Restocking your pantry with good-quality olive oil doesn’t require an additional grocery trip to a specialty store or splurging on something expensive.

For home cooks across the country, picking up olive oil usually means grabbing a bottle while grocery shopping, and store brands like Costco’s Kirkland Signature or Trader Joe’s private-label options often offer the best prices.

We’re constantly in the pursuit of low-lift swaps to make our weekday dinners taste a bit more elevated, and choosing a chef-approved cooking oil is a great place to start. To figure out if we’re really getting the best bang for our buck, Food & Wine compared the essential store-brand extra-virgin olive oils at Costco and Trader Joe’s to determine which chain delivers the better deal.

Whether your priority is value, sourcing, flavor, or a combination of all three, our findings might determine which store you head to the next time you need some more EVOO.

Which one offers better value?

Let’s kick it off with the basics. True to its warehouse model, Costco’s Kirkland Signature Extra Virgin Italian Olive Oil comes in a massive two-liter bottle that costs $28. (The bulk retailer also offers a similar version sourced from Spain.)

The Italian-sourced oil is packaged in a dark plastic bottle, which does raise eyebrows for a few consumers. (Graza, a millennial-focused olive oil brand known for its playful design and omnipresence on social media, has faced pushback in recent years over its signature plastic squeeze bottles.)

Some home cooks worry about microplastics leaching into the oil, but a bigger concern with plastic storage is that the oil can oxidize more quickly. This isn’t a major issue, but if you use olive oil stored in plastic for an extended period, you may notice a decline in flavor.

Unlike Costco, Trader Joe’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil is stored in a dark glass bottle that more effectively blocks light and oxygen, preserving the oil’s flavor for a longer period. This one-liter bottle (or 33.8 ounces) costs $11, which means you’re paying about $3 less per liter for Trader Joe’s olive oil.

Accessibility is also part of the equation. Both chains have a little over 600 locations nationwide — mostly in city centers or sprawling suburbs — and the main difference in getting into these stores is Costco’s membership-based model, which includes a $65 annual fee. Meanwhile, Trader Joe’s doesn’t offer online order pickup or delivery, whereas Costco groceries can be delivered to your doorstep via Instacart.

Sourcing can impact an oil’s flavor

Both olive oils are cold-pressed, a method that helps maintain their flavor, aroma, and even nutritional value. Sourcing is where the two brands really start to diverge: Trader Joe’s oil is a blend of olives from Italy, Greece, Spain, and/or Tunisia, while Costco’s offering is a single-origin oil.

In addition to the “100% Italian” label proudly emblazoned across the Kirkland product’s packaging, a Product Certification Traceable Chain of Italian Origin stamp on the back confirms that each step of the production process — from olive cultivation to pressing and bottling — took place in Italy.

Single-origin olive oil — which offers a more complex flavor and allows producers greater control over the process — is often seen as a mark of higher quality. However, some experts contend that blends can more consistently deliver the quality and flavor consumers expect, and they tend to have a less assertive flavor. As Denver-based private chef Stephen Ingber explains, both brands’ sourcing and production methods have their own advantages.

The final verdict

As with most tools and ingredients in the kitchen, it all comes down to your preferred use.

Thanks to the single-origin olives and transparent supply chain in Italy, Inger leans towards the Kirkland brand. “It’s what I use and bring to customers’ houses,” he tells Food & Wine. “They do a really good job in sourcing quality (products), and it’s been one of the best-ranked values in terms of oil on the market. Its price has gone up over the years, but it still holds that efficacy.”

However, the private chef stresses that different oils serve different purposes, and he prefers using this option as a frying oil or for larger-volume recipes, like sauces. What does that mean for home cooks? If you have a large family, cook often for others, or frequently need to buy more olive oil, you might want to go to Costco.

This doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for Trader Joe’s olive oil — far from it. This bottle is more affordable, and its glass packaging may help it last longer, making it ideal for a single-person household or a family that cooks occasionally and isn’t going through olive oil at a rapid pace.

Especially if you’re not concerned with the more distinct flavor and sense of place you get from a single-origin olive oil, then this is probably the best choice for you.