The Costco Freezer Find That Brings The Flavors Of Oktoberfest Home

If your online feed is filling up with lederhosen and German-themed celebrations, you might feel like you're missing out on one of the world's best beer-drinking traditions during Oktoberfest season. Luckily, you don't need to travel all the way to Bavaria to experience the joy. You can sample the year's top Oktoberfest beers right in the comfort of your own home. And better yet, you can cook up some traditional Oktoberfest foods just by taking a trip to your local Costco and picking up schnitzel (the Ventera brand) right from the freezer section. It comes in both a pork and chicken version, and both come with breading and a creamy mushroom sauce to assemble at home.

The pork version of the schnitzel is getting a lot of love online, particularly after cooking it up in the air fryer. Unfortunately, some netizens had a lot of negative things to say about the chicken flavor, with one Reddit post calling it "truly awful," due to the sweetness of the mushroom sauce and issues with the bread falling apart. Veal and pork are more traditional meats for German schnitzel, so going with Ventera's pork schnitzel may provide more of a classic and hearty flavor.

As for what else to serve for your at-home Oktoberfest feast, Costco has some other options that might work well. Some Costco stores have been known to stock frozen packs of soft pretzels from Eastern Standard Company that are perfect to soak up your beer. They come in various topping options, including a classic sea salt, French toast sugar, and three cheese flavor. And if you love more traditional soft pretzels, the Brauhaus Bavarian jumbo soft pretzels were one of the top Costco must-buy items of 2025. 

You can also serve your pork or chicken schnitzel with other traditional Oktoberfest foods, such as spätzle and potato salad. German potato salad isn't traditionally mayonnaise-based, so it can be served warm — usually made with bacon, onion, and a dash of Dijon mustard for extra flavor. Because Oktoberfest beers and the frozen Ventera schnitzel have long shelf lives, you can enjoy the taste of Oktoberfest any time of year.