9 Costco Kirkland Salty Snacks Ranked Worst To Best

It's a very reasonable guess that any Costco-loving foodie has taken a jaunt (or two, or three) down the store's snack aisle to load up on some of its salty offerings. If you're anything like me, you can hardly keep from adding every wholesale-sized snack to your cart — and why should you? There's nothing wrong with having a stockpile of snacks saved for a rainy day, and while Costco offers a ton of brands with salty offerings, you'll also find some great options from its own Kirkland Signature brand.

Now, I wouldn't call all of Kirkland's salty snacks outstanding, but most of them fit the bill for what I look for in a snack: something that's satisfying and easy to munch on and can tide me over between lunch and dinner. I grabbed one of each salty Kirkland snack that my local Costco had available to try, then I ranked them on "snackability" — meaning if they satisfied my cravings and filled me up just enough — and how they compared to other versions of the snack I've had, if applicable. After trying these, I can safely say that Kirkland Signature is a reliable source of snacks to satisfy a "salt tooth," and you're bound to find at least one you enjoy. 

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I think these Kirkland cheese, fruit, and nut packs should have been the discontinued Kirkland fruit and nut snack. A large box contains 16 snack packs — eight have sharp cheddar, cashews, and cranberries, and the other eight have white cheddar, almonds, and cranberries. Both were ultimately fine, but they were pretty bland. I would only buy these if I needed a lunchbox snack for picky kids, as I don't see adults enjoying them very much.

The package containing sharp cheddar, cashews, and cranberries was okay, but the cheese didn't taste fresh in the slightest. The dried cranberry and cashew mixture had a mealy texture without any pronounced flavors. Unfortunately, I had similar complaints with the white cheddar, almond, and cranberry version. The white cheddar cheese didn't have as much flavor as I was hoping for, nor did the dried cranberries. However, the almonds had enough crunch to be satisfying. The cheese was also slightly powdery in both packs. 

These are definitely a convenient and moderately health-conscious lunchbox snack. But honestly, you'd be better off buying the ingredients separately and making your own cheese, fruit, and nut snack packs.

I can see a certain type of consumer really enjoying Kirkland's nut bars with cocoa drizzle and sea salt — unfortunately, that consumer wasn't me, nor do I think many people would rave about this one. I can appreciate the protein the nuts offer, but the bars didn't offer an overall pleasant eating experience. Moreover, the sea salt failed to deliver on the desired salty component, which made it hard to justify ranking them highly. 

My first complaint about this snack bar was a big one, and one that made me unwilling to take another bite: It's insanely sticky. It stuck in my teeth and made chewing even a small bite of this bar unpleasant. As far as its flavors go, chocolate overpowered any other flavor in the bar; everything else got lost until the end of the bite. Finally, the sea salt didn't stand out nearly enough to justify its presence on the package description. While I'd hesitate to call these nut bars "bad," they definitely didn't deliver on what I was expecting, and eating them was an unpleasant enough experience to make me unlikely to try these again any time soon.

This, and the following snacks, were at least good in my book — and ranking them was no easy feat. Ultimately I had to consider the quality of the Kirkland-branded snack against other brands that I've tried in the past. While I have few qualms with Kirkland's popcorn, it still wasn't the best microwave popcorn I've tried. I should start by saying that I love my microwave popcorn to taste extraordinarily buttery; if you don't, this may be the perfect microwave popcorn for you.

A first glance at a box of Kirkland's microwave popcorn on the shelves may make it seem like an insane buy. The box is huge and contains a whopping 44 bags of popcorn. However, given that microwave popcorn doesn't go bad for a while, I'd say it's worth it, even if this is only an occasional snack. This popcorn was pretty good; it was adequately salted and fairly, though not overly, buttery. The whole bag popped well on a typical microwave popcorn setting and left me with few kernels. Go ahead and grab a box the next time you're in the store if you don't already have a popcorn preference or if you aren't particularly picky about this salty snack.

Given the booming seaweed snack market, it only makes sense that Kirkland would have its own version of the salty snack. Seaweed is an underrated superfood that you should absolutely try if you haven't already. It does have a distinct flavor that I've found consumers tend to either love or hate, so if you don't know whether or not you like seaweed, I would try a smaller serving before opting for Kirkland's large package of seaweed snacks.

If you know you like seaweed, though, I'd venture to guess that you'll enjoy what Kirkland's brand has to offer. Personally, I'm not a big seaweed snack fan, but I can still tell these are good — their sesame flavor is subtle enough to enhance the natural seaweed essence, and the paper-thin, crunchy texture is unbeatable. These also aren't overwhelmingly salty, and are on par with seaweed I've had at sushi restaurants. I can't rank them higher simply because the other snacks are likely to be more preferable to a wider audience. But if you enjoy seaweed snacks, you can't go wrong with this buy.

While Kirkland's organic tortilla chips aren't the best tortilla chips I've ever had, they definitely hold their own in what I often find to be a competitive tortilla chip market. Whether you pick Kirkland's over another brand's product will simply depend on what you're using your tortilla chips for. Kirkland's chips may be overwhelming to snack on solo, but I'd say they're a great choice for just about any other eating purpose.

