You’ve heard of a burrito bowl, chicken bowl, bowl of spaghetti. But who gets credit for thinking up a fantastic idea like a “teriyaki meatball bowl?” Maybe it’s more common than I think but this was my first time cooking one for dinner and boy, am I happy that I did. I love homemade meatballs! I’ve made them so many times that I could do it blindfolded. OK that’s a slight exaggeration, just know I know my way around the basic meatball mixture.
Teriyaki meatballs are mildly different from the meatballs you may make for your spaghetti dinner though. I found that the soy sauce added to the meatball mixture helped to create a more juicy flavor as opposed to an italian meatball. I imagine these meatballs would taste just as good over a plate of linguini noodles but we’re going to use whole grain rice to create a more “light” meal.


- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup planko breadcrumbs
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic
- ¼ teaspoon fresh ginger
- ½ teaspoon soy sauce
- 2 green onions, finely chopped
- black pepper
- 2 packages of white, or whole grain rice
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ½ cup warm water
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil, lightly greasing with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Combine ground turkey, egg, breadcrumbs, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, green onions and black pepper into a large mixing bowl, using clean hands to fold and mix over until well combined.
- Roll meatball mixture into small balls, placing each on foil-covered cookie sheet. When you've finished rolling all meatballs, bake them for 35 minutes or until light golden brown.
- Boil and cook rice according to package directions over medium-high heat. When finished, drain water and fluff rice with a fork. Set aside.
- While meatballs and rice are cooking, combine all teriyaki glaze ingredients (EXCEPT for cornstarch) together in a small-medium size bowl. Whisk together well. Transfer to a medium size pot over med-high heat for a few minutes. Add cornstarch, mixing well constantly to help thicken glaze. Once it appears thickened, add sesame seeds.
- If/When meatballs are done, add to teriyaki glaze. Stir so that each meatball is well covered with glaze.
- In individual bowls, divide rice. Add 5 meatballs and drizzle extra teriyaki glaze overtop.