As a family of 7 (soon to be 8!), we’re always looking for healthy, kid-friendly foods on a budget. Though, it almost seems like the words “healthy” and “kid-friendly” don’t even belong in the same sentence these days. So many kids just want to eat “brown food” — chicken nuggets, buttered noodles, cheese burgers, french fries – basically anything you can find on a kids’ menu at an American restaurant.
Encouraging healthy eating often requires being an “ingredient-only” household and never allowing your children to eat pre-packaged snacks.
In general, we try to minimize snacking in our house. We focus mainly on making from-scratch meals with fresh, whole foods.
But as busy parents of 5 (soon to be 6!) who homeschool and run a business, sometimes it’s just easier to have a variety of healthy(ish) snacks on hand. Kids are always growing. They need to eat! And we don’t always have the time or resources to whip up the best healthy foods from scratch for all our hungry littles on a whim.
When we want to cook a healthy main meal from scratch (which is just about every night), having staple bulk ingredients is a must. With a vast inventory of nutritious foods, Costco offers great options for healthy snacks and ingredients for easy, from-scratch meals for large families. (Yes, it’s more than just a place to stock up on toilet paper during a pandemic!) For this reason, my weekly grocery list often includes many different items from the bulk warehouse.
Without further ado, here are our family’s favorite healthy Costco finds for kid-friendly meals and snacking:
Healthy Costco Finds: Crunchy Snacks
Go Raw Sprouted Organic Pumpkin Seeds with Sea Salt: If you’re looking for plant-based protein, this is one of the quickest and most nutritious options. Grab a handful and eat ‘em raw, add to homemade granola, or sprinkle on yogurt or salads for a quick lunch or afternoon snack. (Our kids like to eat them raw.)
Simple Mills Almond Flour Crackers: Layered with cream cheese or sliced cheese, and paired with kalamata olives, these gluten-free crackers are a great, healthy way to satisfy your chip craving without the guilt. Speaking of chips…
Jackson’s Avocado Oil Sweet Potato Chips: These are some of the best chips we’ve ever found at our local Costco. Made with avocado oil instead of canola, they’re a good source of essential fatty acids. Another good choice to satisfy your chip craving.
Gimme Health Foods Roasted Seaweed: This variety pack comes with 2 flavors: sea salt and teriyaki. Seaweed is rich in iodine which is essential for optimal thyroid function. (Besides that, it tastes delicious! Our kids request this often when they want a quick snack.)
Siete Grain Free Sea Salt Tortilla Chips: I was so happy to find these at my local Costco! You’d have to buy 3 bags and spend more than twice as much money at a regular grocery store to get the same amount that comes in a bulk-sized bag from Costco. Purchasing bulk items is a huge money saver, and I’m grateful Costco has so many healthy, delicious options. We eat these often with Jack’s Fresh Cantina Salsa (another great Costco find!)
Healthy Costco Finds: Other Snacks
Pure Organic Layered Fruit Bars: Remember your favorite childhood fruit snacks? They definitely weren’t as healthy as these, which are made with minimal ingredients — fruit purées and fruit juices — and no artificial flavors. A much better way to satisfy any child’s sweet tooth.
Kirkland Signature Organic Applesauce: A convenient way to satisfy that “apple a day” rule, especially when you’re traveling with toddlers. And the Kirkland brand offers a budget friendly alternative to Mott’s.
Kirkland Chunky Guacamole: Honestly, I prefer making guacamole from scratch. But busy, working mamas don’t always have time for that. This guacamole actually tastes pretty close to homemade and goes great with the Siete Grain Free Tortilla Chips.
Garden Fresh Gourmet Organic Jack’s Cantina Style Salsa: I mentioned this one a few paragraphs back, but it bears repeating … probably the absolute best salsa I’ve found at a store. Like the Kirkland Guacamole, it tastes homemade and goes great with Siete chips.
Grillos Dill Pickle Spears: Our kids love pickles as snacks or as sides with homemade grass-fed beef burgers (on homemade, whole-wheat buns!). These are fresh with an authentically refrigerator-pickled taste and crunch.
Lean Proteins
Perfect Protein Bars: While I don’t love protein bars as a meal replacement, I can appreciate them in moderation for snacking or even a quick breakfast solution. And these actually provide up to 17 grams of protein that’s sourced from nut butters, eggs and milk, as well as organic honey and 20+ superfoods.
