I’m kind of obsessed with meatballs. They’re easy to make, filling, they pack well for lunches, are freezer-friendly, and can be paired with so many different flavors. Plus, I just kind of think meatballs cute (is that weird?). This time I seasoned my meatballs with some garlic and ginger, and drenched them in a homemade teriyaki sauce for these super easy and delish Teriyaki Meatball Bowls. You’re going to love the simplicity of this meal, and those juicy little pork and ginger meatballs!
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Can I substitute the Pork?
I used ground pork for this recipe because it’s inexpensive and always juicy, but you could certainly use ground turkey or chicken instead. The bulk of the flavor comes in the potent teriyaki glaze that coats the meatballs, so any milder ground meat works great. Ground beef can be used, but I find the flavors work a little better with mild white meat.
How long do the Teriyaki Meatball Bowls last?
You can store these meatball bowls in the refrigerator for about 4 days. To reheat, simply microwave for about 2 minutes, or until heated through.
Can the Meatball Bowls be Frozen?
Most of the components of these bowls are freezer friendly—the meatballs, rice, and broccoli. The teriyaki sauce, however, is not. Sauces thickened with cornstarch don’t tend to hold up to freezing and thawing. So you have a few options here. You can freeze the cooked or uncooked meatballs to quickly reheat or cook on busy nights, and then make the rest of the dish fresh, or freeze the meatball bowls whole but without the teriyaki sauce. You can then make the teriyaki sauce fresh and drizzle over top after reheating the bowls.
Other Ways to Serve Teriyaki Meatball Bowls
If you love pineapple with your teriyaki, simply stir a can of drained pineapple tidbits into the sauce, or use thawed frozen pineapple tidbits. These teriyaki meatballs also make a great appetizer! Just drench them in the sauce and serve with toothpicks.
You can find these rectangular Pyrex meal prep containers in my Amazon Shop.
Teriyaki Meatball Bowls
Servings 4Ingredients
PORK AND GINGER MEATBALLS
- 1 lb. ground pork ($3.49)
- 1 large egg ($0.23)
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs ($0.13)
- 1 clove garlic, minced ($0.08)
- 1 tsp grated fresh ginger ($0.10)
- 1/2 tsp soy sauce ($0.02)
- 2 green onions, sliced ($0.2)
TERIYAKI SAUCE
- 1/2 cup soy sauce ($0.48)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar ($0.18)
- 2 tsp grated fresh ginger ($0.20)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 cup water ($0.00)
- 2 Tbsp corn starch ($0.06)
FOR SERVING
- 1 cup jasmine rice ($0.66)
- 2 cups water ($0.00)
- 2 green onions ($0.08)
- 1 Tbsp sesame seeds ($0.08)
- 1 lb. frozen broccoli florets ($2.59)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Begin with the meatball mixture. Add the ground pork, egg, breadcrumbs, minced garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and sliced green onions to a bowl. Use your hands to mix the ingredients until evenly combined.
- Divide and shape the meatball mixture into 16 ping pong sized balls. Place the shaped meatballs on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Baked the meatballs for about 20 minutes, or until they are golden brown and have reached an internal temperature of at least 160ºF.
- While the meatballs are cooking, begin the rice. Add the jasmine rice and water to a sauce pot. Place a lid on top and turn the heat onto high. Bring the pot up to a full boil, then turn the heat down to low and allow it to simmer, undisturbed for 15 minutes. After simmering for 15 minutes, turn the heat off and let it sit, with the lid still in place, for an additional 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving.
- While the rice and meatballs are cooking, prepare the teriyaki sauce. Combine the soy sauce, brown sugar, minced garlic, grated ginger, water, and cornstarch in a medium sauce pot. Stir to dissolve the cornstarch. Place the pot over medium heat. Stir and cook the sauce until it begins to simmer, at which point the sauce will thicken and turn from opaque to a shiny sauce. Remove the sauce from the heat.
- Finally, if serving the meatball bowls immediately, cook the frozen broccoli florets according to the package instructions. If you're packing the bowls as meal prep, the broccoli florets can be added in their frozen state.
- Once the meatballs have finished baking, add them to the sauce pot with the teriyaki sauce and stir to coat.
- To build the bowls, divide the cooked rice and broccoli florets between four bowls or containers. Add four meatballs to each bowl, then drizzle the extra sauce overtop. Finish the bowls by adding sliced green onion and sesame seeds to each bowl.
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Nutrition
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How to Make Teriyaki Meatball Bowls – Step By Step Photos
Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Combine 1 lb. ground pork, 1 large egg, 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, 1 clove of minced garlic, 1 tsp grated fresh ginger, 2 sliced green onions, and 1/2 tsp soy sauce in a large bowl. Use your hands to mix the ingredients until they are evenly combined.
Divide and shape the meatball mixture into 16 ping pong sized balls, and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake the meatballs for about 20 minutes, or until they’re golden brown and the internal temperature has reached 160ºF.
Once the meatballs are in the oven, begin the rice. Add 1 cup jasmine rice and 2 cups water to a sauce pot. Place a lid on top and put the pot over high heat. Bring the pot up to a full boil, then reduce the heat to low and let it simmer with the lid in place for 15 minutes. After simmering for 15 minutes, turn the heat off and let it sit undisturbed for 5 more minutes. Fluff the rice with a fork before serving.
Once the meatballs and rice have started, it’s time to make the quick teriyaki sauce. In a medium sauce pot, combine 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 cloves of minced garlic, about 2 tsp grated ginger, 1 cup water, and 2 Tbsp cornstarch. Stir until the cornstarch is dissolved.
Place the sauce pot over medium heat and cook the sauce, stirring often, until it comes up to a simmer. When it reaches a simmer the sauce will thicken into a shiny glaze. Remove the sauce from the heat.
If you’re going to be serving the teriyaki meatball bowls right away, heat 1 pound of frozen broccoli florets according to the package directions (or just heat in the microwave). If you’re going to be packing these bowls up for meal prep, the broccoli florets can go into the containers frozen.
By this time the meatballs should be finished baking. Transfer them to the pot with the teriyaki sauce and stir to coat.
To build your bowls, divide the cooked rice and broccoli florets between four bowls. Add four meatballs to each bowl and drizzle the extra sauce over top. Finish the bowls by topping with more sliced green onion and some sesame seeds.
As with any meal prep, if you’re packing these up for later, make sure to get them into the refrigerator right away so they can cool down as quickly as possible to maintain quality and avoid food safety issues.
I always prep my weekly dinners on Sunday so they are assembled and ready to cook on a weeknight with almost zero prep (otherwise dinner happens at 8pm). I prepped these meatballs and unheated sauce separately. I just had to pop the meatballs in the oven, cook the veg & rice and heat the sauce and it all came together in 30 min with minimal cleanup. I placed the onions, garlic and ginger in the meatball mix by mistake – but it did not disappoint. I used half turkey and pork and omitted the egg. This is an easy and yummy meal. Will become a regular in weeknight rotation.
I have meatballs from a previous recipe that has Parmesan in them. Do you think I could use those for this recipe?
These were good and I’ll definitely make again, but with low sodium soy sauce.
Absolutely delicious
Really good recipe. I subbed the ground pork with ground turkey and used bell peppers instead of broccoli. I’d definitely make it again.
I am reading the reviews on the meatballs meal bowl. Want to try it don’t want it to sweet nor salty. Will make it for my grandson he likes them. Hope it good going to have to keep it warm he works a little later then 6pm
First time with this recipe; made as written. My soy sauce was MUCH too salty and almost wrecked the dish. The flavours were there but overpowered. Meatballs were nice, maybe a little bland. I’ll try again cuz it seems a good recipe… but with different soy sauce. My side was peas ‘n carrots. Family said it was ok but needed tweaking.
I LOVE this recipe. I make it a couple times a month, and often its one of my go-to recipes to bring a meal to a friend, new mom, etc. It is always well loved. I’ve used ground beef, pork, chicken, turkey, even venison for the ground meat. They all turn out well! Thank you for a great recipe!
This meal is soo good but do you know why my corn starch never dissolves??
Since we aren’t cooking with you, it would be mere speculation. Are you dissolving it in a slurry? XOXO -Monti
I always dissolve the cornstarch in cold water first, then add and bring to a boil. Just make sure the water is cold! :)
Really enjoyed this! The meatballs were flavorful and moist. The sauce was perfect and not too sweet and paired wonderfully with the rice and broccoli! Will use this teriyaki sauce for other dishes for sure. So happy I found your site!
So I just replaced the brown sugar with 1/4 cup granular sugar, 1/4 cup molasses and 2 Tablespoons sriracha. It took the sauce to a whole new level.
Interesting! Now I want to try molasses!
