Cranberry Jalapeño Meatballs {Copycat Recipe}
Can’t find the Amylu cranberry jalapeño meatballs at Costco? Make this easy copycat recipe with ground chicken, dried cranberries, and fresh jalapeño.
Take a peek in my freezer at any point in the year and you’re going to spot several flavors of prepared chicken meatballs waiting to be turned into a quick and easy family dinner like my popular pineapple teriyaki meatball stir fry.
Around November, I start stalking the aisles at Costco so I can grab my favorite cranberry jalapeño chicken meatballs as soon as they arrive.
I love this seasonal flavor with saucy pastas and easy rice bowls.
However, if you don’t have a membership to Costco, I didn’t want you to miss out on this handy shortcut. I’ve shared a copycat recipe at the bottom of the post so you can make a batch and freeze them yourself.
Why This is the Best Recipe
Delicious cranberry jalapeño meatballs are only available at Costco as a seasonal item. This is the best cranberry jalapeño meatball recipe because:
- Any Time of Year: Just like Costco meatballs, you can prep and freeze my homemade version for using any time of year.
- Sweet and Spicy: While the meatballs have some kick, they are not too spicy for my kids. The just add a bit of oomph to the recipes I use them in.
- Pair Well for Easy Dinners: I have so many great suggestions for how to make an easy dinner using this recipe, be sure to see all the suggestions here.
Ingredients You’ll Need
I snag a couple packages of the Amylu cranberry & jalapeño chicken meatballs as soon as I see them at the store and pop them in my freezer at home.
However, if you want to make the copycat recipe, you will need to buy:
- Ground Chicken: You could also use ground turkey if you prefer.
- Panko Breadcrumbs: I love the texture this kind of breadcrumb gives the meatballs. You could use plain breadcrumbs if you prefer.
- Chili Sauce
- Jalapeño Pepper: If you want a milder meatball, remove the ribs and seeds from the pepper. For a spicier meatball you can leave them in. Just make sure to finely mince them so you don’t have large chunks of pepper in the final meatballs.
- Dried Cranberries: Fresh cranberries would add too much moisture to this dish and the meatballs would fall apart.
- Worcestershire Sauce
- Soy Sauce
- Paprika
- Minced Garlic
Prep the Meatball Mix
To keep your final meatballs tender, it is important to not overwork the ground chicken.
To make sure the seasonings are distributed evenly among the meatballs, it is best to start by adding everything but the chicken to a large mixing bowl and combine them first.
Stir the breadcrumbs, cranberries, minced jalapeño, garlic, chili sauce, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, salt & pepper together with a fork until well combined.
Then add the chicken to the mixing bowl and gently fluff and fold it in until the seasonings have coated all the meat.
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How to Shape the Meatballs
I used 2 soup spoons to lightly handle the meatball mixture. I keep this pack of soup spoons in my utensil drawer and I find I use them so much more frequently for cooking than we do eating actual soup!
I used one spoon to scoop the meat and leveled it off lightly against the side of the bowl.
Then I used the second spoon to scrape the chicken off the first spoon onto the baking pan, forming a rough ball shape as it comes off the spoon.
I patted the meatballs gently with the backs of the two spoons to clean up the round shape and tap in any pointy edges.
The chicken mixture is very wet and sticky, this helped keep things neat, made uniform sized meatballs, and kept the final baked texture tender and light since the meatballs aren’t compacted when shaped.
If a perfectly-round meatball shape is important to you, you’ll want to chill the meatball mix for an hour in the fridge before trying to roll them by hand. This will help the sticky-factor a bit.
Cooking Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Bake the meatballs for 16 – 18 minutes or until they register 165°F at the center and have begun to lightly brown.
How to Freeze Homemade Meatballs
If you want to freeze your from-scratch meatballs, let them cool completely on the baking sheet so they don’t steam in your storage container.
Then place the baking sheet in the freezer for one hour. This flash freezes the meatballs so they don’t stick together.
You can then transfer them to a storage bag or container and freeze for up to 6 months.
To use the frozen meatballs, you can thaw them in the fridge overnight or warm them gently straight-from-frozen in a simmering sauce.
How to Use Cranberry Jalapeño Meatballs
Now the fun part! Once you’ve cooked your meatballs through, it’s time to serve them for dinner.
For once, I had SO many ideas for you that I couldn’t fit them all in on this one page. Instead, I wrote an entire dinner guide for what to do with cranberry jalapeño meatballs here.
What to Serve with Cranberry Jalapeño Meatballs
If you just want a quick place to start, you could pair the browned meatballs with a simple starchy side and your favorite veggie.
The sweet and spicy flavor combo always pairs nicely with my sweet potato casserole but I also love the crispy texture of this easy roasted gnocchi dish.
If you’re more into hands-off side dishes, my crockpot mashed potatoes are always a classic but this Instant pot herb butter rice comes together really quickly.
Cranberry Jalapeño Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup breadcrumbs
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries finely minced
- 2 tablespoons finely minced jalapeño from about 1 pepper
- 2 tablespoons chili sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 pound ground chicken
Instructions Start Cooking
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Add everything but the ground chicken to a large mixing bowl and fluff it together with a fork until well mixed.1/3 cup breadcrumbs, 1/3 cup dried cranberries, 2 tablespoons finely minced jalapeño, 2 tablespoons chili sauce, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, 2 teaspoons minced garlic, 1/4 teaspoon paprika, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Add the ground chicken to the bowl and gently fold it in. Try not to overwork the meat.1 pound ground chicken
- Scoop 1-inch portions of meatball mix using a small spoon and drop them on the prepared baking sheet. You can arrange them pretty closely together, they will not spread while cooking. Just make sure they aren't touching so they brown evenly on all sides. You should get about 30 meatballs from the mix at this size.
- Bake the meatballs for 16 – 18 minutes or until they registered 165°F and are lightly golden brown.
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About Tiffany
Tiffany is a home-cooking enthusiast, three-time cookbook author, and creator of the sites Peanut Blossom, Peanut Blossom Book Club, and Don’t Just Fly. She believes that family dinner can be manageable, fun, and — most importantly — tasty. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her husband and two daughters and can often be found baking a loaf of bread with her beloved bread machine, reading a good book, or planning her family’s next adventure.
I loved this! I did alter a couple minor things, I added an egg for more binding, this resulted in needing more breadcrumbs. I also added salt and pepper because the soy sauce and worcestershire was not enough salt for that amount of meat. I baked them in the oven at 400° F until they read 165° F, I prefer this to pan frying because they stay together better. These are going on my meal prep rotation for sure. I paired it with goat cheese pasta and it was great
Thanks for sharing your tweaks, Kaitlin. I love roasting meatballs in the oven, too.
Tiffany
Took forever to cook, even after pan frying I put them in the oven in fear I’d be feeding my family raw meat. Meat texture just wasn’t right. Nobody in my family liked these very much and we tossed the rest. We love the ones from Costco and was hoping to have a recipe for the off season, but this just didn’t cut it. Also seems like there should be some more seasoning for the meat (salt/pepper?). Thanks anyway 🙂
Thanks for the feedback, Brandi. I’ve re-worked the recipe to add more seasoning and make the cooking process easier. I think the latest version is a lot better than the original. I appreciate your comments.
Tiffany