I Tried And Ranked 5 Costco Food Court Hacks

If you know anything about me, you know I love Costco. And if you know that fun fact, then you know I get a hot dog every time I go. (I will also take every free sample that looks good.) But social media has done it again, taking the iconic Costco food court and turning it into a place where food hacks abound. Hot dog upgrades, pizza combos, and kimchi? Yup, they all have a place within TikTok culture and this warehouse store. I decided to see what all the fuss was about, so I looked at five Costco food court hacks to see if they were really worth it.

While running this taste test, I did some questionable things in my local Costco, but thanks to my lack of shame from watching eyes, I brought you the ultimate guide to food court hacks and their worth. Strap in because this one gets a little messy. Let's take a look at these hacks from Costco's famous food court. 

I relied on social media for this taste test because I wanted to find the top Costco food court hacks everyone is talking about. There were five main options, so I explored a variety of influencer videos to ensure I got the recipes and combos right.

With my new knowledge, I made my boyfriend do our monthly Costco trip a little early. After we dropped our things in the car, we went back to the food court to grab the essentials: two hot dogs, two pieces of pizza, two chicken bakes, and one soft serve ice cream. I also grabbed two sodas with my hot dog combos, some onions, and everything on the counter for condiments. With this arsenal, I was ready to get a lot of looks as we started deconstructing and recreating a whole new world of food court dishes.

My goal here was to see if these hacks actually taste good, and honestly, most of them did. The ranking was pretty easy, as there were some clear winners. This one was all about taste.

Last on my list, with the best name, is the forbidden glizzy. This one features one hot dog and one chicken bake combined by using the chicken bake as the hot dog bun. 

While both the hot dog and chicken bake are good on their own, combining them didn't work for me. I don't particularly love the sauce in the chicken bake, and I think it really threw off my taste buds when it came to my tried-and-true love of the Costco hot dog. There was just something in this combo that didn't work. However, I adore the cheesy crust on the outer layer of the bake, so that aspect with the hot dog was a total win. Next time, I would scrape out the filling of the bake and use the outer bread alone. Maybe I should coin my own Costco hack?

As for cohesion, I personally didn't like this one, but I will not stop you from trying it. This is a super fun combo, easy to make, and, to be clear, it didn't taste bad. I am simply picky with my unhealthy food court choices.

Coming in fourth place is the Costco pizza dog, and it's exactly what you'd picture. This one features a slice of pepperoni pizza with a hot dog (sans bun) rolled in it. This is not your average pizza roll.

The main reason this one came in fourth is based on the difficulty of eating. No matter what you do or how you hold it, every bite is a challenge. If you get a bite of the hot dog, the cheese pushes itself out of the roll. And when you try to get the crust with the cheese, the hot dog slides out the other end. This one was messy and stressy. I felt like I couldn't get the perfect bite.

Regarding taste, the pizza dog was super greasy, and because you're squishing all of these food items together, that grease came pouring out all over my hands. I think if this hot dog were truly encased in the pizza dough, the bite would be great. But the hack format just didn't cut it. The taste didn't offer anything special. It wasn't bad, but I wasn't impressed with this hack.

Costco has some really creative drinks, but did you know you can make your own? Recently, Costco shifted to Coke products, which means the root beer option is officially gone. However, that hasn't stopped folks from finding another workaround. Instead of a root beer float, you can make your own Coke float at Costco. For this hack, all you need is a fountain soda cup, a Coke pour, and a helping of Costco's vanilla soft serve.

I'd never tried Costco's soft serve before this hack, and man, I've been missing out. It's creamy, smooth, and not too sweet, and nothing about it tastes fake or artificial like some other fast food soft serves out there. Fill your cup with Coke about ¾ full, then add in a scoop (or two) of the soft serve. Work slowly, as the drink will fizz in reaction to the ice cream. 

Overall, this was a nice sip, and I enjoyed using my spoon to get a larger bite of the ice cream with the Coke. Was I impressed? Not really, but I did enjoy this hack, and I will definitely get the Costco vanilla soft serve again.

If you know anything about Costco or you follow a lot of food influencers on social media, you may have seen the Jochizza hack. This is the ultimate combination, featuring a hot dog, a chicken bake, and a slice of pizza. For this hack, you cut open the chicken bake and lay the hot dog inside (just like the forbidden glizzy). Then, scrape the cheese off a piece of pizza and lay it on top. Yeah, I needed a nap just thinking about this bite. 

Maybe it's the grease from the pizza, but something here did it for me. I know I put the Forbidden Glizzy last, but this one had some cohesion that just worked. I can't tell you why; I just need you to try it and see for yourself.

Being realistic here, I don't think I would make this hack again, but it was good. The flavors worked, the bite was easy, and the stomachache seemed worth it at the time.

I have been surprised during my taste tests before, but putting the Costco "kimchi" in first might just be the most shocking moment of my food writing career. Who knew mixing every topping at the food court condiment bar would create a killer topping? Not me.

For this hack, you have to get really creative and grab a few containers of chopped onions from the actual food counter. The recipe called for three cups of onions, three pumps of ketchup, three pumps of relish, three pumps of mustard, and three packets of red pepper flakes. I did not need that much kimchi in my life, so I used a one-count for each ingredient.

My assumption was that it would taste like mustard-y onions, but for some reason, this hack actually works. Of course, I wouldn't actually call it kimchi, but the tomato from the ketchup and the heat from the red pepper flakes really did something here. I would put more ketchup in next time, and I mean next time. I am putting this on my hot dog every time I go. Even if you aren't a regular kimchi fan, I think your next hot dog should feature this hack, too!