11 Costco Essentials I Keep Buying as the Economy Roils

Inflation, tariffs, shrinkflation, and other factors are causing economic uncertainty for shoppers, especially as prices are already starting to climb for certain items. While people may be cutting back on things like eating out or entertainment, shoppers refuse to cut corners with essential products they consider non-negotiables, especially at warehouse chain Costco. From Rotisserie Chicken to Lasagna, shoppers are still stocking up on these items despite trade wars and price hikes. Here are 11 Costco essentials members are still buying.

Rotisserie Chicken

Costco's $5 rotisserie chicken remains a beacon of light in the retail wilderness, with seemingly endless members saying it's an essential product. "Rotisserie chicken and the blueberry muffins 😬," one shopper said. "Eggs & rotisserie chicken," another commented.

Coffee

Coffee from Costco is another essential customers are not willing to give up. "I buy the MAX allowed 5 boxes of Starbucks Pike's Peak K-Cups every time they have their sale ($8 off per) which seems to be every other sale cycle…. Also Bounty every trip weather I need them or not and Scott TP every 2nd or 3rd trip," one shopper said.

Costco Eggs

Anyone who saw viral videos of Costco shoppers stocking up on eggs during the recent shortage won't be surprised that eggs, no matter the price, are another essential product. "Costcos eggs are substantially cheaper than retail grocery stores. Anyone with a membership, commercial or not, is buying their eggs there if they can," one member said.

Food Court Hot Dog

The $1.50 food court hot dog and soda combo seems like even more of a good deal these days, shoppers say. "$1.50 hot dog and drink is the new date night," one member said. "My husband jokes that he's going to take me to an exclusive members only club for dinner and he does. Food court cheese pizza! 🍕 " another joked.

Avocados

Members are still buying avocados, but are changing things up as the price has gone up. "I am fortunate to live only 20 minutes from a Costco Business Center," one shopper said. "Last weekend we bought a 3-lb pkg of frozen avocado halves for $10.89. There were about 30 halves in it, and the work of pitting and peeling them is already done. Of course, you might not care for frozen, but we mostly use it on toast or to make guac, so the texture is just fine since we are mashing it up anyway."

Anything on Clearance

Costco members are taking full advantage of the clearance shelves right now. "I go to Costco 1-2 times a week, once during the week, once on weekends," one explained. "I honestly just look for deals/clearance now. Anything $#.97~ and I'm intrigued. Went to get some hand soap today and saw some beets were $2.97. Bought 2 boxes since they don't go bad until September. That's all I really look at now, anything on clearance."6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

Lasagna

Shoppers are buying items like lasagna where they can get several meals out of one product. "When I went a few days ago, everyone seemed to definitely be shopping the sales," one member said. "Love Beets and Chobani yogurt were great deals. I also picked up a short rib beef lasagna for around $12 that can easily get us 6 portions for my family two dinners."

Smoked Salmon

Not everyone's idea of essentials are the same: For some shoppers, indulgences are just as important. "I will stick to the essentials: goat cheese, cheese, smoked salmon, paper towel, some frozen stuff, etc," one member said. "I have cut on my expenses and we eat mostly soups now 😆 🤣 okay, we eat fresh fruit too. We had spent too much in 2023/2024 so trying to cut back a little."

Cleaning Supplies

Costco still offers the best deal on both Kirkland Signature and name-brand cleaning products, shoppers say. "I exclusively buy cleaning supplies at Costco," one Redditor shared.

Simply Protein Bars

Some shoppers are stocking up on Canadian items in fear that tariffs will make them either impossible to get or prohibitively expensive. "I just upped my usual order of 3 boxes of Canadian protein bars to 10 boxes. This may be the last 10 boxes of simply protein that I ever see," one shopper said.

Canned and Frozen Vegetables

Costco shoppers are stocking up on frozen and canned fruits and vegetables over fresh. "We've stopped buying our produce at Costco unless it's frozen, a local grocery store has better prices. We stopped buying premade freezer meals like Sukhi's and just use simmer sauces instead," one member explained.