14 Eye-Popping Sam's Club Food Deals That Put Costco To Shame

Costco might be the best-known of all the big-box warehouse club retail stores out there, but there are plenty of alternatives that give the chain a run for its money. One of them is Sam's Club. It's hardly new or small — it's been around since 1983, after all, and was founded by Walmart supremo Sam Walton — but it doesn't always have the allure of Costco. However, it's a mistake to write this store off, not least because it offers its customers some serious benefits for shopping there. As well as having swanky items like the fantastic Sam's Club charcuterie tasting board and offering membership perks that other stores don't, its prices are also pretty incredible and often beat Costco's in a like-for-like comparison.

Most people just don't have the time to walk through both stores taking note of each price, so we've done the hard work for you. We've assembled some of the best Sam's Club food deals out there, comparing them directly to equivalent items at Costco to show you exactly how much you could save. These prices were compiled from stores in the Los Angeles area, and it's worth mentioning that they may vary slightly by location. Usually, though, you can often knock several bucks off the price of a standard item by shopping at Sam's Club, and this can add up to dozens of dollars per shopping trip.

Rao's Marinara Sauce is a staple in many people's homes, and for good reason: It's tasty, versatile, and not hugely expensive. Plus, it's an ideal item to buy in bulk. Sam's Marinara Sauce remains shelf-stable for months before being opened. If you're catering for a crowd, few things are easier than combining a massive pot of pasta with a big jar of marinara sauce and placing the two on the table — and Rao's is one of the best jarred marinara sauces out there.

If you're used to buying your Rao's Marinara Sauce at Costco, though, you should head to Sam's Club instead. Prices may vary, but a two-pack of 28-ounce jars of Rao's Marinara Sauce at Costco will set you back about $13, or $0.23 per ounce. On the other hand, at Sam's Club two 22-ounce jars will cost around $9, at only $0.20 per ounce. That might sound like a saving of just a few cents here and there, but because of the size of these jars, it really does add up. Plus, we'd recommend the slightly smaller jars, as they can be more useful. If you're making a smaller meal, you have less left over.

We don't know about you, but we get through a lot of minced garlic — and we're always surprised at how expensive it can be. Those little jars you find in stores can cost way more than the garlic itself would be worth. As such, it's a great item to buy in bulk, and both Sam's Club and Costco have you covered here, with both of them offering massive 48-oz. jars of minced garlic for all your cooking needs.

These products are pretty much interchangeable, and so it's wild how different they are in price. At Costco, a jar of Kirkland Signature Minced California Garlic will set you back about $8, or $0.17 per ounce. By contrast, at Sam's Club its Member's Mark Minced Garlic costs under $6, or $0.12 per ounce. How good of a saving is that? It's easy to assume that the Sam's Club product must be lesser quality because of this price difference, but that doesn't seem to be the case when looking at the reviews. On the Sam's Club website, its minced garlic has a 4.8/5 rating from well over 3,300 individual reviews, with people waxing lyrical about how great this product is. We're sold!

Having organic olive oil on hand is always a good idea, and it's one of those things that really pays to buy in bulk. Smaller bottles of olive oil can be ridiculously expensive, and you're largely paying for the packaging. Plus, when it lasts for as long as it does, there's no sense in going for the smaller options.

You want to make sure that you're spending your money wisely here, though. That's why you should always be going to Sam's Club for organic olive oil. Sam's Club Member's Mark Extra Virgin Olive Oil is just under $23 for a two-liter bottle. This may sound pretty expensive, but it's much better than what you'd get at Costco. Costco sells several different olive oils, but the store's Kirkland Signature Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil will cost you just over $24 for the same amount. Plus, it's not like you're getting a substandard product with the Sam's Club option. This olive oil is bottled in Italy, and is cold-extracted for maximum flavor. Reviewers consistently point out that it's a top-quality product, and that it's worth every penny. Hey, that's good enough for us!

Butter is one of those things that you want to spend a good amount of money on, and if you're going to opt for any slightly pricier brand, Kerrygold is the one to choose. However, don't be suckered into buying it at Costco, when Sam's Club has it for so much cheaper. If you buy Kerrygold Salted Butter at Costco, you'll pay almost $18 for four 8-ounce sticks. That works out to nearly $9 per pound. At Sam's Club, the sizing is a little different, but you'll pay just under $11 for a six-pack of 4-ounce sticks. If you work that out by weight, though, it's a little over $7 per pound — a huge saving.

This saving is especially significant as it doesn't necessarily reflect a difference in the quality of the product. Both butters are made by Kerrygold, so they're exactly the same. What's more, at Sam's Club you're paying less to have a slightly easier-to-use product, with smaller butter sticks being way nicer to handle than large, chunky ones. It's a no-brainer, people.

