Costco Shopper's Brilliant $100 Meal Prep Yields 23 Meals in an Hour
Aside from its fairly priced food court and many membership perks, one of the things that Costco is best known for is its great deals on bulk groceries. And if you want to get the absolute most out of your bulk buys from Costco, you might want to take notes from a member who just went viral after sharing a super affordable and convenient meal prep plan.
Earlier this week, Costco member and Redditor u/Craigbeau posted a picture of a whopping 23 meals he'd prepped using only ingredients from the warehouse club. The meals included taco beef paired with veggies and Costco's Mexican Street Corn Salad Kit, shredded chicken paired with Costco's Asian Cashew Salad Kit, and rice bowls loaded with plenty of protein and veggies. The meal prep also yielded a few extra jars of meat and veggies that u/Craigbeau said were for his fiancée.
The absolute best part about these meals, however, was that they only cost $100 in total and took about an hour to prepare, according to the author. The post has now racked up more than 630 comments from other Redditors, many of whom commended u/Craigbeau for coming up with an "amazing" and cost-effective set of meals that don't take hours to cook.
"Love this. I need to elevate my meal prep game," a Redditor commented.
"I think this is a great example of what you can do with time and money," another wrote.
Each meal would break down to around $4.50 under that $100 total. In a comment under the original post, u/Craigbeau noted that he opted for "higher-end" meats and veggies for this, which upped the overall cost slightly. So other shoppers can likely prep similar meals for even cheaper by purchasing more affordable ingredients.
Redditor u/Craigbeau told Eat This, Not That! that he and his fiancée made a goal to meal prep every week of 2023. He has posted his big meal prep results on Reddit several times in the past to the delight of fellow Costco shoppers. In another post earlier this year that racked up more than 100 comments, for example, he said he was able to make 24 meals for just $67. That breaks down to about $2.80 per meal.
"Every time we do it, we challenge ourselves to use better ingredients and see how efficiently we can we can do the prep," he said.
Luckily for anyone interested in recreating u/Craigbeau's latest meal prep plan, the Redditor shared the recipes and a full list of ingredients in the comments section. It includes several proteins, veggies, and seasonings, plus a couple of pantry staples like broth and rice that members might already have.
Shoppers are free to follow the u/Craigbeau's directions exactly or customize the plan to suit their own tastes and preferences. He advised any consumers getting into meal prepping for the first time to start with foods they're comfortable with, but still get creative and adjust the process to suit their own needs.
"Don't be afraid to try new things. You're going fail but that's how you learn," he said.
Many Redditors were quick to share their own recommendations for tweaking the meal prep in the comments. For example, u/Craigbeau added the crunchy wonton strips from the Asian Cashew Salad Kits directly into the meal prep containers, but some Redditors suggested storing the strips separately in bags or containers to maintain their crunch. Others suggested replacing the salad kits with mixed vegetables for easier reheating.
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