If you let your stomach dictate what you throw into your cart, buying bulk foods on a budget can be treacherous. You might come home with enough croissants to feed a French army, a couple of pounds of mac and cheese, and not much else. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Even if you shop at Costco, where the bakery section is a sea of tempting pastries, you can stick to a grocery list full of healthy, easy-to-prepare foods that won’t break the bank.
The first step is to come prepared with a list of items that meet those criteria. Sound daunting? Redditors recently came up with their own crowdsourced selection of best bang-for-your-buck foods, the healthiest of which we’ve listed below. Add a couple of these gems to your list, and you’ll be off to a good start on your next shopping spree.
Prices and availability are subject to change. Prices may be lower in store.
1. Quaker Oats Old Fashioned Oatmeal
$1.99 (8 cents per ounce) from Costco.com
A bowl of piping-hot oatmeal may not be exciting, but it is nutritious and cheap, earning an endorsement from the American Heart Association and coming in at around 11 cents per serving. Of course, you don’t have to eat it plain. One commenter recommends adding peanut butter to make it “extra filling and delicious.”
2. Kirkland Signature Walnut Halves
$13.69 ($4.56 per pound) from Costco.com
While nuts usually aren’t cheap, they aren’t too bad if you buy them in bulk from Costco. Walnuts are a particularly good choice, according to one Redditor, as they’re “dense and delicious.” Their health benefits are well-documented, too, with the Cleveland Clinic lauding their abundance of healthy fats and antioxidants.
3. Rotisserie Chicken
$6.21 from Instacart ($4.99 in store)
You can’t have a list of bang-for-your-buck buys without including Costco’s rotisserie chicken. It’s versatile, packed with protein, and cheap for how much food you get. To stretch your dollar, shred the meat and then boil the carcass to make homemade chicken broth, one Redditor suggests.
4. Flav-R-Pac Classic Mixed Vegetables
$7.99 ($1.60 per pound) from Costco Business Center
Get your daily serving of vegetables for pennies on the dollar with this frozen medley of corn, carrots, green beans, green peas, and lima beans. You can serve them plain with a bit of butter or incorporate them into other dishes, such as stir fries and casseroles.
5. Bananas
$1.89 (63 cents per pound) from Costco Business Center
Cleveland Clinic calls bananas a “fiber and potassium powerhouse,” noting that they’re easy to digest and full of vitamins and minerals. They’re also cheap, especially at Costco, where you can buy three pounds of the fruit (around nine bananas) for just under $2. They also save well, as you can store overripe bananas in the freezer.Trending on Cheapism
6. Heartland Premium Black Beans
$44.69 (89 cents per pound) from Costco Business Center
The penny pincher’s secret weapon in the kitchen? Black beans. Not only do they boast a stellar nutritional profile, but they’re also dirt cheap. Buy a huge bag at Costco, stock up on some rice, and you’ll be prepared to weather an apocalypse.
7. Swift Boneless Pork Loin
$33.93 ($3.72 per pound) from Instacart
If you have space in your fridge and freezer for nine pounds of pork, you can’t go wrong with this bulk buy from Costco, Redditors say. “It’s wild how cheap it always is. I grind half the pork loin and save the rest as steaks,” one commenter shares. Plus, pork is generally good for you, as it’s full of high-quality protein, vitamins, and minerals, according to WebMD.
Related: Shoppers Love These High-Protein Costco Products
8. Butterball Ground Turkey
$25.29 ($3.76 per pound) from Costco Business Center
While it’s a bit pricier than pork, ground turkey is a far leaner meat that is still high in protein. It’s also a steal at Costco. One shopper says that it costs them less than $2 a meal when they cook with the ground turkey.Related: The Best Costco Appetizers and Party Foods
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9. Kirkland Signature Chicken Thighs
$1.69 per pound from Costco Business Center
For the best price-to-protein ratio, you should buy chicken thighs, which have one of the lowest per-unit prices for meat at Costco. And like many of our selections, you can easily add them to almost any dish without overcooking them.For more Costco shopping guides, please sign up for our free newsletters.