I LOVE this recipe!! Not too complicated, and the flavours are immaculate. I substituted the pork for chicken and it’s incredible. I’ll be making this regularly.
Another delicious meal from Budget Bytes- this one will definitely be on rotation here, it was quick, easy, and has great flavor. My kids devoured every bit of it. Saving the left over sauce to have with fried tofu tomorrow 😋 Only thing I did different was add sesame oil to my rice. Thank you for another great recipe!!
Do you think this would still be good if I eliminate the brown sugar in the sauce? I’m doing my best to reduce and eliminate man made sugars from my diet.
Personally, I think the brown sugar is necessary to balance the flavors in this sauce, but in the end, cooking is always going to come down to your own personal preferences. :)
I have never used an enamelware sheet pan (as shown in a few of your recipes) before and just wondering how it differs from using a metal sheet pan. Trying to decide if I want to make the investment.
I use them mostly because they photograph very well. :) The enamel can crack a little on the corners after a while, but they are otherwise pretty durable and the slick enameled surface is fairly non-stick! For budget and practical reasons, I’d probably go with something more basic if I wasn’t using them for photography.
I love this recipe! (I always make it as written.) This is my go-to dinner when I need to take someone a meal and I’ve now started to include a copy of it because it’s such a hit! Thank you :)
I was really excited to try this, but it wasn’t up my alley. I thought the sauce was too sweet and the meatballs too salty. I only had italian breadcrumbs (the only gluten free ones my grocery store carries), so that may have played a part. My daughter ate it up though, and she doesn’t like rice, so it obviously was a hit with her :)
I made the sauce with tofu, rice, and veggies. I’m glad I read the comments first because I cut the sugar in half. I would probably reduce the sugar even further next time, but overall it had good flavor and I’m adding it to my rotation!
This was extremely easy to make. I halved the sugar based on reviews and I’m glad I did, it would of been way too sweet without. I’ve made this into freezer meals with steamed broc and carrot. I’m going to experiment with different sauces in the future.
Super delicious! Everyone liked it in our house. Made the meatballs with ground turkey since our store had a BOGO deal.
This is one of my favorite go-to recipes on Budget Bytes. The best!!!!
Loved it! Made 7 big meatballs instead of tiny ones and did ground chicken instead of pork. The sauce is delicious! I cut the ginger and brown sugar. Delicious.
This recipe has become a regular rotation in our kitchen! So delicious and straightforward to make. We don’t eat beef, so substitute either ground chicken or turkey. Sometimes if we are feeling lazy, we just sauté the ground meat and use soy sauce on its own as the dressing. If you have the extra time though, making the thicker teriyaki sauce is definitely worth it. We omit the sugar and it still tastes great
Full disclosure, I made this with ground turkey instead of pork (it was what I had on hand). Oh my goodness!!! So delicious! You hit this one out of the park!!! It is now on my regular meal rotation.
The sauce and meatballs were delicious and perfect – the caramelization on the bottom from baking in the oven was so packed with flavor. I would probably make the meatballs smaller next time to be more bite-sized (personal preference!) and even with the recipe as written we had made 20 of them. I would also probably make 1.5-2x the rice for a better ratio of rice to meatball. :) Will definitely be making this again!
This recipe was so good! I’ve made so many budget bytes recipes and this is one of my new favorites. I usually get tired of eating leftovers when I meal prep but I was craving this every night :)
Loved it, mostly. Followed the recipe to the letter just to get a sense of what to change, and was very satisfied. Only complaint was that the sauce was too sweet. Will most likely cut some brown sugar next time.
Not my favorite. If I tried again I would use low sodium soy sauce and half the sugar. Also add more water. The sauce was to salty and thick for my liking.
Great for a weeknight dinner! Comes together quickly and it’s very tasty. I was short on time, but next time I’ll buy fresh broccoli and roast it rather than using frozen – the frozen broc was watery enough that it diluted the flavor a little.
I already had my own meatball recipe but after trying out dozens of teriyaki recipes I almost gave up. This is hands down, the best sauce recipe I’ve tried yet. Only used half the sugar though. But it’s a keeper for sure!
Great recipe but I use ground chicken instead of ground pork, cuts down on the grease and saltiness, much healthier and overall better flavor.
Great flavor and super easy to make. My family loved it and I told my friends about it too.
Thanks for the recipe!!
These are delicious. My kids even devoured them. The only change I made (we try not to consume a lot of salt), was to lightly drizzle the teriyaki sauce over the meatballs instead of soaking them in it. I made this twice in two weeks, plus leftover meals. This is definitely a keeper!
Loved the combination of meatballs and Chinese flavors!
I had a problem with the teriyaki sauce though, maybe the six sauce I get in Europe has a lot more salt than it did in the US, but I das to add 2 additional cups of water to get to a salt level that was edible.
It still has a ton of flavor, so now I just have 3 cups of leftover teriyaki – could have gone worse ;)
These are amazing and so easy to put together! I had ground pork and some ground beef in the freezer that needed to be used so I quadrupled the meatball recipe using 2 lbs ground pork and 2 lbs ground beef. We ate one batch and froze the rest for later. The sauce is the bomb! Next time I will double the sauce recipe to drizzle over the rice.
Yum! This was my first time cooking meatballs. I was surprised how easy they were to make. And they tasted delicious. The sauce was really good, but next time I make it I’ll look for a way to reduce the saltiness. But overall an amazing recipe and I can’t wait for leftovers.
We use a low sodium soy sauce. It makes a huge difference.
I made this last night on the stove top because it was so hot and the oven would have made life for the cook (me!) miserable. Instead of broccoli, I sliced up a few carrots, part of an onion, and a few frozen particle bags of veggies I had in the freezer. The pork meatballs were so tender and made enough for my husband to eat this weekend while I’m out of town. Thank you for the great recipe! I’ll be making this again soon.
Would I ruin the sauce if I didn’t use cornstarch? It’s the only thing I’m missing!
It just won’t get as thick, but it’ll still be delicious.
I would say the sauce was too salty so I’d recommend using a low-salt soy sauce and I think it’ll be fine. And I’m not a low-salt kinda gal, either.
Also, I didn’t notice the older version of the teriyaki sauce which may be the way to go. I think the addition of the sesame oil and the rice vinegar will add more balance.
I love Budget Bytes!!
Everyone loved this recipe! Super delicious!
I decided to use a plum sauce instead of teriyaki an it still is amazing.
I made these using ground chicken instead of pork. It was fantastic. The flavor profile was on point.
Honestly I could find no reason not to rate this recipe with 5 stars. Simple to make, inexpensive and delicious! Devoured quickly and everyone loved them! Even my Dad with cancer are everything on his plate, extremely rare. Love! ♥️
This tasted great and was easy to pull together, but I can’t understand how the nutrition was calculated. I know some things vary but no matter how I try to calculate it, it’s always at least 200cal lower than what I’m coming up with. I’m wondering if maybe the ingredients “for serving” (broccoli and rice) weren’t included? Just a heads up for anyone else who may be counting calories, it might be worth double checking this one.
The nutrition data provided is calculated using all ingredients listed on the recipe card, including any ingredient listed as optional. Keep in mind that recipes that involve marinades, breading, salad dressings, oil for frying, or salt for cooking pasta and potatoes may be skewed because some of these ingredients will be discarded and not included in the final edible portion.
Hmmm, then the calorie count listed seems too low by about 200kcal. I’m not an expert by any means, but almost everything I used had labels to scan (for nutritional info) so there wasn’t much room for error, and I checked the pork using the same website listed in the nutrition disclaimer.
Another great recipe. I did use a bag of meatballs I had in my freezer. I hadn’t seen anyone else mention that shortcut but it worked out very well. Now I will look for another recipe from this site.
This recipe has become part of our dinner rotation. It’s so delicious exactly as written! My kids like it too.
This recipe is easy! If I can do it anyone can. I didn’t have hosin sauce so I used bbq sauce in place. I totally forgot to add the water to the sauce. It is still very tasty . Thank you.
Made this last night since I’ve been craving Asian-style food (all the Chinese restaurants are closed!) and it was delicious! I can’t believe how simple the sauce was! I thought maybe I messed it up because it took forever to thicken, but thicken it did! I only went off-recipe twice – I omitted the ginger entirely because I don’t like the taste, and I found the sauce needed just a bit more sugar and I threw in a couple teaspoons of white sugar.
Oh yes, I also used Italian bread crumbs since it was all I had, but since the sauce has a rather potent flavor, I didn’t notice any flavor from the bread crumbs coming through.
Aside from these small changes, this was a lovely meal! I used ground chicken for the meatballs and paired mine with roasted vegetables that I had on hand (sweet potatoes and zucchini). I would definitely like to make this again!
