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Looking for gluten-free Costco products to buy? Hi! My name is Tayler Silfverduk and I’m a dietitian who specializes in celiac disease and who’s been living with celiac for over 10 years.
Costco is one of my favorite places to get gluten-free food because of the discounts and bulk quantities offered. In this post, I’ll be sharing with you what’s gluten-free at the Costco Food Court and what gluten-free foods are available to buy in the store.
As always, assess suitability and safety for yourself. This is based on my professional opinion on what’s generally celiac-safe, but this often varies by individual. Additionally, ingredients and availability are subject to change.
When talking about gluten-free Costco products, it’s important we know what gluten is. Gluten is a protein found in barley, rye, contaminated oats, and wheat. It may be helpful to remember the acronym “BROW” when trying to remember what foods have gluten.
In baked goods, gluten holds things together working as a binding agent. It gives texture and chew to foods.
Most people can safely eat gluten. However, some people have gluten sensitivity or celiac disease which means they need to avoid gluten. It can cause digestive issues such as diarrhea and nausea as well as nonintestinal symptoms such as rashes, headaches, or joint pain.
We also need to know what Costco is when talking about what’s gluten-free at Costco. Costco is a membership-based retailer that sells products often in bulk or large quantities. It started as a business-only membership store in the 1970s but expanded to selling to people in the 1980s.
Known for having great deals on large quantities of food for families, they also sell electronics, toys, furniture, clothing, and more. Membership ranges from $60 to $120/year.
For people who are gluten-free, the many deals on bulk gluten-free foods that Costco offers are a great selling point. Especially when those living gluten-free often are facing food costs that are 183% greater than gluten-filled foods according to research.
If you’re shopping for gluten-free Costco foods, can you eat the samples served at Costco? While Costco is well-known for its great deals, it’s also known for serving samples to guests during your trip.
Anecdotally, I’ve gotten many messages from people on social media asking me if they can eat the samples at Costco. I’ve also gotten messages from people expressing regret for eating samples at Costco and not feeling well after.
As a dietitian who specializes in celiac and has been living with celiac for over 10 years, I personally think enjoying Costco samples is fairly risky. In my experience, sample stations are swarmed with people and it can be difficult to have the time and mental clarity to assess the risk.
Risks include: having enough time to read the label to assess the gluten-free status of the food, wanting to or even asking the staff if they’ve touched anything else, if they’ve worked any other stations that day, etc.
This isn’t to say that enjoying gluten-free samples is impossible at Costco, but it can be challenging. And when grocery shopping already often feels overwhelming for people with celiac, I would be hesitant to add on the burden of assessing the safety of samples out on the floor.
However, you know your mental battery and needs best. Just because I think it’s risky, doesn’t mean it’s impossible or that you shouldn’t do it. This is just my opinion. You can take it or leave it.
Eating gluten-free Costco food course food would be a medium to high risk dining situation. I’ll share some of the gluten-free options I’ve found at my Costco below but please assess suitability and risk for yourself.
First, here are the things you definitely want to avoid:
Here’s what should be gluten-free at the Costco Food Court:
This gluten-free list of Costco Food Court Food does not include cross-contact precautions you’d need to ask for if you have celiac. Evaluate cross-contact risk and necessary cross-contact precautions for yourself. If you need help with this, this is a skill I help you develop in my Gluten-Free Dining Course. Learn more here.
Additionally, the ingredients and gluten-free status of these items are subject to change. When I’ve gone, the staff had no issues with helping me with my questions. However staff, location, time of day, business, and food supply can all play a role in risk level and safety.
Now let’s talk gluten-free Costco food! There are lots of gluten-free food options at Costco. From gluten-free snacks, baking mixes, bread, frozen meals, and more.
In this Gluten-Free Costco Product Guide, I’ll not be listing obviously gluten-free products like canned fruits, vegetables, oils, and single-ingredient spices. Instead, I’ll be trying to list gluten-free options that are more unique or are versions of foods that aren’t always gluten-free.
That said, please keep in mind the following: this is not a comprehensive list. Just because something is not listed, doesn’t mean it’s not safe, it just means I didn’t check it or it didn’t make it onto my list. If you need help with evaluating the safety of food labels in the USA, check out this free class here!
Lastly, these are generally gluten-free options below however, ingredients and availability are subject to change. Always check and evaluate the suitability and safety of products for yourself. And again, if you’re not sure how to do this, I clarify how to do this in the USA in just FOUR simple steps in my free gluten-free label-reading class. check out this free class here!
Gluten-free Costco candy availability changes by the season. During the holiday season there may be more options than at other times, below are some options that are usually there.
Please note: yes, people who eat gluten-free can enjoy candy. Desserts are an important part of the satisfaction and enjoyment of any diet.
There are many gluten-free Costco snacks to choose from. I found something like over 50 snacks. Below I’ll organize them by type and I’ll be giving some tips for them.
Below are gluten-free Costco chips and popcorn that you can buy. Both chips and popcorn can be a part of a gluten-free balanced diet. They often are great for addressing salty and crunch cravings. And they make fun and yummy additions to packed lunches and snacks.
There are likely other gluten-free chip and popcorn options but these are the ones I highlighted. Be sure to assess suitability and safety for yourself.
Costco Gluten-Free snack bars and clusters can be great for building quick meals or enjoying a quick satisfying snack while on the go. From protein bars to general snack bars, below are some of the options at Costco.
