7 Healthy Foods to Buy at World Market (Yes, Really!)

If you've shopped at a Cost Plus World Market, chances are you went for their affordable, on-trend furniture and other home décor finds. But if you look past those items (literally, and walk to the back of the store), you'll find a diverse array of foods and beverages.

You can always score the best holiday-themed food items (I just scored a bag of red and white heart-shaped pasta for Valentine's Day) and, of course, there are plenty of salty snacks and after-dinner treats—aka the less-healthy stuff. But World Market is also—in our opinion—an untapped source of unique and healthy foods.

We cruised the aisles and loaded (err, overloaded) our baskets with these items, and more.

1. Mediterranean Vegetables

You'll find a wide variety of veggies that are pickled or pre-roasted and packed in oil. But one particular brand, Castellino, has a great "Mediterranean Mix" tray of olives, artichokes, onions and peppers. There are other veggie products made by that same brand, too.

Buy it: Castellino Mediterranean Vegetable Mix, $12.99

2. Dark Chocolate

In moderation, dark chocolate can be healthy. And at World Market, there is an incredible variety of dark chocolate flavors and brands. From high cocoa percentages to matcha green tea-filled to eco-friendly, you're guaranteed to find a bar that appeals to you. (We like Divine's mini bars for their great taste and built-in portion control.)

Buy it: Divine Chocolate Flight Mini Chocolate Bars 6 Pack, $4.99

3. Olive Oil

You won't find many mainstream grocery store-esque brands at World Market. Go instead for their more gourmet and smaller-batch olive oils. They also offer a wide variety of olive oils branded "World Market." The best part: you won't break the bank; the price points are comparable to what your run-of-the-mill olive oil costs at the grocery store.

Buy it: Large Saloio Portuguese Olive Oil Tin, $12.99

4. Unique Pastas

Similar to olive oil, this is where you pick up lesser-known brands and pastas in fun or unique cuts. For example, you can get large shells made from wheat flour and unique cuts of egg pasta you won't find at a mainstream grocery store. There are also fun flavors like linguine with chili pepper!

Buy it: Solitaly Chili Pepper Linguine, $4.99

5. Dried Mushrooms

World Market's brand of dried mushrooms not only comes in a jar (versus the non-resealable bags you typically find), but also the price is at minimum a few dollars less than other brands. We're already dreaming about how delicious they'll taste in some ramen.

Buy it: World Market® Bistro Dried Mushroom Blend, $7.99

6. Mestemacher Bread

If you've heard of "Fitness Bread," this is the company that makes it. You can find it a grocery stores, but it's not that common. At World Market, we saw at least three flavors of this all-natural, no preservative, whole-grain bread that's well-known for it's loooong shelf life. (Try using it the next time you make avocado toast!)

Buy it: Mestemacher Fitness Bread, $3.49

7. Pop Zero Popcorn

This is a brand worth reading up on, if you haven't heard of them. Their healthy and sustainable "Simply Cinema" popcorn is free of saturated and trans fats and pretty low in calories (a 4 1/3-cup serving has 150 calories). Because they use algae oil, it's also vegan. It's in-store distribution isn't all that robust (yet!), but you can stock up at World Market.

Buy it: Pop Zero Movie Butter Popcorn, $4.99

The Bottom Line

Now that you've read this list, it's doubtful that you need another reason to do a little grocery shopping at World Market, but here's one more: World Market carries a wide variety of international items—and many of the shelf-stable foods you'd otherwise need to go to a specialty market to buy. So if you don't have an Asian, Hispanic or Mediterranean market easily accessible (and, frankly, even if you do), World Market is a great resource.