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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 really enjoyed this! I made it with a couple of adjustments. I didn’t have red wine vinegar so I used balsamic (2 tablespoons) and I added a tiny bit of siracha for heat. I also used Truvia instead of white sugar. Annnnd I steamed a bag of riced cauliflower. Thanks for the great recipe! Will definitely be in my rotation!
You are so welcome Cary! Awesome feedback.
My entire family loves this!!! I cut the sugars in half and it was so perfect! Total points came out to 3 for WW purple! My daughter even ate it and she eats literally 3 food items so that’s saying a lot!
Nice! Thank you for the awesome feedback Danielle.
My sauce is super salty – and I used reduced salt soy sauce. Any ideas on how to cut it?
Hi Lynzi, the soy sauce is the only thing that adds salt to the sauce, so I guess you could cut back on that. I don’t find it overly salty at all, but it is a personal preference.
If I wanted to make 2 lbs of turkey would I just double everything?
Yes just double the sauce and veggies.
Love this recipe! My kids did not even realize there were veggies in it! The whole family loved it even my husband who doesn’t usually like ground turkey!
I really enjoyed this recipe! I swapped the red wine vinegar for rice vinegar, added pineapple juice to the sauce, and cooked the turkey with only the white part of green onions. Then I served it with rice and sauteed pak choi. Can you tell me how much rice is in one of your servings? I’m counting calories so just wanted to make sure I get the portions right.
Glad you have found a way to make this recipe your own. For the rice, it’s counted as 3/4 of a cup of cooked rice.
This recipe is amazing. My 3 & 5yr old love it. I’ll definitely be making more of this dish often. This is a new spin on turkey, and not even tasting like it. Thank You for sharing.
You are so welcome Katie! Thanks for stopping by.
I think overall it was good. My family enjoyed it, but if I could change anything it would be the amount of the vinegar. It was a little overpowering.
Awesome feedback Kareen! Thanks for stopping by.
I am very happy I found this recipe. We love lo mien, but many recipes I found call for ALOT of ingredients, and time. This one was a HUGH hit in my house. My kids ate it up. I followed the teriyaki sauce except I only put 2 teaspoons brown sugar and 1 teaspoon granulated sugar. I poured this over cooked lo mien noodles and a bag of cooked frozen veggies. I pan fried some turkey breasts and cut up some into that mixture. Heated it all together a few minutes. So good! Thank you. Will be having this again and again!
Thanks for the awesome feedback Meg!
SUE CAVENECIA is right the sweet heat takes it over the top. Great recipe. I served it with risotto.
This has been a family favorite recipe that I stumbled upon during COVID. It’s so flavorful and quite easy once prep is done. Thank you for sharing!
You are so welcome Cheryl! Thanks for stopping by.
Great recipe thanks!!
Needed just a little spice so added sweet chili sauce as a condiment. Great recipe!
Awesome feedback Sue! Thanks for stopping by.
Just cooked this. Didn’t have red vinegar, so used apple cider. Turned out very flavorful. Hubby loved it
Nice! Thanks for stopping by Virginia.
how much apple cider vinegar did you use in place of the red wine vinegar?
You would use the same amount.
Made this for dinner tonight and it turned out wonderful! My family loved it!
Nice! Thanks for stopping by Marie.
delicious! suggestion for anyone complaining about the sugar, you could try a tablespoon or two of plum jam instead of white sugar, it’s quite yummy!
It’s under ‘healthy dinner’ when I search. But it’s got 4 tablespooons of sugar…
Which you can cut to make the dish healthier. It also is only 400 calories for the entire meal, with rice.
Is the nutrition information for the whole dish or per serving size?
Serving size, and served over white rice.
I made this for myself for dinner and I really like it.
The next time I make it I am going to cut down on the sugar.
Awesome feedback Olivia! Thanks for stopping by.
Made this dish on Sunday – my daughter and I enjoyed it very much!
Definitely going to cook it once a month
Delicious!
This sounds so delicious! Can’t wait to try it! Do you happen to know how much a serving size is?
About 3/4 cup. The serving size will depend on the amount of veggies and the size you cut them.