There are plenty of reasons why you might need a big jar of pesto to hand. You might be making antipasti for a large group of people, you might be a pesto pasta fiend, or you might just love the jade-green glow of the sauce shining at you every time you open your fridge. Well, whatever the reason, get your pesto at Sam's Club and not Costco. Sam's Club Member's Mark Italian Basil Pesto is an excellent price, and will cost you just over $8.50 per 22-ounce jar. Costco's Kirkland Signature Imported Basil Pesto, on the other hand, costs over $10.50 for the same size.

We've got to say, we can't really figure out how Costco justifies having the higher price it does. Both products are D.O.P. certified, meaning that the basil inside them is grown in a specific region of Italy to protect its flavor and quality, and we can't see any other discernible ingredients that might cause it to be more expensive. As well as this, people rave about the Sam's Club pesto, praising it for its freshness and great taste. Save yourself the money, and head to Sam's Club for this one.

Everyone should have canned tomatoes to hand in their kitchen. It's one of those products that you'll be thankful you bought in bulk. However, if you're not careful, you can end up spending a lot more than you need on this simple ingredient. A quick glance at the price comparison between Sam's Club and Costco canned tomatoes will confirm this: At Sam's Club, its Member's Mark Diced Tomatoes in Tomato Juice are about $9.50 for a 12-pack of 14.5-oz. cans, or $0.79 per can. This total price is a "new lower price" and marked down from the original of almost $10.

On the other hand, at Costco, the Kirkland Signature Organic Diced Tomatoes come in at just under $10 for an eight-pack of the same size cans. This means that you'll pay $1.25 per can — almost 0.50 cents more than the Sam's Club version. Now, it's of course worth pointing out that the Costco tomatoes are organic, and as far as we can tell, the Sam's Club ones aren't. However, this is such a big saving on such an essential staple item that it's still worth keeping in mind.

If you're not a convert to canned chicken breast yet, now's the time to get on board. This slept-on ingredient can be added to your morning eggs, thrown into a chicken salad, and tossed into tacos. Plus, it's pretty darn cheap, especially if you're buying it at Sam's Club instead of Costco.

The price difference here is pretty staggering, too. One 6-count pack of Kirkland Signature Canned Chicken Breast, with each can weighing in at 12.5 ounces, will cost you around $16.50 at Costco. Go to Sam's Club instead, though, and you'll pay over $4 dollars less for its Member's Mark Premium Chunk Chicken Breast cans. These cans come in at just under $12, and there's no difference in can count or weight. It's essentially the same as the Costco product. As well as this, it's not like the cheaper product is noticeably worse in quality: There are no preservatives in the Sam's Club canned chicken, and the only ingredients are chicken breast meat, water, and salt. It's actually the Costco product which has more ingredients overall, thanks to the added seasoning.

Both Costco and Sam's Club offer big versions of supermarket classics, and their pizzas are a testament to this. Both Kirkland Signature Pepperoni Pizza and Member's Mark Rising Crust Pepperoni Pizza are larger than your standard frozen pie, and they come in multipacks to ensure that you're not gonna run out anytime soon. However, it's interesting to note that the Sam's Club version of frozen pepperoni pizza gives you way more for your money.

Member's Mark Rising Crust Pepperoni Pizza may have a regular price of $12.98 for three pizzas, while Kirkland Signature Pepperoni Pizza costs $16.39 for four pies. Anyone who does the math out there will soon figure out that per pizza, Costco's version is cheaper. Crucially, though, the Sam's Club pizzas are much larger: Each one weighs in at 853 grams, while each Costco pizza is 540 grams. Plus, the Sam's Club pizzas have a plump crust that gets bigger as the pie cooks, while Costco's pizzas remain fairly flat. So while you may be paying a few cents more per pizza for the Sam's Club option, you'll end up with a lot more food overall.

Frozen salmon is a freezer standby, and it's one of those things that's wise to buy in bulk. By picking up one of those big bags of individual fillets from Sam's Club or Costco, you can ensure that you have a ready supply of nutritious fish to hand. However, which store should you go for? It probably comes as no surprise, given the topic of this article, that you should opt for Sam's Club.

Sam's Club Ocean Venture Skinless and Boneless Atlantic Salmon Fillets, which are farmed using sustainable methods, cost about $25 for 2.5 lbs of fish. While the amount of fillets you may get for that weight may vary, Sam's Club estimates that you'll get five to seven pieces in each bag. At Costco, Kirkland Signature Farmed Atlantic Salmon comes in at over $35.50 for 3 pounds of fish. Although you have to do a little bit of math to get the exact comparison here, the Sam's Club salmon costs around $7 per pound while Costco sells its salmon for almost $12 per pound. It's clear enough that the Sam's Club version gives you more for your money.

