The Costco Italian Dessert You're Better Off Skipping

Anyone with a Costco membership knows that you have to enter the store with a plan. From Costco grocery products to prepared meal kits, the store's offerings are overwhelming, to say the least. To help you make important decisions in the sweets department, we reviewed the best and worst Costco desserts. Our reviewer loved many of the desserts she tried, but was notably unimpressed by the Dessert Italiano Tiramisu Cups.

Although she was intrigued by the packaging (the tiramisu comes in six classy glass containers), our reviewer was underwhelmed by both the taste and texture. She didn't hate this dessert, but described the flavors as muted and disappointing, stating, "it reminded me of when I've had things flavored like tiramisu without actually being the dessert." 

Real tiramisu (which began as a happy accident and quickly became super popular) is distinctly delicious, flavored primarily by coffee, chocolate, and creamy mascarpone. The word "tiramisu" means "pick me up" or "pull me up" in Italian, a reference to the perk qualities of the coffee it contains. To us, this means the dessert should taste boldly of coffee — a muted hint of the stuff isn't picking anyone up. If you're a die-hard tiramisu lover like our reviewer, you're better off opting for the Costco tiramisu cheesecake, which she loved. 

Although some reviewers liked the taste of the Costco Dessert Italiano Tiramisu Cups, many others sided with our reviewer. Even though seemingly everyone loves the glasses the treats come in, most agree that the flavor is just not that impressive. (Seriously, they really love the containers, to the point where some people reported that they bought the dessert for the glasses alone.) On Reddit, commenters unanimously described the taste of the dessert cups as mild, mid, or just okay. No one truly hates this dessert, as far as we can tell, but it's also difficult to find someone who is really willing to go to bat for it. By and large, people agreed that the flavor profile is just not strong enough to properly satisfy a tiramisu craving.

The internet also resoundingly agreed with our reviewer on another recommendation: buy the Costco Tiramisu Cheesecake instead. The flavored cheesecake went viral on TikTok in 2025 and reviewers say it was for good reason. Tiramisu lovers maintain it scratches that itch, with bold flavors standing out nicely against the creamy cheesecake. Of course, there are also plenty of other delicious Costco desserts if you're not in the mood for tiramisu. Although it wasn't available for her taste test, our reviewer absolutely loves Costco's Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie. She also noted that her favorite desserts bore the Kirkland Signature brand, like the Kirkland Signature Cheesecake and the Kirkland Signature Super Premium Vanilla Ice Cream.