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You know those recipes that you end up making over and over again because they’re so good? Well, these teriyaki turkey rice bowls are one of them.
When I tried teriyaki turkey rice bowls for the first time, I instantly knew I’d be making them again soon.
These teriyaki turkey rice bowls are easy to make, packed with valuable nutrients, and you can easily swap out the turkey for another protein you have on hand.
Table of Contents
What You’ll Need to Make Teriyaki Turkey Rice Bowls
Many of the ingredients in these teriyaki turkey rice bowls may already be in your fridge, freezer, or pantry. While I do admit that this recipe has a longer ingredient list than I’d like, don’t let it intimidate you. It’s worth it!
- Ground turkey
- Jasmine rice
- Diced vegetables – mushrooms, zucchini, carrots, broccoli
- Green onions (optional, but really make a difference!)
Homemade Teriyaki Sauce Ingredients
Keep in mind you can always opt for a premade Teriyaki sauce, but once you make this version, you’ll realize it’s actually pretty simple!
- Water
- Honey
- Brown sugar
- Sesame oil – find in the Asian food section
- Soy sauce
- Ground ginger – if using fresh ginger, double the measurement
- Minced garlic – substitute ½ as much granulated garlic if you don’t have minced garlic
- Corn Starch
Equipment Needed to Make Turkey Teriyaki Rice Bowls
Because the teriyaki sauce is sticky, it’s nice to have a good non-stick pan for an easier clean up. I love using the GoodCook Healthy pots and pans for this reason.
- GoodCook Healthy 10″ pan
- GoodCook Healthy 2 Qt sauce pan
- Rice cooker (optional)
- Chopper
- Cutting board
- Knife
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
You can easily make rice on the stove top or use the ever so convenient microwavable rice pouches, I highly recommend a rice cooker. I purchased this rice cooker a few months ago and it’s been a game changer for cooking consistent and delicious rice in a hands off way.
How to Make Teriyaki Turkey Rice Bowls
To start off this recipe you will want to prep whatever vegetables you are adding to your teriyaki turkey rice bowls. I like to use this recipe as an opportunity to use up any fresh vegetables I have in my fridge.
For this recipe I used mushrooms, carrots, zucchini, and broccoli. You can dice up the veggies yourself, or use a handy dandy food chopper. Only catch with this food chopper is that you will need to cut the vegetables into pieces that fit on the chopping grid.
If you have a picky eater at home I encourage you to get them involved with helping chop up the vegetables with kid safe knives. If your picky eater doesn’t care for the vegetables mixed into the foods you serve, you can sauté and serve them separately from the ground turkey.
Set aside your diced vegetables until you’re ready to add them to the ground turkey.
Next you can add your ground turkey to a frying pan, preferably nonstick. I like to use the Goodcook Healthy Frying Pan to make it easier to clean once you’re finished. Brown the turkey on medium heat.
Once your Turkey is halfway done browning, add your diced vegetables.
While your turkey finishes browning, you’re going to make the homemade teriyaki sauce. Start off with whisking together the water and cornstarch in a small bowl until the cornstarch is dissolved. Using warm water may help the cornstarch dissolve easier.
Add all your sauce ingredients to a medium saucepan and cook on low to medium low, whisking throughout to prevent the sauce from burning. I recommend adding the cornstarch mixture last. Once your sauce thickens you can remove it from the heat and pour into your turkey and vegetable mixture.
Let your teriyaki turkey mixture simmer on low heat for five to ten minutes to let the turkey and vegetables take on some of the teriyaki flavor.
Assemble your teriyaki turkey rice bowls with your turkey teriyaki, jasmine rice, and sliced green onions. My family enjoys teriyaki turkey rice bowls with pot stickers and edamame as sides.
Variations
One of the many great things about this recipe is that it’s extremely versatile. Not only can you opt for premade teriyaki sauce to make it that much easier, but you can swap out ground turkey for so many different protein options.
The next variation I’m going to try are pulled pork rice bowls and teriyaki beef bowls.
- Ground beef
- Ground chicken
- Meatballs
- Chicken breast
- Tofu
- Breaded chicken
- Pulled pork
How to Store and Reheat
The leftover teriyaki turkey can easily be placed in an airtight container and stored in the fridge for three to seven days or the freezer for three to six months. I love using Rubbermaid Brilliance Leak-Proof Food Storage Containers.
When it comes time to reheat your turkey teriyaki, simply place in a microwave safe dish and heat until it reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
If you’re reheating from frozen, pull out your frozen teriyaki turkey the day before and thaw in the fridge.
What to Serve With It
My family enjoys these teriyaki turkey rice bowls with jasmine rice that we make in our rice cooker. As simple as it sounds to make rice, I always messed it up until I got a rice cooker.
When I served teriyaki turkey rice bowls to my family for the first time as a new recipe, I also made pot stickers as a side because I knew it was something familiar that my kids enjoyed.
My daughter also loves edamame which naturally goes well with these teriyaki turkey rice bowls.
Other great options to serve with teriyaki turkey bowls:
- Rice
- Quinoa
- Edamame
- Potstickers
- Roasted or sauteed vegetables
- Lettuce wraps
Serving Teriyaki Turkey Rice Bowls to Picky Eaters
New foods, let alone an entire recipe or meal, can be scary for picky eaters. That’s why it’s important to take in their preferences and adjust a few things anytime you have a new recipe or food on the menu.
- Get them involved in helping prepare the new recipe
- Offer the meal family style for them to scoop themselves
- Let them scoop the new food onto your plate
- Ask them questions about the new food
- Offer one or two preferred foods with the meal
- Provide larger portions of preferred foods
- Offer tiny portions of new foods
- Offer new food with a fun utensil like childrens chopsticks or a food pick
Teriyaki Turkey Rice Bowls
Equipment
- 10" frying pan
- 1-2 Qt sauce pan
- Knife
- Cutting board
- Food chopper optional
- Whisk
- Mixing bowl
- Rice cooker Optional
- Measuring spoons
- Measuring cups
Ingredients
Teriyaki Turkey Mixture
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 2-4 cups jasmine rice, cooked
- 2-4 cups water
- 1-2 cups diced vegetables mushrooms, zucchini, broccoli, carrots
- 1/4 cup green onions, sliced
Teriyaki Sauce
- 1 cup water
- 2 tsp honey
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 2 tbsp cornstarch + 1/4 cup water
Instructions
- Wash and dice fresh vegetables. Set aside.
- Make rice according to package and set aside.
- Add ground turkey to a nonstick frying pan and brown on medium heat. Once your turkey is half way done browning, add your diced vegetables and stir.
- While your turkey and vegetables are cooking, prepare the teriyaki sauce by mixing cornstarch and 1/4 cup water in a small bowl. Whisk until corn starch is dissolved. Add all the teriyaki sauce ingredients to a saucepan, adding corn starch mixture last. Whisk together until combined and simmer on low to medium-low heat until sauce thickens.
- Once sauce has thickened, remove it from the heat and add to the frying pan with the turkey and vegetables. Let the teriyaki turkey mixture simmer on medium-low heat for five to ten minutes.
- Top your rice with your teriyaki turkey and sliced green onions and enjoy!
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