Lobster Ravioli From Costco Makes At-Home Date Night Easy

As someone whose grocery expenses are the second-highest bill behind only my mortgage, I've found myself paying more attention to what I'm spending as I'm filling my cart at the store. Part of that effort has been breaking down what each meal costs and axing it from our weekly menu if it exceeds a certain dollar amount. 

During a trip to Costco over the weekend, I noticed that Costco's Rana Maine Lobster Ravioli was on sale ($10 for a two-pack), and I felt inspired to create a cheap-yet-restaurant-worthy meal for an at-home anniversary date night with my husband. 

How to Cook Lobster Ravioli from Costco

I had never eaten lobster ravioli before, so I wasn't entirely sure how I wanted to transform it into a meal. Enter: TikTok. I found the above recipe that I figured would be easy on both me and my wallet. 

I melted some butter and sauteed onions and garlic. Once the onions and garlic were tender, I added tomato paste, heavy cream, and chicken broth. To finish the sauce, I added parmesan cheese, pepper, and Italian seasoning. In a separate pan, I sauteed some tail-off shrimp that I also scored on sale at Costco for $10. 

The only ingredients I actually had to buy to make the dish were the Costco lobster ravioli, the shrimp, and the tomato paste. I had everything else on hand. 

While I only spent $15.89 to make the meal (I used one pack of the ravioli), even if you had to buy most everything else, I'd estimate this dinner would still cost less than $25, which is undoubtedly cheaper than heading to a restaurant to order the same dish for two people. Plus, you could use any of the not-exhausted ingredients (like the parmesan cheese) in a separate dish to stretch your money even further.

Gallery: 7 Best Quick (and Cheap) Costco Meals, According to Superfans

I don't cook a lot of seafood-pasta dishes, so I was a little nervous that I wouldn't end up loving this dish, but it was delicious. There was plenty of cheese to cut the lobster's sweetness without masking its flavor. The garlic and tomato in the Rana lobster ravioli sauce brought in some balance, so the entire meal just tasted like it made sense. I would definitely buy the ravioli again ... as long as it's on sale, of course.

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Costco Lobster Ravioli Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 package of Rana Maine Lobster Ravioli
• 1/4 cup (half a stick) butter
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil 
• 1 pound of shrimp, peeled, deveined, and tail-off
• 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• Parsley for garnish

Directions:

1. Bring water to a boil and add ravioli. Cook for five minutes until tender. The noodles should float to the top of the pot when they are ready. Drain and set aside.
2. Melt butter in a saucepan and saute the onion and garlic. Cook until fragrant and tender.
3. Add tomato paste to onions and garlic and stir to combine.
4. Pour in chicken broth, followed by the heavy cream. Add seasonings to the sauce mixture. Simmer for five minutes until the sauce begins to thicken.
5. While the sauce simmers, heat the olive oil in a pan and add the shrimp, cooking for about three minutes on each side until cooked through. 
6. Stir the parmesan cheese into the sauce mixture; then add the cooked shrimp.
7. Combine the cooked ravioli with the shrimp and sauce
8. Top with parsley and more parmesan cheese and serve.