Hey hey hey! I have a spicy little surprise for you today:Â Healthy 30 Minute Sriracha Teriyaki Meatball Bowls. This recipe is fast, fiercely flavorful, and fun to make! It’s win-win din-din all around.
Today is all about this quick, easy, and hella delicious dinner. I have been on a quick and easy dinner rampage the past few weeks because life >>> busy! And after working all day, it’s like… you want me to cook you dinner? But then I do because I’m a cool lady like that. Plus delivery has been draining mah wallet and I have a trip to Greece to save for! But enough about mah issues…
This meal in particular is quite wonderful for a whole slew of reasons… below I have listed the top 5!
1) As mentioned earlier, it’s a 30 minute meal situation! If you’re anything like me, that alone is a major selling point.
2) FLAVOR. Holy cow. This meal has got so much going on in the flavor department. Sriracha and Soy and Ginger! It’s an explosion of awesome.
3) Makes a ton —> HELLO, leftovers. I love you.
4) It’s pretty darn healthy. I mean, only you can determine what’s considered good for you…Â but this recipe uses ground turkey meat, brown rice, and a homemade teriyaki sauce that’s packed with yummy body friendly ingredients like raw honey, ginger, and garlic.
5) Totally adaptable! I am a minimalist come dinnertime, so I was very bare in my bowl making process. Rice + meatballs + scallions = perfection. But! You could add a slew of different veggies to these bowls and really amp them up. I think crunchy carrots and cabbage could be delicious.
So let’s talk about the homemade teriyaki sauce for a sec! It’s sooooooo easy, so don’t be scared off if this is your first rodeo with homemade sauces. I really love making this at home (opposed to buying it pre-made) because I can control what goes into the sauce. I’m always pretty disturbed when I pick up a bottle of teriyaki sauce and see it’s loaded with sugar, corn syrup, oils, and other nasty ingredients. I’ll save my sugar for cupcakes, thank you very much. So this sauce is made with honey, soy sauce, sriracha, ginger, and sesame oil. There’s a little cornstarch whisked in at the very end, just to thicken it up. Be sure to measure accurately when this step comes up; too much cornstarch will leave your sauce a giant goopy mess.
As far as the meatballs go, the process is pretty straightforward. You’ll mix all of the ingredients together; roll them out into tiny, bite-sized balls; flash fry them in a VERY hot pan, and pop them in the oven for 10-11 minutes.
Two things to keep in mind here:
1) The meatballs only need to fry for about 1 minute on each side. We’re just looking to get a little color on each side, not cook them.
2) Be sure you place the pan with oil in it on the burner before you start making the meatballs. This saves time and allows the oil to really heat up. Hot oil = crispy meatballs. If you’re worried about smoke, just crack a window or turn your fan on.
Once the meatballs have cooked, all you do is toss them in the sauce, plop them over the rice, and serve! I should note that I use instant rice in this recipe, which helps keep it under 30 minutes. Trader Joe’s sells a variety of microwaveable rice packages that I’ve come to love (not getting paid to say that!) and they’re ready in like 3 minutes. So be sure you either prepare your rice in advance or use instant rice to keep this meal a 30 minute situation.
Ok! So now you have all the details needed to throw your very own meatball bowl party. Go get your groove on. It’s gon be delicious! xoxo
Healthy 30 Minute Sriracha Teriyaki Meatball Bowls
Ingredients
For the meatballs:
- 1 pound ground turkey meat
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 tablespoon sriracha sauce
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 3 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated
- 1 scallion, white part only, minced
- 1 cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup lukewarm water
- 3 tablespoons oil (olive, vegetable, canola) for frying
For the Sriracha Teriyaki:
- 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/3 cup raw honey
- 1/2 cup + 3 tablespoons water, divided
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons Sriracha sauce
- 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated
- 2 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
For the rice:
- 2 cups instant brown rice, cooked according to package instructions
- Scallions, for sprinkling
Instructions
For the meatballs:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
- Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Allow the oil to simmer (you want it very hot) while you prepare the meatballs.
- In a large bowl combine ground turkey meat, garlic, egg, cilantro, sriracha, soy, ginger, scallion, pepper, and panko. Slowly add the water, a few tablespoons at a time. The mixture should be very moist but still hold its shape when rolled into meatballs.
