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These Teriyaki Turkey Rice Bowls are made with healthy ground turkey and veggies in a sweet teriyaki sauce served over white or brown rice.
We love quick and easy Asian inspired recipes, and have quite a few here on the site! Our favorites are included in our monthly dinner rotation, like Egg Fried Rice and Crockpot Orange Chicken and these delicious rice bowls.
Teriyaki turkey is one of my family’s favorites! The sweet and savory richness of the sauce really compliments the mild flavor of the ground turkey. Plus it’s loaded with veggies, which means my kids are eating them! You can pair this with steamed rice chow mein noodles, or wrapped in a tortilla or Lettuce Wrap.
Pin this recipe for later!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. But these Teriyaki Turkey Rice Bowls always top the list of favorites.
This 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 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!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use ground beef instead of turkey?
Yes, you absolutely can! Ground turkey can be easily swapped for 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.
Can I cut back the amount of sugar?
Yes. I wrote this recipe to have a sticky sweet teriyaki sauce, but some people have said they prefer it a little less sweet. Feel free to cut back as much as you like. As you are cooking the sauce, give it a quick taste – you can always add more sugar if you want it sweeter.
How to Serve
Sprinkle some sliced green onions and sesame seeds on top before serving. It’s a pretty garnish and adds 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.
Recipe Variations
Feel free to customize this recipe to fit your own personal tastes. Use leftover 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
Storage Tips
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 Tips
- 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 too much but it will swing more towards the savory side.
More Ground Turkey Recipes
- Creamy Cheesy Turkey Taco Pasta
- Turkey Taco Soup
- Spicy Turkey Meatloaf Recipe
- Easy Ground Turkey Tacos
- Ground Turkey Casserole
- Ground Turkey Enchiladas
- Ground Turkey Taco Salad
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 Broccoli finely chopped
- 2 Large carrots peeled and grated
- 2 Green onions diced, for garnish
- 4 cups Cooked white or brown rice
Instructions
Teriyaki Sauce
- In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and warm water until cornstarch is completely dissolved. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, gently whisk soy sauce, water, red wine vinegar, sugars, minced garlic and ground ginger until sugars are completely dissolved.
- Slowly whisk in cornstarch mixture and simmer until thickened. Remove from heat and set aside.
Ground Turkey
- Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add diced onions and cook, stirring frequently, until softened. If you notice the onions beginning to scorch, immediately turn down the heat.
- Stir in minced garlic. Add ground turkey and break apart with a spatula. Cook, stirring occasionally, until turkey is cooked about halfway through; 4-5 minutes. Add grated carrots and chopped broccoli and continue to cook until turkey is no longer pink and vegetables are soft; 5-6 minutes.
- Pour teriyaki sauce over the turkey and vegetables and stir. Simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Divide cooked rice into bowls then top with the teriyaki turkey. Garnish with sliced 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 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.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer Kristin Maxwell of “Yellow Bliss Road” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. For accurate calorie counts and other nutritional values, we recommend running the ingredients through your preferred online nutritional calculator. Calories and other nutritional values can vary depending on which brands were used.
I just made this and it was so good. I used the lawrys premade teriyaki sauce rather than making my own but nevertheless this recipe was so awesome. I’ll definitely be makimg this again.
Nice! Thank you so much Simone, for stopping by and sharing your positive feedback.
My family of five loved this recipe, and we have some picky eaters! I’ve found ground turkey so bland but with this recipe it was delish! Thanks!!! Will add it to my regular rotation.
Who doesn’t like to make picky eaters Happy!? That’s so awesome Dana!
Thank you so much for stopping by.
I want to try (tonight) but don’t have red wine vinegar and want to avoid bottle teriyaki if I can. Can I use other vinegar like seasoned rice vinegar, white rice vinegar or white vinegar?
Yes you can use rice vinegar.
I am looking forward to trying this! Has anyone used bottled teriaki sauce? I have 2 bottles so want to use them!
Yes you can use bottled sauce. Just cook the turkey and veggies and add the sauce to that.
Delicious! I will make it again.
I made this exactly as instructed, save for the broccoli as my husband doesn’t like it (I just added my own steamed broccoli on top of my rice before I spooned the turkey mixture on, still delicious!)
I saw in the comments that even picky eaters were enjoying this recipe, so I had to give it a try. So glad I did, as the hubby said it was great and would eat it again.
Going on my rotation now, thank you so much!
You are so welcome Alison! Thanks for sharing your positive feedback.
Will a red onion work just as well as a yellow onion? Thanks!
Never mind, did it with the red onion and it was delicious! Love the recipe.
Yes, the flavor variation in different types of large onions is slight. Red onions tends to be a little spicier while white and yellow are a little sweeter.
Made tonight for my family. It was really nice. All my family loved it. Just changed the broccoli for green beans chopped up and instead of the granulated sugar I substituted for honey. Really tasty and probably now my favourite thing to do with turky mince. Thank you!
That’s awesome chantelle! Thanks for taking the time to leave such positive feedback.
What is the serving size of the turkey mixture?
1/5 of the total mixture. Nutritional information is approximate depending on ingredients used.
Used regular soy sauce bc that’s all I had on hand and tooo salty initially. Added some water and it tasted great
Definitely use a low sodium soy sauce – it’s all I ever buy!
I started out with making this as a bowl, but then after tasting it, decided it made an amazing filling for lettuce wraps!! So fantastic!
This is one of our favorites! I’m not a great cook, but this turns out every time! Yes, we love it with red, green, and yellow peppers too. Also used 1 tbls each of the sugars instead of two.
Nice! Thanks for the positive feedback Caryl,
This turned out really good!! Thank you for your suggestions on what other vegetables can go in the bowl – this made it so versatile. I put bok choy in mine – something I never could have thought of. Turned out great and healthy too. Thanks!!
Your welcome Lin. Thanks for stopping by.
Great recipe, my husband is a picky eater and ate 2 bowls. Thank you, thank you. I used tamari sauce instead of soy sauce… is this okay?
If it tasted good, it’s perfect! 🙂
Cut the soy sauce in half and added a bit more water. The sauce was still plenty flavorful No need to drown the other delicious flavors! Really good!
Delicious recipe!
Thank you Lisa!
This was amazing! Very flavorful. I halved the sugars and used a sugar substitute for the granulated sugar. Definitely will make the again. I served with lettuce leaves and with riced cauliflower.
Nice! Thanks for stopping by Debbie.
This was delicious!!!! It was super easy to make and my whole family loved it… I will definitely be making it again… Thank you so much – I was searching for something different to make with my ground turkey, and feel fortunate that I stumbled on this keeper..
You are so welcome Wendy! Thanks for stopping by.
This was a fantastic recipe! Served it over rice and added some red and green bell peppers in the for extra color and crunch. This will be one of our go to meals with ground turkey. Thanks for this amazing recipe!!
You are so welcome Brittany! Great idea about adding the red and green bell peppers, thanks for stopping by.
Came out perfect used less sugar and brown rice