A new viral trend has shoppers skipping home cooking entirely and heading straight to the deli section at stores like Costco and Whole Foods, and turning prepared trays into a week’s worth of portioned meals. But are you actually saving money by doing this, or are they simply paying for the convenience of someone else doing the cooking?

Stumptown Savings decided to put this hack to the test. I shopped at both stores in the Portland area, calculated the cost per portion, compared that to what the ingredients would cost if bought separately, and factored in what it costs to shop at each store in the first place, as the membership angle may affect the real bottom line. We even found a bonus hack to save a few extra dollars in the process. 

This is not a sponsored post. Stumptown Savings bought both items ourselves so we could give you the real numbers.

To keep this test fair and repeatable, I set a few ground rules:

Item and total price: Beef + Broccoli with Noodles, $28.52

Estimated cost of the ingredients if purchased separately: $34.06 or more (Based on current Instacart prices: Kirkland Signature USDA Choice Beef Flank Steak, $17.01 per lb. Organic broccoli, $7.93 for 2 lb. Pulmuone Teriyaki Stir Fry Udon, $9.07 for 29.4 oz. Items may vary.)

Store Membership Price: Gold Star, $65 per year

The prepared deli selection was very limited on the day I visited. Most of the available options either left out the vegetable entirely or were small, single-serving items well under the $30 limit. Stuffed bell peppers, gyros kits, and beef with mashed potatoes were among the choices, but none of them quite fit the rules. The closest match was a container of Beef and Broccoli with Noodles for $28.52, which came out to 4.08 lb. at $6.99 per pound. Inside was cooked, diced steak, raw broccoli, noodles, and two packets of an Asian-style stir fry sauce.

Preparation was simple. Everything went into a pan together for a quick stir fry. To measure portions, I used food storage containers that hold a little over 3 cups each. The Costco tray filled roughly three containers, so I was able to make a few portioned meals for the week.

This was my favorite item of the test. It was genuinely delicious, and I was happy to eat multiple portions. The only downside was that with both sauce packets used, the dish ended up quite salty. Adding more broccoli or using less sauce and saving the rest for another meal would help balance that out. It would also be a good way to use up vegetables or proteins already sitting in the fridge.

The membership cost is the real factor to consider here, since Costco requires one to shop there. At $65 a year, that works out to about $5.42 a month, which is negligible if you are already a regular Costco shopper. But if a single deli tray is the only reason for the trip, it is worth weighing that cost against your other options. For existing members, this is a solid addition to your cart if you are already in the store shopping for bulk items. 

Item and total price: Rosemary Chicken with Lemon Fingerling Potatoes, $26.99

Estimated cost of the ingredients if purchased separately: $36.97 or more (Based on the day I visited: lemon rosemary chicken, $16.99 per lb. Roasted fingerling potatoes with lemon, $9.99 per lb. Green beans with cracked pepper and sea salt, $9.99 per lb.)

Store Membership Price: No Amazon Prime membership is required to shop here, but members ($139 per year) get additional perks.

Learn from my mistake: not every Whole Foods location has a full deli. I first checked the Lake Oswego location, where staff confirmed they only carry a hot bar and a small refrigerated grab-and-go section, with no build-your-own deli option. If you are planning to try this hack, it is worth checking before you go. I ultimately visited the Pearl District location, which has a full deli counter and a wider selection of items.

At a full-service Whole Foods deli, there are two ways to go. For $35, customers can build their own plate with one entrée and two sides. On the day I visited, the entrée options included chimichurri tri-tip, chicken strips, shrimp salad, and meatloaf, with a rotating selection of salads and vegetables available as sides. This is the hack most viral videos tend to show, and some have found a cheaper option. 

For those who want to skip the customization and save some money, pre-packed trays are available for a several dollars less. On the day I visited, those options included orange chicken with rice and chicken scallopini with mashed potatoes. I chose a tray of lemon rosemary chicken, lemon fingerling potatoes, and green beans for $26.99, which came out to 4 lb. at $6.74 per pound. By choosing the pre-packed tray over the build-your-own option, I saved $8.01! 

This item required almost no preparation beyond reheating. The green beans were a bit undercooked for my taste, so I gave them a quick pan fry before eating. In terms of portions, this tray filled about four of my food storage containers, more than the Costco item, and was enough for several days of meals. The downside of having more portions of the same dish is that by the third or fourth day, I was ready for something different. In retrospect, freezing half of the portions would have been a better approach.

The combined cost for both items came to a total of $55.51. Between them, I was able to make approximately 7 meals, which works out to about $7.93 per meal — a fraction of what the same food would cost as takeout. Both items came in well below the cost of buying the ingredients separately, and by a meaningful margin. By buying separately, all the items came out to be an estimated total of $71.03. That is a savings of $15.52 by buying the food pre-prepared.

It’s worth clarifying what "separately" means here: these estimates are based on buying the same prepared components individually at deli prices — not the raw ingredients you’d cook at home, which would almost certainly cost less but take more work. The savings this hack delivers are real, but they’re measured against other convenience food, not against home cooking.

The Whole Foods tray edged out Costco in terms of both savings percentage and portion count, and delivered more food overall for a lower price per meal.

As for Costco, the savings come down to how often you use your membership — the more regularly you shop there, the more that $65 annual fee pays for itself. Costco memberships also include a free household card, meaning two people in the same household can take advantage of the membership for the price of one. 

While a Prime membership is not required to shop at Whole Foods, it does unlock some deals worth knowing about. For example, on Tuesdays, Prime members receive Buy 1, Get 1 50% off on Whole Foods Market Kitchen individual meals. On Fridays, Prime members can get a large pizza from the deli for $12.

The results were mostly positive. Not having to worry about cooking for a week was genuinely a relief, though the portions were smaller than expected. Both stores offered solid options, though Whole Foods skews healthier. Costco's selection was more indulgent and was my preferred choice in terms of taste, but after looking over the math, I have a hard time justifying almost $10 a portion.

As for the membership factor, if I did not already have either, I do not think this hack alone would tempt me to join. It seems to work best as an added bonus for those already shopping at Costco or taking advantage of Amazon Prime perks.

Taking the math, the convenience, and the overall experience into account, I would say this grocery meal prep hack is worth it. This  may not be ideal as a weekly habit for someone on a tight budget, but as an occasional option, it delivers on what it promises. Prepared food sections are expanding beyond specialty stores, with retailers like Fred Meyer and Walmart beginning to roll out their own options, making this hack more accessible at a range of price points. For higher-end grocery stores, this hack holds up — the savings may not be dramatic, but the convenience and value are genuinely there.

Becca Knowlton is an internationally published Portland journalist who finds her favorite stories within the culinary landscape. Her work bridges the gap between deep-dive industry profiles and consumer-driven reviews and service reporting. Follow her on Instagram at @beccaknowlton.