Yes, You Absolutely Need These Enormous Salad Bowls from Costco (They’re $2.50 Each!)

Eating is one of my favorite activities, and I always want it to go on for as long as possible — which is why giant chopped salads are a constant in my diet. They take longer to eat than, say, a slice of pizza or a sandwich (both of which seem to disappear at critical speed), and they offer lots of texture and variety with every bite.

I fill my chopped salads with fresh, crisp carrots, peppers, lettuce, and cabbage; juicy tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and sugar snap peas; fruits like sweet dried cranberries, blueberries, pomegranate arils, or oranges; rich shredded cheeses and thick, creamy dressings; crunchy roasted sunflower seeds, pepitas, croutons, tortilla strips, crispy onions, or nuts; and I often top it all off with thick cuts of chicken, salmon, or steak. 

And if you think that sounds like a lot, you’re right. A normal bowl or salad plate just won’t cut it. I searched forever to find a bowl that was big enough to accommodate my size of salads and even be wide enough so that I can mix the salads right then and there, too.

For several years, I ate these large salads out of one of my stainless steel mixing bowls, but I hated how my fork would ring against the bowl’s metallic surface — and scratch it. Sometimes, I’d use a big, round glass Pyrex bowl, which solved the ringing and the scratching, but I wanted something that actually felt like proper tableware.

I looked at platters, and high-rimmed pasta dishes, both of which were too shallow for leafy greens. And then, one day, while tagging along with my partner at Costco, something miraculous happened: I finally found my salad soulmate, a set of three white, well-balanced, giant bowls. 

The bowls I got — by overandback — have high, semi-straight walls that keep any enthusiastic tossing from spilling over. Their round base even helps keep dressing from pooling at the bottom, so it all ends up on the greens. They also have matching plates designed to fit on top of the bowl, serving as a lid or platter for an accompanying sandwich or piece of bread. And they’re durable, too — hard to chip and impossible to scratch.

At $15 for the six-piece set, it was a no-brainer buy. I can easily say they’re one of my best things I’ve ever purchased… particularly now that they’re out of stock everywhere except for Ebay (where the price is, predictably, higher than I paid). For now, I’m going to be buying a couple of these bowls — which look fairly identical minus the plates, just to have a couple of extra on hand — and keeping an eye out for more whenever I’m at Costco.

This post originally ran on Kitchn. See it there: Yes, You Absolutely Need These Enormous Salad Bowls from Costco