Frugal shopping for Pesach at...Costco!

Over the last several years, I've written volumes of stuff about my experiences and strategies for saving money on Pesach shopping. The sharing goes two ways, as I've also learned a bunch of new things as well, both from smart Daily Cheapskate readers and also from the ever-evolving Kosher-for-Passover (KFP) market.

For the last three Passover seasons,  I've discovered two surprising treasure troves of frugally-priced KFP items.  I find myself buying more and more KFP items at these two places and far fewer at the supermarket. Ready?

1) Amazon and 2) Costco.  Yup.

I'll be posting many, many KFP finds on Amazon over the next coming weeks.  Amazon has tons of great deals on Passover foods but they need to be unearthed, and purchased quickly before the price changes or the item sells out.  Pesach shopping on Amazon is hit-and-run.

But Costco, that wonderful warehouse store, Costco has emerged to become an leading supplier of well-priced KFP food, and almost all of these deals (except for the specifically seasonal KFP items, like shmurah matzoh) are available for months before Pesach.   What I love about that is that I can make a significant dent in my Costco Passover shopping well before Purim, and save a ton of money as well.

Below are some of my favorite KFP Costco finds, with prices quoted from my local Denver Costco. Of course, YMMV (your mileage may vary) and you will undoubtedly have different prices and different KFP items available at your Costco.  I'd love your participation!  Please do comment and email and let me know what I have missed and what kind of awesome KFP bargains your Costco has.

Kirkland Egg Whites -  OU-P, six 16 oz. containers, $8.79.  I was really excited to see that these were KFP this year, as I've been attempting to minimize the (unbelievable) number of egg yolks we consume over Pesach.  Until now, I've been transporting back to Denver a heimishe brand of KFP liquid egg whites from  my pre-Passover trip to NY, but I no longer need to do this with the Costco liquid egg whites now being KFP.  For breakfast on Chol Hamoed, we make egg white omelets loaded with onions, mushrooms and peppers  (eliminating the need for expensive KFP cereal), and when I have a KFP cake recipe that calls for numerous eggs, I swap out half of them with liquid egg whites.  (Please note that these liquid egg whites do not whip up.)

Parenthetically, I also get my Pesach eggs from Costco, except for when those awesome Incredible Edible Egg Facebook coupons come out (usually right before Easter), which, combined with egg sales at our local Kroger affiliate, usually score me about 4 dozen free eggs.  But I digress.

Holyland Hand Shmura Matzoh - 16 oz. boxes, $13.99. This is the first year that the Denver Costco is carrying this hand matzoh from Israel, and the price is fantastic, especially compared to what hand shmurah costs everywhere else ($20 and above). Last year, my friend Mara Strom (from Kosher on a Budget) brought us a van-load of this hand shmurah from the Kansas City Costco, so we know that it tastes great.  This brand is showing up at Costcos all over the country for less than $15/lb. and it's likely to affect pricing of the national hand shmurah market.

Kirkland Atlantic Frozen Salmon Filets- OU (for the past four years, the OU has been okay'ing this for Pesach without a special hashgacha)- 3 lbs. $24.99.   This frozen salmon is a staple in our house all year long as well as on Pesach, and has made purchasing uber-pricey KFP tuna completely unnecessary, but this year, it has zoomed up in price.  Last year, in conjunction with a high-value $4.00 coupon, it came to $15.99 for a 3-lb. bag.  This year, no such coupon exists and the price is now an astronomical $24.99 for the same 3 lb. bag at the Denver Costco.  Unless that price drops this month, I will have to re-evaluate whether or not I'll be buying this for Pesach.

Empire Kosher Skinless Chicken Breasts, 2 lb. OU-P KAJ-P, $10.99.  These frozen chicken breasts  already have KFP hashgacha, and Costco has held their price of $5.50 per lb. for several years.  Because kosher chicken prices have gone up by almost 40% in Denver this year, this is actually the best price in town for chicken breasts, and I appreciate that Costco does not raise the price before Pesach.

Kirkland Organic Honey, three 24 oz. honeybears for $11.69 ($0.16 per oz.).  This is a fantastic price on honey, let alone organic honey, let alone KFP organic honey.  We buy this for Pesach each year and alway have at least one honeybear left for the following Rosh Hashana.  These 24 oz. bears are huge.  For some reason, the Kirkland organic honey is less expensive than the Kirkland non-organic honey (which costs about $0.17 per oz.).

Kirkland Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 2 liter bottles (67.6 oz.) for $12.99.  The OU and other major kashrus organizations have permitted Extra Virgin Olive Oil for Pesach without any special KFP hashgacha. This is one of the best-priced deals around for high-quality EVOO and it saves me from having to buy that uber-expensive KFP cottonseed oil. Even though EVOO is not the best oil for frying and baking, it works, and  it's terrific for salad dressings, cooking, sauteing, etc.

Kedem Grape Juice - OU-P,  two 96 oz. bottles, $9.99.  Kosher grape juice is ridiculously expensive in Denver. Everyone who is in the know waits for this Costco sale (always right before Pesach) and stockpiles enough for the entire year.  We buy a dozen bottles at this sale each year.

Meal Mart NY Deli Sliced Pastrami, Corn Beef or Smoked Turkey Breast-OU-P, 1.25 lbs. $9.99 (comes to $7.99 per lb.).  This is one of the best glatt-kosher meat bargains around, whether during the year or for Pesach. Look for the packages with the special Pesach hashgacha.  We used to get all three types of cold cuts in our Denver Costco, but this year, only the pastrami and corn beef are available.  The $8/lb. price is fantastic.

Natural & Kosher Sliced Cheese Variety, 1.5 lbs. $10.29.  Again, look for the packages with the special Pesach hashgacha.  The price on this is fabulous ($6.86/lb.), and my husband loves this cheese and eats it year round.  If you haven't already taken advantage of the Natural & Kosher cheese rebate, make sure you save the UPC symbols and save $1 per package.

San Pellegrino, Italian Mineral Water- OU-P, case of twelve 25.3 oz. bottles $13.99, and Perrier (unflavored),  OK-P, case of 24 16.9 oz. bottles, $16.99.  These are KFP year-round, and these case prices are very good.  We usually pick up a case of the Pellegrino, (even though we mostly just use our SodaStream on Pesach now). It's always nice to be able to put a few bottles of Italian sparkling water on the Yom Tov table.

Kirkland Smoked salmon/lox, two 8 oz. packs for $18.89, Kof-K KLP.  If you're looking for a less boring Chol HaMoed lunch, pile some of this lox on top of a cream cheese slathered slab of matzoh and you're in business. 

Pin It