Teriyaki Turkey Meatballs Recipe
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As I've mentioned before, I love Asian flavors. So, one day a few months ago I decided I wanted to make some sort of Asian-inspired meatballs using ground turkey (probably because ground turkey was on sale). I read a bunch of turkey meatball recipes to see how other people recommend turning boring ground turkey into mouth-watering meatballs. Then, as usual, I decided not to follow any of these recipes, but to do my own thing once I had a basic understanding of how I might make an Asian-inspired turkey meatball.
The resulting recipe has quickly become a family favorite. My husband even requested these for his birthday dinner (though, I'm not sure this is a resounding recommendation, considering, in the past, he has requested Wendy's for his birthday dinner).
Anyway, trust me (I would never request Wendy's for my birthday - Taco Bell maybe if I were drunk, but not Wendy's), your mouth wants to taste these.
What You Will Need:
3 pounds ground turkey
2 large carrots, grated
6 green onions, diced
About 1 and 1/2 cups bread crumbs (I usually toast three slices of wheat bread and crumble it because it's cheaper than buying a package of bread crumbs and works just as well)
3 tablespoons minced garlic
3 eggs, beaten
3 teaspoons salt
3 teaspoons sesame oil
2 teaspoons Sriracha
1 bottle teriyaki marinade (I like to use either Kikkoman Takumi Collection Original Teriyaki Sauce or Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki Marinade and Sauce)
3 teaspoons soy sauce
3 more teaspoons minced garlic
2 more teaspoons Sriracha (or more if you'd like things a bit spicier)
To turn the ingredients into glorious balls of flavor:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Combine ground turkey, carrots, green onions, bread crumbs, 3 tablespoons of minced garlic, eggs, salt, sesame oil, 2 teaspoons of Sriracha, and about a tablespoon of teriyaki marinade in a large bowl. Mix well.
Form the meat mixture into approximately golf-ball-sized meatballs and line them up on cookies sheets prepped with nonstick cooking spray (I usually get about 65 meatballs, which requires 2 cookie sheets).
Brown the meatballs in the oven. This should take about 20 minutes, flipping them about halfway.
While the meatballs are in the oven, combine the remaining ingredients (the rest of the bottle of teriyaki sauce, 3 teaspoons of soy sauce, 3 teaspoons of minced garlic, and Sriracha) in a mixing bowl to make the sauce.
Once the meatballs are browned, transfer them into a large saute pan, and pour the sauce over the meatballs. Mix the meatballs until they are well-coated with the sauce, then cover and cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then remove the cover, stir, and cook uncovered for another 10 to 15 minutes until the sauce has reduced.
Transfer meatballs to a serving dish and garnish with chopped green onions (because garnishing things is fancy).
Serve with jasmine rice (or plain white rice if you are some kind of jasmine-rice-hating monster).
