Plump juicy chicken meatballs smothered in a terrific homemade Teriyaki sauce, based on my mother’s authentic Teriyaki Chicken recipe. Would you serve these Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs as a meal or pass them around at a party?
Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs
These Teriyaki Meatballs are a total crowd pleaser. The sauce for this recipe is based on my mother’s real-deal Teriyaki Chicken recipe (you will be surprised how easy it is – less than 15 minutes start to finish, NO marinating!).
All I did was add cornflour / cornstarch as thickener and water to thin it out to make it more saucy.
My mother is a bit of a food snob when it comes to western twists on Japanese classics. Once she watched a celebrity chef butchering a classic Japanese tempura recipe and she was so indignant that she wrote into the cooking show to inform them how wrong it was. BA HA HA!
So while she was somewhat doubtful as she went about making these Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs for the recipe video, she grudgingly agreed they were very tasty. *Eye roll* Mothers!
Chicken Meatballs
I love chicken meatballs as a leaner alternative to beef meatballs. But because chicken is leaner, you need to ensure the meatballs are cooked well so they do not become dry and tough.
The trick to really juicy chicken meatballs is to cook the chicken meatballs until they are just cooked inside. This recipe makes it easy because these meatballs are cooked until golden on the outside but still raw on the inside, then simmered in the Teriyaki Sauce to finish cooking through. By simmering in the sauce, this helps keeping the chicken meatballs nice and juicy!
Serve these plump juicy chicken meatballs over rice or noodles – anything to make the most of all that delicious Teriyaki Sauce!
I’ve also served these as a starter – piled them onto a platter with toothpicks, then passed them around.
If serving this as a meal, try this with a fresh leafy salad on the side tossed with Asian Sesame Dressing. – Nagi xx
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Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs recipe video! Starring my mother – appropriate because the Teriyaki Sauce is her recipe, and it’s a proper homemade Japanese one, not a westernised one (albeit I’ve had to adjust it to make loads more sauce for this recipe without it being too salty!).
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Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
Teriyaki Sauce:
- 1 tbsp cornflour / cornstarch
- 1/4 cup / 65ml soy sauce , all purpose / ordinary (Note 1)
- 1/4 cup / 65ml cooking sake , or sub with Chinese cooking wine or dry sherry (Note 2)
- 1/4 cup / 65ml Mirin (Note 2)
- 1 tbsp white sugar (brown also ok)
- ¾ cup / 180 ml water
Meatballs:
- 500 g / 1 lb chicken mince (ground chicken) (or pork or turkey)
- 1 egg (preferably small 50g / 1.4 oz)
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs (or ¾ cup normal breadcrumbs)
- 1 garlic clove , minced
- 1 ½ tsp cooking sake , or sub with Chinese cooking wine or dry sherry (Note 2)
- ½ tsp salt
Cooking:
- 1 tbsp oil
- Sliced green onions / scallions , for garnish (optional)
- Sesame seeds , for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Place Meatball ingredients in a bowl.
- Place cornflour in a bowl with 1 tbsp of the water, then mix until lump free. Then add the soy sauce, sake, mirin and sugar, mix.
- Add 2 tsp of Teriyaki Sauce into the Meatball bowl.
- Add remaining water into the Sauce and mix. Set aside.
- Mix Meatball mixture with your hands. Measure out 1 heaped tablespoon and roll into balls. See Note 3 for tips if mixture is too sticky.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add all the meatballs and cook, rolling to brown all over, for 5 minutes. They will still be a bit raw inside.
- Turn heat down. Give the Sauce a quick mix then add it into the pan. Bring to a simmer then cook for 2 – 3 minutes or until it thickens into a glossy sauce that coats the meatballs.
- Serve over rice, garnished with green onions and sesame seeds if desired.
Recipe Notes:
a) refrigerate for 30 minutes to firm up;
b) spray / rub hands lightly with oil (works better than water) before rolling balls; and
c) in emergencies only, add more breadcrumbs! 4. BAKING: My default method of cooking chicken meatballs is on the stove because I like the caramelisation (beef and lamb have more fat so they get a nicer browning when baked). To bake, for best results, spray a rack with oil, roll the balls and place on the rack and refrigerate for 30 minutes. (These 2 tips help keep them round when baked) Bake in the top 1/3 of the oven at 180C/350F for 18 – 20 minutes (assuming you make them 1 rounded packed tablespoon per recipe) – any longer than they will start to dry out. Reduce the water in the Sauce by 1/4 cup and simmer in a saucepan for 5 minutes or so until it thickens. Once the meatballs are baked, toss them in the sauce or just pour it over when serving. 5. Nutrition per serving, assuming 4 servings.
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
When I’m away, Dozer stays with a Golden Retriever Boarder who treats him as one of her own. He has the run of her house, lies under the table during meal time (clever boy), sleeps in front of the fireplace and knows he’s at the very bottom of the pecking order. 😂 (That’s him on the left)
The Chicken Meatballs were delicious and had a great texture but the Teriyaki Sauce was absolutely scrumptious. The only thing we will do differently next time will be to increase the quantity of the sauce so we can enjoy the flavour experience even more. Thanks, Nagi.
