This $6 Produce Find Is the Best Thing You Can Buy at Costco This Spring

updated May 11, 2022
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Costco Wholesale storefront
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As Kitchn’s resident Costco commentator, I scour the shelves to select the single best thing to buy in bulk right now. And with spring heating up, I find myself spending more time in the produce section of the warehouse store, imagining all of the plant-based dinners and salads I can make.

It’s hard not to be excited by Costco’s produce aisle this time of year. Berries! Asparagus! Rhubarb! Potatoes! Yes, potatoes! Baby potatoes, that is. (Although spuds are soul-satisfying in any size, shape, or form.) These itty-bitty tubers are spring’s version of the mature varieties you’ve been roasting and mashing all winter. Hear me out: This month’s best bulk buy at Costco is a 5-pound bag of baby creamer potatoes from Little Potato Company.

Credit: Patty Catalano

Little Potato Company Creamer Potatoes, $6.39 for 5 pounds

These tubers may be tiny, but they deliver big, buttery flavor, and because these small creamer potatoes are purposefully pulled from the patch early, their skins are tender enough to skip the peeling step altogether. The big sack of little potatoes are consistent in size, an important factor when it comes to cook time. (You won’t have to pick through the potatoes or cut them down to size before tossing them in the pot to boil for the first of many summer potato salads. On a related note, you simply have to try this mayo-free potato salad.)

I believe anybody can benefit from adding a sack of potatoes to their cart, but I can also admit buying a 5-pound bulk bag of them takes some convincing. I don’t shy from buying produce in bulk (even mushrooms and cucumbers are welcome in my Costco cart!). That said, I know that it makes some people nervous. What if stuff starts to spoil before you can get through it? Well, potatoes do last a while. The key, though, is to have a few recipes in mind before buying in bulk. And I can help with that!

Credit: Patty Catalano

The first recipe I make after a purchase of these pint-sized potatoes are crash hot potatoes. There’s no better way to get the best of everything that a potato has to offer — the fluffiness of a baked potato in a crispy, buttery crust. These potatoes are also arguably the best part of a sheet pan chicken thighs dinner that I make every single week, because the insides turn creamy and buttery as they roast, bathed in the rendered chicken fat. I’d also like to suggest potato salad again.

If you’ve already abandoned your oven for the grill for the season, allow me to suggest these crispy grilled smashed potatoes that are drizzled with a smoky garlic dressing. Another idea: Slide these tiny taters onto skewers for a steakhouse-inspired supper or wrap them in foil with sausage and green beans for a taste of the bayou. And with that, the entire sack of potatoes is empty! Time to go grab another.

What are you buying in bulk this month? Let us know in the comments.