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Amylu Cranberry Jalapeno Chicken Meatballs Review

Written byThe Snarkle Sauce
A hand holding a box of Amylu Cranberry & Jalapeno Chicken Meatballs from Costco.

Better looking after cooking.

I tried the Amylu Cranberry Jalapeno Chicken Meatballs.

They remind me more of sausage, I guess. The texture, at least. They’ve got a sort of “coating” on them that is similar to a sausage casing. You have to bite through the casing to get to the softer meat inside. It’s fine, just not what I expected for “meatballs.” If you think of them like little round sausages (without sausage flavor), you’ll be fine.

A white plate with mixed vegetables and a pile of Amylu Cranberry Jalapeno Chicken Meatballs from Costco.

I expected them to be spicy. Jalapenos, after all. However, they’re not…“spicy.” I DID notice a slight heat after I’d eaten a whole plate of them. But nothing initially. It kinda pops up as a faint aftertaste.

Close-up of bitten Cranberry & Jalapeno Chicken Meatball from Amylu.

There are cranberries. The cranberries are sometimes big and soft and fruity. Sometimes they’re just fragments. It’s a nice taste, but not particularly strong. A little sweetness. Not particularly tart. If you aren’t a fan of cranberries, you can still safely eat these and enjoy them. If you ARE a fan of cranberries, there will be just enough cranberry taste to taunt you.

There’s definitely a slight vinegar twang in the taste — it reminded me of mustard. I love mustard. Mustard belongs everywhere.

Unbaked Amylu Cranberry Jalapeno Chicken Meatballs on aluminum foil.

I baked mine the first time. This was ok, but the meatballs did shrink a lot. The second time, I cooked them in a skillet on the stove. I liked the skillet method better — they didn’t dry out as much, and tasted juicier. Since there aren’t any breadcrumbs or other “fillers” in the ingredients, these meatballs are not as soft as typical meatballs. They’re chewier, but the chicken is more concentrated. They do have little “grill marks” on them right out of the plastic package, so they look grilled no matter how you cook them. Without the grill marks, the uncooked meatballs look like little slimy gray balls. They get much better-looking after cooking.

“Better looking after cooking.” Catchy.

A hand holding two plastic pouches full of cranberry jalapeno chicken meatballs from Amylu, sold at Costco.

Price and Servings

You get two vacuum-sealed pouches of meatballs per box. These are refrigerated, not frozen. Four meatballs is a serving, says the package. I’m a little person who eats little meals, and I ate twice that many. So there! Not sure how 160 calories would be enough for anyone. All together, there are 15 “servings” per 46 ounce package. For me, it was fewer than 7 servings. If you have big eaters, even fewer. Just saying!

The twin pouches are cool, because you can open them one at a time. I froze one pouch for later. I ended up dumping the frozen meatballs into a crockpot and slow-cooking in a sweet BBQ glaze. The meatballs shrunk in the sauce, but they tasted magnificent! Very tender and flavorful. The cranberries and spice taste made it a festive dish. I would definitely prepare them that way again.

I found these meatballs at my local Costco around October-December, and the price was $14.89 per 46 ounces. If you actually get 15 servings per package, that means each serving costs less than a dollar.

Nutrition Facts and Ingredients from the label on the Amylu Cranberry Jalapeno Chicken Meatballs from Costco.

Nutrition Facts in Amylu Cranberry Jalapeno Chicken Meatballs

There are 6 grams of sugar per four meatballs, but fortunately only 2 grams are “added sugar,” and the sugar sources are evaporated cane juice and maple sugar. If you eat 8 meatballs as a serving, like I do, then you’ll be getting a truly impressive 28 grams of protein. But also 16 grams of fat. I’m OK with extra fat.

A white bowl full of pan-cooked cranberry jalapeno chicken meatballs from Amylu.

Ingredients in Cranberry & Jalapeno Chicken Meatballs from Amylu

I love how clean the ingredients are, and the unprocessed sugar is a plus. Rosemary extract is added as a natural food preservative. The vinegar and mystery spices might be the origin of the slight mustard twang. Why aren’t there onions, you ask? I wondered the same thing. How can meatballs NOT have onions? These are the questions that keep me awake at night.

Here are the ingredients:

  • Chicken raised without antibiotics
  • Cranberries
  • Contains 2% or less of: Jalapeno peppers, Evaporated cane sugar, Maple sugar, Spices, Chipotle Pepper, Kosher salt, Extract of rosemary, Vinegar

In addition, these meatballs are:

  • Gluten free
  • Pork free
  • No nitrites or nitrates added
A hand holding the back of an Amylu Cranberry & Jalapeno Chicken Meatballs.

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Author’s note: I wasn’t paid to write this review, and I have no affiliation with Costco or Amylu.

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