OMG. This recipe is so good and easy to make. Tons of flavor! I used brown rice instead and the teriyaki sauce recipe is better than anything in the store! Definitely going to be a keeper!
I love the old version of the recipe, but was not able to get the PDF version to open. (It comes back with an error that there’s no root source.) Unlike another user, I do not have the old version stored in my cache, so I’m unable to access it. :(
I second this–the older version PDF says there is an error. I was able to access it using the wayback machine, but it would be great to have that updated–we LOVE the sauce! Thank you!
Hey Brooke! Can you email me as well so I can look into this further?
This was so good! I made the broccoli for my husband and son, but I had some kale to use up so I made your séame kale to go in my bowl and it really worked well with this recipe. I was so glad to have leftovers for lunch! Will definitely be making this again.
Hey Caitlin! Shoot me an email at support at budgetbytes.com and I’ll see what I can do for you.
very delicious and easy recipe, cooked the meatballs in an air fryer (400 degrees for 5 minutes) so made it quick from start to finish
Made this tonight, it was so delicious! The sauce came together quickly once I got it heated through. All I had were Italian breadcrumbs and they surprisingly didn’t change the taste. I can’t wait to have this for lunch tomorrow!
Love it when you use what you have on hand! Glad to hear it tasted great too.
I made this with my kids tonight because getting them involved cuts down on skepticism of new recipes lol. We all loved it! We made 1.5 times (so 6 servings) and it came out great. We didn’t change anything. This will be a regular for us now.
This recipe was delicious and approved by both kids!! (8 and 4 yrs old). I doubled the recipe so I have left over sauce.
What should I do with the leftover sauce?
Wahoo! You can refrigerate it or freeze it if you’d like.
I made it tonight. I had all of the ingredients except green onions. Picked some up when I went grocery shopping earlier today. I used ground turkey and it turned out amazing.
That’s great Ericka!
I made this for dinner tonight and it awesome!! My picky 4 year old said it was really good and my 8 month old ate it too. This recipe will definitely be made again and again!
Now that’s a HUGE WIN! Happy to hear it Erin!
This recipe is excellent. We used deer burger and deer sausage for the meatballs and it worked perfectly.
Awesome Lauren! We cook a lot with venison as well. I’ve had great luck swapping it with Beth’s recipes!
I didn’t clear the cache, I viewed a cached version of the webpage before the updated version was edited in. The pdf of the old version still doesn’t download for me, it says it’s missing or invalid when I try to open the pdf.
I’m sorry! Shoot me an email at support@budgetbytes.com if you’d like me to get you a pdf.
The PDF for the old version pops up an error when trying to download. This recipe has been in regular freezer meal rotation for years now but I never copied down the recipe, so now seemed like a good time to do so since the old version is harder to get to now. In the meantime I was able to get the old recipe by viewing a cached version of this page.
(Also, thank you for giving the ginger in tsp in the new recipe, since thickness of root varies. Pretty sure I’ve been getting more than 1tsp of ginger out of my 1in root pieces but now I know!)
Oh no! Sorry for the troubles Lilian. But happy to hear you were able to get it to work after a cache clearing. Let me know if I can help!
This is one of my favourite Budget Bytes recipes. I have successfully frozen the meatballs + sauce, rice, & peas to have quick lunches in the freezer for busy weeks.
Great to know Deb!
These meatballs look so good! Definitely adding to the menu plan for next week!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Can’t wait to hear what you think!
I love this recipe! I meal-prepped this for my lunches. I made brown jasmine rice, some roasted broccoli, grape tomatoes, and an Asian slaw made from red cabbage, shredded carrot, and ginger carrot dressing, .
Definitely looking forward to lunch this week!
Loved this! I wasn’t able to get ground pork but I thought it was tasty with ground beef. Meat ball flavor seemed a little on the low side, but I think I know how to fix that (either fresh seasonings instead of the powdered stuff or doubling the amount).
LoVeD the glaze! It was delicious! I’ll be using that for future meals
Could these be made & frozen raw or cooked as a freezer meal? Has anyone tried it?
Meatballs usually freeze really good, although I haven’t tried these yet. Cornstarch thickened sauces usually don’t freeze well, though, so you may not want to freeze the finished product.
On 3/5/18 you responded that you froze it all together. 😁 I only looked back to make sure because I’ve made these as freezer meals (on your recommendation) for my husband to use while I’m away for grandma duties.
Honestly, I dont know if I’ve personally ever reheated the bowl from frozen so I’ll try to pay attention to how the sauce reheats and post my findings. I will watch to see if anyone else has the experience before I do. I hope I didnt just leave a half dozen gloppy teriyaki meals in the freezer. LoL 😉 He wouldn’t complain if they were. 💗
I scour the internet for recipes to freeze. I find it challenging to find healthy, non dairy options.
LOL! I guess I just didn’t remember! It’s been YEARS since I made this one. Haha! I’m glad you found the answer! :)
Just pre-made these meatballs for two meals this week (Teriyaki Meatballs and Banh Mi Bowls). Overall, the meatballs are good, the Asian flavor came out on the mild side for me. Also, not quite salty enough. I use low sodium soy sauce, so that may be why. Next time I will probably double the soy sauce. I am looking forward to eating them with teriyaki sauce, and in the banh mi bowls! I actually live in Vietnam, so I was happy to find a fun twist on a local staple.
How do you think this would work using premade meatballs from the grocery frozen section? It would save so much time for me
I think that could work in a pinch, just keep in mind that the meatballs at the store probably have Italian seasonings in them, instead of Asian inspired flavors, like the ginger and soy sauce, so that might be a little strange. If you can find some that are fairly plain, that would work best.
This recipe has now become a regular recipe for us. We use low sodium soy sauce so it isn’t too salty. My husband LOVES these meatballs. I’ll have to check out your other recipes.
Besides using ground turkey and using too much cornstarch so it was more of a goo than a gravy.. LOL.. I followed this recipe to a T and it was fantastic! Even used the extra teriyaki sauce on my veggies. Soooo Good!! Thank you!
I liked the meatballs in this one, and thought the recipe was pretty easy to make, but the sauce was sooooo salty! I expected some saltiness from the soy, but it completely overwhelmed the rest of the dish. If I were to make this again, I would probably at least halve the soy. This recipe also makes quite a few dishes, (baking sheet, pot for sauce, pot for rice, bowl for mixing meatballs, etc), which doesn’t work in its favor. My husband really liked it – served with steamed baby bok choy on the side – but it’s not a keeper for me. Fortunately, I have quite a few of your other delicious recipes in regular rotation to choose from. :)
What’s the best way to freeze…as a bowl with the rice or separately?
I froze it all together in one container. :)
I made these once before and was craving them. These are the best! I served them with brown rice and your crunchy Asian salad (though plain steamed broccoli is nice too). Hope I can make the leftovers last!
What’s the best way to measure the ginger? We don’t want to get too much and be overwhelmed.
This is quite gingery (I LOVE ginger), so I would suggest grating the ginger and using 1 to 1.5 tsp of the grated ginger. That’s less than what’s listed, but it shouldn’t overwhelm.
I love this recipe and it proved itself super adaptable tonight. I had to substitute a bunch of things because of having a very limited kitchen after moving–beef, not pork; white onion, not green; powdered garlic and ginger; no cornstarch and a skillet, not a pan. But they still turned out tasty! Thanks for the recipes and. For the confidence to cook with what I got.
I’ve made these meatballs twice and they are very food. Altough there is too little salt in the meatballs and the sauce is too salty for my taste. But its easily fixed by adding more water to the sauce. Thanks!
I followed this recipe using ground turkey instead of pork and it turned out excellent! Thank you!
This is an amazing recipe! I’ve made it a dozen times. It’s so delicious!!
Beth, these are a lifesaver! I’d first made them around the time of posting them, was so-so on the meatballs, but loved the sauce and took to making a double or triple batch of the teryiaki sauce with less corn starch (to keep it runnier instead of a glaze) and basically stopped buying store bought sauce. Then a couple years ago the meatball part of the recipe came to mind in thinking of what to do for make-ahead freezer meals. This became doubly important last fall when I started my first full-time teaching job while simultaneously on the job market (yay academia) and my desire to put forth effort to cook dropped dramatically. So now, I make a triple batch at the start of the semester, which takes hardly any more time to prep than a regular batch (maybe 30min instead of 20), and freeze them (on tray to keep from sticking, then dump in bag). On those days I don’t feel like cooking, they’ve become a staple, because rice cooked in rice cooker + steamer bag of stir-fry veggies + however many defrosted meatballs I’m hungry for = nutritious, flavorful, EASY dinner with hardly any effort. They’ve become a staple in our household for good reason!
