Teriyaki Meatballs And Rice - Sweet & Sticky

Teriyaki Meatballs and rice is a nutritious meal that you and your family are sure to enjoy. Teriyaki meatballs piled on top of a broccoli fried rice is one way to keep it super healthy. Traditional white rice is an even safer bet for picky eaters. Need gluten-free? This dish is easy to modify for gluten-free eaters (it's in the teriyaki sauce).

Teriyaki Meatballs And Rice Recipe

This Teriyaki meatballs and rice dish can be on the table in 30 minutes so if you're stuck for what to make and frozen ground beef is calling you, you'll be glad it did. Don't want beef? These taste great with ground turkey or ground chicken too (see below on that).

They are crazy delicious and a healthy dinner recipe that looks a little like junk food.  If you have kids, they'll love it and will be fighting to get the last one!

For some reason, in my house, ground beef is always the last thing left in the freezer the day before the next grocery shop.

Not that I'm complaining (because I'm always glad to see a trusty pack of ground beef in there). Mostly because it's a super versatile ingredient and budget friendly.

And a little goes a long way.

I have a couple of regular ground beef recipes which I tend to make on repeat, like these little beauties:

• Healthy Sloppy Joes
• Easy Taco Stuffed Peppers
• Keto Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs

But to be super honest, they have been coming around a little too regularly. It was time for something new.

So I thought I would take it up a notch and try out an Asian inspired version of this family favorite (compliments of Clean Eating with Kids) to serve with my new favorite obsession - broccoli fried rice.

More Ground Beef Recipes

• Whole 30 Beef and Bacon Breakfast Bowl
• Quick and Easy Instant Pot Bolognese
• Visit Crockpots and Flip Flops for 16 easy Crockpot ground beef recipes!

Sticky Meatballs

These meatballs are sticky and sweet and the kids treat this dinner like it's a take out. And it feels like it.

Meatballs cooked the traditional way are a classic, yes, and delicious, also yes, but these something else entirely. This is one dinner that for whatever reason doesn't feel like Clean Eating.

Don't ask me why, but it doesn't.

Meatball Prep

Making the meatballs themselves is the most labor intensive thing about this recipe. And they're really easy to make, I promise :). Want to make it even easier? See substitutions below.

For a dinner recipe that's got so much taste and so much flavor, they really should be harder to make. Luckily for me, they're not.

Recipe Notes

While meatballs are not hard to prepare, there's a few meatball making things that'll help you make perfect meatballs.

Choose your ground beef: Fattier meat makes better meatballs. I have no real idea if this is a thing but I find without question, the leaner, lower fat ground beef makes dryer meatballs and they don't bind as well. So with that, I don't recommend lean ground beef (but it'll still work in a pinch).

Temperature: Keep things cold. The warmer the room, or your hands when you're making these meatballs, the more the fat will break down and this needs to happen during cooking to keep them juicy, not when you're combining the ingredients 🙂

Go gently: Put a touch of oil on your hands when you're working with the beef mixture and only combine very gently. Handle them as little as possible.

Fry or bake: I fry these meatballs before I transfer them to the oven on parchment paper (or foil sprayed with a little oil) on top of a baking sheet to stop them sticking. You can skip the frying step, however I find this gives the meatballs a nice sealed outside coating, so it's worth doing.

Make sure not to push down on the meatballs when they're cooking as this will release the juices and spill onto the baking sheet and not stay in the meatball.

Making meatballs: Use a large bowl to make the meatballs meat mixture. You need to be able to get your hands into the mixture.

Homemade Teriyaki Sauce

If, like I used to, you get teriyaki sauce out of a jar bought from the store, I'm here to welcome you to the homemade teriyaki sauce club.

I didn't know it was so easy to make. I assumed wrongly that something so indulgent and sweet must be something I wasn't capable of making. And honestly, I never gave making it a thought until we started eating Clean.

As it turns out homemade teriyaki sauce is a few ingredients you'll likely have if you've been eating clean for a while and you put them all in the pan together. Yep, together. Then it boils and cooks and thickens and you eat it.

I use the same pan to make the teriyaki sauce as I do the meatballs. Doing this gives you less washing up. Despite all the clean eating, I still loathe washing up. Hey ho.

