10 Costco Foods That Taste Like They're Homemade

You can call Costco a lot of things, but cozy isn't one of them. The store may evoke feelings of nostalgia and comfort for some people, but on the surface, each of its locations is a cavernous, brightly-lit hall with an industrial feel. It's not exactly the kind of place you go for a feeling of homeliness — and yet, somehow, it manages to evoke that in a fair amount of its foods. This hulking store has an impressive selection of fresh and prepared foods, and there's a range of must-have Costco deli items and fully made meals that make dishing up dinner a breeze. Somehow, a fair few of these items manage to avoid the processed, salty, somewhat anonymous taste that other store-bought goods have, and instead have a rustic, comforting flavor and taste.

As you might expect, Costco invests a lot of time in making its homestyle dishes taste like they were made in your own kitchen, and options like its mac and cheese or banana nut loaf feel like they just came out of the oven. It also does especially well with its pies and desserts, with its cheesecake, apple pie, and caramel apple strudel bites all having a decidedly homely taste. If you've ever had a hankering for home cooking without any of the effort, we've got you covered.

You can judge a retailer by how good its own-brand mac and cheese is, and Costco manages to get its offering just right — so much so that your friends might not be able to tell that you bought it. Its Kirkland Signature Mac and Cheese, which is available in the deli section, has a creamy, fresh taste that manages to avoid any artificiality. Using a blend of three cheeses, Costco's mac and cheese feels rich but not overly cloying, and there's a nice tanginess to the sauce that keeps it lively.

The fact that it's in the deli section and not the freezer aisle also means that you don't get any of that wilted mushiness that store-bought pasta often has. The pasta instead has a real chewiness to it, and a bite that manages to hold the cheese well. It's routinely praised as a homemade-style mac and cheese that doesn't take any more effort than turning the oven on, and while its ingredients list can look a little intimidating, that doesn't come across in its flavor. Plus, it's not super expensive, which is always a plus in our eyes.

Caramel apple strudel bites are always pretty tasty, but making them at home can be a real hassle. Cutting up all that pastry (or making it from scratch, which is even more work), stuffing the pieces with just the right amount of filling, and folding them into gorgeous little packages ... We just want to get to the fun part and eat them! Thankfully, Costco delivers here, with its Kirkland Signature Caramel Apple Strudel Bites boasting a flaky but soft dough, with syrupy chunks of apple that taste like you made them yourself.

Where these bites really shine is in their butteriness. Instead of having a vague vegetable oil flavor, the butter notes give them both a richness and a hominess that you often don't get from other store-bought pastries. It's no wonder that these strudel bites have been such a hit with customers, who rave about how good they are, falling over themselves to find them in-store. "Future readers beware. Don't do it," said one customer on Reddit. "I polished mine off the other day and I've been nonstop thinking about when I can make it back to Costco for more." If that's not an endorsement, we don't know what is.

Few things are more soothing when you're sick than a bowl of chicken noodle soup, but to hit the spot, it really has to feel rustic and homemade. This is where a lot of store-bought soups really struggle: They can often have watery, bland vegetables and noodles that fall apart at the merest touch. If you don't have the energy to cook soup yourself, though, Costco's version is a great option. Its chicken noodle soup provides perfect comfort when you need it most, and the big tubs mean you won't run out if you want a second portion.

What we love about this soup the most, and what makes it feel homemade, is its chunkiness. Everything feels hearty here, from the thick-cut vegetables to the generously sized pieces of chicken to the sizable noodles. It's flecked with herbs that give it a nice freshness, too. Plus, we love how Costco uses its leftover rotisserie chicken in this dish. It's exactly the kind of thing you'd do at home to make your own soup, and that makes it feel extra homemade.

Anyone who's ever bought banana loaf from a store will know that it usually tastes nothing like the banana bread you make at home. All too often, store-bought banana loaf will be overly sweet, too spongy, or else have a cloying artificial banana taste that makes it far from comforting. Well, Costco has somehow managed to avoid all of these issues with its bakery's Kirkland Signature Banana Nut Loaf. With a moderately sweet flavor, a lovely softness, and a nice density, this bread has that homemade feel we all crave.

What's more, it just looks the part. Costco's banana nut loaf is a sight to behold, with the top studded with a generous amount of chopped nuts and its interior containing little pockets of crunch. These nuts manage to avoid any staleness, which is pretty remarkable for a supermarket nut loaf. Plus, its ingredients list is one of the most impressive out there, with a simple combination of components going into the bread that gives it even more of a rustic vibe. We're pretty impressed by this one, folks.

You'd be forgiven for thinking that Costco's Kirkland Signature Chicken Alfredo with Penne Pasta isn't worth spending money on. Let's be honest here, it's not the most visually impressive dish in the world. Each tray just looks like a simple, pretty boring combination of chicken, pasta, Alfredo sauce, and cheese. Well, that's because that's quite literally what's in the dish: This pasta has a surprisingly short ingredients list (although each of its components is, of course, made up of subingredients), which gives it a decidedly homemade taste.

