We Tested Costco's Latest Food Hacks—Here's What to Grab

A Tasting Journey Through Costco’s Latest Food Products

Costco is known for its vast selection of products, but the warehouse store has also become a go-to destination for food enthusiasts looking for new and exciting items. Recently, The News Pulse team took on the challenge of tasting 13 of the newest food products available at Costco. From drinks to frozen food to bakery treats, the experience was both adventurous and enlightening.

Some of our favorites included Dubai chocolate ice cream bars and a loaded BBQ mac and cheese. These items stood out not just for their taste, but also for their unique presentation and flavor combinations. While some products were a hit, others left us questioning whether they were worth the purchase. Let’s dive into what we discovered.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pastries

These pastries have already gone viral, and not necessarily for a good reason (people with trypophobia, look away!). But all of the discourse is distracting from how incredible these strawberry rhubarb pastries taste. The buttery yeasted dough is like a soft cushion for this sweet and sour fruit filling. And the top crust is coated in a hearty dusting of crunchy sugar. Senior Editor Samantha MacAvoy says these are just begging to be served warm (and I might even up the ante with a scoop of ice cream).

Marshmallow Crispy Cookies

We first saw these new treats on TikTok, and they taste exactly how the Costco bakery smells: sweet and buttery. The predominant flavor is just pure sugar (not unlike a tub of Pillsbury frosting). Digital Food Producer and Editor Camille Lowder noted that the marshmallows actually aren’t marshmallows at all, but rather a combination of tapioca and sugar. It was overall too sweet for our tastes, but we kept going back for more because of the texture. It’s both crispy and chewy in the best way possible. While we wouldn’t buy it for ourselves, we could see these cookies being the star of a kid’s birthday party.

Chicken & Waffles

Your weekend brunches just got easier, because Costco is selling boxes of chicken and waffles in their prepared foods section. Each container comes with four waffles, four pieces of fried chicken, and both hot honey and maple syrup for drizzling on top. There’s a lot to love: The breading on the chicken is well seasoned, the waffle is nice and crispy, and Costco includes real maple syrup (no Log Cabin here!). We'd recommend this product, but only if you air-fry the chicken. Reheating the tenders in the oven leaves them more flabby than crispy.

Chicken Burrito Bowl

One of Costco’s newest prepared meals is this burrito bowl, which includes grilled chicken, cilantro lime rice, beans, corn, and cheese. It’s also accompanied by lime wedges and cups of salsa and guacamole. This meal is the definition of set it and forget it—all you need to do is remove the sauces and limes, stir everything else together, and pop it in the oven for 40 minutes. It’s not exactly a fast meal to put on the table, but it’s definitely easy. These burrito bowls are hearty and well-seasoned. Costco definitely doesn’t skimp on the cheese, but they did cheap out on the condiments. If one container can easily feed a family of four, why include only two measly containers of guacamole? But at only $4.99 a pound, you can easily supplement this dish with extra avocado and some shredded lettuce for crunch.

BBQ Chicken Mac & Cheese With Bacon

Thought Costco’s mac and cheese was decadent enough already? Then this upgraded version will blow your mind. They take their classic recipe, then top it with shredded barbecue chicken, crunchy bacon bits, and even more cheese. The added protein makes this mac feel more like a meal than a side dish. Some of our editors weren’t fans of the barbecue sauce and cheese combination. But if you already enjoy mac and cheese as a barbecue side, you’ll love this.

Brauhaus Bavarian Jumbo Soft Pretzels

You might look at this box in the freezer aisle and think that it includes some reasonably-sized soft pretzels. Think again: each box contains two gigantic pretzels (see the photo with my hand for reference) with optional salt packets. They're already fully cooked, so you just have to thaw and heat them through. How does it taste? It's just like your standard soft pretzel. But since there's so much more dough, there's less surface area to top with the crunchy salt. They definitely need some mustard or beer cheese, but in Lowder's words, these "large and in charge" pretzels belong at your next party.