Gluten Free Teriyaki Sauce

In my recipe, I give you the option to use either soy sauce or Tamari. Choose the Tamari for a gluten-free experience.

Ingredient-by-Ingredient Breakdown

• Crushed ginger (1 tsp) – Naturally gluten-free.
• Paprika (1 tsp) – Naturally gluten-free; as long as it’s a pure spice without additives.
• Soy sauce or Tamari (¼ cup) – This is the key ingredient.
  • Regular soy sauce almost always contains wheat and is not gluten-free.
  • Tamari is usually wheat-free and gluten-free (check the label; some brands still use small amounts of wheat).
• Apple cider vinegar (2 tbsp) – Naturally gluten-free.
• Raw brown sugar or honey (2 tbsp) – Both are naturally gluten-free.

Jump to Recipe

What To Serve With Teriyaki Meatballs

Meatballs with Broccoli

 Fussy Kid Tip: Broccoli can be cut up really fine and once added to casseroles, stir fry meals, or soups, it virtually disappears. Even the most particular child will have a tough time picking out the pieces.

In my experience, it's all about the way it's cooked.

I most often serve this with broccoli fried rice.

It's a bit of a myth that broccoli is one of 'those' vegetables that kids like. As in, all kids like. And you know what? Not all kids like broccoli. There. If your kid doesn't like broccoli, I hear you. But all kids can be taught to eat it. 

Sneaky Veggies for Picky Eaters: Broccoli Fried Rice

If your little one (or big one) is kicking up a fuss about eating broccoli then try serving it up in a different way. For a fussy kid, a heaped pile of the green stuff on their plate is enough to send them into shock.

The broccoli fried rice I make (see Clean Eating with Kids for broccoli fried rice recipe) for these meatballs is beyond yum. Cut the broccoli as small (or as large!) as you like, cut it small enough and it almost disappears!!

Other Rice (and Why No Rice Recipe Here)

You might notice that I did not provide an actual recipe for rice here. I mostly focused on the meatballs and teriyaki. That's because one can easily read the directions on the package to make rice. Whether you're doing it from scratch, or popping a pack of Uncle Ben's in the microwave. You got this.

There's a few things you could serve this with though and of course you could always serve this with some plain cooked whole grain rice if you preferred to. Long-grain rice is a good option too.

---

Variations & Substitutions

These teriyaki meatballs are made with ground beef but there's nothing to stop you using ground pork or even ground turkey (though keep in mind, turkey is a lean meat and won't be as juicy as beef).

Ground pork will be similar in texture to ground beef as the fat content is still high enough to give you a juicy meatball. While I've not tried making these with ground turkey, I feel they'd be on the dryer side unless you add a little extra moisture.

You could increase the moisture content by adding a little extra shredded cheddar cheese so increase the fat content or halving the amount of breadcrumbs you use in the recipe. The cheese would also act as a mild binder.

Store-Bought Meatballs

For those who are really time crunched, just get a bag of store bought beef meatballs. Something like these (which I get from my local Costco from time to time). You can also get turkey meatballs. Frozen meatballs are available at most grocery stores.

Meal Prep: Making Ahead And Storing

This teriyaki meatballs and rice recipe is perfect if you're looking for a recipe to make ahead of time. Or if you just want to save some leftovers. In fact, since the ingredients prefer the cold and stops the fat in the ground beef from starting to breakdown, they're good sitting in the refrigerator for a while.

To make these ahead, make the recipe right up until the meatballs are combined and rolled and then pop them on a plate, covered, in the fridge. Or just pop them in an airtight container. If the use by date on your ground beef has enough time, you can keep them in the fridge for up to two days.

If you've used frozen and defrosted ground beef you'll need to cook these sooner, within one day.

---

How To Make Sweet And Sticky Teriyaki Meatballs and rice

This is a fast and ridiculously delicious family weeknight meal which you should be able to get on the table within 30 minutes. Oh quick disclaimer here - I'm assuming the ground beef is defrosted. Because mine wasn't and I had to wait another 11 min 48 seconds while it defrosted in the dreaded microwave (I still don't like using it).

One last thing ... and this is important ...because you're the cook, you get to lick the spoon.