These 9 Costco Frozen Appetizers Double As Restaurant Copycats

With the price of dining out rising by the day, you might feel like you have to abstain from your favorite restaurant appetizers. It's easy enough to make a Shake Shack-style smash burger recipe or recreate Olive Garden's signature salad, but apps from fast food and sit-down chains are often deep-fried and messy to make at home, or the price of the ingredients winds up costing more than ordering out anyway. For the perfect solution, all you have to do is head to Costco and grab the following copycat frozen appetizers that closely resemble restaurant favorites.

Costco's freezer aisle is full of tempting nibbles sold in big bulk packages to satisfy your cravings. They allow you to enjoy the next best thing to your fave restaurant apps in the comfort of your own home, for a much lower price per serving. We sifted through the warehouse chain's offerings to find close dupes of dishes from Olive Garden, Chick-fil-A, Outback Steakhouse, Wingstop, and more, all of which can be heated and enjoyed in less time than it takes to grab takeout. We also double-checked that these Costco gems are well-reviewed overall and are still available at warehouses as of this writing. Pair these convenient products with other casual dining or fast food copycat recipes, and you could even recreate a full restaurant experience in your own kitchen.

Chick-fil-A's chicken nuggets are iconically delicious, but if you want a 30-count serving for a crowd, it can cost you over $20. Costco shoppers say that Kirkland Signature Lightly Breaded Chicken Chunks are crispy, flavorful, and pretty darn close to Chick-fil-A nuggets, yet they come in a massive 4-pound bag for around $18 – talk about a value upgrade! Pair them with Walmart's Chick-fil-A sauce dupe, and you're all set to "eat mor chikin" (at home).

Filled with chicken and veggies and served with your choice of sauce, Panda Express' potstickers are a simple, pleasing starter or side. However, Costco members say the Ling Ling Chicken and Vegetable Potstickers may be even better, with a flavorful filling inside thick wrappers that get extra crunchy when pan-fried. They even come with sauce included. Sold in a 4-pound bag for around $13, this Costco frozen appetizer will outshine the main course.

Out of all of Wingstop's wing flavors, the garlic parmesan rub is a fan favorite thanks to its super-savory, buttery taste that's bold but not spicy. If your routine orders are draining your wallet, though, grab a 3.5-pound, $18 bag of Pilgrim's Garlic Parm Wings from Costco. These wings come seasoned with a rub much like Wingstop's and get super crispy in the oven or air fryer, delivering fast-food-esque goodness in convenient frozen form.

In debates about the best restaurant jalapeño poppers, Arby's Jalapeño Bites keep popping up (no pun intended), as they're perfectly crispy with plenty of gooey cream cheese filling. However, the Feel Good Foods Crispy Jalapeño Bites, sold at Costco for around $12.50, also get rave reviews; have a similar cream cheese filling; and are even gluten-free. All you need is a copycat recipe for Arby's bronco berry sauce to fully recreate this popular app.

You may not have the technology used to make McDonald's fries, but with a bag of Costco's Kirkland Signature Extra Crispy French Fries, you can enjoy golden-brown potatoes with a similar thin crispiness at home. Shoppers love their restaurant-quality texture that's crunchy yet fluffy and light. Best of all, these fries are guaranteed to be fresh when cooked yourself — everyone knows that stale, cold, soft McD's fries aren't even worth their low price.

Outback Steakhouse's Gold Coast Coconut Shrimp is a popular seafood appetizer of jumbo shrimp fried in a shredded coconut coating, served with a spicy-sweet Creole marmalade. Costco's frozen Royal Asia Coconut Shrimp is a similar product that cooks up in minutes and comes with a sweet Thai chili dip that likely resembles Outback's version, as copycat recipes usually use a mix of Thai chili sauce and orange marmalade. A 2-pound bag costs around $17.

If you always wish your chicken tenders came with more slices of Raising Cane's iconic Texas toast, Furlani Signature Garlic Toast from Costco has you covered. These thick slices toast up golden brown and are flavored with garlic butter, much like Cane's, and you get 32 pieces for just under $8. Fans recommend air frying this toast for the most sturdy, crackly finish, which is also more likely to hold up after a dip in Cane's sauce.

Olive Garden's Fried Mozzarella is nice to munch on while you wait for your pasta or chicken Parm, but paying over $9 for a plate of fried cheese planks isn't ideal for everyone. The Petite Cuisine Mozzarella Sticks likely deliver just as much crunchy, gooey, stretchy satisfaction, as fans say they're the best frozen mozz sticks on the market, especially when cooked in the air fryer. A huge 5-pound bag costs around $19 at Costco.

Carrabba's Italian Grill offers an appetizer-sized serving of shrimp scampi with garlic bread. While it certainly looks cute and tasty, the small dish's price starts at $13.49. Costco's Kirkland Signature Garlic Butter Shrimp gives you 2 pounds of crustaceans for around $18, and shoppers say they're packed with buttery, garlicky flavor and convenient to make. Just heat them up with a little white wine and/or lemon, and you have an affordable scampi dupe.