US Wellness Meats & Homemade Chicken Nuggets

We get great beef through our meat share from Ovis Hill, as well as occasional pastured pork, but we need a bit more variety. I've tried different cuts of chicken, pastured and conventional, but I just don't have a taste for chicken anymore. Not sure why that is, but my husband feels the same.

Our first order from US Wellness Meats was for 12 lbs of ground "Compassionate Certified" pork. We have really been enjoying that. My favorite way to cook it is as pork burgers/patties, seasoned with s&p, thyme, oregano, parsley, basil, and sage. The ground pork is about 72%, so we get a lot of fat off it, but that's certainly not wasted in this house. We save that fat for roasting vegetables or frying eggs.

We like US Wellness meats because all animals are raised pastured/grass-fed, are antibiotic and hormone free, are treated as humanely as possible, and the meat is healthy and tasty. We decided to try a few different meats for our second order. We bought poultry, a few quick meal items, and a snack item. I'll be sure to let y'all know how everything turns out. As with all US Wellness Meats orders, there is a 7 lb and $75 minimum, as well as a $7.50 handling charge. I used a discount code I'd received by e-mail. Shipments arrive (very quickly) by Fedex and still frozen. If you wanna check out the website, I have a referral link on the right-hand side of this page. Here is our latest US Wellness Meats order:

• 4 lb Ground Turkey - Antibiotic Free From Birth   @ $6.25 = $25.00
• 3 lb Ground Chicken - Antibiotic Free From Birth   @ $6.03 = $18.09
• 1 Beef Snack Sticks Nitrate and MSG Free   @ $5.59 = $5.59
• 1 Chicken Apple Sausage Links   @ $6.83 = $6.83
• 1 lb Ground Pork  @ $6.17 = $6.17 Ground Lamb $0*
• 1 Sugar Free Garlic Beef  Franks   @ $6.96 = $6.96

Sub-Total: $68.64 $62.47
Shipping: $7.50 (Standard)
Total: $76.14 $69.97

*There was a packing error, and we received ground lamb instead of ground pork. I e-mailed the company, and within a few hours, I received an apology and credit for the error. Mistakes happen, but how well the company resolves any issues is what matters to me. I was very pleased with how well this was handled.


I couldn't wait to make homemade nuggets with my new ground chicken. This was so easy. I seasoned with garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, and salt. Be generous with the seasonings (except the salt). Add an egg. Knead all together and form into nugget shapes. Drop into skillet of hot coconut oil. Fry a few minutes on each side, til browned and doesn't stick to pan, and done all the way through. My egg was extra large, so my mixture was soft. Rather than adding a thickener, I just used an ice cream scoop to drop in nugget-sized amounts into the hot oil, and pressed lightly when turned.

We loved them, and I hope you do as well!

Ground chicken verdict: Two thumbs up! The meat is clean. It tastes like white meat, but isn't bland or dry. It's moist and tender like darker meat, but without the dark taste. It's nice to have found chicken meat I really like. This is a keeper for us.