Maybe you are eating a ketogenic diet and you’re wondering if a membership to Sam’s Club is worth the cost – or – maybe you already have a membership, but you want to plan for your next shopping trip and you aren’t sure what you should be looking for…
No matter what has led you to this post, I can promise that when you are done reading you will have a much better idea of what Sam’s Club has to offer the low carb crowd.
Before I go through my Sam’s Club must haves, there are a few things that you need to know before you hit the store:
- Sam’s Club is a warehouse store where the majority of products are sold in bulk. There isn’t a ton of brand selection. However, some of the more popular products will have a few options.
- You need to have a membership to shop at Sam’s Club. You can get your membership in the store on online (keep reading for a special offer!)
- There are a few options for memberships. The basic and business memberships both cost $45 while the Plus membership costs $100. The plus membership allows for early shopping hours and also gives you $10 cash back for every $500 that you spend. It also includes extra savings on optical services and pharmacy. We upgraded to the plus membership this year and have earned enough cash back to make up the difference plus I love the early shopping hours!
- You absolutely MUST download the SCAN & GO app to your phone before you head to the club. You simply sign into your membership account from the app, then scan products using your phone as you shop. When you’re done shopping, simply pay RIGHT FROM YOUR PHONE AND LEAVE! Yep this is HUGE! No waiting in lines at Sam’s Club EVER!
- Sam’s club also offers free order pick up. You just go online and order what you want, and schedule a time to pick it up. When you get to the club, check in with customer service and they will bring your order out for you. You can also use EBATES when shopping online to get additional cash back on your Sam’s Club order! (You also get $10 from ebates when you make your first purchase of $25!)
SPECIAL OFFER: You can get a bonus $20 Sam’s Club gift card when you sign up for a membership through THIS LINK!!!
Now let’s get to my list of MUST HAVES from Sam’s Club!
- Nuts – You will find a HUGE assortment of nuts at Sam’s Club, all for a reasonable price. You can find roasted nuts in the snack section, and raw nuts in the baking section. My favorite is the salt and pepper pistachios!
- ZipFizz – ZipFizz is an electrolyte and B vitamin supplement with a little bit of caffeine. It’s a great option for a keto friendly pre-workout and it helps to boost low energy levels. I don’t use it every day, but it’s nice to have when needed.
- Parmesan Cheese Crisps – If you have been eating low carb or keto for any amount of time, then you have surely encountered these amazing cheese crisps! Sam’s carries their own brand of these crisps. Enjoy them on a salad, or just whenever you need a crunchy snack!
- Almond Flour – This is my favorite thing on the list. Not only does it come in convenient 3lb bag, but at only 13.98 it’s SO much cheaper then when you will find at any traditional grocery store.
- Coconut Oil – Coconut oil lasts forever and is used a ton in keto kitchens. Buying in bulk at a cheaper price then most other stores only makes sense! This coconut oil comes in a 56oz jar and costs $14.98 at my club.
- Eggs – Oh my word, do we go through a lot of eggs at my house! They are my favorite kind of food: Easy, healthy and CHEAP! I buy a box of 7.5 dozen at a time but, they sell them in smaller quantities as well.
- Specialty Cheeses – Sam’s Club has all your standard cheeses, generally available in blocks, shredded or sliced. But the specialty cheeses are my favorite, and most of the time, you can get them at a great price. They also have a great selection of snacking cheese and cheese dips!
- Meat – This is kind of a no brainer, but meat is a huge staple in most keto or low carb diets and so I felt it couldn’t be skipped. my Sam’s Club has an amazing selection of meat and the quality is outstanding. I can also get some unusual cuts of meat that my regular grocery doesn’t carry. (Sorry no pic! When I was at the store, the meat section was packed and I didn’t want to seem like a super creeper taking pics of random people 🙂 )
- Ready to Eat Meats – The ready to eat meat selection at Sam’s Club is great and includes beef brisket, pulled pork and grilled chicken breast among others. It’s so handy for busy nights and they all freeze really well. They are all mildly seasoned so you can add them to many different dishes or salads for a super quick meal.
