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Costco is like an amusement park for budget shoppers, but it can also be fairly overwhelming. Plus, while it can save money to buy things in bulk, not every living space has the room to comfortably fit giant bags and boxes.

Point being, you sometimes have to walk in with a strategy.

Recently on Reddit, someone admitted that their weekly Costco trip left them “wandering the aisles like a confused raccoon.” They asked fellow shoppers on the Costco subreddit to share their “must-buy Costco staples,” and added the additional caveat that these items needed to be good for quick meals, healthy-ish, and “actually worth the space at home.”

Welp, folks delivered. Below are some Costco shopper-approved items that will be worth the bulk buy every time.

1. Costco’s $5 Rotisserie chicken

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This was by far the most mentioned item, perfect for adding protein to ready-made salads, or making broth.

“The Taylor Farms bagged salads and a rotisserie chicken. Add chicken to salads. Supplement dressing with an at-home vinaigrette if too dry.”

“Rotisserie chicken and kale salad.”

“$5 whole chicken. Pick the meat. Use how you want. Freeze the bones. Second $5 chicken. Pick the meat, and as much skin as you want to keep. Make stock. Two chicken bones, and skin. to 3 gal of water. 3-4 celery stalks 3-4 whole carrots. 1 large onion. Rough cut. Whole clove garlic, cut in half length across the cloves. mushrooms if you want. Season as you like. Salt, black pepper, herbs. Add second chicken’s meat to stock. Add stirfry or Normandy veggies. Rice if you want. For about $15 you’ve had 10 or more meals.”

“I get a rotisserie chicken every time too, then freeze the bones every time. Once I get 2-3 I make stock, then repeat!”

“The rotisserie chicken is the best 4.99 you can spend, hands down, at any store. Night 1 - Legs /thighs with a packet of gravy and mashed potatoes (real or instant) and a veg. Dinner ready in under 10 minutes. Night 2 sliced chicken tossed in a green salad. Quick and easy. Night 3 chicken salad made from the breast and a half you still have. A chicken salad sandwich grilled cheese style or on a cookie sheet open face under the broiler is the yumminess you didn’t know you needed! Little more time but worth it and a fraction of the cost for the amount you can make. Add celery for crunch. Onion if you dare! Day four left over chicken salad for lunch then it’s… Time to make soup! Carrots/onion/celery/garlic/ carcass goes in a pot with chicken broth in a box or knorr chicken bullion and water. Simmer for an hour. Pull out the carcass to cool then pick any remaining meat off the bones and toss in the pot. Add some rice, pasta, noodles, or broken spaghetti for chicken noodle. Add a can of tomatoes for depth and a few shakes of hot sauce for zing. “

Of course, other proteins made the list:

2. Vacuum-sealed fish

"Some type of raw, unseasoned frozen fish where each filet is vacuum sealed. The exact fish depends on what’s available and the prices. I love that it’s versatile for whatever flavors I want to add that day. Plus I only take out the number of filets I need so I don’t waste any or have to eat the same meal four days in a row."

3. Kirkland Lightly Breaded Chicken Chunks

“The lightly breaded chicken chucks are genuinely my diet most nights those things are amazing.”

4. Kirkland Signature Italian Style Beef Meatballs

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“Their frozen meatballs are great. They are little (makes it easier to warm up). “

5. Ready-made frozen meals

“The breakfast burritos are so freaking good.”

“The Cheese and Green Onion Tamale (in a Salsa Verde). Steam for 11 minutes, open a bottle of wine, and there you are.”

6. Frozen fruit and veggie bags

“The frozen berry blend. Frozen fruit is pretty expensive at typical grocery stores for very little portions.”

“The frozen broccoli! Air fry from frozen and it gets the job done. “

“Normandy frozen vegetable mix! When I learned how to make frozen veggies into crispy sheet pan veggies, I pretty much started making them every day. We go through a bag every 1-2 weeks, a great way to get lots of veggies in!”

7. Bulk flavor enhancers

“Big jars of Better Than Bullion.”

“The pesto. I freeze it in big ice cube trays so I can pop one out to go with some pasta on quick dinner nights. Throw in mozzarella balls and a ton of cherry tomatoes and you've got yourself an easy dinner that's healthier than most quick meal options.”

“Boursin cheese - it’s so cheap and good. I saute whatever veggies and protein I have, mix in a block of Boursin and broth (or water/better than bouillon) and toss over a grain or pasta.”

Okay…these were too funny not to include

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“I'm all about the Kirkland protein bars. They have a great protein to calorie ratio and such a bad texture that you don't want to eat anything for hours after eating one. It's a win win if you're trying to lose weight lol.”

“A pizza and Coke as a 'good job' for not road raging at people parking in the middle of aisles.”