15 Easy Dinner Ideas from Costco (in under 15 minutes) — Veggies & Virtue (2024)

The Need for Easy Dinner Ideas

In theory, I enjoy scratch-making recipes and rotating through new, nourishing options at any meal of the day. Many of my family’s staples and most favorite Fall recipes will be on my Seasonal Meal Plan because these are the dinners that I make a habit to prep ahead and pull together on a regular basis.

The reality is though, sometimes my meal planning doesn’t happen, grocery shopping happens AT dinner time, and I need simple options I can literally be pulling off in the kitchen AS I unpack the car of groceries (with three kids on my ankles I might add).

There is what’s ideal (healthy, simple ingredients and well-balanced meals) and then there is what’s real (busy, chaotic nights and rushed grocery runs where we need to grab some easy options). That’s the intersection I hope this post finds us at. Next week, I plan to give you the recipes we PLAN to have over the upcoming Fall quarter. This week, however, I want to give you some easy ideas for your dinner time tool belt that you can easily use on those UNPLANNED nights when we have to operate “off menu” and work with what we’ve got - which is often a Costco run as a catch all.

In this post, you have 15 easy dinner options from Costco that you can have ready in under 15 minutes.

With each meal including a balance of food groups and nutrients for a given night’s dinner idea, all you need to do is pick and purchase the listed items to pull off a quick and easy dinner once you are back at home.

Costco also offers bulk packaging of many of the items listed, so many of these ideas will give you a few meals worth from them. So while you pay a bit more up front, if you have the space to store extras (in the pantry, fridge, or freezer), these easy dinner ideas from Costco will come in handy again down the road when you find yourself needing a simple dinner ready in under 15 minutes!

If you have questions about My 55 Most Favorite, Dietitian Approved Costco Staples, be sure to check out this grocery list download!

In this grocery list, I include images of each product I love to help make it easy on you to find. Just print, put in a page protector, and let your little ones mark it up as you move your way through the aisles filling your cart with many of my favorites. Many of these are ingredients included in the following 15 easy dinner ideas list!

1 Chicken burgers with sweet potato fries

• Amylu Organic Kale & Mozzarella Burgers (in the refrigerated, pre-packaged foods section)

• Alexa Sweet Potato fries (in the frozen foods section)

• Spinach or Romaine (in the refrigerated produce section)

2 Spaghetti and Meatballs

• Coleman Organic Meatballs (in the refrigerated, pre-packaged foods section)

• Organic Spaghetti Sauce (in the non-perishable section)

• Zucchini to turn into zoodles (in the refrigerated produce section)

3 Cauliflower Crust Pizza with Veggie tray

• Cauliflower Cheese Pizza (in the frozen foods section)

• Veggie Tray (in the refrigerated produce section)
  

4 Hot Dogs with Slaw Salad

• Teton Waters Ranch grass-fed beef hot dogs (in the refrigerated, pre-packaged foods section)

• Sweet Kale salad (in the refrigerated produce section)
  

5 Tikka Masala with Brown Rice and Stir-Fry Veggies

• Sukhi’s Tikka Masala (in the refrigerated, pre-packaged foods section)

• Seeds of Change Brown Rice Packs (in the non-perishable section)

• Normandy Frozen Veggies (in the frozen foods section)

6 Madras Lentils with Cauliflower Rice

• Tasti Bites Madras Lentils (in the non-perishable section)

• Cauliflower Rice (in the frozen foods section)

• Stonefire Mini Naan Dippers (in the non-perishable section with breads)
  

7 Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese

• Creamy Tomato Soup (in the refrigerated, pre-packaged foods section)

• Grilled Cheese (make with Daves Killer Bread and Organic Cheese slices)
  

8 Mediterranean Quinoa Salad Dinner

• Pre-made quinoa salad (in the refrigerated, pre-made foods section)

• Costco hummus cups (in the refrigerated, pre-packaged foods section)

• Cucumbers cut into slices (in the refrigerated produce section)

• Stacy’s pita chips (in the non-perishable section with chips)
  

9 Caprese Pasta

• Eat Banza noodles (in the non-perishable section)

• Pesto Sauce (in the refrigerated, pre-packaged foods section)

• Marinated Mozzarella (in the refrigerated, pre-packaged foods section)

• Cherry Tomatoes (in the refrigerated, produce section)
  

10 Soup & Salad

• Southwest Salad (in the refrigerated, produce section)

• Tortilla Soup (in the refrigerated, pre-packaged foods section)

• Food Should Taste Good whole grain chips (in the non-perishable section)

• Shredded cheese (in the refrigerated, stand-up section)

• Avocado (dice it up as a topping)
  

11 Teriyaki

• Aidell’s Teriyaki Meatballs (in the refrigerated, pre-packaged foods section)

• Lotus Brown Rice Ramen Noodles (in the non-perishable section)

• Broccoli florets to steam before serving (in the frozen foods section)

12 Salmon Caesar Salads

• Honey Fish Smoked Salmon (in the refrigerated, pre-packaged foods section)

• Caesar Salad Mix (in the refrigerated, produce section)

• Brazi Bites (in the frozen foods section)

13 Quesadillas

• Tortilla Land uncooked tortillas (in the refrigerated, stand-up section)

• Canned black beans (in the non-perishable section)

• Sliced cheese (in the refrigerated, pre-packaged foods section)

• Organic salsa (in the non-perishable section)

• Guacamole cups (in the refrigerated, pre-packaged foods section)

14 Tuna Sandwiches

• Wild Planet tuna (in the non-perishable section)

• Chosen Foods mayo (in the non-perishable section)

• Dave’s Killer Bread (in the non-perishable section)

• Spinach as a topping (in the refrigerated, produce section)

• Harvest Snap Pea Crisps as a side (in the non-perishable section)
  

15 Breakfast for dinner

• Make French toast with organic eggs, milk, vanilla, and Alpine Valley Organic Honey Bread

• Add thawed fruit from the freezer section like blueberries