12 Best Keto Items at Costco plus 4 You Should Avoid

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Just starting Keto and wondering what are the best keto items to buy? Today, I’ll show you the 12 best keto items at Costco along with five products you should avoid especially if you’re using keto to lose weight.

This is the final part of my 5 part series on how to shop keto. If you’re new to keto or looking for more keto shopping ideas, check out the rest of the series. 

Part #1 3 Best Keto Snacks at Target

Part #2 Top 7 Keto Items at Whole Foods Market

Part #3 5 Best Keto Items at Trader Joe’s

Part #4 10 Best Keto Items at Walmart

What Is Keto?

The Ketogenic Diet (Keto for short) is revolutionizing our understanding of food and health. The basic concept of the keto lifestyle is simple; swap your carbs for healthy fats and your body will adapt to burn fat instead of carbs for fuel.  

Personally, I used the keto lifestyle to lose over 40lbs, beat a family history of Type 2 diabetes, and keep the weight off for over 4 years!

If you’re new to keto, you probably have lots of questions. I created a comprehensive beginner’s guide to keto to help you avoid the many common mistakes people make when you start keto. 

You can get my Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Keto and I’ll show how you get the results you want from keto!

Why Buy Keto Items at Costco?

If you have a big keto family or are feeding a big group, you’re going to love shopping at Costco. You’ll find great keto-friendly items from high-quality brands in bulk sizes with lower prices than you can’t find anywhere else.

In my experience, I save 15-50% off what I would pay at other stores, even compared to  Walmart and Trader Joe’s!

Costco is a great place to shop keto, but we have to be smart. We want to find the best keto items that are going to leave us feeling full from healthy fats without all of the carbs and fillers.

12 Best Keto Items as Costco

  1. Penesa Organic Spaghetti Sauce

Best Keto Item at Costco is pasta sauce

This is one my favorite items at Costco because this spaghetti sauce is the perfect trifecta.  Delicious, keto-friendly, and organic! Tomatoes are on the to EWG’s dirty dozen list because of the pesticide residue found on conventional tomatoes, which is why I like to buy this organic sauce.

2. 4505 Pork Rinds

Best Keto Item at Costco is pork rinds

Pork Rind are a great keto alternative to chips. In addition, what I love about these is they come from pigs that are pasture raised without antibiotics and they have zero carbs! They also are great for added some crunch to keto dinner recipes.

  3. Lakanto Sweetener

Best Keto Item at Costco is Lakanto sweetener

Lakanto is a great keto sweetener that works well in a number of keto desserts. They use a special combination of monk fruit and erythritol that works well, but without the bitter aftertaste of other keto sweeteners like stevia.

 4. Keto Pint Ice Cream Bars

Best Keto Item at Costco is keto pint ice cream bars

These sweet gems have only 2 net carbs and are made with all keto-friendly ingredients. If you’re looking for the perfect keto treat to keep in your freezer in case of emergency sugar cravings, these are it!

 5. Nature’s Garden Keto Snack Mix

Best Keto Item at Costco is the keto snack mix

Need a keto snack that will hold you over until lunch? I love this crunchy and delicious snack mix with cheddar cheese puffs, almonds, pecans, and macadamia nuts.

6. Vital Proteins Collagen

Collagen is one of the most bioavailable proteins our bodies need to repair cartilage and grow healthy hair, skin and nails. As we age our body needs more collagen protein to stay healthy. Vital proteins collagen makes it easy to add some extra collagen to your coffee or shake.

7. Cheese Whisps

These are the perfect low-carb crunchy snack that fit easily in your gym bag or purse. Also, they only have 1 net carb per serving and taste delicious and Costco is a great place to stock up! 

8. Organic Olive Oil

Olive oil is the original healthy fat. This olive oil is 100% organic and comes in a glass container. It works well for low heat cooking and is delicious as a salad dressing. 

9. Organic String Cheese

String cheese is a favorite for my kids. I try to buy organic dairy products because organic cows are given better feed and don’t have unnecessary antibiotics or growth hormones. Costco is the perfect place to buy this keto-friendly organic string cheese in bulk.

10. Himalayan Pink Salt

Salt is an important electrolyte for your body. Carbs cause your body to retain water, but when you switch to keto your body becomes more efficient at flushing out waste and needs you need more electrolytes.

But many keto beginners don’t know they need to increase their electrolytes and start to feel light-headed and weak. This is commonly called the “keto flu.”You can avoid the keto flu my increasing your electrolytes.

In addition, Himalayan Pint Salt has trace minerals that are hard to get from other foods, plus it’s a natural flavor enhancer!

11. Organic Apple Cider Vinegar

I use Apple Cider Vinegar for making bone broth in the crockpot all the time. You can also use it in salad dressing and marinades. It lasts a long time so feel free to stock up!

12. Almond Flour

Almond Flour is a must-have for people transitioning from the Standard American Diet (SAD) to the keto lifestyle. You can make a much healthier version of your old favorites like keto pancakes, bread, and other keto friendly baked goods.

These Costco items are Keto, but proceed with caution

The items listed below are definitely keto, but you should proceed with precaution especially if you are trying to fit back into those jeans from high school 🙂 

 1. Nuts

Almonds, Walnuts, and other nuts are keto. However, they are very easy to overeat and if you have too many of them they can cause your weight loss to stall. If you don’t have good portion control, proceed with caution.

