The Top 7 Frozen Fruits at Costco to Stock Up On

Costco is beloved amongst its members for classics like the food court chicken bake and frozen meals, but how come nobody is talking about the frozen fruit? The wholesaler sells a handful of chilly options to suit your various needs, from bright and tangy pineapple to bold berries. If you’re pondering how to use frozen fruit besides adding it to smoothies, don’t fret. Customers can find plenty of fun ways to finish up the multi-pound bags for their different recipes, from hot porridge to fruity ice cubes to muffins. I’ll share a couple of ideas for each one if you need guidance.

When you think outside the box, you’ll be able to go through these in no time. These frozen options can be helpful if you’re prone to forgetting produce in the back of your fridge until it’s moldy and squishy (as I tend to do). I judged these frozen fruits based on their flavor, texture, flexibility in how to use them, and cost; you can learn more about the methodology at the end of this article. As an avid Costco shopper, home cook, and baker, I tried each one of these cold sweet delights to tell you my thoughts on the best ones to get. Some are a little better than others, but I’ll explain my thought process for each one. Let’s dig in!

Costco offers its Kirkland Signature three berry blend, but I grabbed the Townsend Farms organic triple berry blend because of its USDA organic marker. If you have kids or toddlers who go through berries like there’s no tomorrow, either brand makes a fantastic option. With Townsend Farms, you get three pounds of organic berries for $9.89, which is a bargain per ounce compared to a place like Vons. There’s an even amount of blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries by volume, so you don’t feel like it’s laden with one over the other. Plus, you don’t have to prep, wash, or remove strawberry leaves. 

The quality, flavor, and texture of the fruit are fantastic. I’m not the biggest fan of the texture of blackberries, but these were excellent frozen. I also liked that the strawberries are small; many frozen strawberries are gigantic and tend to get stuck in your blender, so this offers a different option. I recommend using the berry trio frozen or just thawed to retain some structure. 

Try making Ina Garten’s simple dessert idea using these frozen berries and white chocolate ganache. If you put a few in a container for school lunch, they’ll be thawed (but still cold) and delicious for the kids to eat. Or, you could heat the fruit in something like a baked treat or mix it into hot oatmeal. When I tried them after thawing overnight, they were on the mushy side and less enjoyable. I’d skip out on any lengthy thawing method. 

The Kirkland Signature organic strawberries are vibrant, beautiful, and sweet, both when frozen and thawed. Would you look at that color? The 4-pound bag is perfect for those who eat a lot of strawberries or if you know you’re going to cook or bake with a large quantity. In my experience, this fruit can get pretty frostbitten after a few months in the freezer, so plan how you want to utilize it. 

These berries are somewhat large (at least in comparison to the petite ones in the organic berry blend), allowing you flexibility on what you want to do with them. Leave the fruit whole to whip up a retro strawberry pretzel salad or chop them up to toss in muffins. At $10.39 for the entire bag, the price per pound is pretty economical and considerably cheaper than fresh organic strawberries from someplace like Sprouts (even if they’re on sale). 

I love making strawberry syrup with frozen fruit for a hot morning latte. Then I store it in an airtight container in my fridge to keep handy. You could also create strawberry puree to pour into an afternoon mocktail or over breakfast-for-dinner pancakes.

These Kirkland Signature organic blueberries are where it’s at. I’ve purchased them before and they are marvelous, teetering on that sweet, slightly tart line that many fruits do. Buying frozen blueberries solves a couple of common problems I have with the fruit: freshness and texture. The berries can mold quickly if you don’t get around to eating them in time, and if they don’t mold, they often get gross and squishy. The price is incredible, unbeatable really. Albertsons sells an 18-ounce pack of fresh (non-organic) blueberries for just under $10 a pop, while Costco’s 3-pound bag of USDA organic fruit goes for $7.99.

I love eating these berries frozen straight from the freezer; the crisp, icy texture is so satisfying, so that’s one way to enjoy them. You could also saute the blueberries in a pan until thawed and warm. Mash them a bit, mix in a bit of sugar or honey, and a sprinkle of cinnamon to spread on top of toast or place over oatmeal — this is my preferred method for using frozen berries.

You could pop a few blueberries into muffins or pancake batter to give them a fruity lift. However, consider rinsing them to remove ice crystals and then patting them dry. This is an important tip for baking with frozen blueberries to minimize the color bleeding into your food. I actually like the blue-gray color, but this is a personal preference.

The organic Golden Farms pineapple chunks offer the sweet-tart quality that you expect from fresh pineapple. The color isn’t as vibrant and yellow as I like, but the pre-cut pieces save you a lot of effort from cutting a fresh one. I’ve been guilty of leaving fresh, whole pineapple on the counter for too long — by the time I got around to cutting it, the bottom started to mold. It’s just not as easy and approachable as grabbing something like an apple and biting into it. The prep time is a barrier, so if this sounds familiar, you might want to grab these pineapple pieces the next time you’re at Costco.