Please note: some of the above options do have oats and may not be suitable for those who are sensitive to oats or who need purity protocol oats. As always, assess the safety of products for yourself.
Costco Gluten-Free crackers, nuts, and seeds can be great for balancing out quick meals and snacks. Below are some of the options at Costco.
Please note: many nut and seed packages often contain an allergen advisory that says “may contain”, “made on the same equipment as” or “made in the same facility as” wheat. These are NOT the same as allergen statements which are required to declare if a product “contains” an allergen like wheat.
These sound scary but may not be as scary as we once thought. For more on this, check out my totally free USA label-reading class where I break the research down on this topic to help you feel safer and more comfortable shopping.
Moving on from nuts, seeds, and cracker options when shopping for gluten-free food at Costco. Let’s now talk about fruit-based snack options often available at this retailer!
My favorite way to enjoy this kind of fruit-based snacks is with a source of protein and fat. This might look like enjoying them with roasted beans, gluten-free cheese, nuts and seeds, or gluten-free beef jerky…
This brings me to the last gluten-free Costco snack we’ll be talking about in this post, beef jerky. It’s important to note that meat alone is gluten-free, but can be made not gluten-free via seasoning and flavorings.
In the case of beef jerky, meat often has soy sauce made with wheat added to it. Additionally, natural flavors, yeast extract, and smoke flavor can all be added which don’t always but can contain gluten.
Keeping this in mind, below are some of the gluten-free beef jerky options available at Costco.
Now I know it might sound scary to hear that some of the gluten-free options contain suspect ingredients. If you’re feeling uneasy about any of these options, please check out my free label-reading class. I think you’ll find much assurance in buying these options after watching this class and being fully informed on gluten-free food labeling in the USA.
Below are some gluten-free shelf-sable options you can buy when looking for gluten-free Costco products. I’ve organized them into GF bread, baking, and packaged/prepared foods.
I did not include obviously gluten-free options like canned vegetables, fruits, coffee, etc. These items are generally easy to find gluten-free and aren’t that confusing.
However, if you’re not sure how to check food labels for gluten, I clarify how to do this in the USA in just FOUR simple steps in my free gluten-free label-reading class. Check it out here!
I could not find any gluten-free bread listed on the Costco website but when visiting my local Costco I found BFree Pita Bread and Canyon Bakehouse Gluten-Free Multigrain bread.
So if you’re looking for gluten-free bread to enjoy, these are two options. Usually, Costco changes out these options on occasion. This is the first time I’ve personally seen gluten-free pita bread in a store near me which was pretty exciting!
Next up are gluten-free Costco baking items. Note: this does not include generally gluten-free items like sugar, butter, eggs, single-ingredient spices, and more. Below are the gluten-free baking items I regularly can find at my Costco.
Note that baking items can vary in risk because they are dry goods. Assess the risk and suitability for yourself but generally, if something appears gluten-free in the USA, it is gluten-free.
Looking for gluten-free Costco shelf-stable meal options? I’ve got some items you can keep in your pantry for months on end for those moments when you forgot to grocery shop and need a meal!
There may be more options but again, these are the ones I could either find online or at my local Costco.
Last on our list of gluten-free Costco finds are fridge and freezer options. Like with every category, I’m listing things that are confusing or not always gluten-free down below. But just because something isn’t listed, doesn’t mean it’s not safe.
I’ve organized the options into 4 categories: meats, dairy, freezer meals, and misc items.
First things first, meats are often a confusing topic, so here are gluten-free Costco meat options found in the refrigerator sections.
Meats can sometimes have gluten added to them. For the most part, many of the meats at Costco are gluten-free but always check the label.
Below are gluten-free Costo cheese and dairy options. Keep in mind that lactose intolerance with celiac is common. I’ll try to make note of the lower-lactose options below.
Also, remember, lactose intolerance doesn’t mean you have to avoid dairy but that you have to manage lactose consumption. You can do this by using low-lactose dairy products or taking lactase enzymes (which help break down lactose so you don’t react).
There are quite a lot more gluten-free dairy options at Costco with varying amounts of lactose in them. Assess suitability for yourself.
Looking for Gluten-free Costco freezer meal options? Look no further than this post. The freezer section is my best friend at Costco because it makes my life so much easier.
Often, in the gluten-free world, there’s a lot of pressure to eat unprocessed foods, but there are many pre-made options that can be included in a gluten-free balanced diet that makes life so much easier.
The frozen meal options have varying ranges of macronutrients that likely will need balanced with additional side dishes in order to be filling and satisfying. If you need help learning how to balance your gluten-free diet for macronutrients, vitamins, and minerals required for healing and healing with celiac, check out my dietitian-led Celiac Nutrition Course here.
Other gluten-free Costco products I often see and buy include:
I shared some of my gluten-free Costco finds in this post but I also asked my 45k+ Instagram followers to share with me their favorite gluten-free products to buy at Costco! Here’s what they said:
I have to say… my followers have good taste.
As someone who’s been living with celiac for over 10 years, I am so pleased to see such a high amount of gluten-free Costco options available today. Over 10 years ago, it was hard to find gluten-free food in stores near me so this is such a humbling reminder of how far we have come.
And even with as far as we’ve come, living gluten-free can be challenging. I hope that this guide on gluten-free Costco food court options and grocery options was helpful in helping you manage the chaos of gluten-free living.
And don’t forget, if you need help with knowing how to identify gluten on a food label, I teach you this skill FOR FREE in my Label-Reading Class. Watch it here.