 2. Nut Butters

Most nut butters are also keto, but read the nutritional information to see if everything else added is keto too. However, a number of nut butter brands add sugar, honey, and other non-keto sweeteners.

 3. Costco meat

Costco definitely has great prices on meat products, but most of them are not organic or grassfed. This means the animal fat your eating may contain undesirable hormones and antibiotics. If you can afford it, buy organic and grassfed meat as a healthier and more environmentally friendly option.

Keto Items at Costco to avoid

 1. Lorissa’s Kitchen Beef Jerky

Normally, beef jerky is a great keto snack. However, this brand at Costco has 7 grams of sugar per serving! Definitely not keto. Read the nutritional panel closely for jerky because it’s easy to miss added sugars.

My Favorite Beef Sticks: Sogo beef sticks

As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no cost to you when you make a purchase using our links.

 2. Cauliflower pizza kit

Cauliflower is one of my favorite keto vegetables and we all love pizza! However, these kits contain a bunch of other ingredients with too many carbs that make them a no-go for the keto lifestyle.

My Favorite Keto Pizza Crust: Kbosh Keto Crusts

 3. Kirkland Protein bars

Kirkland, Costco in-store brand, makes some great products but these protein bars have way too much carbage (carb garbage) for the keto lifestyle.

My Favorite Keto Bar: Perfect Keto

 4. Keto Zone MCT oil powder

Normally, I’m a big fan of MCTs. MCTs (medium chain Tryglerydes) are a healthy fat derived primarily from coconuts. They help you get into ketosis, boost energy, and keep you feeling full. 

So why not Keto Zone MCT oil powder?

There are actually three different types of MCTs. C12 MCTs are the most abundant, followed by C10, and the rarest making up just 5% of the coconut are C8 MCTs. 

C8 MCTs are about four times more effective at boosting ketone levels compared to C12 MCTs. In fact, regular coconut oil is just as effective as C12 MCTs. 

When we look at the nutritional facts, we see that Keto Zone is only 70% C8 MCTs. I look for MCT oil powder that is 90% or more C8 MCTs to get all of the ketone boosting benefits. 

My Favorite MCT Oil Powder: Ground-Based Nutrition C8 MCT Oil Powder

What’s Different About Costco?

Costco is a warehouse club that requires a membership. They do not offer any free options like a day pass, guest pass, or trial period. However, family members can add you to their card so it might be worth giving Aunt Linda a call. Also, they offer a very generous refund policy so you can get your money back if you decide after a few months that it’s not for you. 

They are dedicated to finding quality products in bulk at the best price. They are regularly 15-50% lower than the prices at Trader Joe’s and even Walmart. 

Insider Costco Shopping Tips

Costco’s stock is a little different depending on where you live, but here are some secret Costco insider tips. 

  • Bring Your Own Bag: Costco doesn’t provide bags so make sure you bring your own.
  • More than Food: They have great prices on more than just food. Costco has great deals on electronics, clothes, and even seasonal items.
  • Be Prepared to Buy in Bulk: If your favorite keto item at Costco item come in a size too big for you to use before it goes bad, find a friend to share with!
  • Go on Weekdays: Costco is less crowded on weekdays which makes shopping easier
  • How to Find Clearance Deals: Items with prices that end in $.97 are on clearance.

How to choose the best keto items at Costco

The first step is to read the nutrition label. You want to make sure the product in your cart is actually keto-friendly. 

The packaging may claim to be keto-friendly, Whole30 approved, or no-sugar-added, but do your own research. These products can still be high in natural sugars, starches, or fiber so it’s important to check the nutritional facts on the back of the packaging yourself.

1. Check the Macros: Keto-friendly products should be high in healthy fats, moderate protein, and low in carbohydrates. The ideal ratio is 75 percent fat, 20 percent protein, and only 5 percent carbs. 

Of course, the ideal keto ratio may be different for you depending on your gender, age, health conditions, and exercise habits. 

2. Be careful with sweeteners: Ingredients are listed in the order weight so the ingredient that makes up the bulk of the product is listed first.

Be wary if one of the first ingredients is a sweetener because many keto-friendly sweeteners like erythritol, stevia, and monk fruit can cause stomach problems is take in large doses. 

Also, some companies add maltodextrin to keto-friendly sweeteners, which can kick you out of ketosis. 

Normally, the best keto-friendly sweeteners are erythritol, stevia, and monk fruit.

3. Try to choose real food: Certainly, not all keto products at Costco are created equal, the less processed the better results you’re going to see from keto. 

For instance, look for products with healthy fats high in Omega-3s and low in inflammatory Omega-6 fatty acids along with clean proteins and only a small amount of carbs.

Below is a Pinterest friendly photo…so you can pin it to your keto board!

Addition Keto Resources

Are you a keto beginner or looking for more keto resources? Check out the rest of my series on the best places to shop keto.

Part #1 3 Best Keto Snacks at Target

Part #2 Top 7 Keto Items at Whole Foods Market

Part #3 5 Best Keto Items at Trader Joe’s

Part #4 10 Best Keto Items at Walmart

If you have any questions, put them in the comments below. I read all of the comments and I will be answer your questions there. 

Also, If you’re looking for other resources take a look at the Best Free Keto Apps in 2020 and the 4 best exercise programs for keto you can do for free online.

Until next time, remember it’s about progress, not perfection and keto on!

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