The $12 Costco Staple I’ve Been Buying for 13 Years (I Use It Every Single Day)

I’ve been a Costco member for well over a decade. It’s essential to the way I keep my household running. I stock up on foods that we eat on repeat, and household goods that we always need on hand. Shopping in bulk lets me check a few things off of my mental to-do list (and for that I am grateful). For me, the perks of warehouse shopping far outweigh the membership fee (and before you ask, I do pay for membership out of my own pocket).

If you are new to Costco or are just curious about what items are worth buying in bulk, it can be difficult to sift through a literal warehouse of options. Over the years, I’ve compiled a list of tried-and-true Costco groceries that really are on my personal shopping list. One item that I make sure to add to my oversized cart is Bonne Maman Four Fruits Preserves.

What’s So Great About Bonne Maman Four Fruits Preserves?

Bonne Maman is the beloved brand behind some of our favorite holiday gifts, chocolaty spreads, and fruit preserves (not to be confused with jams, jellies, or marmalades, which are actually all different). Despite its massive footprint, Costco curates its collection of groceries, so the only flavor of Bonne Maman stocked in my store is the Four Fruits Preserves — and that is A-OK with me.

The high-quality preserves contain strawberries, cherries, red currants, and raspberries. It’s the perfect combination of sweet and jammy red fruits. Costco sells a mega-sized 36-ounce jar for $10.99, or $0.31 per ounce. At my local grocery store in the Tampa, Florida, area, these preserves are sold in smaller, 13-ounce jars for $6.63, which breaks down to $0.51 cents per ounce. That’s almost double per ounce.

What’s the Best Way to Use Bonne Maman Four Fruits Preserves?

Peanut butter has never met a more delicious mate than Bonne Maman’s Four Fruits Preserves, but the uses for this fruit spread go way beyond the classic sandwich. Spread the preserves onto cookie dough like these thumbprint cookies, homemade rugelach, or these Linzer cookies. Use the preserves as topping for easy French crêpes or fluffy waffles. Mix them with hot water and use it to brush warm cakes to accentuate its moist texture and add flavor. Bonne Maman might just be the secret ingredient to the very best breakfast bread — add it to sweet rolls or Texas kolaches.

Then once you’ve used almost the entire jar of preserves, make a batch of overnight oats to savor every last bite.

With its adorable red checkered lid, it’s easy to spot a jar of Bonne Maman on the shelf in-store, and it makes a lovely storage container when the preserves are all gone. I reuse the jars to store simple syrup for cocktails and pack away dinner leftovers for next-day lunches. They’re also just the right size for holding office supplies, cotton balls, and more. Do I buy these preserves just for the jar? Not entirely, but it doesn’t hurt. 

Buy: Bonne Maman Four Fruits Preserves, $11.99 for 36 ounces at Costco

What Costco staples have you been buying for years and years? Tell us about it in the comments below.

Further Reading

Why People Are Ditching Their Seltzer After a Disturbing Study

We Asked 3 Chefs to Name the Best Ice Cream, and They All Said the Same Thing

The One Cookware Brand That Gordon Ramsay Can’t Stop Talking About