Awesome!! I love it! :D I’m so glad this recipe has become so useful to you. :)
This recipe is now a favorite staple in our house! Thanks! We double the sauce cause my dad loves it so much :)
Love this recipe. So easy and my kids love it (so do I)! I’ve also used this as the basis for mini meatballs to have with tomato sauce (with obvious, but really easy substitutions). Thank you for sharing!
I made these with turkey and adjusted the cooking time to a bit less. Leftovers were not a thing between the two of us!
These were delicious! Big hit with my family. I used ground chicken, and it came out great!
1 lb of ground chicken only gave me around 16 meatballs, not 30 as mentioned in the recipe. The sauce could probably go a little lighter on the soy sauce if you want to reduce the salt intake ( or use low sodium).
I made brown rice and broccoli with it, and everyone is asking when we can have this again.
My meatballs overcooked at the 35 min mark. Would cut down my time and use about 1/2 the soy called for. May try, again
I love this idea. I’m a college student and I always make too much food for myself and end up throwing a lot of it out because I don’t eat it fast enough so finding recipes that can be frozen is a lifesaver. I have a quick question though, I’m allergic to ginger and soy; are there substitute ingredients I should/could use instead? Or would it be a problem if I just omitted the ginger and soy sauce? Just asking because this sounds delish!!
Yikes, honestly the ginger and soy are two of the main flavors here so I don’t think there’s anything that you could sub that would make it turn out quite the same. :(
I made this tonight! Great recipe! I had to double it for leftovers, but its very yummy! Thank you!
Question – the first time I made this successfully with no problems. For some reason the last two times, when I go to mix in the cornstarch (with water added) it doesn’t mix in and makes big clumps of the cornstarch…. what am I doing wrong? I swear I’m not doing anything different than the first time!
That’s so strange! Maybe the sauce is too hot when you stir it in, so the cornstarch gels up immediately into clumps? Try letting the sauce cool a touch, whisking in the cornstarch-water mixture, then heating the sauce until it reaches a simmer and thickens.
Recipe looks great! But…”aliquot”? That’s not a word…
Yes, it is a word. It means a portion or fraction of a whole amount. It’s used most often in science and mathematics.
These look great! I’d like to freeze them, but make it as easy and quick as possible when it’s time to prepare. Besides freezing the meatballs raw, do you think it would be ok to mix the sauce ingredients (uncooked, and minus the cornstarch) and also freeze that in a separate bag?
Hmm, I suppose that would work, but without having tried it I can’t say for certain.
Hello, it’s the second time I make this recipe and I LOVE it! It is delicious! Have you ever tried to freeze the leftover meatballs in the glaze? Do you think it would work? Thank you very much!
Glazes and sauces thickened with cornstarch generally don’t freeze that well, but I’ve frozen the meatballs with the rice and glaze all in one dish and didn’t notice too much problem when I reheated. It didn’t say clear, but it wasn’t terrible.
A dinner favorite!! I double the recipe and make mine with a side of Sriracha cold slaw!
This recipe was great! I am staying away from dairy, so the sauce was safe for me. High sodium was a concern, so I drank lots of water. I sautéed red peppers and pineapple in a pan with a little EVOO and put it on top of the rice with meatballs. It added some veggies and made it stretch farther. Will make again!
I love your blog and this is one of my favorite recipes! I am wanting to make this an appetizer and I was wondering if a miniature version of this would hold up in a crock pot with the sauce added to them?
Thanks for all the wonderful and affordable recipes, they have saved my butt on many occasions!
I think they would! I don’t know if the sauce will continue to thicken if it stays on the heat, but other than that I would think it would do fine. :)
This is such a sophisticated dish, and SOOO delicious! I am surprised by the amount of flavor and its simplicity!! I will be making this again, so good!!
I made these today and they were delicious, but I’m not sure that I measured the ginger correctly. Can you estimate how many teaspoons/tablespoons 2 inches of ginger would be?
Probably about 1 to 1/5 Tbsp?
This dish was delicious! The meatballs themselves were a bit bland and I think I would have preferred them a bit softer, but I’ll work on that. Maybe I’ll steam them?? Anyway, it was delicious. I made this dish with your egg roll recipe. Great Chinese food day :)
sauce is great
Hey Beth! I just discovered your not-meatballs on the site, which I haven’t tried yet. I’m wondering if I might use the technique for those, but with the seasoning of this recipe. I can probably figure out adjusting the amounts, so I’m wondering what you think about the flavor/texture of chickpeas working or not for this one. Thanks!
I’m not sure it would work because you have to mix the parsley, onion, Parmesan, and all that other stuff into the chickpeas to make the balls, and those flavors don’t really work with the teriyaki. :/
Gah! Oh my goodness, no. Hahaha What meant was, could I basically substitute the pork in this recipe with mashed chickpeas and pan-fry them like in the other recipe? I’ve never made a veg-type meatball or burger – my question might be matter of your opinion, if the flavor and texture of chickpeas would work with Asian flavors. (I’ve never seen chickpeas used in any Asian recipes…maybe it’s just too weird.) Or would some other of your veg-burger bases work better with these flavors? Sorry – I’m afraid to experiment. (can’t really afford to fail at the moment.) Thank you!
Ohhhh. Hahaha. I see what you mean now. :) Honestly I’m not sure. I’ve never tried chickpeas with those flavors either and I wonder if their flavor would be too strong and might clash.
Wow Wow Wow! This is so delicious. We make the glaze and put it on everything now. We have it in some form at least once a week. Thank you!
Hi,
I have made these a few times to rave reviews from friends. I plan on making these for upcoming Xmas potlucks. Can I pre-cook them in the oven, freeze them, and then when I need them put the sauce mixture in a crockpot and warm them up that way? Would you defrost them first or throw them in frozen? (I won’t have access to a kitchen to warm them up so crockpot is the best I could think of)
I think I would definitely let them defrost before adding them to the slow cooker. A slow cooker on warm will take a really long time to heat up frozen meat balls and that can be a food safety hazard.
Can I use Ground Beef? Also I do not have fresh Ginger, I only have ground ginger.
You can use beef. Ground ginger has a different flavor than fresh, but it will still taste pretty good. I would try using 1/2 tsp in place of the fresh for each the meatballs and the glaze.
WOW, these were good! I added a small bag of frozen broccoli and there was plenty of sauce to go around. Mine were done 10 minutes ahead of time as well. I tested them with an instant read thermometer to make sure they were ok. I may try them at 350 next time. Love the sauce–I will definitely make it my go to teriyaki sauce.
Very good meatball and sauce. However I cook them at 350 not 400. 400 left a cripsy/burnt skin on the meatballs and dried them out. At 350 they are golden brown with no burnt skin.
Great and simple recipe but 35 minute for the tablespoon size meatballs was too long and must of them were very dry.
Still used the sauce and the rice which was delicious.
Just mare this tonight…
Usés panko
I made more sauce with chicken stock…
I made one error with the meatball, half a cup of soya instead or half teaspoon, it si very very salty, but still teste no so bad!
I’m keeping the recipe!
I made this recipe tonight and just wanted to tell you how wonderful my husband and I thought it was! I kept saying, “I can’t believe I made this!” I have never had much success with Asian style dishes but this was spot on. Thank you again. Oh, and it’s our three year wedding anniversary and this was a wonderful dinner to celebrate it!
Just tried these tonight and they will be going in the rotation of a number of your recipes. So simple and yet so good. Used ground chicken and made large meatballs, only cooked for 30 minutes. Had run out of fresh ginger so had to use ground but it was still very yummy. Looking forward to the leftovers for work dinners!
My poor chicken meatballs were pretty dry, but wow, the flavor is totally there. I’ll have to play around with baking time and temperature, but I’m definitely making these again.
I can’t wait to eat leftovers–soaking in the sauce overnight will be delicious.
Hi! I hope you see this and can respond; I am a college student and don’t have access to an oven– can the meatballs be cooked stovetop? I assume they can but with some recipes following exactly is important. As long as they are cooked through, it’s all good?
As long as they are cooked through, yes, it’s fine. I think the only trouble you may run into is that they might fall apart a bit if stirred around in a skillet, but you might be able to do it. :)
I’ve made this a few times and LOVE it… but tonight I need to double the recipe. I though I should just check first to make sure there is nothing (especially in the sauce ingredients) that I shouldn’t actually be doubling… I know sometimes you don’t have to actually double certain ingredients. For instance, using four inches of ginger in the meatballs and four in the sauce sounds quite high! Thanks for your input. :)
If I were to double this recipe I probably would simply double everything, but if you’re a little concerned about so much ginger, you can always hold back a little. I think it will still turn out great! :)
“Aliquot”? Do you mean “allocate”?
