What to Buy at Costco for Your Next Picnic

Going to Costco to stock up for a picnic might sound like a wild idea. How many people are you inviting to this freaking thing—a whole village?! Fear not—you’re about to get good use out of the 38-piece of Snapware you just bought on sale. Buy in bulk from Costco as you prepare to have a filling picnic that’ll give you plenty of leftovers to snack on throughout the week.

Costco is spoiling us with this thing. There’s no extra work needed here—these little rolled-up sandwiches from the Costco deli make the perfect picnic-ready finger food. These come with deli chicken, turkey, lettuce, and tomato, all wrapped up in lavash with a healthy smear of cranberry cream cheese. Just be sure to toss a couple of ice packs in the ol’ cooler so you don’t risk eating room temp cream cheese. Although, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger or something like that.

Okay, this is another refrigeration-required item for our picnic, but I firmly believe that potato salad is a must-have for any picnic or cookout (plus, it’s gonna pair nicely with those little sandwich rolls we picked up). Costco’s tub of potato salad comes in a four pound container, so I recommend transferring a picnic-sized portion into a smaller vessel so you’re not strength training on the way to your picnic.

Read our ranking of the best grocery store potato salad

An all-in-one salad bowl that includes a fork for eating is an ideal inclusion for your Costco picnic. The salad comes with a honey chipotle vinaigrette, but, honestly, I’d be fine with pretty much any dressing for this degree of convenience. There’s nothing extra to worry about here—just throw it in your bag, basket, or cooler, and find a trash can nearby to toss out whatever’s left after you dig in. Costco sells these in packs of four so bring one or two along and save the rest for lunch at work on Monday.

This isn’t as exciting as some of the other fruit options I saw at Costco (dried mango, dried goji berries, etc.), but why get dried fruit when you have pre-cut fresh fruit that’s ready to roll. You get melon, grapes, and pineapple—basically a perfect no-fuss fruit salad everyone will love. And they better because this thing is three dang pounds, but we bet it will go fast.

If you’ve got a long trek ahead to get to your desired picnic destination, you’re going to need something to fuel you. There are a plethora of options to choose from in the protein-packed snack aisle at Costco. But these almond and pecan clusters stood out because they seem great for snacking on the go. Even if the clusters get pulverized in your picnic basket, you can still dig into a granola-like snack and be just as happy.

We need something pickle-y for our Costco picnic haul. Now, you may be saying, “Vinz, yeah, duh, just grab some pickles.” BORING. This jar of tangy olives and briny cheese looks infinitely better than a plain jane pickle. You’ve got olives. You’ve got feta. You’ve got sweet pepper drops and herbs. What exactly is a sweet pepper drop? I’m not sure and I have a degree in agriculture! But it sounds fun, so I’m into it. This is a hefty jar, so this is where that Snapware assortment is going to come in handy.

It’s time for dessert and I’ve got just the thing: these brownies. Yes, they are called “two-bite” brownies, but I could absolutely eat these little things in one bite. Don’t even test me, Costco. I’ll look past that terrible name because I like the idea of a bit of chocolate at the end of a picnic. I hate the idea of chocolate melting in the sun on the way to said picnic. But these brownies seem like a solid (and less melty) choice for a little al fresco fun.

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