These easy teriyaki meatballs are better than takeout, with juicy, oven-baked meatballs coated in a sweet-and-tangy teriyaki glaze. It’s a weeknight favorite for a reason!
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: Sweet, umami, and a little sticky, with a rich, tangy glaze that’s full of flavor in every bite.
- Time-Saving Tips: Grab a bottle of your favorite teriyaki sauce instead of making sauce from scratch! Or, toss in a bag of frozen meatballs and let them heat through. No thawing needed!
- Tools: Make perfectly cooked meatballs with an instant-read thermometer.
- Serving Suggestions: Serve as a simple dinner with rice and steamed broccoli. Or serve with toothpicks as an easy appetizer!
- Freezing: Meatballs freeze beautifully. Prep, freeze, and cook when needed, or cook, cool, and freeze until ready to use.
Ingredient Tips
- Ground Beef: Make this recipe with ground beef, ground turkey, or ground chicken. For extra juiciness, add ground pork to the meat mixture.
- Breadcrumbs: Helps to bind the meatballs and keep them tender. Use panko breadcrumbs for a lighter texture, but regular breadcrumbs can be used too.
- Sauce: Soy sauce, a can of pineapple, and fresh ginger make the umami/tart flavors pop. Make it sweeter by stirring in honey or maple syrup, or make it fiery by adding sriracha, gochujang, or chili crisp in Step 3.
How to Make Teriyaki Meatballs
- Combine the meatball ingredients (full recipe below) and shape into meatballs.
- Bake the meatballs on a prepared baking sheet until they are cooked through.
- Prepare the homemade teriyaki sauce ingredients.
- Stir meatballs into the teriyaki sauce and serve.
Storing and Saving Meatballs
- Store homemade teriyaki meatballs in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Teriyaki meatballs are best reheated in the air fryer so the outside gets crispy again, but you can reheat them on the stovetop with a little water on medium heat.
- Freeze leftovers on a baking sheet and transfer to zippered bags once frozen (this keeps them from sticking together). Meatballs can be frozen for up to 6 weeks.
International Meatball Recipes
Did you make these teriyaki meatballs? Leave a rating and comment below.
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Meatballs
- 1 pound lean ground beef or turkey
- ½ cup panko bread crumbs
- 2 green onions thinly sliced
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
For the Sauce
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1 (8 ounce) can pineapple tidbits with juice
- ½ cup water plus 2 tablespoons, divided
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch or as needed
For Serving (Optional)
- cooked rice
- sliced green onions
- sesame seeds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, combine ground beef, panko, green onions, ginger, garlic powder, and cornstarch and mix until just combined. Roll into about 24 meatballs and place on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the meatballs are cooked through and reach 165°F in the center.
- Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine soy sauce, the juice from the canned pineapple, ½ cup water, garlic, ginger, and brown sugar. Bring to a simmer over medium heat.
- In a small bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons of cold water and cornstarch. Slowly whisk into the simmering sauce until your desired thickness is reached. Stir in the pineapple and simmer for 1 minute.
- Once the meatballs are cooked through, transfer them to the pan with the pineapple sauce. Gently stir to coat and simmer for 1 minute more.
- Serve over rice, garnished with green onions and sesame seeds.
Notes
- The meatballs can be replaced with 16 ounces frozen meatballs, any variety.
- The sauce can be replaced with a thick bottled teriyaki sauce.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 435 | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 121mg | Sodium: 963mg | Potassium: 487mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 148IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 69mg | Iron: 4mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Appetizer, Dinner, Entree, Main Course, Party Food
Cuisine American, Japanese© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
These were so good! I don’t like pineapple in my main meal so I omitted the pineapple chunks. This is a truly quick weeknight meal. I used the leftover pineapple for Holly’s 5 ingredient pineapple cake.
So glad you enjoyed this recipe, Catherine! That is a great way to use up the pineapple.
I would advise against going the short route using the time saving tips. I used my usual go-to bottled mandarin teriyaki sauce with a can of pineapple tidbits and a bag of frozen meatballs. The sauce was just too strong. I can’t consider this a failure of the recipe because I simply didn’t follow the recipe. I should have put in the work to follow the instructions as written!
Oh no, I am sorry to hear that, Susan! I hope you were still able to enjoy the recipe.
excellent teriyaki meatballs. I used Ground chicken but everything else exactly the same as your recipe. Served with rice, steamed broccoli & homemade foccocia bread. Easy week night supper!
Connie, that sounds like a delicious twist and perfect sides. We are glad to hear that you enjoyed the recipe.
is the brown sugar in the sauce or meatballs? The recipe has it in both, was kinda confused. Can’t wait to make!
Sorry for the confusion Penny, the brown sugar is in the sauce.
I love Asian food I have travelled about nine times to Japan Singapore Thailand Hong Kong, all food I tasted was just something different than our food in the Western part of the world. I always order nearly every day teriyaki with rice or fried chips.
Thank you for this recipe, will cook it tonight.
Delicious!! Let us know how it goes for you!