Kristen Kish’s Favorite Salt Comes from Costco

Kristen Kish: Top Chef host, Top Chef winner, Emmy nominee, Costco shopper. Yep, celebrity chefs, they’re just like us! In an interview with Eating Well, Kristen revealed that one of her can’t-live-without ingredients is a Kirkland brand product that she buys in bulk from Costco: salt!

Videos by Sporked

What kind of salt does Kristen Kish buy?

Kristen doesn’t just buy one kind of salt from Costco. She is still a chef, after all. “Because every dish requires something different,” she told Eating Well. She buys Kirkland Fine Grain Pink Salt, Kirkland’s kosher salt (which is a fine grain sea salt), and Maldon flaky salt (not a Kirkland product but a real steal of a deal at Costco).

Is Costco salt any good?

Let’s start with Maldon. You might think it’s only for fancy shmancy chefs, but the flaky sea salt is surprisingly affordable. You can get a 20oz bucket for under $10. And it really is as good as everyone says. We tried it up against other flaky salts in a taste test and it easily took the number one spot.

Moving onto the sea salt, Kristen isn’t alone in her fandom. Kirkland Sea Salt actually has a bit of a cult following. People love it for its value (you can get a bit over a pound of it for $3.99) and reviews on Costco’s website tout it as tasting “impeccable” and the size of the granules to be just right—not too big, not too small.

And while I didn’t taste Kirkland’s pink salt in our pink salt taste test, reviews of the 5lb tub are glowing. It has a rating of 4.6/5 stars on Costco’s website. And it only costs $8.99. Why would you need pink salt to begin with? Well, pink salt is pink because it contains minerals, which not only give it its signature hue, but also lend it a more complex flavor than basic table salt.

Are you a Costco salt fanatic? Let us know in the comments!

About the Author

Hi! I’m the editor-in-chief of Sporked. I will never turn down a fresh-shucked oyster but I’ll also leap at whatever new product Reese’s releases and I love a Tostitos Hint of Lime, even if there is no actual lime in the ingredients. Why you should trust me: I have been writing about food and beverages for well over a decade and am an avid at-home cook and snacker. I began my career writing about fine dining and recipes, moved into cocktails and spirits, and now I talk about groceries. If you can eat it or drink it, I’ve probably written about it. What I buy every week: Trader Joe’s dried okra. Appleton Farms prosciutto from Aldi. Some sort of Trader Joe’s cheese (I’m into the aged gouda at the moment). Frozen waffles (usually the Eggo Cinnamon Toast Minis). Spindrift water (loving the Cosmopolitan right now). Favorite ranking: Smoked salmon. Imagine me as Scrooge McDuck but instead of coins I’m diving into a vault of slippery smoked salmon slices. Pure joy. I also found some real steals in that taste test! Least favorite ranking: Canned oysters. I had such high hopes for this but it quickly became a chore. The kitchen smelled like an uncleaned aquarium.