Lyn and David
You want even MORE SAUCE!!!!!! *She screeches!* And I thought I was a sauce fiend! 🙂 N xx
Turkey meatballs were well received by my grandsons. I’m so glad to have another dish that they will eat.
High praise!!! That’s a good test, isn’t it? 😉 Thanks so much for the feedback Colleen, so glad you enjoyed it! N xx
Hi Nagi – have been to every store in town and can’t find sake or Chinese cooking wine and the only sherry they have is cream sherry. Could I replace with gin? Strangely enough had no trouble finding mirin…..
IT WAS FAB!!!!
💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻
Hi Laura! I think that gin is far too high in alcohol to be a substitute and also the flavour is very different from rice wines. However, I think that you will get away with using more mirin in place of the sake and omitting the sugar. Mirin and Sake are both rice wines, the main difference is that mirin is sweet and because of the sugar, it is slightly thicker (though I do think that sake has slightly more complex flavours than Mirin, but sweetness is the main difference). I am not sure if you will be ok leaving out all the sugar, my suggestion is to start by leaving it all out, then when the sauce reduces to a syrup thickness like you see in the video, take a taste. If it’s not sweet enough for your taste (Teriyaki is sweet and salty balanced fairly evenly), then take the pan off the stove and add sugar 1 tsp at a time into the sauce and a dash of water. The heat should dissolve it quickly – give it a stir and taste test again. 🙂 Love your commitment to Teriyaki!!! Oh – PS I am travelling at the moment but if you give me a prod in a couple of weeks, I will test this recipe out myself using only Mirin and no sake and tell you how close it is to the original recipe! N x
Nagi these were incredible. My balls are not as pretty as yours lol. That teriyaki sauce was amazing. I kept smelling it as I added ingredients and was thinking this surely doesn’t smell like the bottled stuff and wow! So fresh. Anyway I could eat this daily. I served it over rice and s side of steamed brocolli which I topped with of course the teriyaki sauce. I had some leftover toasted almond slices which gave a nice crunch. 😍
I’m so pleased to hear that Steven! My mother will be too when she reads this. She always comes back to posts where I use one of her recipes just to check out what people say – ba ha ha! N x PS Love the almond touch!
Just realized yes this is your moms teriyaki recipe. Please tell her amazing. Hope your having fun in NYC. Heard it was one of the hottest days of the year.
I am a melting, hot, sticky mess. The subway is killing me!!!😅
Haha. Hey it’s hotter in NY than Florida. 😜 I’m making your chicken gyro for dinner tomorrow nights party. Was torn between your Chinese and Greek balls, but went with Greek gyros. Go figure.
Just made these for dinner, oh my gosh that’s the best teriyaki sauce ever! Many thanks for the recipe Nagi – so easy and scrumptious! (Bonus points for looking just like yours!) 🙂 xx
WHOOT! My mother is sitting here next to me – just told her you liked her sauce – she was SUPER happy! 🙂 N xx
What can be used to substitute the cooking sake and Mirin? They are mostly alcohol content and I do not take them. Would love to try the homemade teriyaki sauce….
Hi Leena! Unfortunately for this recipe they are key to the flavour so can’t be substituted. Sorry! N x
Thanks Nagi for the feedback 🙂
Hey!!! (I meant eh??!!) Is this the same Calgarian chef and restaurauteur Jo of ‘Beaver Balls” food and T-Shirt fame?
No!!! 🙂 She laughed when I asked if she was secretly famous!!! (PS Don’t get me started on the “Eh”. I’ve been using it excessively!!!)
Nagi,
really– do not miss the opportunity to go to the mountains! It’s only one hour (or less) from Calgary!!! And a beautiful drive, at that! You will not be sorry!!!
ps. the recipe sounds fabulous 🙂
I WISH I was in Calgary for longer so I had time! I was actually only there for 5 days 🙂 Which seems like long enough but it wasn’t!! My friend lives on the other side of Calgary so she said the closest would have been around 3 hours drive, so I decided to skip it this trip. Next time! I am REALLY keen to do a river trip – what a way to see this area!! N xx
Excited to hear you are visiting my town and happy you are having fun stampeding! I have been a huge fan since the last time I visited my son and his family in Canberra. Every recipe I’ve made has been a success and I’m looking forward to trying these when my “Aussie” family visits next month. Can’t wait!!
(Sorry about the rain today…)
Hi Brenda! I had SUCH a wonderful time in Calgary! Too short 🙁 I’m sad to be leaving today – I’m at the airport right now. I had the most amazing time Stampeding – I share more in today’s post!! Thank you for the kind words and believe me, I was not complaining about the rain, I thought the cooler weather was a nice change from the heat! N xx
Made these for dinner tonight served with rice and beans… they were delicious!! Mine weren’t as pretty as yours though. I will be making them again and I think they would also be perfect for finger food at a party!