The biggest pro about these tortilla chips is also my biggest complaint: They're very thick and crunchy. You probably know where this is going. If you like light, crispy tortilla chips, these won't be your vibe — but if you need something to hold up to a thick dip, I'd recommend grabbing these in a heartbeat. I think they're slightly undersalted, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Rather than viewing these chips as a snack in themselves, I would want to use them as a vehicle for other foods and toppings. They would hold up very well to being piled with loaded nacho toppings, and I highly doubt they'd break no matter how thick of a substance you would be dipping them into. As one of the sturdiest tortilla chips I've ever had, I'd recommend them when you need a versatile chip that can handle whatever your dinner party may throw at it.

I'd never had anything similar to Kirkland's cashew clusters before (aside from your average nutty granola/protein bar), so I didn't really know what to expect from these. Upon grabbing a couple out of the bag, I was nervous that I'd have another sticky experience like I did with the aforementioned nut bars. Fortunately, these were nowhere near as sticky as the lower-ranked product and I found myself liking the clusters much more than I thought I would.

I like that these snacks come in small, bite-sized square; they easily check the "snackable" box on my list of requirements. They're also adequately filling and would fit the bill as a snack to take on a hike or day of outdoor activities. The nuts are stuck together with honey and cane sugar which, though they add a welcome sweet component, don't overpower the saltiness of this snack. As a bonus, they're not hard to chew in the slightest. If you're a fan of nut snacks, then you'll probably enjoy these. Though they weren't my personal favorite, I'd find myself grabbing a couple small squares if I saw them on a table at a party.

Jerky fans, rejoice — Costco's Kirkland extra thick cut steak strips are a fabulous snack for anyone who likes feasting on cured meat. I find them to be at least slightly superior to other jerky brands I've tried. When Costco says these are "extra thick cut," it means it. These steak strips are almost juicy, but despite their thickness, they manage to remain tender and easy to bite through — which is a big complaint I have with other jerky brands.

I also love how these steak strips are seasoned. They're pleasantly peppery and smoky, but are neutral enough not to turn off many jerky consumers. This makes them an easily palatable snack for anyone who likes cured beef. I only had one minor complaint with the steak strips. They leave behind a slightly metallic aftertaste, which is by no means a dealbreaker for me, but I could see it being a turn off to other consumers.

Admittedly, as a longtime potato chip fan, I'm a little biased here. Nevertheless, giving Kirkland's pink salt kettle chips the number two spot on this list is completely justifiable. First, it's rare that I meet a soul who doesn't at least moderately enjoy potato chips, making these an easy pick if you're looking to bring a universally-appealing snack to feed a crowd. Second, these potato chips excel at being potato chips; their crunch and lightly salty flavor makes it near impossible to eat just one at a time.

In my opinion, potato chips — and Kirkland's in particular — can't be beat in terms of their versatility. They're yummy enough to enjoy as a solo snack and sturdy enough to enjoy with dips. Crush them up to add a pleasantly salty topping to casserole or baked macaroni and cheese. They're also salty enough to satisfy without being overbearing. Plus, I like the flavor the pink sea salt in particular brings to these chips. It makes them slightly reminiscent of cups of hot boardwalk fries you'd buy at a small-town fair. Sure, they're a simple snack, but they're delicious, very snackable, and perfectly salty and crunchy — a no-brainer for a top ranking on this list. 

Finally, the top spot on my list had to go to a snack that's as hard to stop eating as it is to dislike (unless, of course, you're allergic to peanuts). Peanut butter and pretzels are no new culinary combination, and it's likely you've had some version of this snack before. It makes sense that Kirkland would capitalize on the popular flavor pairing with its peanut butter pretzels, and in my opinion, it was a successful endeavor.

Kirkland's take on the pairing packs peanut butter inside small, salted pretzel nuggets. It's a simple snack that's extremely effective in its delivery. The bite-sized morsels are too easy to pop in your mouth, and they yield a satisfying crunch with a pleasantly warm peanut butter interior. Just don't expect the peanut butter to be particularly viscous. It's more of a thick peanut butter paste (personally, I wish there was a bit more of it), but it's delicious nonetheless. The peanut butter also adds a very welcome, slightly sweet component, while the pretzels are salty without being too salty, so you'll likely find yourself downing more than a few without feeling overwhelmed by any particular flavor profile.

As a particular fan of salty snacks myself, ranking these was no particular feat. I had to put aside personal preferences to give as accurate of a picture of each snack as I could. Had I been going off of personal opinion alone, the potato chips would definitely have gotten the top spot and the seaweed snack would have been closer to the bottom. But, I remained as objective as possible during the testing. 

The lowest-ranked items on this list were not easily snackable, were inadequately salted, or otherwise fell short of being satisfying snacks. The cheese, fruit, and nut packs weren't good enough to justify buying at all, and you'd be better off making your own version. The peanut butter pretzels, on the other hand, are satisfying to eat a few of and would easy tide me over until my next meal.