This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
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.
I was searching Pinterest for gluten-free dinner recipes so I can bring a meal to a GF friend. Is this gluten-free?
I am going to make it for my family as it looks fantastic but I want to assure it is GF for them.
Thank you.
Hi Lorna, I am not a nutritionist, so I don’t feel qualified to speak to whether or not this is safe for your friend. However, I do believe that if you use gluten free soy sauce it would be ok. But I would double check with your friend first.
So delicious and easy! What a great way to get my entire family to eat their veggies. Thank you for this wonderful recipe.
You are so welcome Katie! Love the feedback! Thanks for stopping by.
So good! Thank you!
Ingredient list says rice is divided: “4 cups cooked white or brown rice divided”.
However the only mention of rice in the instructions is;
“Spoon meat over rice or noodles.”
Am I missing something?
That’s because the recipe calls for already cooked rice. You can cook it on the stovetop or in a rice cooker. Noodles are also an option but the recipe is for “rice bowls.”
Can you sub premade teriyaki sauce for this recipe? Sounds delicious!
Sure, just use the amount you like.
I made this using frozen mirepox and broccoli since those bags had a lot of the vegetables already included. I also read ahead and mixed everything in the sauce ahead of time and pour everything in once the vegetables and turkey were cooked. This came out amazing and would def add more mushrooms and water chestnuts next time. Def added to the cookbook.
Nice! Fantastic feedback Bernie! Thanks for stopping by to share.
I randomly found this recipe when I needed to make dinner in a pinch. As my son said, every bite keeps getting better. It’s so delicious and easy to make, it has now become a staple in our house.
That’s fantastic Tara! Thanks for stopping by.
Found this recipe on Pinterest. So far I have made this dish 2x this week!! The fam absolutely loves it. Thank you for sharing!
I made this recipe and put all the ingredients into my fitness pal as I went just to get my calories exact and be able to put this in my phone. There is NO WAY this has 27 grams of protein, more like 10 grams!! major disappointment!!!!
I just tried logging it into my fitness pal myself and it showed as 24 grams of protein in a serving. So, while my nutritional calculator may vary slightly, it’s not off like you suggest. My guess would be that you entered the information incorrectly.
Oh my heavens, this was utterly delicious! Super easy to make and you can use whatever veggies you have on hand. I will definitely make this again. You should too!
Love the awesome feedback Angie! Thanks for stopping by.
I am completely obsessed with this recipe! I add a ton of broccoli, carrots, red bell peppers, and onion. I love how fast, easy, and tasty this recipe is! Thanks!
You are so welcome Bonnie!
Made it last night for dinner – used white wine vinegar because I didn’t have red. It was so delicious. Left out the green onions but still good.
Nice! Awesome feedback Mary! Thanks for stopping by.
Made as written and it is so delicious! Thank you for the amazing recipe!!
You are so welcome Michelle! Thanks for stopping by.
This is in our regular rotation now. I usually add way more veggies than the recipe calls for, today I did a shredded zucchini and yellow squash in addition to the carrots. Instead of ground ginger I used fresh ginger paste (about 2tsp) and it was great. I’ve also skipped the homemade sauce and used jarred teriyaki when really pressed for time and that’s another good method as well.
Nice! Love the feedback Kiersten. Thanks for stopping by.
I doubled the recipe for the sauce and followed it exactly, why is my sauce so bitter still?
Hi Julia, If you followed the recipe exactly it shouldn’t be bitter. The amount of vinegar in the recipe wouldn’t cause a bitter taste.
An absolute favorite!!!
Nice! Thanks for stopping by Katie.
Absolutely delish and super easy to make!
I followed the recipe as stated and of course I added Redd Pepper Flakes for a little heat! Deffently going in the rotation. Thank you so much
You are so welcome Kimberly! Love the feedback.
Oh my goodness!!! I LOVE this recipe!! Here is the kicker though…I forgot the soy sauce and just added a little extra salt at the end and it was perfect! So for anyone who doesn’t want to use soy sauce just know that it does still taste good! I can’t believe I got my toddler to eat carrots and broccoli sooo easily! And I am very picky on which meals I make for my family so this was the perfect recipe! I doubled the recipe but didn’t double the brown sugar which I also replaced with coconut sugar. Great recipe! Thanks so much for helping me add another healthy meal to my family’s meal rotation!
You are so welcome Veronika! Love the feedback! Thanks for stopping by.
This is a family favorite! Easy, delicious and I can sneak in extra veggies by chopping them finely and the kids will eat it. I did try once with regular soy instead of reduced sodium and it was super salty but that’s my own fault! Just follow exactly and it is perfect every time.
Fabulous Feedback Laurie! Thank you so much for stopping by.
How thick is the teriyaki sauce supposed to be?? I’m making this for the first time and need to know I’m doing it correctly lol
Hi Brianna, It should coat the back of a spoon. But as long as you are happy with the texture you’ll be fine.
What a wonderful recipe. I was looking for something to do with some ground turkey, read the ingredients and comments of others who made it so I tried it with what I had on hand. I used chopped carrots, celery, shelled edamame, snap peas and added sriracha to the sauce for some zing! Superb
Awesome feedback Karen! Thanks for stopping by.
This recipe is fantastic and so cheap to make, I halved it and it was still more than enough for 2 people! If you’re looking g for something quick, easy, and decides this is the recipe
Fantastic feedback Elizabeth! Thank you so much for stopping by.
Is there anything else that I can substitute the brown sugar and sugar with?
You are welcome to leave it out. But a natural sweetener like honey or agave would work too.