- Frozen Salmon Burgers – These are AMAZING! I am not a huge fish eater, and these make it so easy to incorporate salmon into my regular diet. They have a great, but mild flavor and they cook really quickly making them the perfect week night supper.
- Bacon, Hot Dogs and Sausages – or as I like to call them Yum, Yum, and Yum! Unfortunately, Sam’s doesn’t have a huge variety of uncured processed meats, but if you are OK with that, then be prepared to save some serious cash on your bacon habit!
- Butter – No keto food list would be complete without butter, right? Sam’s club carries a good selection of butter including salted, unsalted in both regular and organic, as well as salted Kerrygold. (For some reason the kerrygold is kept in the specialty cheese section?)
- Sugar Free Coffee Syrups – I try to avoid these kinds of things as much as possible, but sometimes they just hit the spot. Sam’s has a good selection of sugar free coffee syrups for a crazy low price!
- Almond Butter – If natural unsweetened almond butter is your thing, then Sam’s club is your place. Buy a jar as big as your head for less then $10! Unfortunately they do not carry a good keto peanut butter option at this time 🙁 .
- Propel – Electrolytes are SO important when eating a keto diet. I love getting these propel single packs for an on-the-go solution. They are great to toss in my purse for anytime I feel myself getting sluggish.
Honorable mentions:
- Sam’s has a great selection of organic spices and seasonings at a great price. I highly recommend stocking up on the ones that you find yourself using frequently.
- I didn’t mention the produce – but it’s great! My Sam’s doesn’t always carry avocados, but when they do they are super cheap! you can usually get greens for salads, bell peppers, asparagus, green beans and Brussels sprouts among other things.
- You can get heavy whipping cream at a decent price, for great quality – although this recently fell off my Sam’s Club shopping list because Kroger recently dropped their price significantly.
- If quick meals are your thing – you need to get the frozen Angus burger patties. They are SO good!
- They carry a couple brands of chorizo -both are super tasty and crazy cheap!
- For a quick snack grab the Jack Links beef steak sticks. They are pretty good, and have the lowest carb count of most readily available jerky.
- If you are a LaCroix drinker then head to Sam’s Club ASAP! You can get a case of 24 for under $8!
- Sam’s carries and good option if you like low carb tortillas. They have 5 net carbs per tortilla, and come in a pack of 20 for $5!
So that’s it! If you are a regular Sam’s shopper, I’d love to know what’s on your list!
PS – I get a lot of questions about Sam’s Club vs Costco and I can’t completely answer that question. I live less then a 2 minute drive from Sam’s and about 30 from the nearest Costco – so I’ve only shopped at Sam’s.
From what I have seen – it definitely seems like Costco outperforms Sam’s Club in the healthy selection department, but that could just be my own FOMO setting in 🙂 If you have the opportunity to shop at both stores, I would visit each store on a guest weekend and decide for yourself!
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Nuts, almond flour, coconut oil, specialty cheeses, fresh salmon, butter, bacon, almond butter, and several honorable mentions. Eggs would have been on my list if I didn’t have backyard chickens. I love eggs, and have all I want to cook in any way, shape, or ‘recipe’. 🙂 Love my girls! They make me proud!
Ohh I’m so jealous! I would love to have backyard chickens, but my husband won’t go for it 🙁
Great list. Only thing i would add is pork rines.
My Sam’s doesn’t carry them 🙁
That’s just sad☹️I love the kerrygold butter just tried their cheddar cheese so good! I get almond milk here too sometimes they have ccartons of heavy whipping cream. I get the produce bags of zucchini,avocados, and broccoli. I also buy a lot of spices and meats here. They have Laura brand grass fed beef , and chicken 🐔 antibiotic free.
I know! I still check every time that I visit just in case lol. You have a ton of great things on your list as well!
What’s your favorite almond meal recipe? ( I’m new at the lifestyle) thanks !
oh that’s a tough one! I have a bunch of recipes that use almond flour – the two that I love the most are probably my Keto Cinnamon Swirl Bread and Hot Brown Casserole Also be sure to google fathead pizza dough and 90-second bread!