Nope, I mean aliquot. I work in a lab, so this is an every day term that we use and it found its way into my daily non-lab vocab. :P
This is in my Top 5. Everyone in the family devours this meal. I have doubled it and frozen it. Then I make fresh rice and have an instant meal. They all love the sauce. I have added a fresh pineapple to the rice bowl with success too!
Did you freeze them in the sauce? Or keep sauce separate?
Did you ever trytrytry to freeze? I was wondering the same so you freeze the meatballs and he sauce or just the sauce?
I froze the rice, meatballs, and sauce all together. I just prepared the dishes as if I was going to eat them, but put them in the freezer instead. It worked well.
One of my favorites. I checked my meatballs at least 5 minutes before the time in the recipe, and they were already done. So I agree with the others that the cook time is a little too long. Glaze was delicious. My husband and I don’t care for fresh ginger, so I left that out. I think I will try ground ginger next time.
How to avoid dry meatballs? They were golden brown on the outside, but very dry on the inside.
When I first read this I thought the temperature and cooking time were too high. When I make meatballs (different recipe but same idea) I bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Of course, this cooking time will vary based on the size of the meatball.
My meatballs turned out very dry on the inside and the teriyaki glaze was a bit too sweet and way darker than yours ?
You may need to shorten the cooking time a bit if the meatballs came out a little dry. Cooking time will vary slightly with the size of the meatball, percent fat in the ground meat, and your individual oven.
Love this recipe. Made some substitutions, simply because I didn’t have all of these ingredients on hand. Used 1/2 tsp ground ginger instead of fresh in the meatballs & about 3/4 tsp in the glaze. It was still yummy. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
I saw your recipe at Pinterest and I made it for tonight’s dinner. Great taste and such an Asian kick to it….love it! thanks
These were great and easy! Can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
The Teriyaki Meatball Bowls are out of this world! Since I didn’t have ground pork, I used ground turkey, so the meatballs were brown, and sticking to the cookie sheet (even though I did use a LOT of cooking spray!). The meatballs are delicious, and this recipe is a KEEPER!! :-)
I made this twice. Once with beef and once with chicken for a buffet. It was amazing! They ate it all!!!
Very simple and very tasty! I would and will be making this again. the recipe is a keeper!
Thank you for posting and sharing this with us!
I love all your recipes!!
This recipe is golden! My grown son just said he could eat all of what is left! And he said I could make these often! I’m working my way through many of your recipes and adding them to my Pepperplate.com file. Thank you for all these delicious recipes!
These were so good! I threw in some cooked broccoli with the glaze and put it all together for a super quick and tasty dinner. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi I thought these looked delicious and easy, but I was wondering if the bread crumbs were essential? I have celiac disease, and it’s hard to find really good gluten-free breadcrumbs.
They do help bind the meatballs, but you can try using some cooked rice instead. :)
I also have Celiac’s disease and I find that grinding up some certified GF oats in my Magic Bullet works wonderfully as a breadcrumb substitute. For meatballs I also add an egg even if it’s not called for.
This is a super meal, I minced boneless chicken thighs which are relatively inexpensive here in the UK. No rice vinegar but added lemon juice, could have thickened the sauce a bit more as I thinned it to make extra re a comment further down. 5 out of 5
Simple and delicious! I serve it with stir- fried greens to make it a full meal.
Have made this over and over again. Making a quadruple batch tonight so this is a quick-n-easy emergency dinner a few more times this season. Appreciate a sauce from scratch! (as always-that’s why I come here)
Flaver of both meatballs and sauce is pretty intense. Since our children prefer to back it down a bit, I’m using less in the balls, and full flavor in the sauce.
Just made these for dinner. Was good and tasty! I made the meatballs with ground turkey and found that the meatballs stuck to the foil. I’d suggest spraying the foil covered baking sheet with non-stick spray before placing the meatballs on it.
If you use parchment paper instead of foil you’ll have zero sticking. I use the stuff all the time for bacon, cookies, meatballs, etc. :)
Omg soooo yummy!!!! Made this tonight, and the honey spice glazed chicken thighs last night, sooooo good :) can’t wait to make more recipes off this blog !!! So refreshing that their inexpensive but also using real ingredients ( so many recipes include cans of soup etc)
I make these with ground chicken and they are awesome!
The only issue with this recipe for me was the cook time for the meatballs. I figured I’d be on the safe side and set the timer for 30 min. to start. Oops. They were super crispy on top, and black on the bottom. Still, the flavors in this recipe were fantastic, and stewing in the teriyaki helped soften the meatballs up a bit. This recipe is a keeper – with just a little tweak on the cook time :)
Yep, these were amazing . Approved by my husband and my son ! Very delicious !
I made this but used our canned salmon and it was awesome! I baked the fish-balls for only 20 minutes but everything else was the same. Very yummy!
This recipe was great! I made it for my fiance and I and he had 3 servings…and there is still plenty leftover to bring for lunch tomorrow.
I love how the flavors of everything match up perfectly, it was very easy, and it came out perfectly without any additions or substitutions :-)
This is fantastic! I made this last night and my husband was practically drooling when I put the meatballs in the teriyaki glaze. This has made its way into our regular dinner rotation. Thanks for the recipe!
I made these with ground turkey (hint: spray the aluminum foil to prevent sticking). I added a can of pineapple chunks (drained) to the sauce. This is a fantastic receipe. Absolutely loved it.
Finally i did this, and so good. I loved. Look my version from your recipe =D http://cozinhalegal.com.br/receita/230/Almondegas_Teriyaki
Any idea how much ginger I’d use if it was pre-grated? I have a paste but don’t know how much to use. It says that 1TB paste = 1 TB fresh chopped ginger…..
Probably about 1 Tbsp. :)
I made these, and they were really great. I’m never buying teriyaki sauce again!
However, question: I noticed that with the teriyaki sauce (and the sriracha glaze) that it doesn’t reheat well in the microwave. I just got this gluey mess. Ay ideas on how to reheat these sauces so they’re nice and smooth again?
I think you can whisk in more water once it’s warmed, but that requires that it be separate from the rest of the ingredients, so I don’t think that will work. Maybe if less cornstarch is used to begin with? I think I’d start experimenting with using less cornstarch.
Just made this and I can’t get enough of it! Substituted apple cider vinegar for the rice vinegar. Didn’t detract from the recipe as far as I can tell. Seriously, thank you for this recipe!
I made this tonight and it was a big hit! I did substitute half the soy sauce with pineapple juice (from the can of pineapple rings that I served with the meal) so it wouldn’t be quite as strong. It was perfect and the whole family really liked it. Steamed broccoli and pineapple rings were great with it! I’ve pinned a ton of your recipes to try and your blog is my new favorite! Thanks so much!
I love this recipe just as it is but I have to tell you tonight I took my leftover meatballs n’ sauce, sliced them and put them on a soft white bun (the italian bakery at the end of our street sells them for 4 for a dollar!) with shredded carrot, sliced cucumbers, a handful of fresh cilantro, mayo and a good squirt of sriracha. It was amazing! Like a Bánh mì sandwich! It was sloppy and delicious – I might even double the recipe next time just so I can make more sandwiches!
Great recipe! I actually forgot to cover the meatballs so they came out a bit dry, but still delicious. I actually had chinese sausage on hand so just to experiment, mixed it with beef. Turned out with so much flavor! Will definitely make this again
I’m going to make these tonight. I don’t have any pork so I will make them with ground beef. That being the case, and suggestion how long to bake the meatballs for?
They should cook in the same amount of time :)
Very tasty. I used beef as I avoid pork and I think it lacked a bit of umami as a result but still turned out well. I fried the meatballs in coconut oil rather than baking; I think it only added to it. If you don’t enjoy salt like my self I would suggest using a low sodium soy sauce (I’ll be doing this next time).
Thank you for the very tasty recipe!
Just made it – SO GOOD! I am wondering about the measurement on the ginger though. Any idea if it’s approximately a tbsp? Or tsp? Depending on where I break off my knob from, some 2″ long pieces are about 2″ thick where others are less than an inch thick so the amount can really vary. Mine came out excellent but very prevalent ginger taste.
It’s really flexible, so if you add a little more or less it doesn’t matter, so you don’t have to worry about the girth. Probably about 1 tablespoon grated, packed.
I doubled the recipe and used the remainder to make teriyaki burgers. They turned out great! When I find pork on sale again I’ll make a huge batch and fill my freezer with both.
oh wow these were easy. hardest thing was waiting for the meatballs to cook. i’m not a fan of ginger, so subbed a little mustard seed to give it some heat and it worked perfect. i used a rice cooker, and put some broccoli florets in the steamer top of the rice cooker, and it was all perfect. even picky boy child loved it! of course, hubs and i had to add a splash of sriracha to ours…. :D
I made this tonight. it was awesome. can I just say that Jasmine rice is amazing with the meatballs. Pure Awesomeness!