If you're anything like us, you likely get through a lot of eggs — and so it's always worth buying them in bulk. If you're doing just that, then Sam's Club is the place to go over Costco. Sam's Club Member's Mark Pasture Raised Grade A Large Brown Eggs will cost you around $5.50 for a dozen and a half eggs, or a little over 30 cents per egg. Over at Costco, its Kirkland Signature Large Eggs come in at a bit over $8.50 per two dozen eggs, or 36 cents per egg.

The saving there would likely be enough to drive us to Sam's Club, but its eggs have a further bonus by being pasture-raised. Eggs laid by pasture-raised chickens give you the assurance that the birds were allowed to roam free, instead of being cooped up in small cages and inhumane conditions. The birds are kept it better conditions and they produce better-tasting eggs too. Costco's eggs are not the worst here either, thanks to being laid by cage-free birds, but it's worth bearing in mind that cage-free doesn't necessarily mean that the chickens aren't kept in cramped indoor conditions. We'll take the Sam's Club eggs, thanks.

It's interesting how a nearly identical product can have such a significant price difference between two different stores. If you need any proof of that, check out the peanut butter-filled pretzel bites at Sam's Club and Costco. Aside from the Costco version coming in a bigger jar (55 ounces instead of Sam's Club's 44 ounces), these two items look the same, and a lot of people may have trouble tasting the difference too. However, at Costco, you'll be paying over $11.50 for your jar of Peanut Butter Filled Pretzel Nuggets, which comes in at $0.21 per ounce. On the other hand, at Sam's Club, a jar of Member's Mark Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels costs just under $8, or $0.18 per ounce.

We've got to be honest, we don't quite know how Costco's are so much more expensive. The product is advertised as having "Valencia peanut butter," which may increase its price and mean that it's a slightly better quality, but we're not sure if the difference would be noticeable. Plus, we'd say that a slightly smaller jar is a better option here. Unless you're taking them to a party or eating handfuls every day, these bites have the potential to go stale pretty quickly.

Buying bacon in large quantities is ideal, provided that you have enough space in your freezer. It makes a lot of sense to buy a few pounds of bacon, divide it up, and freeze it, allowing you to save on packaging costs and have a steady supply of meat whenever you need. However, you don't want to be caught out by paying overly high prices for bulk bacon. Luckily, you won't be — if you go to Sam's Club.

Sam's Club Member's Mark Naturally Hickory Smoked Bacon costs a little under $12 for three pounds of meat, or $3.99 per pound. Costco's equivalent is its Kirkland Signature Hickory Smoked Bacon, which it sells in four-pound packages (with four individual one-pound packs of meat). The full package costs over $19, coming in at $4.80 per pound — almost a dollar more per pound than the Sam's Club bacon. As far as we can see, too, Costco's option doesn't seem to be of significantly higher quality. We can't figure this one out, guys, we really can't.

Although spices do expire, they're more likely to lose their flavor before they become inedible. So buying them in bulk isn't always the best option — but if you get through them really quickly, or you're buying them for a catering setting, then it's a smart choice to save money. It'll only be smart if you don't get caught out by Costco's higher prices, though, and go to Sam's Club instead.

Generally speaking, spices and seasonings are cheaper at Sam's Club than they are at Costco. Take crushed red pepper, for instance. At Sam's Club, a 13.5-ounce jar of Member's Mark Crushed Red Pepper will cost you about $6, or $0.44 per ounce. Costco's Kirkland Signature Crushed Red Pepper comes in a slightly smaller jar and costs a bit under $5 for 10 ounces, or just under $0.48 per ounce.

On the black pepper front, too, Sam's Club is cheaper. A big jar (19.5 ounces worth) of Member's Mark Whole Black Peppercorns costs about $8.50 or $0.43 per ounce. Kirkland Signature Whole Black Peppercorns, which come in a 14.1-ounce jar, cost over $7.50 or roughly $0.54 per ounce.

We just love it when we find name-brand items in stores for a good price. We love it even more when we find them in different stores at even better price points. If you're a fan of Jimmy Dean breakfast products, you need to head to Sam's Club instead of Costco, for way better prices on exactly the same items.

At Sam's Club, a box of 12 Jimmy Dean Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Croissant Sandwiches will set you back about $14. Yet at Costco, the exact same product costs over $16.50, for the same size, the same amount of sandwiches, everything. Weird, right? This isn't exclusive to sandwiches, either. Jimmy Dean Meat Lovers Breakfast Bowls cost about $17 for a box of eight at Sam's Club. At Costco, the same amount of bowls coming in at the same weight costs over $20. Honestly, folks, we're trying to figure this one out, but we just can't. Sam's Club is the clear winner here.