I would take note that the coconut oil at Sams is refine (at least the one I shop at), so not as nutritionally beneficial as unrefined coconut oil. Best price on almond flour anywhere! I’m gonna be looking for those cheese crisps, thanks!
Thanks for the info! I will definitely Check a little closer at my next visit!
Hope you find the cheese crisps – they are awesome!!
Our Sams has unrefined and refined coconut oil 💆🏼♀️ Great list !
Thank you!
I like to make my own cheese crisp. My favorite is muenster.
I’ve never tried making them with muenster – I bet it’s delicious!
They are great . I sprinkle a litlle Thai sweet chili season on them.. I usually put some kind of seasoning on them.
Don’t forget the rotisserie chicken! It’s a staple for me.
Ditto that. I loooove their rotisserie chicken. So easy for lunch or dinner. And under $5!
I ALWAYS forget about those! I may just have to add that to my meal plan this week 🤔
I bought a bag of Almond Flour in October and was so excited by the price/size. But went to go buy another one but they didn’t have it. Do they consistently carry it at yours or is it hit or miss?
They always have it at mine, but I have heard a few other people say that theirs only carries it occasionally 🙁 One option for you, is ordering online. Plus members get free shipping, otherwise you can usually have it shipped to your store for free!
You will not get anyBulk kale Or coconut milk Join another club BJ’s
Cole slaw mix for crack slaw. 2 lbs for $1.99.
That’s a great add! I LOVE crack slaw and I have a great low carb cole slaw recipe too 👍
Would love to have your low carb slaw recipe!
Also what is crack slaw?
Hi Melissa! You can find my coleslaw recipe HERE, and crack slaw (also called egg roll in a bowl) is usually ground beef or pork, cooked with the coleslaw mix and Asian seasonings. There are a TON of great recipes on pinterest!
Our Store carries frozen fish and seafood besides the salmon patties. The Cod is individually wrapped, and easy to season and bake in under 30 minutes from freezer to plate!
That’s awesome! How do you usually season it?
I buy the butter flavor organic coconut oil by Nutiva. Love it!
That sounds great! I am definitely gonna have to look for that on my next trip!
Thank you so much!! We love Sam’s Club. Scan n Go is the best!!! We also buy Premier Protein. Way less than any other store. We use that for after runs and in our BP Coffee.
We have just recently started getting premier protein and you’re right, the price is unbeatable!
U didn’t mention pork rinds omgoodness I love them!
I am so bummed – my store doesn’t sell them 🙁
I keep checking, but still no luck
So sad…. I went to Sam’s in Greensboro NC
and they didn’t have half the things listed herre.
Grrrr…. Maybe I should try Costco?
I am realizing from many of the comments that the selection varies greatly from store to store. I hope that as the keto/low carb diet continues to gain popularity, stores will begin to increase their options.
Their almond butter is as good as any peanut butter and it doesn’t have any sugar listed in the ingredients whereas all peanut butters that I found do.
The cheeese crisps are on coupon right now!!yay
They also have ready to go cooked salmon, smoked that is really good. I think it’s around $12 for a tub. I cot probably eat half if I don’t stop myself.
The h20 protein water is also good, comes in a variety pack of flavor, berry, grape, tropical, 15 g protein.
WHAT?!? Sounds like I’m making a Sam’s run tomorrow! Thank You 🙂
I have both Sam’s & Costco. They are both great, esp when both have the same item -one will have it on sale and then it will flip flop so you can usually get what you need on sale. Costco sells the Kerrygold bricks in a 3-pack for under 8 bucks (at least here in Texas). Both stores have been adding more healthy products to their inventories, although Costco tends to have more organic choices most of the time. Also Costco gets great stuff for your home as well! Hope this helps!
Thanks for your input! That’s a great deal for kerrygold – especially considering that I pay more then that for regular butter at Sams!
Roasted nuts are worthless no benefit at all
best place to get raw Nuts is at Trader Joe’s Trader Joe’s