Become a member or don’t become a member? Usually people who live near a big warehouse club store like Costco or Sam’s Club at some point consider whether they want to join. But if you are gluten-free you have an added question — Is it even worth it now that my food choices are more limited?
It’s true, people on the gluten-free diet won’t be hanging out in the Costco bakery any time soon, but I will tell you after a recent visit, I think a Costco membership is worth it.
What can you get at Costco that’s Gluten Free?
The answer is: more than you might think. When I visited the Costco in Maple Grove Minnesota, I found many things that are gluten free. Now as always keep in mind that products at these stores do change, but you can appeal to them if they discontinue a product — with enough demand they may bring it back.
GF Smoked Pulled Pork
With that said, here’s what I found. For years I have known that their pre-made rotisserie chicken is gluten-free. But now there’s a sign at the warming counter declaring it’s gluten-freeness! To celebrate, I bought one. And at $5.00, it’s a great deal (you can’t buy one and cook it for less)!
Of course in the meat section there are tons of steaks, hamburger and chicken to purchase — sans gluten. But I found a container in the meat cooler of smoked pulled pork! Gluten-Free is written right on the package of the Smoked Pulled Pork, by the Costco house brand Kirkland Signature. Again — I bought it to celebrate the great labeling! I haven’t tried it yet. I hope it’s good!
Other good features of Costco is the produce section. There is a lot of fresh produce. Sometimes buying that in bulk is great, especially if you’re having a party. But I’ve purchased more than enough there only to have extra go bad. So that’s something to keep in mind.
In the freezer section they carry Alexa Waffle Fries and (this one at least) carries Bell and Evans Gluten Free Chicken Nuggets. Moms in my ROCK group swear by them. Emma doesn’t really have a hankering for chicken nuggets. Update: I just got an email from Costco saying their Kirkland Signature Hot Dogs are gluten free. In the dairy section you can get milk for as much as dollar cheaper than a regular grocery store, plus you can get butter and eggs as well.
In the snack section there are Betty Crocker Fruit Roll-ups, dried fruit, nuts. I found these snack bars by Mrs. Mays, which also were loudly displayed as gluten-free.
Kirkland GF Vitamins
Then in the vitamin section we have been purchasing their vitamins for years. Especially the Children’s vitamins. I’ve found it hard to buy just regular chewable vitamins for my gluten-free gal so these are perfect. The three containers I have all say “no yeast or gluten”.
So while I am sure there is more. In fact, feel free to add any gluten-free item I may not know about or have overlooked or isn’t in my store in the comment section below. But at $50 for an annual membership, I think it’s worth it.
*I don’t have a membership at Sam’s Club so I cannot give you good comprehensive information about that warehouse club.
March 8th, 2010 at 10:34 am
I’m the CEO of Udi’s Gluten Free Foods. I was on your blog reading your review of our Lemon Muffins and Pizza Crust (I’m super glad your daughter liked them!). I wanted to comment about gluten free choices at Costco because we’ve been running a market test in the Denver Colorado area. You can currently find our gluten free muffins, breads and granolas at different Denver area Costco clubs. Costco has been very interested in seeing if they could offer more gluten free options to their members while adhering to their strict product performance guidelines. Costco won’t carry a product that doesn’t meet a minimum sales amount. Compare this to the fact that most food retailers don’t have this minimum sales guideline and you can begin to understand why Costco hasn
April 4th, 2011 at 7:04 pm
It’s about time. I would LOVE Costco to carry more Gluten Free products! WhaaaHooo! Now if we can just get them to also carry GMO free products and grass fed meat. Buffalo would be great too. We need a place we can buy clean dairy, meat, eggs, grain & produce that hasn’t been modified, pumped full of hormones or otherwise mucked around with.
🙂
May 18th, 2011 at 12:18 pm
I love Udi’s products and would be SOO excited if Costco carried them because it would mean that I could eat more of my favorite Gf Breads and bagels!
PLease ,please come to Costco in North Carolina!!
July 15th, 2011 at 3:09 pm
Please please consider Canadian costco my children love Udi bread and muffins, in Canada I pay 8 dollars for a loaf of GF bread and 10 for the muffins!!
August 29th, 2011 at 12:00 am
Over the past year or so, I’ve found the Costco stores in the Denver area have added a huge amount of gluten-free products. My all-time favorite is a 2-loaf bag of Rudi’s Multigrain Bread in the freezer section for about $6.50. Yup, that’s just about half price of any of the local grocery stores. I wish they would carry more of the Udi’s products like muffins, bagels, pizza crusts, cookies, etc.
Sam’s Club is also seeming to catch up with Costco in the gluten-free area. Maybe stores are starting to catch on that this celiac thing/gluten sensitivity thing just isn’t going away!
The cure for the Costco hot dog craving – take your own hotdog bun made by Outside the Breadbox in Colorado Springs, CO & get a Kirkland hotdog carefully placed in your bun. Let the bun steam for a minute, add condiments & you’ll be in freaking magic hot dog land!
Who says gluten-free eating is awful? KEEP LOOKING, and ASK FOR WHAT YOU WANT!
October 5th, 2011 at 3:25 pm
Hey, thanks for this post. I’ve recently had to go gluten free and am gearing up to make a trip to Costco. I’m glad that I’ll have an easier time finding things than I hoped!
January 19th, 2012 at 10:12 pm
I found some great gluten free items at our Costco. We love the Casual Gourmet’s chicken sausages, Snikkidy Eat Your Vegetables chips, Organic Tortilla chips, Food Should Taste Good Brown Rice Crackers, Skinny Pop Popcorn, Hi, I’m Skinny: Sweet Onion Flavored Rings all natural and baked! and of course, their produce is awesome. Having a younger family new to the gluten, dairy, egg, sugar free lifestyle, these are some of my treasures that my kids are happy to eat. Sadly, no baked goods or bread yet though.
March 28th, 2012 at 8:36 pm
I was scanning through the list of replies and I noticed a few products listed that I have seen which say “gluten-free” on the package but list CC warnings on the back. Do be careful and remember that certified products can contain up to 20ppm (parts-per-million) of gluten and still get marked “gluten-free”. I am an aspiring chemist and am a fan of the ELISA testing used to determine concentrations this low, but I do not like the FDA’s choice in its application in gluten regulation. I have had a bad experience with the “food should taste good” chips, to name one product, but that was when I was a GF beginner. When I ingested them I immediately lost my sense of balance and hang on to things to move around. I was so confused about what had happened and took a closer look at the package. Stomach symptoms were did not appear until later, but I can bet that I was not “de-glutened” enough to notice a big difference in discomfort. I wouldn’t try them again, but I learned that I shouldn’t tangle with “certified-gluten” free products without further research on possible contamination sources.
Good luck and gluten-free-ness to all!!
October 6th, 2012 at 7:21 pm
Costco Ann Arbor MI has been carrying other wonderful GF products like: Crunch Masters GF crackers in two flavors, Organicville BBQ Sauce and Sesame Teriyaki Sauce which I use for a marinade and don’t forget all the dried fruits and nuts – make your own trail mix!
We would love to see Udi’s breads and bagels sold through them as well as Ancient Harvest Quinoa pastas!!! Or frankly any Quinoa pasta would be a great start!
Thanks and keep up the GF stocking Costco!