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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.
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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.
My whole family loved this meal!
That’s awesome Laura! Thank you so much for stopping by.
Awesome recipe ! How much turkey does the nutrition facts account for per serving ? I see it says one cup of rice but I don’t see any measurements for the amount of turkey. Thanks !
We have had this 3 times in the last month. My 6 year old loves it!
That’s awesome Marilyn! Thanks for stopping by.
I’m so glad I found this wonderful recipe! It was OUTSTANDING! I came across it while looking for something to do with ground turkey besides chili for a change. It completely blew me away when I tasted it – it tastes just like the restaurant lettuce wraps I love, down to the letter! I made it as directed, just skipped the white sugar and added some water chestnuts for crunch and served it over jasmine rice with scallions like you. My husband and I gobbled it up and there are still plenty of leftovers! This is going to be my new go-to appetizer with Boston bibb lettuce the next time we have friends over for drinks! It definitely feeds a crowd and.the delicious flavor combination is worth the prep!
That’s so awesome Jill! Thank you for stopping by all the way from Southern NH!
This was delicious! The only change made was using about 2 tsp fresh grated ginger instead of ground ginger and served over pad Thai noodles. We will definitely be making this again!
Nice! Thanks for stopping by Lynn.
The flavours were great and it was super easy to make – I had all of the ingredients in the house so that was also really nice. I used only 1 carrot and added 1 red bell pepper.
Nice! Thanks for stopping by Elenna.
Wonderful recipe, thank you!
You are so welcome Marisa! Thanks for stopping by.
Excellent! Actually gives ground turkey some flavor!
I was searching for something new to make with a pack of frozen ground turkey when I came upon your recipe. Hub and son loved it — we had it over linguini. A keeper!
Nice! Glad you and your family loved it. Thanks for stopping by Pam.
Really enjoyed making this. Was a hit with my family especially my picky vegetable eater. Added a twist, For Veggies:
Broccoli Rapini
Shredded Carrots
Green Chiles
Peas from Pea Pod
Garlic
Onions
Added Sesame Tahini
added sautéed eggs
Thank you! Great Recipe!
Nice! Thanks for stopping by Suzanne.
I just recently started trying to cool “healthier” and found this recipe after searching through numerous ground turkey recipes. I made it and LOVED it! I have made it as my main meal for the last three weeks!! It has the protein and carbs for my workouts and tastes delicious! I cut the sugars to one teaspoon each and have added edamame and water chestnuts to it and it really good! Thanks a lot! I appreciate you!
Glad you loved it Kiersten! Thanks for stopping by.
I cut down the amount of sugar by 1 tbsp. I added a lot more ginger & added some black pepper & added more carrots & broccoli. It was sooooo good. Husband said, “ It’s a keeper”.
Nice! Thanks for stopping by Diana.
This is one of our favorite dishes. Turns out delicious every time. It stores well and tastes just as good heated up.
This was simple and delicious.
Thank you so much for stopping by Nicole.
Hi, I know this recipe says 5 servings. Do you know what size servings? I am trying to figure Weight Watcher points.Thank you.
The recipe yields approximately 2 1/2 cups, so a serving would be around 1/2 cup.
My first time making this dish and both me and my husband LOVED IT! this is now our favorite dish thank you for sharing the recipe with us! Only thing I did differently was instead of the 4 tablespoons of sugar I just added 2 tablespoons of brown sugar And it turned out just right!
You are so welcome Lily! Thanks for stopping by.
This was fantastic! Easy to whip together after a long day! I even forgot to add the ginger and vinegar 🙂
Hi Marie, thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your feedback.
This has become a staple in our rotation, because I usually have all the ingredients on hand, and the whole family likes it!
Nice! Thanks for stopping by Jennifer.
Thia was delicious. I used bottled sauce because I’m pressed for time.
Nice! Thanks for stopping by Gemma.
Have not tried this yet but it looks very good! Could a person just use teriyaki sauce instead of making it?
Yes you could use bottled teriyaki sauce instead.
How much would you suggest to add instead of making it? I just bought a jar of teriyaki sauce for another recipe and would like to use it.
Probably about a cup of sauce, but really you could do as much or as little as you want. Start with a small amount and increase based on your taste.