The Costco Bulk Sauce Storage Hack For Easy Use Later

Aside from secretly stocking top-shelf liquor and their legendary food court, Costco is most well-known for selling high-quality items in bulk — both specific brand names and tasty alternatives under the Kirkland Signature label. This makes them especially popular among small business owners and big families, as shoppers are practically guaranteed to get a good deal on everything from 10-pound bags of potatoes to enormous packages of paper towels and gallon-sized bottles of Frank's Red Hot Sauce.

Of course, that's not to say that those embracing the single life or with small families can't also find deals there. Costco offers plenty of items perfect for the single shopper, including bulk packages of individually bottled or wrapped beverages and snacks. However, if you're a tried and true fan of Yo Mama's Organic Alfredo Sauce or Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto, there's a fairly easy way to stretch the shelf life of these delicious condiments without having to eat caprese salad or fettuccini alfredo for a week straight.

Since these enormous containers of pesto, salsa, and Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue sauce lose some of their freshness the second you open them, the best course of action is to freeze them as part of your weekly meal prep. Freezing these sauces in individual portions not only extends their shelf life, it also makes it easy and convenient for you to snack the exact amount you need for your favorite recipes right from the freezer, chucking them into your dish to melt as it cooks.

The key to successfully dividing and freezing those enormous jars and bottles of your favorite condiments is understanding how they'll react to being frozen in the first place. While freezing pesto tends to preserve its color and bright, fresh flavor, hot sauce may separate and look discolored when frozen solid. Similarly, the veggies in salsa may get mushy after thawing, so plan to compensate by adding some fresh crudité to it, or buzzing it up for a smoother, gazpacho-like sauce.

With that knowledge in hand, the task of actually freezing and storing these items is fairly simple. Just pour or spoon each sauce into freezer-safe silicone molds or ice cube trays, keeping portions in mind (e.g., larger molds for marinara and smaller ones for hot sauce). Freeze everything until solid overnight, then decant the frozen sauces into freezer bags or freezer-safe containers to preserve them for long-term storage.

Once you get the hang of breaking down your favorite Costco-sized sauces into individually frozen portions, you'll likely discover this hack is also a secret weapon for quickly and easily adding flavor to weekday meals. If that pot of easy slow cooker spicy turkey chili isn't tasting as piquant as you'd like, you can simply slip a cube or two of hot sauce or barbecue sauce into the pot to finish it up. If your favorite seafood bisque just isn't coming together, a pod of frozen alfredo may be just the ticket to perfectly creamy richness.