It's fair to say that the good people of Reddit agree, too. "I love the Alfredo penne. It's made with Parmesan cheese, garlic, cream and butter," said one loyal customer. " It tastes homemade and they don't skimp on the chicken." Some people have even said that it's better than their grandmothers' versions, which is high praise indeed. Plus, we don't need our chicken alfredo to look the best: This dish is all about how it tastes, and Costco has nailed that combination of creaminess and cheesiness that's so important to its success. If you're after something hearty, you can't go wrong here.

The difference between a homemade cheesecake and a store-bought one can be pretty vast. Store-bought cheesecakes can not only feel poor texturally, lacking any real bite or body, but they can also have an overly sugary flavor that takes away any of the cream cheese's subtlety and slight sourness. Costco's version, however, feels homemade from its base to its topping, and has a dynamic flavor that's far from one-note. What sets it apart from other store-bought cheesecakes, and gives it most of its homemade vibes, is in its cookie crust and sour cream topping, which give it a homespun feel and prevent it from tasting too processed. The main body of the cheesecake, meanwhile, has a nice richness to it but doesn't taste too sweet.

It's worth remembering that everything's bigger at Costco, and that extends to its cakes as well. This cheesecake is 12 inches in diameter, and has 16 servings in each cake — so if you're buying it to replace the homemade version you'd normally serve to your kids, then you'll find yourself with a lot of leftovers. It's best enjoyed with a large group of friends.

Costco's meatloaf with mashed potatoes might just surprise you. Take one look at this packaged meal and you'd probably think that it's a total salt bomb, with the bright-red meatloaf hinting at a dish that'll leave you reaching for the water. However, Costco's meatloaf (which is a real fan favorite) is pleasingly moderate in its seasoning, giving it way more of a homemade taste than other store-bought versions. This meatloaf's flavor may not be punchy enough for some, but we personally love that Costco has kept things lighter: It makes it much more accessible.

As for the mashed potatoes, you'd be hard-pressed to find a store-bought version that tastes more homemade than this. Its flavor is a simple profile of potato and butter, and it's very heavy on the latter. Sure, it's pretty rich, but that's how mashed potatoes should be, right? Plus, like the meatloaf, these potatoes aren't too salty, so you can add seasoning to your preference or just enjoy them as they are.

We love chicken pot pie, but we don't always love making it. This is a dish that can take hours from start to finish, and while you may be rewarded with a glorious taste at the end, sometimes you just want to cut to the good part. Costco's Chicken Pot Pie lets you do just that. It's been praised for having a homemade taste and feel, and that's largely down to how generous its filling is. Unlike other store-bought pot pies, which can have plenty of gravy but barely any meat or vegetables, Costco's pot pie is stuffed to the brim with chicken, carrots, and peas. There's not much room left for gravy, between all of the good stuff, and it has an incredible heartiness to it that feels like someone's trying to make sure you eat well.

The crust of this pie also helps to make it feel homemade. Store-bought chicken pot pies can often have a uniform, smooth crust that, perhaps unsurprisingly, looks like it was made in a factory. Costco's Chicken Pot Pie, however, has a rough, dappled crust that makes it look hand-formed. It has a nice flakiness to it, while still managing to hold all the ingredients well.

This prepared dish from Costco is as close to a homemade meal as you'll get. Kirkland Signature Salmon Milano with Basil Pesto Butter is something that you could easily make in the comfort of your own kitchen, consisting merely of salmon fillets topped with a generous pat of pesto butter and scattered with herbs. Its ingredients list is pleasingly short, the salmon tastes fresh, and the cheese that's mixed into the butter gives it a gentle tang. As well as this, the butter adds a huge amount of flavor to the dish — while there might be a little bit too much for some people, you can easily scrape some of it off.

Importantly, too, this is the kind of dish that's likely not that much more expensive to buy in this form than to make at home. Plus, once you've bought all the ingredients and made your own compound butter, you'll have spent way more time making it than you probably want to. Bear in mind, though, that this dish doesn't come with any sides, so you'll have to make those yourself. However, that's just an opportunity to give it even more of a homemade feel. Roast some baby red potatoes alongside it and enjoy a deeply comforting meal.

There's the good kind of store-bought apple pie, and then there's the bad kind. The bad kind tastes cloyingly sugary and overly artificial, with an anonymous crust that gets soggy quickly. The good kind, on the other hand, feels like your grandma made it, and that's the type you'll find at Costco. Its Kirkland Signature Apple Pie hits the spot on the homely front, boasting a made-from-scratch feel that you can sense in both its filling and its crust. The apples inside the pie are spiked with cinnamon, and while it's definitely sweet, it also has a nice tartness to it that adds a touch of depth. The apples, meanwhile, are nice and soft, but still cut into generous chunks.

As for the crust, Costco has really nailed it here. It has a good crispiness, an excellent thickness, and a delightfully homespun appearance. As with so much of Costco's inventory, this pie is on the larger side, so you may well have to recruit a couple of friends or extended family members to help you finish it off — but honestly, we don't think you'll have any trouble doing that.