I think you’re the first to report in on these!!! So pleased you enjoyed them Alicia 🙂 And who cares if they were kinda wonky! Though if you want them to be nice and round, try the tips in the recipe notes to refrigerate the mixture and use oil on your hands 🙂 Firms up the balls and helps them retain shape while cooking. N xx
Man, my meatballs NEVER turn out round like that LOL. Always lopsided, oval or square-shaped results. Not that it matters, though, because with the great recipes you present, they always disappear so fast the only one that notices the shapes is me (thank goodness).
Hope you’re having a blast in Calgary – can’t wait to see the Stampede pics!
Btw, Dozer isn’t being humble amongst his fellow canine friends – he’s just being a well-trained, polite puppy!
You are right – it DOESN’T MATTER!!!!! 😂 N xx
looks yummy! would it be possible to oven bake the meatball instead?
HI Shelley! Yup for sure – spray with oil, bake at 180C/350F for 20 minutes 🙂
Lol….you are just up the road a ways from where I live! (northern Minnesota) Cool!!!
These look extra delicious!! Share them???? bwaaahhhhaaa…..THEY ARE ALL MINE!!!!!
No way! Is it just as warm where you are? Can’t get over how warm it is! N xx
Wasn’t expecting to hear from you so soon. So Thank you! Love meatballs any time, they look so inviting. As for Dozer he seems to having more friends than Me. Nagi, Re: my sister I feel bit better, am over initial shock. But her 2 Ne daughter from Sydney went on her own ( little ones 03, 18 months with his family) just for 02 weeks. As Family they were in Germany in December, just over the Xmas. But it’s hard ’cause now the Dr’s DO NOT AGREE WITH EACH OTHER SO THEY HAVENT STARTED THERAPY TODAY IS HAVING YET ANOTHER MRA. HOPE THEY COME UP WITH RIGHT SOLUTION/treatment soon. Nagi, please keep cont enjoy you self, be HAPPY!
Oh dear it’s so frustrating Vera. I’m sorry to hear that, and I hope they come up with the right solution too. I hope YOU are keeping well and looking after yourself too Vera. N x ❤️
Yes thats what I like to do exactly we’d be perfect travelling companions. Speaking of perfect. The roundness of those meatballs is awesome.
Glad to hear it’s not just me! 😂 N x
Nagi! Welcome to Canada! I hope it’s one of your most enjoyable travel memories…and Dorothy is right…go Shopping!! Just remember to buy the boots 1 size smaller than the shoe size you normally wear 🙂
While you’re here, grab some poutine, Nanaimo bar, butter tarts and/or butter tart square for sure…and do be sure to save room for all the goodies you’re going to find at the stampede. Have a hoot! Above all, be safe. 🙂
PS – Dozer is a lucky boy indeed!
You basically listed every item on my “MUST TRY” list! 😂 The Stampede was a treat frenzy…. my mind is still boggling at “all things fried” that I saw! N xx
Glad to hear you are in Canada! Hope you and Dozer have a great visit! Will try out this receipt this week
LOVING Canada! Weather is fantastic, Stampede was a blast! 🙂 N xx
Welcome to my country Nagi!! You’re too funny about seeing the Rockies in the distance and checked it off your box. I’m guessing Jo wanted to take you to Lake Louise or Banff – God’s country for sure but hey – this is your trip and I get hanging in the grocery stores and checking out different products and food. Great Canadian Beef for sure and maybe they’ll introduce you to Poutine which is a popular Canadian dish. Enjoy the Stampede and get that cowboy hat on!! Just say “eh” at the end of your sentences and you’ll blend right in. Oh yeah, going to try these meatballs for sure this weekend when we host our BBQ….they look awesome!!
Ba ha ha! To be truthful, it’s quite a short trip – just 5 days in Calgary, and I felt it was a bit of a rush to just quickly pop by the Rockies with the distance we’d have to travel to get there. So I’d rather save it for the next time I’m here when I actually have time to explore it a bit!!! Just got back from the Stampede this evening, had a BLAST! Tried Poutine in my cowboy hat, saw my first rodeo show and had the most AMAZING TIME! I LOVE CALGARY!!!! N xx
Hi! I just subscribed to your blog after coming across the recipe for Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs. I’ve been browsing and I love what I see! Delicious, real, food cooked with obvious love. No trendy recipes with “here-today-gone-tomorrow” ingredients, no healthy-but-tasteless recipes with mile-long ingredient lists that take all day to prepare. Instead, practical food, comfort food, yummy food, and lots of my favorite ethnic foods–Asian, Indian, Italian! I think I’m gonna like hearing from you!
Thanks for the lovely compliment Brenda! I hope you try some recipes and LOVE them! N xx
I do the same thing when I travel. I love seeing the grocery stores and farmers markets. You really can learn so much about a place. And bring back loads of new tasty treats! 🙂