The delicious, sweet teriyaki sauce and the (kind of) hidden veggies in this Teriyaki Turkey Rice Bowl makes this one of those healthy ground turkey recipes that your whole family will love!
We love quick and easy Asian inspired recipes, and have quite a few here on the site! Some of our favorites are included in our monthly dinner rotation, like Egg Fried Rice and Crockpot Orange Chicken.
I love Asian inspired dishes, and Teriyaki is a family favorite. The sweet and savory richness of the sauce really compliments the flavors of the turkey. Plus it’s loaded with veggies, which means my kids are eating them! You can pair this with steamed rice or noodles, or even wrap it up in a Lettuce Wrap.
GROUND TURKEY TERIYAKI RICE BOWLS
Ground turkey recipes are always a winner in our house, like Turkey, Kale and Rice Soup, Turkey Taco Stuffed Shells and Spicy Turkey Meatloaf. These Teriyaki Turkey Rice Bowls almost always top the list of favorites.
My kids are not fans of vegetables. Well, quite frankly that is an understatement. They hate them. So I have had to get clever with how I add veggies to our meals.
What we love most about lean ground turkey in recipes
- It’s a quick and easy, healthy alternative to ground beef, and an easy substitution in tons of recipes like chili and spaghetti sauce.
- We include lots of veggies and dice them up small so it’s very kid friendly and a great way to get kids to actually enjoy eating their vegetables.
- You can easily customize this recipe to include your favorite veggies or add a different base like rice or noodles.
How to cook ground turkey
Ground turkey is a light, bright pink color when it’s raw or uncooked. As it cooks the color will change from pink to a light brown color. Seasoning is important, since it has a very mild flavor that takes on whatever flavors you add. It’s delicious with just a little garlic, onion and salt added but you can also add it to chili, spaghetti, tacos and more by changing the seasoning.
HOW TO MAKE TERIYAKI TURKEY RICE BOWLS
- After cooking the meat with some onions and garlic, I grated a few carrots and chopped several stalks of broccoli very fine, and tossed them in with the meat. This gave the illusion that there weren’t very many vegetables in there, but they couldn’t avoid what they could see! *Note – if you are serving this as a rice bowl, you’ll want to start cooking the rice before you start cooking the meat.
- The teriyaki sauce is made from scratch and is incredibly easy. Some readers have commented on the amount of sugar in the sauce, and you can see in the recipe notes that you can reduce the amount of sugar to your liking. Teriyaki sauce is typically sweet on it’s own, but you can adjust the levels based on your needs. It will still taste great!
- The teriyaki sauce is combined with the meat and veggies and simmered for a few minutes to let the flavors blend and get all happy. Then scoop it on top of white or brown rice, noodles, into lettuce cups or even flour tortillas for some Asian-Mexican fusion!
Once the sauce is added, the veggies blend in nicely in these Teriyaki Turkey Rice Bowls. I’m happy. My kids are happy. It’s a win-win! My kids loved this dish, asking for seconds and if they could take it for lunch the next day in their thermoses. I’d call that a success.
They also love to eat their rice bowl with chopsticks. If you don’t have any, you can find them here, or try these adorable training chopsticks for kids.
CAN I USE GROUND BEEF INSTEAD OF TURKEY?
Yes, you absolutely can! Ground turkey recipes can easily swap ground beef, pork or chicken. You will want to make sure to drain it really well since ground beef lets out a lot of liquid, but it will work just as well as the ground turkey.
WHAT OTHER VEGETABLES CAN I USE FOR A RICE BOWL?
Feel free to customize this recipe to fit your own personal tastes. Use cut up veggies and sauté or steam them before adding them to the turkey and sauce.
Some other veggie options:
- Bell peppers
- Snow peas
- Water chestnuts
- Bok choy
- Bean sprouts
- Zucchini
- Corn
- Cauliflower
- Water chestnuts
CUSTOMIZE YOUR GROUND TURKEY TERIYAKI RICE BOWLS
I have received lots of comments over the years on how much people love this recipe, but also how they change it up and make it their own for something truly unique and delicious.
- Ground turkey recipes are the tastiest when the meat is seasoned properly. Add some heat to this dish with some Sriracha or red pepper flakes.
