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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.
Table of Contents
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 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.
The ground turkey is juicy and the teriyaki sauce is sweet and flavorful. Add in all the wonderful veggies and you’ve got a perfectly complete meal that makes great leftovers.
Why We Love This Recipe
- It’s a quick and easy, a 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
- Cook the ground turkey. After cooking the meat with some onions and garlic, grate few carrots and chop some broccoli very fine, and toss 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 couldn’t 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.
- Make the teriyaki sauce. 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 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!
- Assemble the rice bowls. 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!
How to Serve
Sprinkle some sliced green onions and sesame seeds on top before serving. It’s a pretty garnish and add a little flavor, too.
My kids 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.
How to Store Leftovers
- 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.
Recipe Variations
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
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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.
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!
More Ground Turkey Recipes
- 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 Less 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, ¼ 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 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 approximately ¾ 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.
Very good! I forgot to add the red wine vinegar to the sauce but it was still good. This one is a keeper!
Nice! Thanks for stopping by Shawna.
My daughter, who does not eat broccoli, absolutely loves this dish, so you’re absolutely right about the ability to “hide” the veggies. It’s made it’s way into regular rotation in our house. I just said “I think tonight for dinner I’ll make…” to wish she immediately replied “turkey teriyaki rice bowls?” So yep, it’s dinner tonight. Thanks for a great recipe.
You are so welcome Joan! Thanks for stopping by.
My son and husband (who went for 3rds) gobbled this up! I used just the brown sugar and no granulated sugar. This will be a keeper!
Great feedback Michaela! Thanks for stopping by.
I’ve been wanting to try this for a while and finally got around to it, wish I had made it sooner! The sauce is amazing one of the best teriyaki sauces I’ve made thank you for sharing!! I usually don’t like brown rice but you can’t even taste it with the sauce it’s a win win.
You are so welcome Ashley! Thanks for stopping by.
Very tasty. I used a little less sugar and was the perfect sweetness. Will definitely make again!
Nice! thanks for stopping by Dani.
Excellent! And you can use up leftovers in this recipe! Used rice wine vinegar, 3 Tbsp brown sugar only, low sodium soy sauce, added some frozen stir-fry veggies and some leftover crushed pineapple in juice. Yummo!! Very forgiving recipe and you can make it to suit your family’s tastes
Great Feedback Corita! Thanks for stopping by.
This turkey bowl is absolutely delicious! Second time making it at home.
Nice! Thanks for stopping by Leticia.
So good
I don’t have red wine vinegar can I use apple cidar vinegar?
Yes you could use that.
If I use store bought Teriyaki sauce, how much would I use for the recipe?
Honestly you can use as much or as little as you like. Just cook the meat and saute the veggies, then mix in your desired amount of sauce.
Very easy and tasty. Didn’t have carrots on hand but flavor was still on point.
Loved it! I only did two tablespoons of the brown sugar and didn’t add the white and I added siracha at the end and added zucchini. Soooo good!
Great feedback Trisha! Thanks for stopping by.
I wanted a new recipe for ground turkey and found this one. It was easy to make and very good tasting! All ingredients were in my pantry. My husband and I had it over rice, our boys ate it with noodles. Everyone liked it.
Nice! Thank you so much for stopping Sharon.
What is the serving size?
Approximately 3/4-1 cup of the meat/vegetable mixture.
Made this for my family and it was LOVED by all. I did add a can of baby corn, drained, as well and it was perfect. Thank you!
You are so welcome Kayla, thanks for stopping by.
This was good, but I thought the sauce got really liquidity. I wish I doubled the sauce and saved some to add directly into the bowl at the end.
This was easy and delicious! I needed a new way to use up the ground turkey I had and this was perfect because I already had all the ingredients on hand. My family all loved it!
Thanks for the awesome feedback Becky!
It was very good! We enjoyed this recipe. It was a little salty, but I don’t know if I used low sodium soy sauce or not. (It was the last of the bottle and I threw it in the recycling bin right afterward). I’ll definitely use it next time or cut it down a little.
Awesome feedback Raymie! Thanks for stopping by.
Tried this recently and the whole family loved it – a rarity!
I’m also really impressed with all of the super helpful information you give in addition to the recipe, and with how nicely the recipe printed out. The layout is one of the best I’ve encountered! A well functioning website is a joy to use. I’ll be back! Thank you!
That’s awesome Kay! Thanks for stopping by.
This is a “once a week” meal at our house! everyone looooves it and i can sneak in vegetables to a crowd that’s not big on them… I actually doubled it the second time I made it, and then eventually tripled it so we’d have leftovers! Thank you Kristen…
You are so welcome Caroline! Thanks for stopping by.
This was so delicious! Hubby asked e to save and serve up again!!
Nice! Thanks for stopping by Jojo.