5 Costco Kirkland Salty Snacks To Try And 4 To Skip

Craving a savory nosh to get you through the day? Costco offers an array of salty snacks, ranging from the traditional to the trendy to the unusual. Even if you narrow your choices down to the store's in-house brand, Kirkland Signature, you may have a tough time choosing — after all, these aren't small sample sizes, and you don't want to end up with multiple pounds of a snack that's not to your liking.

As a constant craver of salty treats and a card-carrying Costco member, I've taken on the task of over-filling my pantry with nine of Kirkland's savory snack foods to taste them all and determine if they're all worth buying. Some of the snacks proved to be unmissable values, and more than earned the space they're taking up on my shelves. A few, though, didn't quite hit the mark, and will be left on the shelf next time. Read on to see which salty snacks you should stock up on the next time you head to Costco.

On the sporadic occasions when I head to the movie theater these days, it's usually not the cinematic experience that draws me there — it's the promise of buttery, salty, delicious popcorn. There's something nostalgic and magical about grabbing a greasy handful of popped kernels and crunching on them while sipping a Coke as the lights go down. Now that I know how good Kirkland Signature's microwave popcorn is, I'll have a lot more movie nights here at home. As soon as I opened the bag and released the aromas, I was transported right into the auditorium, and the popcorn tasted every bit as good as it smelled.

The real butter flavor is unmistakably rich and satisfying, and there's an actual sheen coating each piece, which gives the popcorn that authentic texture you'd get from pumping butter into your bag at the movies. Each kernel was perfectly seasoned — there wasn't a bland bite in the bag. Yes, I ate the entire bag. I couldn't help myself. The quality and flavor of this microwave popcorn already make it a great buy, and the fact that you get a whopping 44 bags for around $15 makes it even more appealing. That's a month and a half of movie nights you could have. Your wallet and your Letterboxd account will thank you.

Perhaps my expectations were too high for Kirkland's peanut butter pretzels. Because they're a massively popular fan favorite, and because I love a salty-sweet combo, I expected to be blown away. I found them to be just okay. While I loved their petite size overall, I did wish they were a little bit bigger so they could contain more peanut butter. The ratio of filling to pretzel didn't work for me, and made them too dry.

The combination of dryness and saltiness — each nugget is absolutely covered in big, crunchy salt crystals — compelled me to drink about a gallon of water just to balance it out. I suppose if you're looking for a snack that will urge you to hydrate, these might do the trick. Rather than reach for another container of these, I think next time I'll just get plain pretzels and peanut butter to dip them in, so I can control the balance myself.

Of all the Kirkland Signature snacks I hauled home, Costco's super popular cashew clusters were the first to go. Each bite is brimming with complementary and contrasting flavors and textures, offering a superb balance between salty and sweet. Cashews, almonds, and pumpkin seeds each provide a unique taste and crunch, while salt and honey tie everything together in a neat little package. The clusters are on the large end of bite-sized, so each one feels substantial, yet light.

What I love about cashews is how they become soft and creamy once you start chewing them. That quality works wonders here, providing a smooth backdrop to the crispier almonds and seeds. Despite how tasty these are, I did find the package's serving size of five pieces to be just about right. Each piece is densely packed, and five of them are more filling than you'd think. Even so, they sure didn't last long in my house. I'll definitely pick up another bag — or maybe even two — on my next Costco visit.

There are things to enjoy about Kirkland Signature's grass-fed beef sticks, but I won't go out of my way for them. As a quick, protein-packed snack, they'll work in a pinch, and I appreciate that they're individually wrapped so they're easy to take with you when you're on the go. Overall, however, I just didn't find them to be exciting. Not that food needs to be thrilling all the time, but if I'm treating myself to a salty snack, I want it to be worthwhile.

These sticks have a robust, beefy flavor, and they're well-seasoned. The texture, though, is the main thing I didn't enjoy. The collagen casing has a slightly rubbery feel, and is just a touch too hard to chew through easily. The meaty center didn't make up for it either, with uneven lumps of beef that were sometimes tender but sometimes tough. There are better beef sticks out there.

By far the most intensely flavorful food on this list, Kirkland Signature's roasted seaweed is a delectably savory snack. If you're a fan of umami bombs, get your hands on this right now and thank me later. From the second I opened the package, I felt like I'd been transported to a sushi bar as an unmistakably oceanic aroma wafted through the air. Based on the pungent smell, I thought the seaweed might be overpoweringly fishy, but that isn't the case at all.

