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Easy Teriyaki Meatballs come together fast and make such an amazing meal with the delicious teriyaki sauce. They have a sweet and savory flavor from the teriyaki sauce coating a moist and tender meatball. I am confident this will become a family favorite at your house like it has in mine!
I always love meatballs, especially when I can throw them in my crock pot and have them cooking all day. The smell is amazing and fills the whole house! My favorite slow cooker meatball recipes are Cranberry Balsalmic Meatballs, Swedish Meatballs and Porcupine Meatballs.
Easy Teriyaki Meatballs:
My latest version of a classic meatball are these Teriyaki Meatballs. This recipe is so so yummy. The meatballs come together super fast and while those bake, you can prepare the sauce and cook the rice (I use Minute Rice) and broccoli. In less than 30 minutes total, you can have this super delicious dinner on the table. I highly recommend using a cookie scoop for the meatballs. It is so much easier and faster than trying to roll them by hand. Although, my girls beg to help me roll the balls usually, so we have fun with that!
The flavorful meatballs mixed with the sweet teriyaki sauce is a perfect pair. I like to make big batches of these and then freeze them so that I am always ready if company stops by. Or if my husband calls and says he is bringing a colleague home for dinner. Knowing I am prepared for extra mouths to feed helps me so much! I just pull out a bag of frozen broccoli, cook some rice and I’ve got a crowd pleasing meal ready to go in no time!
Ingredients for Easy Teriyaki Meatballs:
Meatballs:
- Ground beef:I find 85/15 works best
- Panko bread crumbs: My girls would be happy to know panko bread crumbs are made from bread with no crust! They can usually be found in the Asian foods isle, since they are a Japanese bread crumb.
- Dry minced onion: A great shortcut to a great savory taste.
- Egg: Binding ingredient
- Milk: Keeps the meatball moist.
- Ground ginger: Sweet and zesty with a hint of citrus flavor to balance the flavors.
- Salt: Salt brings out all the flavors.
- Ground black pepper: Just a pinch!
Teriyaki Sauce:
- Cold water: adds to the cornstarch to make it a little sticky.
- Packed light brown sugar: Adds sweetness to the sauce.
- Low-sodium soy sauce: Regular soy sauce will work, just reduce salt if needed.
- Garlic powder: It tastes sweeter and much less assertive than fresh garlic, but also without the caramelly undertones that you get from roasted or sautéd garlic
- Cornstarch: Thickens the teriyaki sauce and creates a slurry.
- Sesame oil: This oil has a nutty flavor that adds to this sauce perfectly!
Optional for Serving:
-
- chopped green onions for color and texture
- Cooked white or brown rice: Serve meatballs over rice
- Broccoli florets: There is just something about broccoli, rice, and teriyaki sauce that just pairs so well!
How to Make Teriyaki Meatballs:
- Preheat and Prep: Set oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan; set aside.
- Mix meatballs: To a large bowl, add ground beef, bread crumbs, onion, egg, milk, ginger, salt and pepper. Mix with your hands until just combined.
- Form balls: Use a 1 1/2 Tablespoon cookie scoop and scoop meat mixture into balls and place in prepared pan. Or, rub a little oil on your hands and then roll the meat mixture into roughly 1-inch balls. Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Makes around 35 meatballs.
- Prepare the teriyaki sauce: Pour all of the sauce ingredients into a medium saucepan. Whisk together until no lumps remain. Heat over medium heat until it thickens, whisking occasionally. This should only take 3-5 minutes.
- Coat meatballs in sauce: When meatballs are done baking, dunk them in the teriyaki sauce.
- Serve: I love to serve these over cooked rice, garnish with chopped green onions, and serve with broccoli florets on the side.
Tips for working with Meatballs:
- Storage: To store leftover teriyaki meatballs, wrap them in foil and refrigerate. Properly stored, cooked meatballs will last for 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator or 3 to 4 months in the freezer. Do not re-freeze after thawing. Only defrost the amount you want to eat.
- Sauce it up! Add an extra water and a cornstarch slurry to this sauce to make enough to coat these meatballs without making the sauce too overpowering. Or add less cornstarch if you like your sauce less thick.
- Service, please: Serve with toothpicks as an appetizer or as a main course with rice or mashed potatoes.
- Mix your meats: Add an equal part lean ground pork to the ground beef (1:1 ratio) for extra flavor and texture in the meatball.
- Keep your cool. To keep the fat from melting and breaking down before you cook the meatballs, so keep your meat and ingredients as cold as possible.
- Be gentle! Don’t press the meatballs together too hard. That will make them tough, rubbery, and chewy. Instead use an ice cream scoop to form uniform sizes and density.
More Meatball Recipes to Try:
- Meatloaf Meatballs
- Sweet and Sour Meatballs
- Easy Chipotle Honey Meatballs
- Porcupine Meatballs
- Creamy Cajun Chicken Meatballs
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Easy Teriyaki Meatballs
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef 85/15 works best
- 2/3 cup panko bread crumbs
- 2 Tablespoon dry minced onion
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
- 2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
Teriyaki Sauce:
- 1 1/2 cup cold water
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3 Tbl. cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- For serving:
Optional Add Ons:
- chopped green onions
- cooked white or brown rice
- cooked broccoli florets
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan; set aside. To a large bowl, add ground beef, bread crumbs, onion, egg, milk, ginger, salt and pepper. Mix with your hands until just combined. Use a 1 1/2 Tablespoon cookie scoop and scoop meat mixture into balls and place in prepared pan. Or, rub a little oil on your hands and then roll the meat mixture into roughly 1-inch balls. Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Makes around 35 meatballs.
Teriyaki Sauce:
- To prepare the teriyaki sauce: Pour all of the sauce ingredients into a medium saucepan. Whisk together until no lumps remain. Heat over medium heat until it thickens, whisking occasionally. This should only take 3-5 minutes.
- When meatballs are done baking, dunk them in the teriyaki sauce and serve over cooked rice. Garnish with chopped green onions and serve with broccoli florets on the side.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Do you freeze before or after cooking?
You will want to freeze the meatballs after cooking. I would place them on a baking sheet in the freezer for about an hour (this will help them not stick together). After that, place them all in an airtight or ziplock bag and label it with the date. They should last about 2-3 months in the freezer.