The texture is absolutely delightful: firm, but you won’t break your teeth biting into it. My teething toddler loved snacking on these right out of the freezer (I just cut them up into smaller pieces). These are a sweet, mildly tangy delight, perfect for a fruity, tropical morning smoothie or refreshing piña colada afternoon cocktail. Try caramelizing them in a pan with some brown sugar to pour over ice cream or to add to your pizza. 

I’ll get a lot of use out of this 4-pound bag of USDA organic pineapple without any waste since I can just grab it from the freezer — no prep time needed. At $9.99, it’s only a few cents more expensive per pound than the whole fruit from Walmart. But with the fresh kind, you never know how much usable fruit you’re getting anyway — some of that weight is the fronds and skin.

Mango is another fruit that I have trouble working with. Sometimes they’re amazing, buttery smooth, soft, and ultra-sweet, while other times they’re all sad and brown on the inside. I don’t yield a lot of fruit from the mango either, so this 5-pound bag of organic mango chunks from Ultra Organics will last me for some time to come. Safe to say, this is the most amount of fruit on this list — one pound more than the 4-pound frozen fruits. At $9.99 for the bag, it’s cheaper to get your frozen mango at Costco than at a place like Vons or Walmart, so you should pick this up if you see it.

These mangos are like an icy delight if you consume them from the freezer, but you can leave them out for a few minutes and dig in; that way, they’re slightly softer and juicier. Unlike the other fruits mentioned so far, mango is sugary without a hint of tanginess. Make easy mango sorbet to celebrate the warmer months. You only need frozen mango, sugar, and lime juice to make this incredible dessert. It brings a burst of sweetness to oatmeal, but I’d recommend using coconut milk instead of water or cow’s milk to play on the tropical flavors.

The Wawona Organic Daybreak Blend offers a colorful mix of peaches, mangos, strawberries, and pineapple, effectively eliminating the need to purchase three of the single frozen fruit options Costco offers. This bag is ideal when you want a mixture of fruit to save freezer space. This was the priciest frozen option on this list ($12.99), but only by $2, and you get 4 pounds of product. While every dollar counts, it won’t necessarily break the bank, and it might be the best option to get mixed frozen fruits from Costco (in addition to the berry blend). 

The fruit was delicious both frozen and thawed. These held up well after thawing overnight, minus the overly soft strawberries. The thawed peach still had a snap to it and was my favorite among the bunch. This would be perfect for a summer punch or blended with water (and some sugar, if desired) to make a refreshing agua fresca. Blend the fruit with yogurt and then spread it on a flat tray to create a colorful and flavorful frozen yogurt bark. Then top with goodies like pumpkin seeds, mini chocolate chips, or granola and refreeze. I recommend this mix when you don’t want to commit to one specific fruit; the fruits work well together without anything taking over.

Cherries are one of my favorite fruits, but they’re not available to get year-round (at least where I’m located). I’m forced to wait around for cherry season. When the time rolls around, I buy the little red spheres, devour them regularly until the season ends, and wait until next year to continue the cycle. But now we have the 4-pound bag of Smart Harvest organic sweet dark red cherries coming to the rescue. Admittedly, these aren’t as marvelously sweet as fresh cherries when frozen, but at $10.99, it’s an absolute bargain for the price per pound. 

This giant resealable package is a great way to have some USDA organic cherries on hand when you want them throughout the year. This fruit is sweet yet a tad zesty, which gives it dimension. They are pitted so you can save yourself a lot of hassle; pitting can be an arduous process if you’re making cherry products in larger quantities, such as jam or cobbler. I recommend a quick jam since you can play off the sweetness with sugar and then the tartness with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice or vinegar.

Because of the fruit’s natural moisture content, the frozen cherries are beautifully icy when frozen, almost like a sorbet but without any blending. You can easily snack on these straight out of the freezer, but they’re incredible in baked treats, too. They get a bit too soft to enjoy by themselves if you let them thaw overnight, so I’d stick to including the thawed fruit in warm food or baked goods where the softness works in your favor. Try making a drool-worthy classic cherry clafoutis as long as you plan ahead to thaw and drain excess liquid.

As a home cook and baker, I’m thrilled to include these bags of fruit in my arsenal of eats. You might be wondering what criteria I used to determine what makes these the best frozen fruits that Costco has to offer. I liked each of these for various reasons, be it its flavor, texture, versatility, or price — these play a part in what makes them so appealing. However, it’s important to note that your Costco may carry different options or brands.

Flavor and texture are the top two components; in my eyes, you can’t have one without the other when it comes to frozen fruit. Fruit can’t be tasty yet mushy, so I noted when that occurred. I was looking for bold flavors and a hearty texture. If a fruit has flexibility on what you can make with it (beyond a smoothie) this only adds to its appeal. And of course, I’m always factoring in cost for my family. 

To get a taste for each option, I tried each fruit by itself. First frozen and then thawed according to the package directions, if any were provided. I also tried the thawed fruit a second time by adding it to my oatmeal to get a feel for the taste and texture when mixed with hot food (it wasn’t feasible for me to bake seven fruit-based food dishes, so this was my compromise). I used the same ingredients for the oatmeal (oats, milk, and water) and then included the respective fruit to keep the oatmeal’s flavor consistent.