Just made these last night for my 3 children…..the comment?? “Mom! it tastes just like Panda Express!!” Now I don’t know about you folks, but I’ll take home-made to fast-food anyday! This was fabulous. I got off work at 5:45pm and was cleaning up the kitchen by 7pm. That’s not too shabby for such deliciousness! highly recommend this one.
Just made these and love them overall… Just a bit to salty for us. Going to do 3/1 ration with the soy and water next time.
I gave these a try and they turned out great. I like my meatballs a little on the juicy side so I did 30 minutes in the oven instead of 35, and I used panko in place of the bread crumbs. Definitely going to make again!
This was a great recipe! I made it once as written, and tonight, I used the sauce on boneless pork ribs. Very versatile and delicious. Thank you for the recipe!
This was such a great recipe! Just made them, and they were fabulous. I made my sauce a bit too strong by using too much ginger, but despite that they tasted great. I had never made any sauces like this before, and the way it thickened was so cool to watch!
I’m making this recipe tonight.. One problem. I don’t like ginger :/ Is leaving that out going to ruin the recipe?
It will probably taste alright still. It will just taste more like soy sauce than teriyaki sauce.
I made these following the recipe exactly using turkey for the meatballs, and while the teriyaki sauce was amazing at first, the meal overall felt very heavy and incredibly salty (despite using reduced sodium soy sauce). I’m not eliminating this from my recipes, but it definitely needs some tweaking for me to love it next time.
Would using beef work? If it was already on hand?
Yes, beef and ginger go wonderfully together so this would probably be great with beef. :)
Just made this for my boyfriend and I and we loved it! Thought everything was balanced and well flavored. Felt like there were too many green onions in the initial meatballs though as there’s more to come as a garnish so I took some out. Added cilantro along with the green onions at the end to give it a little fresh bite :)
Ahhhh, my meatballs turned out so dry. I guess my oven was too hot. Keep a close eye on the meatballs. 25 min at 400 was too long. I was really disappointed.
I think I’m going to have to test this recipe again and adjust the cooking time/temp… it’s an excellent excuse to make them again :)
These were delicious. I followed the recipe exactly and 40 minutes in the oven lead to very overcooked meatballs. Next time I will cook less and use turkey because the ground pork I got was a little too rich for me. The boyfriend kept commenting about how the sauce tasted like it came out of a restaurant :P
Thanks again, Beth! You are my favorite blog in the history of the internet!
I make these at least once a month because my family absolutely loves them. I’ve made it exactly like the recipe and played around with adding pineapple. It’s always so good.
This is hands down my favourite recipe on this site.
Beth, the picture for this recipe has been enticing me for months, so I finally went for it. my only regret is that I didn’t do so sooner!
I paired it with your coconut rice, using basmati, and that was tasty enough even without the meatballs!
I followed words of caution from earlier commenters and can only recommend that others do the same – be very cautious with your soy sauce, since the brand can seriously affect your saltiness; lower your cook time if you use ground turkey ( and covering them in sauce will help keep them moist); adding pineapple is a delicious idea.
:)
I have made these several times. I substitute frozen meatless crumbles for the pork. I’m sure it tastes different, but my kids (and husband) love the results. It’s so nice to make one meal that everyone will eat without whining.
So good as they are here… just made the glaze with lemon zest and it added this awesome sweet note that enhanced the ginger even more and it’s really tasty! Love this recipe :D
I had some turkey meatballs in my freezer that i needed to use up so i used the terriyaki glaze and it was delicious! I added a squeeze of siracha to it for an extra kick! So good!
The sauce was really good. I just used the meatballs that i had on hand and they were fine. I’m sure the meatballs in the recipe will be even better. Next time!
This will be my second time making this…. I’m sure it’ll be as delicious as the first time!!
Anonymous – I bake and complete the bowls and then freeze them :) I like to freeze them in those small blue top resealable plastic containers (like Ziploc or Glad).
I am quite excited to try these! Just a question: To freeze them, do you bake them & complete the dish or do you freeze them before baking them? I work super long hours, so I love to have premade meals. Thanks! ~Annelise
Nicole – Toasted sesame oil is very unique in flavor and I can’t think of anything similar that you could substitute with. That being said, I’m sure this would still be fantastic without it. I say give it a shot even without the sesame oil :)
I can’t find sesame oil at any of the stores in my small town. Anything I might be able to use instead?
This was sooo good and easy!!
Vivzilla – it was probably the vinegar. He might just be extra sensitive to sour flavors. So, if you do happen to try it again, just try adding less vinegar :)
I thought these were great. My gran thought that the sauce tasted “sour” Do you think it was the soy, vinegar or both that evoked this reaction?
I loved loved loved loved the chicken yakisoba, so I tried this one tonight…and it just wasn’t my favorite. Onwards!
I loved loved loved the chicken yakisoba, and tried this tonight. It just wasn’t my favorite.
Okay so I just made this with beef because walmart didn’t have ground pork and I didn’t see that I could use ground chicken or turkey I also used store bought teriyaki sauce because I already had it in my fridge and I’m moving out of state and trying to use everything I already have they where super yummy. Can’t wait to try with ground pork and your teriyaki sauce.
Ohhhh…we just had these for dinner, and they were so good! I got 24 meatballs out of 2 chicken breasts that I ground. Like previous posters, I found that these cooked faster than the time you listed, and I ended up making a couple of subs for things that I’d used up; but my husband told me that I could make them again. That’s always a good sign!
I made these last night and they were great. I used about 12 ounces of 93% lean ground turkey and added a small zucchini that I grated. Turned out moist and delicious, though I found they only needed about 25 minutes in the oven. They stuck to the foil a bit, so next time I’ll spray it first. I also subbed brown rice for the jasmine. Great recipe!
Just wanted to add… made these again, and the leftover meatballs… I had 4, I just threw in a pan with some frozen stir fry veggies for lunch today. There was just enough sauce left to flavor my whole bowl. So great!
I made these last week and they were INSANE. So tasty! A couple of notes: I made my meatballs with a 1T ice cream scooper and got a yield of 37 which cooked in my oven in 20 minutes. I don’t know if my oven is hotter than yours in general but my meats always seem to cook faster than you list. I also left out the sesame seeds (too spendy at my market) and served over quinoa which I seasoned with some soy and extra scallions. Thanks for the delicious recipe; it’s going into our regular rotation!
Mom on a Mission – You should definitely break down and buy some. It’s what gives the meatballs their amazing flavor. You can just break off a small knob (no need to buy a lot) and it’s usually fairly inexpensive. :)
Curious, as I have never used ginger before… would it make a big difference taste wise if I went without, or should I buckle down and go find some from the store? I don’t want to throw the taste off
Wow!!!! These were amazing! Filling for sure, sweet, salty and tender! My 4 year old loved them and he always complains about dinner. Keep the recipes coming. Thank you.
Out of this world!! The husband told me it was restaurant quality dinner! I got a high-five!! :)
Just made these for dinner tonight – AMAZING!!!! Thanks for sharing the recipe :)
These were really good. I used 19oz of turkey (1 package) and it made 30 meatballs. My only complaint was they were a little dry because I missed the part about putting the glaze on ahead of time versus after cooking, and I left the green onions out because BF doesn’t like them. Next time though, I’d probably add some grated carrot to increase the moisture. The glaze is RIDICULOUSLY good, and I even scraped the leftovers of it out of the pot to freeze and use later on chicken breast for a quick dinner. Oh, I also mixed in 1/2 cup steamed broccoli for each serving, to cut down on the rice (I’m a calorie counter so I only used 1/2 cup of rice per serving instead of a whole cup).
This was dynamite! I added a clove of garlic and a couple shakes of red pepper flakes to the sauce. Sooo good!
I used ground turkey and they were excellent. I got about 25 meatballs out of the 1lb of meat. I’ll have to double the recipe next time, so I’ll have some to freeze. I combined this with the Tahini Kale Salad–yes, it’s a weird combination, but I liked it.
Lyn – There’s no real rule of thumb, it’s just about flavor. Dark brown sugar has more molasses in it than light brown sugar, which will give more flavor and moisture. In a recipe like cookies that includes a lot of brown sugar, it will make more of a difference than in something like this that only uses a little. In a pinch you could probably use them interchangeably in any recipe.
Thanks Beth. In general, what is the rule of thumb of when to use dark brown sugar versus light brown sugar?
Lyn – Dark vs. light brown sugar won’t make a major difference with this recipe :) Color in pictures can sometimes be deceiving, so it might not actually be that different.
great recipe. i stumbled onto your blog from pinterest, and so glad i did. i am new to cooking, so your step by step photos are the best thing in the world. i used dark brown sugar for this. would there have been a difference if i used light brown sugar? my sauce turned out darker than your pictures show.