Flavor-wise, you get a big hit of briny saltiness up front that gives way to a roasted nuttiness and a deep, earthy sesame flavor. The texture is a little crispy, a little chewy, and a touch oily, but not in an unpleasant way. I found myself going back again and again just to try and pinpoint all of the flavor sensations, and my mind reeled with ideas on how I could incorporate this seaweed into other dishes. It could be chopped up and mixed into salads, stirred into a compound butter, added to stock, or made into my own furikake seasoning – the possibilities are endless. At $10 for 10 packages of this stuff, it's a flavor-packed bargain.

When I opened the bag and was hit with an incredibly strong corn aroma, I had high hopes for these Kirkland Signature organic tortilla chips. Unfortunately, the intense, sweet corn smell and flavor were not enough to balance out the downsides. The texture of these chips is very grainy and rustic, which on its own isn't a dealbreaker, but that roughness, combined with a very thick-cut chip, makes these seem too stiff and heavy.

The seasoning of these chips was inconsistent. The first one I tried was fairly well-salted, but I as I tried more, I found some that were completely bland. With the thickness of these chips and the intensity of the corn flavor, I felt they could have used more salt across the board. I realize that these aren't the kind of tortilla chips you want to eat unadorned, which is how I tasted them. When I paired these with salsa, as they're meant to be consumed, they were perfectly serviceable. However, there are other brands of tortilla chips I'd prefer over Kirkland in either scenario.

Typically, Kirkland Signature foods don't advertise which company manufactures them, though plenty of shoppers' detective work has uncovered the makers behind many of Costco's house brand products. Here, the Kettle brand name is front and center along with the Kirkland Signature logo. I will admit, I've never had a Kettle potato chip that I didn't love. Since I'm already a fangirl of the brand, I had a feeling I'd be marking these crinkle-cut pink salt potato chips as a "buy," and I was right. The only problem I ran into with these was the size of the bag, because I know I'll end up eating all 32 ounces of these chips before long.

The texture is impeccable, with a satisfyingly crispy crunch that's just crackling enough without creating hard, sharp shards of potato chip as you chew. Instead, these soften beautifully as you eat them. They've got just enough oiliness to make that transition, without feeling too greasy or heavy. As far as taste goes, you couldn't ask for a more flavorful, simply-salted potato chip. The pink salt adds a bright, vibrant dimension that brings out the roasted potato flavor perfectly. These are sturdy chips for dipping, but they really don't need any accompaniment to be enjoyed.

I thought for sure that one of the two Kirkland Signature beef snacks would be a hit with me, but that wasn't the case. The beef sticks fell flat, and while these extra-thick cut steak strips fared a little better, I still won't be putting them in my regular rotation for a few reasons. They're extremely flavorful, I'll give them that, but I didn't find their seasoning recipe to be a home run. A lot of fruity sweetness comes through and takes over the flavor, until it's knocked out of the way by a really intense artificial smokiness. There's a bit of spice and tang too, but the sweet and smoky one-two combo overshadows those elements.

From the image on the package, I was expecting these to be more like actual steak. Instead, they're pretty much just fancy beef jerky. The texture is very chewy and just slightly too firm — your jaw will get a workout trying to finish one of the bigger pieces. The last issue I had with these steak strips has nothing to do with their flavor or texture, but with logistics. They need to be refrigerated once the bag is open, and I'm not the biggest fan of cold beef jerky. If the flavor profile works for you, you may love these meaty bites, but it wasn't balanced or natural enough for me.

Usually, when you buy a container of mixed nuts, it's a bunch of peanuts and a few other types scattered in. I've got nothing against peanuts — like most Americans, I eat a lot of peanut butter, and roasted salted peanuts are a favorite snack of mine. When I reach for mixed nuts, however, I want a truly diverse variety. Kirkland Signature's extra fancy mixed nuts give me exactly that. There's not a peanut in sight. Instead, you get a pretty evenly distributed blend of cashews and almonds, along with some pecans, brazil nuts, and macadamia nuts.

The salt level here is absolutely perfect, with just enough seasoning to bring out the nuts' natural flavors and keep them from being bland. In fact, a 1-ounce serving of these nuts only contains 4% of the recommended daily intake of sodium. The cashew-almond mixture that serves as the base of this snack provides a lovely interplay of creaminess and crunch, and the other interspersed nuts make each bite a unique experience.

From the complete inventory of Costco's Kirkland Signature brand products, I selected these nine snacks to taste. The only criteria were that they had to be Kirkland, they had to be relatively savory, and they had to include salt. I aimed to get a wide variety of snacks to assess rather than sticking to one specific category.

Except for the microwave popcorn, none of these items involved cooking, so they were tasted right out of the package. I judged each first based on flavor and texture, then took note of the snacks' ingredients and nutritional information. The last element I looked at was value. Then I divided the products that I would definitely purchase again from the ones that I am unlikely to get next time.