats and rotisserie chicken to desserts, vegetable trays, and other shortcuts that can take entire jobs off a host’s list.
Whether you’re hosting Christmas dinner, an open house, or relatives who somehow seem to need feeding every three hours, these 12 Costco holiday hacks can help get plenty of food on the table without spending the entire holiday in the kitchen.
Order Deli Platters Before the Holiday Rush
Waiting until the afternoon of your party to see what’s left in Costco’s prepared-food cases is a gamble you don’t need to take. Eligible members can order deli platters through the Costco app at participating warehouses, making it easier to secure enough food before holiday crowds descend. Some options can feed a surprisingly large group; Costco’s croissant sandwich platter, for example, is listed as serving 12 to 24 people. One platter can essentially handle lunch for a casual Christmas Eve gathering or holiday open house without anyone spending the morning assembling two dozen sandwiches.
Turn Rotisserie Chicken Into Something That Looks Homemade
Costco’s famous rotisserie chicken doesn’t have to arrive at the table looking like you picked it up on the drive home. Pull the meat ahead of time and use it for chicken pot pie, enchiladas, soup, sliders, chicken salad, or a casserole. Costco itself recommends rotisserie chicken as an easy option for holiday entertaining, and it takes care of arguably the most annoying part of many recipes: cooking and preparing the protein. Shred the chickens the night before and guests get a homemade-looking dish while you quietly skip a big chunk of the work.
Buy One Giant Dessert Instead of Six Smaller Ones
It’s easy to get carried away with the dessert table when you’re feeding a crowd, but 20 guests don’t necessarily need six different homemade sweets. Costco already sells large cakes, cookies, pastries, pies, and seasonal desserts that can handle much of the work. Choose one substantial dessert as the centerpiece, then fill out the table with something inexpensive and easy, such as cookies or chocolates. And take everything out of the warehouse packaging before guests arrive. A Costco cake on a cake stand looks considerably more festive than the exact same cake sitting in a giant plastic container.
Build Your Own Giant Appetizer Board
Costco’s bulk packages are particularly useful for foods people naturally graze on: cheese, cured meats, crackers, nuts, olives, dips, and fruit. Instead of paying for several finished appetizer trays, buy the components and build one large grazing board yourself. The key is not covering every inch with pricey prosciutto and fancy cheese. Use crackers, grapes, sliced apples, vegetables, popcorn, and other inexpensive fillers to make the spread look abundant while keeping premium ingredients under control. Save the prepared-food premium for dishes where it actually eliminates meaningful work.
Turn Dinner Rolls Into a Slider Station
A big package of rolls becomes considerably more useful when you stop thinking of it as a side dish. Set out sliced ham or turkey, cheese, pickles, condiments, and rolls, then let everyone assemble their own sliders. It’s particularly handy later in the evening, when guests are somehow hungry again but nobody wants another formal plate of dinner. Better yet, leave some rolls unopened. The next day, the exact same setup can transform leftover holiday turkey or ham into lunch without requiring another round of cooking.
Trending on Cheapism
Outsource the Side Dishes Nobody Actually Cares About
Not every dish on the holiday table needs to come from a family recipe. Costco’s prepared-food department can handle salads, vegetables, dips, appetizers, lasagna, and other sides that would otherwise compete for oven space and prep time. Before shopping, divide the menu into two categories: traditions and obligations. If your family would revolt without Grandma’s stuffing, make the stuffing. If nobody particularly cares who prepared the vegetables, let Costco do it. Outsourcing two or three forgettable but labor-intensive dishes can make hosting substantially easier without making dinner feel less homemade.
Don’t Put the Entire Costco Package Out at Once
The quickest way to turn a Costco bargain into food waste is to open the entire enormous package just because you bought it. Before guests arrive, divide crackers, cheese, desserts, dips, and other bulk foods into smaller portions. Put roughly half on the table and keep the rest sealed or refrigerated until you actually need it. If guests demolish the first batch, replenishing takes seconds. If they don’t, you haven’t transformed tomorrow’s untouched food into tonight’s picked-over leftovers. Smaller batches are particularly useful for perishable foods, which shouldn’t sit at room temperature indefinitely.
Check Warehouse Inventory Before Leaving Home
Few holiday shopping experiences are more annoying than fighting your way through Costco only to discover the one item your menu depends on isn’t there. Costco’s app offers local warehouse inventory information, and the retailer’s inventory tools can also provide availability and pricing, though Costco notes that inventory data may be delayed. Check your must-have entrée, dessert, prepared dish, or seasonal item before making a special trip. It’s also worth choosing a backup while you’re still at home. Holiday inventory can move quickly, and “they had 12 this morning” isn’t much help when you’re standing in an empty aisle at 5 p.m.
Sign up for our newsletter
Think Twice Before Getting the Whole Haul Delivered
Having a giant Costco order appear at your door sounds especially appealing during the holiday rush, but convenience can cost you. Costco says Same-Day item prices are marked higher than warehouse prices to cover service and delivery expenses, and CostcoGrocery similarly notes that shoppers generally find greater savings in the warehouse. That doesn’t make delivery a bad idea — saving an hour during holiday chaos can absolutely be worth paying for. But before placing a huge grocery order, consider whether convenience justifies the markup. Delivery may make more sense for forgotten essentials or a smaller emergency order than the entire holiday haul.
Don’t Buy Every Drink for Every Guest
Bulk beverages stop being economical when you buy enough of every option for everyone. Instead, estimate how many guests will actually drink each type of beverage and shop accordingly. The soda drinkers don’t necessarily need three varieties each, and the coffee drinkers probably aren’t going through an entire case of sparkling water. Large pitchers or dispensers of water and another inexpensive nonalcoholic drink can also keep you from relying entirely on individual bottles and cans. Keep unopened bulk packages away from the serving area, too, so anything you don’t need remains intact for New Year’s or another gathering.
Build the Meal Around One Big Main Dish
A holiday dinner can look impressively abundant without requiring three separate entrées. Costco highlights options including spiral ham, turkey breast, lasagna, and rotisserie chicken for entertaining, all of which can serve as the center of a simple crowd-friendly menu. Start with one substantial main dish, then add two filling sides, bread, and a salad. Appetizers and dessert can provide the extra variety. Besides saving money, limiting the number of mains makes timing much easier — particularly when every recipe seems to demand the oven at a different temperature at exactly the same time.
Shop for the Morning After, Too
The holiday meal isn’t necessarily the end of your hosting duties. If relatives are staying overnight, the same crowd may reappear in your kitchen the next morning expecting coffee and breakfast. Costco-sized packages of eggs, bagels, muffins, fruit, bacon, sandwich ingredients, and frozen breakfast foods can make much more sense when you’re feeding people for several meals instead of one. Think of your cart in three sections: holiday meal, next-morning breakfast, and leftover-day lunch. Look for ingredients that can move between them, too. Dinner rolls become turkey sandwiches, appetizer fruit becomes breakfast, and leftover cheese can go into eggs. That’s when buying in bulk actually starts earning its keep.
Let Costco Buy Back Some of Your Time
The smartest Costco holiday hack isn’t necessarily finding the lowest price per ounce. It’s deciding which purchases can save you enough money, time, or aggravation to actually make hosting easier.
Let Costco handle the platters, cooked proteins, desserts, and tedious extras while you concentrate on the homemade dishes your family genuinely looks forward to. And before putting any enormous package in the cart, ask the question that matters more than the unit price: Will this crowd actually finish it?