- Scoop one heaping tablespoon sized round of meat into your palm and roll it into a small ball; repeat until all meat has been rolled into meatballs.
- Fry meatballs in batches in the hot oil, 1-2 minutes on each side; or just until lightly browned.
- Place semi-cooked meatballs on prepared baking sheet. Once all meatballs have been panfried, place the baking sheet in the oven to bake for 10-12 minutes, or until they're cooked though.
- While the meatballs bake, make your sriracha teriyaki!
- In a small saucepan combine the soy sauce, honey, 1/2 cup of the water, sesame oil, sriracha sauce, and ginger. Heat over a medium-low flame and stir constantly until the honey is dissolved; about 3 minutes..
- In a small dish combine the cornstarch with the remaining 3 tablespoons of water, then pour it into the glaze, stir well to combine.
- Increase the heat to medium high. Cook the sauce, stirring constantly, just until thickened. This should only take 2 minutes. Once it's thickened remove from heat and stir in sesame seeds.
- At this point the meatballs should be ready to come out of the oven! Transfer them from the baking sheet straight into the pot with the sauce; stir to coat.
Assembly:
- Place 1/2 cup of rice in each bowl. Top with a few meatballs, a sprinkle of sesame seeds, and some chopped scallions! Enjoy!
Robyne says
I am having a gathering of 20 people for Christmas on Saturday. If I double this recipe, do you think it would be enough to feed as an appy? I plan on making these and placing them in a crockpot on low to keep them warm. 🙂 Thank you for the post! 🙂
bakerbynature says
I think that would be perfect! Have a wonderful party 🙂 I hope the meatballs are a hit! xoxo
Desiree says
I was looking for something different to make for dinner and found this recipe. I made it last night and it was amazing! My husband literally gave me a high five and couldn’t stop saying how delicious it was. So glad we found something new to make that’s so delicious and so easy to make. Also, I love the technique of frying the meatballs before baking, going to try this next time I make meatball subs. Thanks for posting!
bakerbynature says
Yay! SO happy you enjoyed this meal, Desiree 🙂
Ruby says
This recipe is awesome! My husband loved it and the flavors in the sauce were amazing! I doubled the sauce recipe and used ground pork with hamburger. Sticky rice goes great with the sauce. Broccoli on the side!
For a party – make the sauce regular way and pour the sauce in a crockpot and add the meatballs to keep warm!
Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe!
bakerbynature says
You’re very welcome, Ruby! So happy you and your family enjoyed it 🙂
Kathryn says
I stumbled across this recipe while searching for something different to cook for dinner. And man, I’m sure glad I did! The meatballs were great, but the sauce was fantastic! I was licking the plate. Thanks so much!!!
Wynonah says
Making this tonight – my turkey was a ‘tube’ and very finely ground, ended up having to almost double the panko to make it hold together. When trying to fry them up, it was a disaster, even though they held their shape, when they got warm they flattened out – still the flavor is awesome! And they baked up just fine we just enjoyed them flat, :). The teriyaki sauce balance was somehow off not sweet enough, or maybe not salty enough – really couldn’t figure it out – or maybe it was my ingredients, but put it all together and it turned out just fine, and we enjoyed the meal tremendously. I think next time I’ll add some cornstarch to the turkey mix itself and see if that doesn’t help with consistency and ‘stability’, I use it in my wonton mix for the same and it seems to work amazingly well. THANK YOU for a great recipe!!
Ro says
I’m not sure why some people have to be such jerks with their comments. This recipe was fantastic. I think it’ll be my new go-to for turkey meatballs.
bakerbynature says
Thank you, Ro! So happy you’re enjoying the recipe 🙂
Krystal Burwell says
These are seriously a staple item for me; I often cook a 2lb batch of these on Monday night so the boyfriend and I have lunch the rest of the week. So good!
Christina says
Thank you for the recipe. Very tasty. It took 90 minutes to make.
Christy says
Great recipe! Full of flavor, meatballs were moist (I was skeptical about the water, but used all but about a tablespoon). It did take me about an hour to prep and cook, but definitely worth it!
Bachelor Pad Boyz says
So bland we wouldn’t feed it to our dog. Clearly whoever made this recipe doesn’t know anything about spice to meat ratios. We give it a 4 out of 10. Will be sticking with hot pockets and poptarts next meal.