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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.
yummy & so easy too make!!
Thank you Kristina!
Do you happen to know the macro nutrients without rice? ?
I love it! I used rice wine vinegar and Mirin because they were what I have on hand. Mirin is sweet so I didn’t add any sugar at all. It worked!! I added extra ginger (because I like ginger) into both the teriyaki and the turkey stir fry. This also worked 🙂 Thank you for the recipe. I am not a good cook and it still turned out yummy!
You are so welcome Khai! Awesome feedback, thanks for stopping by.
Hello! Loving this recipe! Third time making it ❤️ Are those nutritional facts based on one cup? If not, based on what serving size?
It’s based on 5 servings of the whole meal.
My whole family loved this recipe! It was so easy and the sauce was amazing. I added some more veg such as zucchini and purple cabbage and it was amazing. I did less brown sugar and added honey instead. Definitely will save this one for the future. Delicious!!
Awesome feedback Ashleigh! Thank you so much for stopping by.
Do you have to use red wine vinegar ?
You can use apple cider vinegar, or even white vinegar.
This recipe is definitely a keeper. I used Pomegranate red wine vinegar in place of the red wine vinegar and it was great. Will definitely be making again
Awesome feedback Donna! Thanks for stopping by.
I’ve been trying to find good uses for ground turkey! I feel it needs a lot of flavor added so this seems perfect with the teriyaki!
Really tasty and easy! I love that you can customize the veggies! I did onion, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, baby corn, water chestnuts and bean sprouts. I used Jasmine rice. It’s amazing!!! I think we will use the leftover meat mixture to do lettuce wraps tomorrow. Thanks so much!
You are so welcome Stacy! Awesome feedback. Thanks for stopping by.
This looks delicious – making it tonight. I have all of the ingredients besides ginger. Is ginger a must have? Any recommended replacements? Can’t wait to try this 🙂
Ginger is a great addition, but it should still taste great without it.
This recipe is so good and very easy to make. My whole family loves it! I serve it over jasmine rice for them but I use cauliflower rice for myself.
Thank you so much Lisa for stopping by and sharing your feedback.
This was so yummy. I used 1 less tablespoon of sugar & had my broccoli on the side with brown rice. Whole family loved it.
Awesome feedback Mrs. Green! Thanks for stopping by.
Yummmm
Love this recipe! I use riced broccoli and matchstick carrots to help cut down prep. This is a great way to get my husband and toddler to eat veggies! It is hard to make unless my husband is available to watch our toddler, though. Is there any way this could be adjusted to be made in the crockpot?
Awesome feedback Jessica! Thank you so much for stopping by.
SO good! I added edamame and snow peas and served it over ginger brown rice. Kids and hubby loved it! 🙂
Nice! Thanks for stopping Deniz.
Hi, so I’m super lazy (??♀️) and plan on just buying teriyaki sauce … how much should I use? It looks like about a cup? Thanks in advance! I’m making this this week. 🙂
If you’re using prepared sauce you can just add it to taste.
This was absolutely wonderful! Instead of rice, I used cauliflower rice. A++!!
Awesome feedback Sarah! Thanks for stopping by.
Great recipe! My husband and I loved it and we had left overs for lunch AND dinner the following day. Cut back some on the sugar which worked for our tastes. Also added some Sriracha to heat it up, as we love spicy food!
Awesome feedback Megan! Thanks for stopping by.
YUM!! Family LOVED it. Cooked it exactly as directed, except used up the rest of my coconut aminos instead of soy sauce. Also set out lettuce cups to make lettuce wraps. Great recipe
Thank you Libby! Awesome feedback!
This was fab!! Whole family really liked it. So tasty!! We found this comparable to a restaurant quality taste. Terrific!
After reading the reviews we omitted the sugars except for 1 tablespoon brown sugar And put In just 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar.
I had a feeling I should have double this recipe to have more leftovers, it was that good! Or 23-year-old who is home because of Covid is loving this recipe also!
Thank you!!
Nice! Thanks for the awesome feedback Sherri.