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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.

light gray bowls with rice and healthy ground turkey teriyaki, chopsticks, sesame seeds, white napkin, green onions

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.

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Ground Turkey Teriyaki Rice Bowls

Ground turkey recipes are always a winner in our house, like Turkey, Kale and Rice SoupTurkey 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.
Cooked ground turkey recipe in a skillet with vegetables and teriyaki sauce. Cast iron skillet.

How to Make Teriyaki Turkey Rice Bowls

  1. 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.
  2. 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!
  3. 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 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 light brown.

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.

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
a hand with chopsticks, bowls with healthy ground turkey teriyaki, vegetables and rice

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.
bowl with lean ground turkey, rice and vegetables

More Ground Turkey Recipes

Recipe
Social media image of Teriyaki Turkey Rice Bowls

Teriyaki Turkey Rice Bowl

4.74 from 1193 votes
These Teriyaki Turkey Rice Bowls are made with healthy ground turkey and veggies in a sweet teriyaki sauce served over white or brown rice.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings 4 servings

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
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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

Calories: 380kcalCarbohydrates: 55gProtein: 28gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.03gCholesterol: 50mgSodium: 994mgPotassium: 606mgFiber: 2gSugar: 12gVitamin A: 4261IUVitamin C: 21mgCalcium: 60mgIron: 2mg

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.

Kristin Maxwell

Kristin Maxwell is the creator and main recipe developer, writer, and photographer of Yellow Bliss Road. A self-taught cook and self-appointed foodie, she specializes in easy, flavorful and approachable recipes for any home cook.

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4.74 from 1193 votes (809 ratings without comment)

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Comments

  1. Mandy Lyon says:

    Perfectly Delicious!

    1. Kristin says:

      Nice! Thanks for stopping by Mandy.

  2. Tracye says:

    Can you do this in a slow cooker?

    1. Kristin Maxwell says:

      This recipe wouldn’t translate well to a slow cooker. But it’s really simple and only takes 20-30 minutes! 🙂

  3. Larissa says:

    I’m usually not a huge fan of the flavor of ground turkey but this dish is so good. Definitely adding it to my recipe book!

    1. Kristin says:

      Nice! Thanks for stopping by Larissa.

  4. Laura lea says:

    Delicious!!!

    1. Kristin says:

      Thank you!

  5. Diana says:

    Loved it! I cut the carrots in tiny squares, I used frozen peas at the end. And used organic white sugar and honey to acquire the taste I wanted. You explain it very well! Thanks!

    1. Kristin says:

      Thank you Diana! Thanks for stopping by.

  6. Melissa Greer says:

    Made this tonight – SO GOOD! I used a bag of peas and carrots with it and it was delicious. Thank you!

    1. Kristin says:

      You are so welcome Melissa! Thanks for stopping by.

  7. Melody says:

    I made it tonight for my family and we all loved it. I replaced the broccoli with Lima beans and did not use corn starch cause I didn’t have it on hand. It was just delicious. Thank you for sharing.

    1. Kristin says:

      You are so welcome Melody! Thank you for sharing your feedback.

  8. Lorraine says:

    Delicious! I did use a little less sugar like some suggested with the sauce. It was easy and a great way to use ground turkey instead of the usual burgers or meatloaf. I will definitely make this again. I might even just make the sauce to put over leftover cooked chicken and vegetables.

    1. Kristin says:

      Thank you Lorraine! Awesome feedback!

    2. Kathy Heck says:

      Will definitely make this again. I was looking for a way to use my pound of ground turkey I had on hand. It was delicious.

  9. Macuil o. says:

    My boyfriend and I devoured this for our lunch today and we discovered a new addition to our work lunch recipe list!! Instead of making our own teriyaki sauce I already had a bottle of the kikkoman teriyaki sauce in the fridge so we used that instead. It was quick, simple, and delicious. Thank you for sharing

    1. Kristin says:

      You are so welcome Macuil! Thanks for sharing your positive feedback.

  10. Tom says:

    Got a chance to make this for dinner tonight and it will be put on the regular dinner rotation from this point moving forward! I did alter it a bit (very easy to do I may add which is why I liked the recipe). For the broccoli I only used the broccoli stems, added a celery stock and only used 1 carrot. For the sauce I added a tablespoon of Korean chili sauce to give it a bit of slice to balance out the sweetness. It was a hit with the family!!

    1. Kristin says:

      Nice! Thanks for sharing your feedback Tom.

  11. Ben says:

    Very solid weekday recipe. Used one tablespoon of each kinda of sugar and still felt plenty sweet to me. Didn’t have broccoli so we subbed in peas which worked great. This was plenty of food for the two of us with enough for a big lunch (over white rice).

    1. Kristin says:

      Nice! Thanks for stopping by Ben.

    2. kaitlyn says:

      This bowl was so yummy! Myself and husband really enjoyed it! We found it a bit salty so we were going to cut the amount of soy sauce next time. But this will forsure be a regular meal. Can’t wait to try this with noodles next time. Thanks for sharing

  12. Karen A Cebula says:

    This was really delicious and easy to make and for once I had all of the ingredients on hand, which never happens.

    1. Kristin says:

      Nice! Thanks for stopping by Karen.

  13. Sara says:

    I made the turkey teriyaki rice bowl last night and it was DELICIOUS! Tasted like something I would get in a restaurant. Will definitely make it again. Thanks!

    1. Kristin says:

      You are so welcome Sara! Thanks for the positive feedback.

  14. Lisa says:

    Hi. How much ground turkey do you use and what is a serving size? Thank you. ?

    1. Kristin Maxwell says:

      The recipe calls for a pound of turkey. The recipe makes approximately 5-6 serving which is about 4 ounces of turkey plus the veggies. All nutritional information is approximate and based on a division of the ingredients and serving size.

  15. Angie says:

    Made this tonight for my family and we all loved it. My husband doesn’t like broccoli so I replaced it with red and green pepper; other than that I followed the directions to a T. We served it over rice. I added almonds and sriracha sauce to the table for optional toppings.

    1. Kristin says:

      That sounds delicious Angie! Thanks for sharing your positive feedback.

  16. Vanessa says:

    What is the serving size for the calories?

    1. Kristin Maxwell says:

      This recipe makes 5 servings. Serving size is based on 1/5 of the recipe and how much veggies you use. I am not a nutritionist but I try to provide approximate nutritional information

  17. Jannin says:

    Can I use rice vinegar instead of the red wine vinegar for the sauce? And would it still be the same amount needed

    1. Kristin Maxwell says:

      Yes you can and yes it would be.

  18. Linda Szczur says:

    I made this tonight but my husband and I found it way too salty. Too much soya sauce. We were disappointed we were not able to finish the dish.

    1. Kristin Maxwell says:

      To each his own. Did you used Low Sodium soy sauce or regular? I have found that it can make an incredible difference.

  19. Susie says:

    This was delicious! The sauce was perfect and I love the hint of ginger! Great, easy and tasteful meal for the family…Thank you!

    1. Kristin says:

      You are so welcome Susie! Thanks for stopping by.

  20. Fleurette says:

    Can the teriyaki sauce be frozen for future use in this recipe? (If yes, as a time-saver, I might double the quantity at the time of preparation.)

    1. Kristin Maxwell says:

      Yes you could freeze the sauce on it’s own.