The Vintage Costco Cookbooks You Still Might Have

If you've been an avid Costco shopper for at least a decade, there may be some old cookbooks hiding in your kitchen that you've totally forgotten about. A series of Costco's own cookbooks, titled "The Costco Way," ran from 2002 to 2015 and was distributed for free annually on Black Friday. Eventually, the store stopped publishing the series in favor of Costco Connection magazine, its monthly publication that features some recipes. But, as all home chefs know, nothing beats a good classic cookbook.

The 2002 title of the company's first cookbook, "Entertaining the Costco Way," was the perfect topic for a debut, since the wholesaler is a great one-stop shop for all things hosting. Costco shoppers know that its wide selection of products is sold in quantities bigger than almost anywhere else. The book's content was divided into four seasonal sections: "Autumn Harvest," "Winter Wonderland," "Spring Fever," and "Summer Daze." 

The recipes were seasonal as well, paying homage to the yearly holidays that invite us to gather with family and friends. The menus included the Frightfully Delicious Halloween Dinner in the autumnal section, the Perfect Holiday Buffet for winter festivities, Mother's Day: The Queen's Brunch in the spring, and a corresponding Father's Day: King for an Hour in the summer.

Costco's cookbooks were each built around a special theme, but for the most part, they followed the same principle — highlighting dishes that can be made with ingredients you purchased at Costco. Sections were commonly divided by meal type, such as breakfasts, appetizers, salads and soups, entrées, and more. There was also a special section, usually found in the middle of the book, called "Chef's Choice." 

Chef's Choice featured recipes created by celebrity chefs. For example, in a 2007 edition titled "Favorite Recipes the Costco Way," the author and Food Network star Ina Garten created three different recipes using Garofalo pasta. Similarly, a 2014 edition called "Fabulous Food the Costco Way" saw chef and TV personality Ree Drummond whip up recipes with Foster Farms cuts of meat.

Vintage cookbook collecting is ferociously competitive, so finding these old Costco gems might be a treasure you want to hold onto. That said, at this point in time, the books largely hold sentimental value and don't really belong on the list of vintage cookbooks that are worth a fortune today. The very first edition is listed anywhere from $7 to $22 on eBay, and hovers around the same range on other secondhand sites. The bad news is that the books won't make you a fortune, but the good news is that you can get the whole collection without having to spend a ton of cash. How very Costco!