Introducing… Embarrassingly Easy Dinners: ft Costco Shortcuts
Are you a grownup who has to decide what’s for dinner for yourself and possibly other tiny or not-so-tiny humans every single day?
Welcome. This series is for you.
If you have a million things going on and feel pulled in many directions but also care about feeding yourself and your family balanced, nourishing meals. Hi hello. You is me. Me is we. Solidarity to the max.
Introducing… Embarrassingly Easy Dinners.
If you know me, then you know that my husband and I are avid Costco shoppers. I love the consistent quality of Costco products and my husband is all about the great value. The last time I was at my favorite Costco, I took a good hard look at some of the options available and thought wow, I need to harness some of these ‘shortcuts’ into easy, nutritious and balanced dinners. So that’s what we’re doing! I’m not big into convenience foods or fast food but in my opinion, Costco has some of the best prepared foods that can assist in the dinner-making overwhelm. Time to tackle those busy weeknights.
Here’s what you need to know:
- This series includes five dinner recipes based on staples you can grab from Costco but they are also ingredients that could be found at any ‘normal’ grocery store.
- Each dinner has 5-6 ‘core’ ingredients plus several supplemental ingredients like spices, olive oil, salt, pepper, vinegar, etc. to help the meal come together with max flavor.
- Each of the ingredients from our Costco haul is used at least twice, sometimes three times, for the five dinners, so nothing goes to waste.
- Each recipe is incredibly versatile and easily scalable, whether you’re cooking for one or for a family.
Embarrassingly Easy Costco Meals:
Crispy Chicken Caesar Lettuce Cups
Low-effort and high reward, these chicken Caesar lettuce wraps feature crispy chicken tenders, shards of salty parmesan cheese, and a creamy homemade Caesar dressing that’ll have you licking the spoon. Pop the tenders in an air fryer, blitz together the dressing, layer everything in a lettuce cup and boom, you’re done. It’s one of my favorite lower-carb, high-protein dinners with 30 grams of protein per serving.
Chicken Sausage Pasta
Juicy chicken sausage (Costco has several varieties!) and fresh veggies come together with buttery lemon pasta for the ultimate comfort food without the heavy lifting. It’s on my list of favorite sheet pan meals – everything gets roasted up and then tossed with gemelli or penne pasta. Yum. Check out chicken sausage pasta here.
Mediterranean Salmon with Quick Greek Salad
Tender salmon, a crisp and vibrant Greek salad, creamy hummus, and soft little naan pillows, all piled into one gorgeous bowl. The quality of the produce items at Costco always shocks me. If you’re in the tomato off-season, Costco is definitely the way to go. Don’t worry about the large package; we use them in different ways throughout the series! These blackened salmon fillets can be found in the frozen aisle. Or you can follow the instructions for using a raw salmon fillet and seasoning it yourself. Mediterranean salmon with hummus and Greek salad here.
Street Corn Chicken and Rice
Street corn chicken rice bowls are precisely the kind of weeknight dinner you need on busy nights. Toss Costco rotisserie chicken with creamy street corn dip and melted cheese, add a packet of cilantro lime rice and sautè zucchini and corn for a hit of veggies. Use flour tortillas to eat these as chicken street tacos or pile it into a bowl situation (y’all know my love for bowls). This delicious meal is great with nearly any protein so feel free to use ground beef, ground turkey or chicken breast.
Spicy Tuna Rice Bowl
If you love sushi but not the $$$ price tag, this tuna rice bowl is calling your name. We’re talking creamy, savory, spicy tuna + whole grain rice or quinoa + crisp, vinegary cucumbers + any other toppings you love for a full meal that is an easy meal prep lunch or no fuss dinner. Easy. High protein. Budget-friendly. And best of all? It’s ready in 10-ish minutes. Check out the deconstructed tuna sushi bowls here.
I know I always say my recipes are versatile but these are particularly versatile. Add bell peppers and black beans to the zucchini corn mixture for the street corn chicken, add hot sauce to the crispy chicken lettuce wraps, double up the chicken sausage in the pasta for extra protein, use whatever fresh produce is in season, etc.
Get the Full Grocery List
Heck yes y’all, I created a full FREE grocery shopping list complete with everything you’ll need to make these dinners! This PDF includes all five dinner recipes, a Costco grocery list with all of the items to purchase from Costco and a comprehensive grocery list with the few supplemental items that each recipe calls for. It is a fabulous resource that you can print or simply save to your phone for your next Costco run. 👇🏼
I am so passionate about helping you solve the ‘what’s for dinner’ problem because I’m there with ya. I want a yummy, healthy dinner without it being a whole thing. These dinner recipes have been so helpful for me and I hope they’re helpful for you as well. Costco FTW.
If you’re a visual person and want to see how these dinners come together, pop over to social media to check them out! Full Costco haul, Caesar chicken lettuce wraps, chicken sausage pasta, mediterranean salmon, street corn chicken and rice, spicy tuna rice bowls, Costco series recap!
FAQs
What the heck are you waiting for!? Jk jk, all of these recipes require ingredients that you can easily find at a regular grocery store.
Most of these recipes make 4-6 servings to serve a family but are easily scalable up or down. I have tips in each post on how I served to my family (husband and 3 and 5 year-old daughters). My girls aren’t terribly picky eaters, but I have a few tips on how to serve things in a more kid-friendly way.
Yes! Just pop your email address into the box above and I’ll email you the PDF!
What are your favorite items from Costco? Should I do a round two? Or perhaps Embarrassingly Easy Dinners ft. Trader Joe’s shortcuts? Let me know!
Girl PLEASE do more of these. This saved my life for a solid 2-3 weeks.
On it!!