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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.
Very yummy, thank you for the recipe.
You are so welcome Cacia! Thanks for stopping by.
What is one serving size?
About 1/2-3/4 cup. It’s really a personal preference on how hungry you are.
Haven’t made this yet but plan on trying it this week. Does that 1/2 to 3/4 cup include the rice? I am watching my calorie intake.
No it does not.
Fixed for dinner tonight. A hit! Didn’t have broccoli so grated a zucchini. Sautéed small red pepper pieces with the onion. Finished with shredded cabbage after adding the sauce. Daughter said she’ll be happy to have this again! Even my meat & potatoes husband enjoyed it. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
You are so welcome Karen! Thank you for the awesome feedback.
It needed something! I added black pepper. That wasn’t enough , so I added dried red peppers!
Yummy!
Yum! Thanks for the awesome feedback Linda.
This was amazing! Just made it tonight. It was perfect because I had leftover roasted broccoli from the previous night. I didn’t add the white sugar and for us, it was perfect. Thank you!
That’s awesome April! Thanks for stopping by.
Wonderful recipe! Thanks for posting!
You are so welcome David! Thanks for stopping by.
I made this recipe last night exactly as written (except I used fresh grated ginger instead) and it was delicious!! My family loved it. I was so happy to have a new ground turkey option! So flavorful and a great combination of ingredients. Next time I might add some zucchini in addition to the carrots and broccoli. I served this over rice but I think they would be great in lettuce wraps too. THANK YOU so much!
You are so welcome Tiffany! Awesome feedback, thanks for stopping by.
Delicious, Delicious – I have 5 packs of Organic ground turkey that I scored @ 50% off because the due date was the next day. Note that my husband doesn’t even like Turkey (in my 50% off Fog I totally gaped) So I had taken one pack out for dinner tonight fully intending to make turkey burgers. Fast forward, I don’t feel like burgers for dinner, I want something a little more international. So I googled and you came up. I didn’t have a whole lot of time, but as I am a home cook, I had every ingredient. It took me 30 mins and the brown rice suggestion was brilliant as I had lots of rice (the usual suspects, batsmati, jasmine, wild, black) but we hadn’t had brown in so long. We use a rice cooker so I used chicken stock in lieu of water and I added green onions and butter to the cooker while it cooked. It was amazing. I topped ours off with the fresh green onion as suggested and added sesame seeds and toasted cashews (because I had them). Did I mention that this was delicious??? Thank-you for the recipe. I am no going to search your recipes for more full flavour treasures
Oh my gosh I’m drooling over this recipe! Any ideas what I could use in place of red wine vinegar?
Ooops, guess I should read other reviews first! Looks like I can use rice vinegar 😉
I have this on my menu this week and was wondering if I could could use fresh ginger instead of ground? We love ginger and I have it on hand already. Thanks!
Sure! Just grate some fresh ginger in in place of the ground.
This is my new favorite! I added water chestnuts and sprinkled cashew on the end for more crunch. Thank you so much!!
You are so welcome Michelle! Thank you for your feedback.
Extra ordinarily easy to make, kids loved it with bok choy. Great recipe!
Nice! Thank you Josh for stopping by.
I can’t wait to try this one.
This was delicious and really easy to make! I served it over cauliflower rice to lower calories and carbs. I will be adding this to the rotation in our house!
Nice! Thanks for stopping by Bianica.
So yummy and easy to make!
Thank you Sonia!
I made this with mushrooms, snap peas, onion, zucchini and carrots. It was delish! Thanks for a great new recipe. This one is company worthy.
Your so welcome Linda! Thank you for the feedback.
I’m 36 weeks pregnant and this recipe has been made every single week lol. Love it!
Hello Alyssa,
Thank you so much for dropping by to share your commit.
I made this tonight, it turned out so good. Thank you for sharing!
you are so welcome Yasmine! Thanks for stopping by.
I just made this for the first time and it was really good! The flavors all came together really well. It did take a little longer to make than I was expecting. I also didn’t have any red wine vinegar so I used rice wine vinegar, instead, and it tasted really good- I also only used one tablespoon of brown sugar for the whole recipe and it was the right amount of sweetness. I definitely think this is going to become one of my staple recipes!
Hi Alexis, thank you so much for stopping by and for the awesome feedback.
So freaking good! Due to out of stock items at grocery, I had to make the following tweaks to the veggies: used frozen bell peppers and onions along with garlic when cooking turkey. Then just added broccoli and carrots (no green onion available) and put the whole concoction over cauliflower rice. Heated up some frozen chicken wontons and dipped them in red pepper jelly for a little appetizer. Such great flavors all around!
I really liked the consistency of the ground turkey and I enjoyed the fact it was so nutritious.
Nice! Thanks for stopping by Laura.