Costco Chicken Meatballs Teriyaki & Pineapple - AmyLu
COSTCO DOES NOT CURRENTLY CARRY THIS PRODUCT (April 2024)
Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs at Costco
Costco sells AmyLu Teriyaki and Pineapple Chicken Meatballs for $14.89, or $11.39 when they’re on sale.
Each package of AmyLu Chicken Meatballs weighs 2.88 pounds and contains approximately 60 meatballs.
These meatballs are sold year round and are located in the Costco deli section near the other heat and eat meals such as the chicken skewers, andouille sausage, and the scalloped potatoes.
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1-2 Month Shelf Life
These can be stored in the refrigerator up until the use-by date, or they can be frozen for up to 6 months. The use-by date on my package was about a month a half from the date of purchase.
Once opened, the meatballs need to be consumed within 4 days.
AmyLu Teriyaki Pineapple Chicken Meatballs
AmyLu’s meatballs are made without pork, only chicken. They are teriyaki flavored and actually include chunks of real pineapple within each meatball.
First Impressions
They are a little on the smaller side in size. Maybe about 1 and a half inches in diameter. All meatballs are fully cooked and look approximately the same in size and color.
Costco’s chicken meatballs have the same grayish-brown color that you typically find in other precooked foods. Of course, they’ll look much better when they’re cooked to a nice dark brown color.
AmyLu Brand
There are two different brands that sell teriyaki and pineapple chicken meatballs at Costco. We are currently taking a look at the AmyLu brand for this review, but depending on your Costco location, you may have Aidells brand Teriyaki and Pineapple Chicken Meatballs instead.
AmyLu also sells chicken burgers and chicken breakfast sausage links.
AmyLu also sells chicken burgers and chicken breakfast sausage links.
Why I'm Cautious with AmyLu
I did review AmyLu’s Chicken Breakfast Sausage Links a while back, and I personally did not care for those sausage links, as there were a few key problems with them.
I didn’t think they tasted that great when I tried them solo but they did taste better as part of a meal.
Chicken Bones?
The big problem was that I found what I believe to be chicken bone chunks or fragments within some of the sausage pieces.
That is going to be a big turnoff for any meal, so I’m hoping these chicken meatballs do not have the same issue.
Costco AmyLu Chicken Meatball Cost Breakdown
How much are AmyLu Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs at Costco?
Each package of AmyLu Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs retails for $14.89 at Costco.
On sale, they cost $11.39. The 2.88-pound (46oz) package will cost $5.17 per pound at retail or $3.95 per pound when they are on sale. This is a huge discount and nearly 25% off.
For a little further analysis, each meatball costs $0.25 each at retail or $0.19 when on sale.
This is a fair price for already cooked and flavored chicken meatballs that are super convenient to make. One serving size is 4 meatballs, which equates to $1 per serving, or $0.76 if you bought it on sale.
AmyLu Chicken Meatball Review
AmyLu lists 3 different heating options for these precooked chicken meatballs. I’ll go over those in the next section, but for this review I decided to air-fry them.
Air frying isn’t one of the recommended methods, but since these are precooked, they just need to be heated and browned.
Great in the Air Fryer
I cooked the meatballs in the air fryer at 350° for 7 minutes. I made a small batch and they came out hot and delicious looking.
While these are plain-looking in their original uncooked state, the second they are cooked, they look delicious.
One major problem with these chicken meatballs
For this review, I ate them as is as well as served them with a bowl of rice. One thing, I’m always concerned about with store bought teriyaki meatballs is that they can be too sweet.
I didn’t have that problem with these Costco chicken meatballs, but when I ate just the plain meatball, I thought it was overly salty. It was nearly at the point where it was inedible.
There was definitely teriyaki flavor and some sweetness in the meatball, but the saltiness was overpowering.
These meatballs are better as part of a dish
It was a different story when I served the meatballs with plain white rice. The rice helped balance out some of the saltiness and brought it down to a level of just a touch too salty instead of overly salted.
Just like AmyLu’s other product, the chicken breakfast sausage links, these meatballs cannot be eaten alone.