- Not fans of rice? Use noodles instead. You can even use spaghetti noodles to mimic a lo mein and toss in some cabbage to saute it with.
- Feel free to cut the amount of sugar in this recipe. It won’t affect the flavor but it will swing more towards the savory side.
how to store teriyaki ground turkey
- Refrigerating leftovers: This dish will keep for 3-4 days in the fridge if properly stored in an airtight container. Reheat in the microwave or on the stove.
- To freeze, allow to cool completely, then pour into a freezer bag or airtight container. Freeze for up to 6 months. Thaw in the fridge and reheat as described above. Freeze rice or noodles separately from the meat.
how long does raw ground turkey last?
When you purchase lean ground turkey at the store, it has a “sell-by” date. Your meat will likely last 1-2 days past this date if properly stored in it’s original packaging in your refrigerator. To further extend the shelf life, freeze it within 1 day past the sell by date. To maximize freshness, wrap the packaged turkey in foil and place in a freezer bag. Follow these steps to ensure you always have fresh meat on hand for all of your favorite ground turkey recipes!
Love Teriyaki as much as we do? Here are some more Asian inspired Teriyaki recipes to try:
- Teriyaki Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- Turkey Teriyaki Meatballs
- Teriyaki Barbecue Pineapple Chicken Sheet Pan Dinner
For more healthy main dishes and ground turkey recipes, try these:
- Creamy Cheesy Turkey Taco Pasta
- Turkey Taco Soup
- Spicy Turkey Meatloaf Recipe
- Smoked Sausage and Zucchini Skillet
Teriyaki Turkey Rice Bowl
Ingredients
Teriyaki Sauce
- 1/2 cup Low Sodium Soy Sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar or less as desired
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar or less as desired
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons warm water
Ground Turkey
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 pound Ground Turkey
- 1 cup finely chopped broccoli
- 2 large carrots peeled and grated
- 2 green onions diced, for garnish
- 4 cups cooked white or brown rice divided
Instructions
- Mix soy sauce, 1/4 cup water, red wine vinegar, sugars, garlic and ginger in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir with a whisk until sugar is dissolved.
- In a small bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons warm water and cornstarch until cornstarch is completely dissolved.
- Heat sauce over medium high heat. Slowly whisk in cornstarch mixture and simmer until thickened. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add diced onions and cook until soft.
- Crumble ground turkey and garlic into the pan and cook until turkey is about half cooked. Add grated carrots and chopped broccoli and continue to cook until turkey is no longer pink.
- Pour teriyaki sauce over cooked turkey and vegetable mixture and stir. Simmer for about five minutes to combine the flavors.
- Spoon meat over rice or noodles. Garnish with green onions and serve immediately.
Notes
- Teriyaki Sauce is generally pretty sweet. However, feel free to cut back on the amount of sugar in the sauce. 1 tablespoon of each would suffice if you prefer a more savory than sweet flavor.
- The nutritional information is based on serving this teriyaki turkey over white rice. Use brown rice or just less rice to reduce calories and carbs.
- Feel free to customize this recipe with your favorite vegetables.
- A note about SERVING SIZE: A serving is is approximately 3/4 cup of rice and one cup of the meat/veggies.
- The serving sizes are approximate and will vary depending on a variety of factors, like how much you cook your veggies down and what size your cuts of vegetables are. As a meal, this recipe will make 4-6 servings.
Nutrition
Fabulous recipe! I made substitutes too because I didn’t have broccoli or red wine vinegar. I used white wine vinegar and green bell peppers (diced). I also used less garlic in the turkey portion of the recipe (2tsp). I served it over rice noodles. My picky 3 year old even tried it!!
Awesome feedback Hannah! Thanks for stopping by.
Delicious! I like to make double the sauce recipe, because my family loves the teriyaki so much! It’s also a great way to incorporate vegetables.
Awesome feedback Heather! Thanks for stopping by.
I made this tonight and it was out of this world!! Instead of making the teriyaki sauce I used our gluten free teriyaki and just tweaked a little. So glad I found this recipe. Thank you!!
You are so welcome Ann! Thanks for stopping by.