Country Archer Mango Habanero Beef Jerky: We discovered this spicy snack during a trip to Florida when a good friend offered me a few slices — and I never looked back. This one is definitely a splurge, but it’s oh-so worth it. Another delicious source of protein that’s packed with flavor!
Kirkland Wild Caught Frozen Mahi-Mahi: Okay, so this isn’t the most kid-friendly option — unless your kids like fish (ours don’t). But it’s a great meal option for an in-home date night, a daytime lunch, or when you just feel like eating something different from your kids.
Jones Chicken Sausages: We eat these quite often for breakfast. I love that they’re kosher / pork-free and easy to heat and serve with eggs. (We buy our eggs from a local farmer, but Costco does have organic, pasture-raised eggs at a good price point for people who don’t have access to local farms as well.)
Healthy Costco Finds: Pantry Staples
Dave’s Killer Bread: We make our sandwich bread from scratch using fresh-milled flour. But if we’re ever in a pinch or traveling, Dave’s Killer Bread is the next-best thing. Costco sells two loaves of this nutritious bread option for basically the price of one at a conventional grocery store.
Kirkland Organic Almond Butter: Hubs and I prefer Kirkland’s almond butter to other nut butters, but we also buy the two-jar pack of its creamy peanut butter for our kids. Spread on some homemade sourdough sandwich bread with organic strawberry jelly, either one makes for a quick and easy lunch. We also put it in smoothies, on pancakes, and stir it into cottage cheese for a protein-packed breakfast.
Kirkland Signature Southeast Raw Unfiltered Honey: If you don’t have access to local honey from a nearby farm, this is a great bulk buy. (I’ve also found manuka honey at our local Costco, which is a staple in our pantry / medicine cabinet!)
Garofalo Organic Spaghetti Noodles: We recently started making our own pasta from scratch using fresh-milled flour. But it’s a labor-intensive feat, and since we do spaghetti night at least once a week, sometimes we just need pre-packaged noodles in a pinch. Made with organic durum wheat semolina flour, this brand is probably as close to authentic Italian dried pasta as you can get among store-bought options.
Canned Veggies: Black beans and diced tomatoes are essentials for us (especially during chili season!) But Costco offers a variety of other canned veggies in bulk packaging as well.
Kirkland Organic Chicken Stock: Although I do prefer homemade chicken feet bone broth in soups, we don’t always have some made. So for last-minute meals that require chicken stock, it’s good to have this on hand.
Oils: We always keep these on hand for meal prep and cooking — Kirkland Signature Extra Virgin Italian Olive Oil, Chosen Foods Avocado Oil Spray & Kirkland Signature Organic Virgin Coconut Oil. The olive oil has a rich flavor that makes for a great alternative to unhealthy salad dressings, especially when sprinkled with sea salt.
Organic Sugar in the Raw: We all know too much sugar is not good, but if you’re going to eat it, raw, organic sugar is the best option. And one bulk bag of this stuff will last a while if you’re watching your blood sugar and only using it in moderation.
Healthy Costco Finds: Refrigerated Staples
Ingredient-only households and families who cook from scratch need a good source for refrigerated staple ingredients. Here are 3 of the most refrigerated healthy Costco finds we recommend always having on hand for meals:
- Kirkland Signature Plain Greek Yogurt
- Chosen Foods Avocado Oil Classic Mayo
- Kirkland Signature Grass-Fed Butter
Fruits & Veggies
Finally, make sure you’re balancing those salty pantry snacks (as healthy as they may be) with fresh, high quality fruits and veggies. Costco offers a variety of fresh produce with lots of organic options. Here are the items we buy most often:
- Hass Avocados
- Gold Kiwi
- Organic Medjool Dates
- 5lb Bag of Mandarins
- Organic Baby Spinach
- Organic Celery Sticks
- Organic Bananas
- Kirkland Signature Organic Frozen Blueberries and Strawberries
- Kirkland Signature Organic Frozen Broccoli Florets
- Gia Russa Organic Kalamata Pitted Olives
- Greenhouse Grown Cocktail Cucumbers
- Kirkland Signature Organic Frozen Green Beans
Of course, nothing beats from-scratch meals and snacks 100% of the time … but let’s be real. We’re all busy and just doing the best we can. Costco is a great place to buy in bulk without breaking the bank and still eat healthy. We’ve had our Costco membership for over a decade and as our family continues to grow, we wouldn’t dream of giving it up now.
What about you? What are some of your favorite healthy Costco finds for kid-friendly snacking and meals? Share them with us in the comments!
