The Single Best Sausage You Can Buy If You’re Shopping at Costco

Summer is the peak time for sweet corn and juicy tomatoes — but there’s another food that epitomizes casual summer living even more than those produce picks, and that’s sausage. The meaty links are my go-to for easy weeknight meals and seasonal festivities. Almost every grocery store sells sausages, but I’m convinced that there’s no better place to buy them than Costco. 

I added a package of each to my cart for a side-by-side taste test, and divided the sausages into three categories for testing: fresh, smoked, and chicken. The sausages ranged in price from $6 to $20, and varied in size from 2- to 3.5-pound packages. I prepared each sausage according to package instructions, when available, on the stovetop. 

Within each category there was a clear winner, and my favorite overall sausage might surprise you as much as it did me. 

If you think that most sausages on sale at Costco are of the beef or pork variety, I invite you to take a closer look. Half of the sausages sold at my warehouse are chicken. Chicken sausages are a challenge to get right, with the texture often ranging from tough to rubbery. Luckily, the winning chicken sausage is firm, juicy, and just right. 

My favorite chicken sausage (and the best sausage overall!) was Sabatino’s Organic Basil and Cracked Pepper Chicken Sausage. Other contenders skewed too sweet, but the basil and pepper flavoring gives these sausages a deliciously savory flavor. These sausages are well-seasoned, so if you’re adding them to a recipe, like this sheet pan dinner, hold back on the salt until you’ve tasted the finished dish. You can pick up 12 links (2.25 pounds total) for $14.99 at Costco. 

Buy: Sabatinos Organic Basil & Cracked Pepper Chicken Sausage, $14.99 for 2.25 pounds

Costco’s Kirkland Signature Mild Italian Sausage has been a staple purchase of mine for years. This fresh pork sausage is seasoned with savory herbs and spices, like fennel and garlic. Other grocery stores sell fresh sausages in packages a fraction of the size of Costco’s 3.5-pound boxes, which are priced at $10.49. That’s a shame, because Italian sausages are incredibly versatile. 

You can simmer them in a flavorful liquid, crisp the casings on the grill, and serve in a bun with all of the fixings. Plus, despite how they are packaged, these sausages don’t have to be served as links. Simply remove the casing and brown the sausage for any recipe that calls for bulk sausage or ground pork.

Buy: Kirkland Signature Mild Italian Sausage, $10.49 for 3.5 pounds (or 14 links)

Of the three varieties of smoked sausages my Costco had in stock, Kiolbassa Provision Co.’s Organic Beef Hickory Smoked Sausage came out on top. These sausages are organic and made of 100% grass-fed beef. The best part is the taste, especially how the hickory smoke complements the garlicky flavor of the links. 

The sausages come fully cooked, so they’re incredibly quick and easy to serve. They’d be a great choice for simple skillet dinners like this one made with chopped green cabbage and smoked sausage or a sausage and summer vegetable skillet. (Just replace the andouille sausage with this sausage.) Costco sells Kiolbassa Provision Co.’s smoked sausages for $9.99 per pound, with most of the 8-link packages weighing approximately 2 pounds.

Buy: Kiolbassa Provision Co. Organic Beef Hickory Smoked Sausage, $9.99 per pound (packages are approximately 2 pounds)

Did your favorite Costco sausage make the list? Tell us about it in the comments below.