Biti Bites Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

New to Costco's freezer aisle are these Biti Bites Biteables (say that five times fast). These frozen treats include bite-sized balls of vanilla ice cream encased in edible chocolate chip cookie dough. And, to nobody's surprise, these taste incredible. We'll never say no to ice cream, but the cookie dough is the real star here. The flavor is rich, balanced, and chocolatey. We highly recommend grabbing a bag, but with an important note: Bring an insulated bag with you. These bites can transform from perfect balls to a pool of goop in a matter of moments.

Dubai Chocolate Style Ice Cream Sandwiches

We’ve tried to get our hands on these treats, but the Dubai chocolate demand has continuously emptied warehouse shelves…until now. These ice cream treats are the best of both worlds. One half of this pistachio ice cream is dipped in chocolate, chopped pistachios, and kataifi, like an ice cream bar. The other half is sandwiched between two mini chocolate cookies. Our team described this dessert as "innovative" and "way better than it needs to be." It might be our favorite product of this entire haul—and in a sea of delicious Costco products, that's saying a lot.

Organic Lemon Torchietti Pasta

We love pasta al limone as much as the next guy, but what if the pasta itself were lemon-flavored? This Costco find features lemon oil in this organic imported pasta, as well as a tinge of turmeric to double down on the yellow. We were a bit skeptical, but this ended up surpassing our expectations. The lemony appearance and aroma are intense, but the flavor is much more subtle. And the use of lemon oil makes the flavor extra authentic. Our own pasta expert, Food Editor Francesca Zani, even gave this her stamp of approval; she thinks this would taste awesome in a cream sauce.

Vlasic Pickle Balls

Vlasic, in a genius marketing move, launched Pickle Balls themed after the beloved sport. These bright green corn puffs are flavored with dill and vinegar for the ultimate salty snack. We’re not going to lie: these look kind of scary. You’re not finding this shade of green anywhere in nature. And the taste ended up being pretty polarizing. Assistant Editor of Audience Development, Izabela Campos, loved the crunch of these puffs and the authentic pickle taste. Lowder, our office’s resident pickle enthusiast, was also a huge fan. But many of us thought that this snack missed the mark. It’s briny, but could be more salty. There’s a slight sweetness that many of us disliked. And many of us couldn’t look past the color. We’d only ever buy these for our pickle-obsessed pals, or just as a novelty to bring to a pickleball game.

Hershey’s S’mores Popcorn

Sweet and salty fans, this one’s for you. This product in the snack aisle combines popcorn with marshmallow and chocolate drizzles, along with crunchy graham cracker bits. The popcorn itself is light and crunchy with a relatively mild flavor, so the toppings are really doing the talking here. The light drizzle of chocolate is just enough to add to the s’mores vibe without being overpowering. Campos said that she could easily “eat it all in one sitting.” This is a treat that would upgrade any home movie night.

Alani Nu Witch’s Brew Energy Drink

In honor of spooky season, Alani Nu is selling a seasonal energy drink flavor called Witch’s Brew (spoiler alert: it’s caramel apple flavored). Full disclosure: Most The News Pulse editors don’t like energy drinks. But we didn’t mind this one! It’s aggressively sweet, like most energy drinks are, but it’s balanced with the tartness of sour apple flavor. You also taste the toasty caramel flavors on the back end. Culinary Producer Colton Trowbridge aptly described the flavor of this drink as if you dropped a caramel apple lollipop into a Red Bull. It’s not for us personally, but energy drink lovers should grab a pack next time they’re at Costco.

Genius Gourmet Sparkling Protein Drink

We’re all for getting extra protein in our diet, but we might just have to draw the line here. Genius Gourmet sells a 15-pack of their Sparkling Protein drink, a confusing concoction with carbonated water, whey protein, collagen, and blue raspberry lemonade flavor. The 30 grams of protein per can may be tempting, but you should absolutely avoid this. It’s chalky. It’s overwhelmingly sweet. It has a strange chemical aftertaste. Campos called it “jungle juice for gym rats” because we can’t imagine anybody else being able to stomach this drink. MacAvoy captured our feelings in just two words: “I’m upset.”