FANTASTIC as can be!
LOVED this recipe!
SO simple, easy to do,
So economical, and your step by step photos
enticed me to do! Thank you!
I used meatballs I got from Costco so it was super fast too! Yummy…the boys loved it!
Yep, they can be frozen. I actually freeze them with the rice and everything in the bowl and then just pop them in the microwave when I’m ready to eat.
Gday I know about making and freezing the rice separate…Can these meatballs be frozen? Thank you!
Okay so this makes it the 4th time I’ve made these, I had to break down and finally print out the recipe to add to my favorites folder. I make this with turkey instead and it still comes out good. My family is in love with them.
Just made these and they were awesome! Thanks!!
These are AWESOME!!! As is your site!!!
I like to just build the bowls as if I’m going to eat them (rice, sauce, and all) and then freeze them. You could freeze the uncooked meatballs and then take them straight from the freezer to the oven. If you bake them and then freeze them without the sauce, I would reheat them in the pot of sauce so they don’t dry out. In other words, you can do it any old which way :)
Can’t wait to make these for the freezer! But I have a question, do you bake the meatballs, then add the sauce, then freeze? Or do you freeze them raw with the sauce on the side? Thanks!
Oh my gosh. These were AWESOME!!! I used half ground turkey, have lentils and they were delicious and hush-puppyish. So great. I love this site!
I made these and overall it was really great, however I think 40 min @ 400F is too long. I sized mine to get the same yield as you and mine were VERY dry. Pork doesn’t need to be killed, it’s already dead! I’d probably try a little closer to 30min next time, or just monitor the internal temperature.
Hi Beth,
I made these Teryaki meatballs yesterday for our dinner. At first I thought they are overly sweet but kids and hubby love them! THANKS!
Elena
Made these with ground turkey tonight and they turned out great! I had some leftover crushed pineapple that I wanted to use up so I added that to the meatballs. I baked on a silicone mat and had no problems with sticking! Thanks for all the wonderful recipes, you rock!
VERY yummy! I was very surprised at myself for being able to make teriyaki sauce from scratch and not scorching it. thank you for the wonderful step-by-steps. my meatballs burned a bit, but I’ll know for next time! :D
I made these for the first time tonight and they were awesome. I’m a former vegetarian and therefore don’t have much experience cooking meat. These were easy to make and came out perfectly! A+
g’day
made these for the family the other night, but instead of meatballs used 1kg(2 lbs)of skinnless chicken breast i filleted and then sliced into about 1/2″x1″ stips, cooked in an electric frypan with the garlic, soy and ginger that would of gone into the meatballs. Turned out perfect and the family of 10 ate every drop (doubled the sauce too)
Thanks for your blog, gonna try and make a big batch of all your freezer meals for when im being lazy :)
This came out brilliant when I made it :)
Just made these…SO GOOD!! Will definitely be in the regular meal rotation.
Ok, I just made these with a 50/50 mix of lean ground chicken and lean ground pork. Together, these meats are the perfect combo for these meatballs. Not greasy or heavy at all…just delicious. As I mentioned in a previous review, the only thing I changed up was that I sauteed the onion/garlic/ginger mix before adding it to the meat mixture…just a personal preference. Thanks Beth for an awesome recipe, and a nice twist on the traditional meatball.
I have now made these twice – once with ground chicken and once with ground pork. Both versions were excellent, but the chicken ones were a tad dry. The next time I make these I will try a pork/chicken combo, which I predict will be great. Even with just using only pork, very little fat came out, and they did not taste greasy at all. The only change I made was that I lightly sauteed the onions/garlic/ginger (personal preference as I find doing this takes the edge off), and I added one piece of bread soaked in milk (this is what I do with all meatballs, as I was taught to do this by my mom). Excellent recipe and can’t wait to make a big batch to freeze!
Made these tonight with beef instead of pork cause that’s what I had. I thought they were a bit over cooked at 35 minutes, but mine might have been smaller. I also used shallots instead of green onions since I had those in house. Very good, but a little aggressive on the ginger in the sauce for our tastes. We like spice, but not quite that much ginger.
These were fabulous! Although with my desired size of meatball the recipe only yield 20 meatballs – and even being larger they were still done at 28 minutes. So my advice would be to check the meatballs for doneness before the 30 minute mark! Teriaki glaze was easy and so yummy!
I made these last night but with Ground Turkey, talk about yummy but be careful with the soy sauce. The brand I have is the one my husband’s mom gave to me (they are from Hong Kong) and I did not remember until almost the last minute that it’s more potent so I had to cut the amount in half and add 1/4 cup water. I kept tasting and tasting to be sure it was not overly salty. They were yummy. I made a Teriyaki Meatball sandwich for lunch the next day with just some mixed greens and tomato slices.
these are soooo freakin good! had to improvise with molasses and white sugar when I realized I was almost out of brown sugar. Added some Siracha to the teriyaki sauce to make it extra special. So good!! Made a double batch and my hubby will be forever grateful. Thank you so much for such a great blog with great, budget friendly recipes! You make eating at home so much more enjoyable :)
Tried these last night and wow – these aren’t merely good, they are AMAZING. My husband is in love, and has already asked for me to go to the butcher’s this weekend and grab 5lb of the ground pork to make a huge freezer batch. He’s already day-dreaming of using the mix for burgers on the grill, and I’m wondering how they would do if threaded onto lemongrass and broiled. So very tasty! I made a few changes, used crushed Rice Chex in place of the bread crumbs (dratted celiac) and upped the garlic & ginger but beyond that? Simply wonderful. This will be a definite repeater in the rotation. Thaks!
Thank you so much for the quickest feedback ever! And for the advice and tips, In my opinion, you’re awesome!
Anon – Beef would probably still taste very good. I wouldn’t substitute vegetable oil for the sesame oil. The sesame oil is added only for the flavor, which is very unique and strong (toasted sesame oil). Vegetable oil has next to no flavor. You could make this without the sesame oil, but you wouldn’t need to add vegetable oil in its place. As for the cider vinegar, it tastes quite different than rice vinegar. It might actually taste good in the teriyaki sauce, though. It will probably add more zing. I say give it a shot :)
And also can I use apple cider vinegar instead of rice vinegar? Unfortunately that’s all I have in my pantry, but I don’t want to attempt to make this recipe if my substitution would affect the taste and flavor of the teriyaki sauce in a different way..
Hi Beth, I love your blog and all your recipes!! If you don’t mind, I have a quick question. I would love to make this tomorrow for my boyfriend and I, but I live about an hour away from the nearest city market and I only have ground beef in my freezer, in fact, I have 2 packs of ground beef in my freezer lol so I have to use them up. And by the look of this recipe, I can’t wait till I have to go to the store again to get ground pork, so my question is, can I use ground beef instead and still have a delicious meal with this recipe and also can I substitute vegetable oil for the sesame oil since I don’t have that either..? or would it affect the taste of the teriyaki sauce somehow..?
Just made these w/ ground turkey and baked at 350 for 35 minutes – amazing!! Never buying bottled teriyaki sauce again
Made these tonight and they were AMAZING! We loved the sauce, I want to put it on everything now. I forgot to put the meatballs on a rack in the oven, so they stuck to the foil a little, but it also gave them a little caramelization on the bottom that was tasty.
Fixed! Thanks for letting me know! :)
Trying this tonight.
FYI, the text directions don’t say when to add the sesame seeds, while the pics say after sauce thickening.
Thanks for the inspiration – I made a version with edamame in the rice and I think it took it to the next level!
This dish was amazingly delicious! Made this for dinner tonight and it was gone in a flash. Thanks for sharing!
It would be awesome if you had Nutritional Value with these recipes….I know, I know…I am asking for too much…but it would rock!
I make these with MATCH meat(faux ground pork flavor)and they turn out spectaular every time. They don’t need to baked as long if you do bake them, but I prefer to fry them in a lightly oiled skillet because MATCH meat has no fat in it.
It worked!! I made this into a VEGGIE-friendly recipe using LightLife’s Gimme Lean ground sausage style soy product (I couldn’t find the ground beef style in my local grocery store but the ground sausage worked great). I took the “meat”balls out of the oven at 25 minutes and they were slightly crunchy on the outside, moist in the middle. Popped them in the teriyaki sauce and they taste great! So so happy I was able to make this into a veggie recipe, I’ve missed teriyaki meatballs in the 3 years I’ve been veg!
I did a little googling for my fellow vegetarians, and I’m going to try this recipe with LightLife’s Gimme Lean ground beef style soy product. Apparently it holds together well specifically to make meatballs! I love MorningStar’s soy ground beef crumbles, but it doesn’t hold together so it’s better suited for sauces and chilis.