They must be served with rice, bread, a tortilla, or anything that could help cut through some of that saltiness.
These have a great teriyaki flavor and some large pineapple chunks
While salty, there is still an abundance of teriyaki flavor in each meatball. The teriyaki tasted good and didn’t have any of the bitterness that teriyaki can sometimes have.
These are teriyaki and pineapple meatballs, and AmyLu did include small chunks of pineapples inside some of the meatballs.
I would say 50% of the chicken meatballs contained at least 1 piece of pineapple.
Maybe I’m still suffering through some trauma from AmyLu’s breakfast links, but I was unaware that these meatballs included pineapples, and the first time I tasted one I thought it was a chicken tendon.
Upon further inspection, it was a small pineapple with a little bit of core attached.
The pineapple stands out
I like the flavor of pineapple and I think it goes well with teriyaki, but the pineapple texture threw me off when eating these meatballs. I would have rather preferred pineapple juice or flavoring within the meatball instead of an actual pineapple piece.
The overall texture of the chicken meatballs was fine. It’s clearly a mass-produced meatball, but I already knew that, so no complaints on that front. The meatball was a little spongy but didn’t detract too much from the final product.
Overall the meatball looked great but was a little on the salty side. The teriyaki flavor was good, but the inclusion of the pineapple chunks threw me off.
Heating Instructions
AmyLu has 3 methods for heating these already precooked chicken meatballs and I’m including my own personal air fryer instructions for these meatballs.
Oven: Preheat the oven to 325°. Heat on a baking tray or baking dish for 15-20 minutes.
Stove Top: Coat pan with a tablespoon of oil and saute meatballs on medium to high heat until warm and browned. Add water to steam as needed.
Microwave: Heat a serving (4) of meatballs on high for 45 seconds. Times may vary depending on the microwave
CFDB Method – Air fry at 350° for 7 minutes. Shake once or twice while cooking.
Costco Chicken Meatball Nutritional Information
How many calories in AmyLu Teriyaki Meatballs from Costco
Each AmyLu Chicken Meatball package contains 15 servings of 4 meatballs each. One serving contains 150 calories, with 7g of fat, 7g of carbs, and 14g of protein.
I personally consider this macro breakdown to be ideal, as there is a sufficient amount of protein while keeping carbs and fats to a minimum.
High Sodium Content - Be Cautious
Now I already complained about the meatballs’ saltiness, and the sodium content explains why. Each serving of 4 meatballs contains a mammoth 750mg of sodium.
That’s 33% of the daily recommended value in just 4 meatballs. This is astronomically high and one reason I would stay away from these meatballs even though the rest of the nutritional label looks pretty good.
4 chicken meatballs are not enough for a full meal, and in this review alone I ate at least 8 meatballs which is 67% of my daily recommended sodium intake. If the sodium content could be reduced, I would gladly eat these meatballs all day.
Final Thoughts
I hate to say it, but these Costco chicken meatballs by AmyLu are going to be a pass for me. The texture of the chicken was good, and the teriyaki flavor was acceptable, but they were just too darn salty.
These meatballs are high in protein and low in fat and carbs, but the sodium content is through the roof.
Updated April 3rd 2024
Costco Food Database User Reviews
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Greg Larkin is the founder and managing editor of Costco Food Database, the premiere site for honest takes on all things Costco food. A self-proclaimed Costco super-fan since childhood, Greg turned his obsession in a mission to properly rate and review all of Costco’s delicious buys. When he’s not busy navigating Costco aisles, you can find Greg smoking Kirkland Signature meats, meal prepping, or perfecting his homemade jerky recipes.
we heated these in this glaze and served these with this slaw.. Turned our wonderful, wrapped in butter lettuce. A short cut to our fav recipe. Did not disappoint
Mango Slaw
1 ripe mango,, thinly sliced
2 cups thinly shredded purple cabbage
½ cup packed cilantro,, roughly chopped
2 green onions,, whites and tender green parts thinly sliced
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce, (like sriracha)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Meatball Glaze
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce or coconut aminos
2 tablespoons chili garlic sauce, (like sriracha)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon grated ginger
2 teaspoons cornstarch