If you’ve scrolled through TikTok, you’ve probably seen user Jordan (@jordan_the_stallion8) sharing secret recipes for popular dishes not-so-secret. Sometimes, he decides to share these recipes because of a slight he received from the establishment as a form of revenge against them. He’s previously gone viral teaching folks how to make their own Auntie Anne’s pretzels at home, or Mountain Dew’s Baja Blast.
Now, he’s got Costco’s macaroni and cheese in his sights, and it all stemmed from an issue that some shoppers of the retail chain may know all too well: employees hassling him over membership usage. In Jordan’s case, it’s not because he was using someone else’s card, but because a Costco worker refused to believe that the person in the photograph on Jordan’s ID was him. Jordan counters he was indeed the person on the ID card, he just wasn’t rocking a beard at the time the photo was taken.
For the slight, he decided to share the secret behind the chain’s macaroni and cheese recipe in a viral TikTok that’s garnered over 2.5 million views as of Saturday.
Jordan begins his video with a stitch of another TikTok user who recorded himself picking up multiple trays of pre-made Costco macaroni and cheese. A text overlay in the video reads, “POV: WHEN THEY ASK ME TO BRING MY FAMOUS MAC AND CHEESE FOR THANKSGIVING,” indicating that the “famous” recipe is one that the bulk retailer is responsible for.
The clip then cuts to Jordan engaging in his trademark bathroom mirror narration. “So many people have been trying to figure out what is the recipe for Costco’s mac and cheese,” he says. “The thing is, I wasn’t gonna tell everybody, I was gonna leave it a secret, until the most recent time I went to Costco to get that very same Mac and Cheese, funny enough.”
He claims he had been having an ongoing issue with Costco where the employees don’t believe he is the same person as the one in the photo on his membership card.
“The only difference is right, I have a beard now and I pay bills. That’s the only two things that are different,” he says. “The employee was looking and they were saying, ‘How do I know this is the same person? And I said, ‘The only difference is the person that’s on the picture of that card is happy to be in a Costco, I am not right now.’
“They made me put the mac and cheese back so guess what?” Jordan continues before reading out of his notebook that’s filled with recipes for popular food and beverage items.
“One pound of cavatappi pasta, one tablespoon of olive oil, a half cup of butter, a half cup of flour, one cup of cream…three cups of milk, three and a half cups of grated white cheddar cheese, two cups of gruyere cheese, three fourth cup of Romano cheese, one-half cup of Parmesan cheese, a half cup of medium cheddar cheese, a half tablespoon of salt, one-half teaspoon of pepper, one-fourth teaspoon of paprika and one-fourth teaspoon of garlic powder enjoy your macaroni and cheese,” he shares.
@jordan_the_stallion8 @Jesus #fypシ ♬ original sound – Jordan_The_Stallion8
Viewers had a litany of responses, some of them humorous, like this person who wrote, “Costco realll quiet after this one dropped.”
Another said that they were shocked Jordan’s ID was vetted so thoroughly, writing, “The employees at my Costco don’t even check the pics. This was personal.”
But others said their time at Costco was similar to Jordan’s.
“I had a Costco cashier question my face not matching my picture one day,” one shared. “I had my glasses on. I no longer question the Superman/Clark Kent disguise.”
“My Sam’s club card doesn’t even have a picture. Costco acting like TSA,” someone else said, sharing their grievances with the retailer’s membership security measures.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Costco and Jordan via email for further comment.