Has anyone made these in a crockpot? I’m wondering if I would have to change anything, or just put them in there on “keep warm” after I cook everything?
This is going on Pinterest!
I’ve been following Budget Bytes for a while, and have tried a few recipes so far. I have to say, though, that this is our new favorite meal. I double the recipe, jar the sauce and freeze the meat balls, and we have our favorite meal when we’re too tired to think about cooking. Thank you!
Made these last night and they were a HIT!!
Made these last weekend and paired them with Coconut Jasmine Rice…. the combo was FANTASTIC! Tried to keep the serving small, but then had to go back for “seconds”!!! My pork meatballs stuck to the foil a little bit but the browned area of the meatball was so flavorful! Excellent recipe!
These were delicious! I made them tonight and my very picky almost 3 year old ate SEVEN!!! Thank you so much for the recipe! I shared a link back to your site on my blog!
I’m eating a bowl of these as I type this – oh my gossshhhhh, they are the best meatballs I’ve ever eaten. I’d pay a lot of money for these in a restaurant! The sauce is amazing, though I may reduce the brown sugar by a tiny bit next time. Also, I used 99% fat free turkey and didn’t reduce the baking time :( but they turned out just fine. I brushed a little sauce on them before baking and they developed an awesome crispy exterior. Beth, you’re the BEST!
These are AWESOME!!!!! I made them tonight for Valentine’s Day and my husband loved them! He said, “These are restaurant quality.” I used ground turkey instead of the pork. I will probably cut down the baking time a bit next time with the turkey. They were on the verge of being dry because I didn’t consider the lower fat content. But they were still GREAT!!! I didn’t have trouble with them sticking to the foil – just sprayed with cooking spray before putting the meatballs on the foil.
I made these last night, the whole family loved them! Thanks for the great recipe! I just threw them on some leftover homemade chicken fried rice.
Ishak – You could definitely do this with beef or chicken, just substitute the same amount for the pork. If you want to cook them on the stove top, just add some oil to a skillet and saute the meatballs until they are cooked through, rolling them around in the pan as they cook.
I made these with turkey and they turned out great- to the poster above that had trouble, I spread sesame oil on the foil before I put them on it, and I didn’t have any burn or sticking problems. I also discovered halfway through that I was out of corn starch, so I used flour- it tasted fine, you just have to simmer it longer. The whole family liked this one- my two-year-old ate two whole meatballs!
-Maia
Hello
I’m a uni student and I don’t have an oven. Also I don’t eat pork. Would there be a way to do this with beef or chicken, and using pots and pans?
I am the most recent Anon poster and I did adjust as suggested by acutally adding a tad more rice vinegar to the leftovers which tasted great. Made for some delicious smelling lunches this week…co-worker envy – i Loved it! And that Jasmine rice just gets better with the adjusted sauce. Next time I wiill use pork, though. THANKS BETH!
I feel like meatballs are always on my short list — asian style are my favorite, hadn’t thought of this combo! Thanks!
I used just regular rice vinegar. I’m finding that people are getting varied results for my Asian sauces and I suspect that it’s due to variations in brand (soy sauce and vinegar brands). All I can suggest is to taste and adjust :P
beth, did you use rice vinegar or seasoned rice vinegar?…my sauce was so pretty but tasted off…also if i were to attmpt again i wont use turkey – blech! the balls stuck to my foil and nearly burned…full fat pork all the way!
these were delicious! Thanks! :)
Aileen – I’m not very familiar with vegetarian meat substitutes, but I’m sure there is a ground meat replacement product that you could use! If you try it, let us know how it works! :)
Any chance there’s a good vegetarian alternative to these meatballs….. looks so yummy I’m tempted to break veg for them haha.
Hey Beth :)
I tried this tonight with a couple alterations and it turned out great! The sauce is really similar to another sauce I make, so my boyfriend was really happy about it.
I cooked the balls at 350 for a slightly shorter period of time, and instead of using sesame oil and rice vinegar, I used a tiny bit of white vinegar with mirin (no sesame oil or rice vinegar on hand). It was really delicious!
Love this! I had all the ingredients on hand except the pork, so it was a VERY cheap trip to the store. I had leftover coconut rice and it was fabulous with them. The sauce seemed a little too strong and overwhelming to me. I’m not sure how I could make it tamer for next time, but I will definitely be making these again!
I just made this yesterday and it was sooo delicious! Simple, fast, and scrumptous, which are all A++ attributes for any meal. Next time I’m going to cut back on the sugar in the sauce a bit and make a bit more volume wise (I like a lot of sauce on my rice!).
Thanks for the delicious recipe!
Thanks for the great dinner idea. After tasting, my hubby and I decided on a couple of changes for next time. For the meatballs, adding in some rooster sauce and swapping the breadcrumbs for a roulade of milk and white bread, ensuring that I don’t dry out the meatballs. For the sauce, swapping the water for pineapple juice and cutting the brown sugar back to a 1/4 cup. I’ll let you know how it turns out next time!
5spoons – I would roll them into balls, place them on a baking sheet and then freeze them for an hour or two. Then, transfer them to a freezer bag and they should keep from sticking to each other. Since they’re kind of small, they should thaw out pretty fast in a hot oven. So you can probably just transfer them straight from the freezer to the oven and only have to increase the bake time by 10 minutes or so!
These look amazing – cant wait to make them! Do you have any tips or suggestios for freezing them? Thanks!
Anon – Flour will work to thicken it but it tends to give a “floury” taste to the sauce and it may be a little more difficult to dissolve and prevent lumps. Cornstarch is worth the purchase, plus it will stay good in your pantry for a very long time :)
Normally, I wouldn’t go for something like this, but your pictures stopped me dead in my tracks. I am definitely going to try this!
I dont have cornstarch on hand would flour be an ok alternate?
This was amazing! Glad I came across this on Pinterest! This only made me 20 meatballs, but they were sooo good!
Love meatballs!! My recipe is close to yours, although I usually use half beef and half pork–adding ground turkey for part of all of the recipe wouldn’t make a lot of difference. I also bake them to get rid of fat, and usually use a fairly neutral seasoning (the garlic, ginger, soy would qualify for mmost treatments) and make enough for at least 3 meals, freezing the excess cooked meatballs for another time. YUM!!
So good. I will be using this again and the sauce will go great with any type of stir fry. Do you have a peanut sauce by any chance?
Ashley – Keep heating the sauce. When it reaches a simmer, the starch granules will swell up and thicken the sauce. Until then it probably will just sit at the bottom :) Make sure to stir it as it heats up to a simmer, too!
I love this recipe! But how do you keep the cornstarch slurry from making a sludge puddle in the bottom of the skillet? please tell me what I’m doing wrong.
mmmmm. These were great!
Jasmin rice is my new favorite rice and the meatball looks yummy.
The Beau is TOTALLY obsessed with this dish now– it turned out delicious! I had the same curiosity about the (not) meatballs, myself, so I may just have to experiment one evening…
That looks so good :) Im always looking for new ways to cook with ground turkey! Glad to be a new follower to your blog :)
I made this last night and it was a hit. My 4 kids ate it…need I say more. The only complaint from my husband was the sauce is a little too strong.
Hmm, my instincts say no but happy surprises have happened from stranger experiments! I say go for it because you never know!
I would like to adapt your (not) meatballs –omitting Italian components like parmesan cheese and parsley– and serve with this teriyaki sauce for our weekly vegetarian dinner. Do you think the flavors and textures would work?
Delicious! We just made these for dinner, threw it in a white take-out box with steamed broccoli, and ate with chop sticks. Turned on Relaxing Orient (thanks to grooveshark.com) and had a Chinese take-out night. For $7.89!
wow..sounds scrumptiously tasty
hopped in from FB..
love your space..amazing presentation with inviting cliks..
happy following you..;)
check out mine sometime..
Tasty Appetite
Galatian – Yes! In fact, I almost made it with coconut rice but decided on plain jasmine rice instead :)
Would this be a good combo with your coconut rice? http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/2011/12/coconut-rice-take-2-291-recipe-049.html
Oooo. I think my kids would love these. Who can go wrong with meatballs?? This is my first time to your blog. Love the concept! Thanks for the delicious and affordable ideas!
This looks DELICIOUS! Can’t wait to try it!
this is a must make for sure.
Also, I had to share: I’ve been reading and coking from your site for about a year and a half, but I showed one of my new coworkers your raisin bread recipe and now your site has spread like wildfire! I’ve had at least 6 other folks in the office say they’ve started reading you and cooking your tasty treats. :)
def putting pork mince on the grocery list so I can make this
ohhhhh yes, this is happening this wknd! :)
So going to make this sometime this week!:)
Thanks!