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)
Hi Nagi – for some reason chicken mince is very hard to find here. I’m pretty sure I can use turkey breast mince instead or will that be too dry?
Hi Laura – perfect sub! In fact, I will put it in the notes 🙂 N x
Looks delicious and I plan to make them tonight but I wonder: Would they still work if baked, like your Oven Baked Italian Meatballs? I have very poor luck with frying meatballs, partially due to the fact that I have an all-electric house and cooking on an electric stove is much more difficult than gas. No good way to make immediate changes to the cooking temperature, etc. So, what about it, Nagi? Please say it’s okay, please, please. And yeah, go shopping for some great boots. You won’t regret it when you bring them home and find that suddenly, they go with everything you wear! Hope that you and Dozer are not missing each other too much; it is so hard to be away from the one who occupies your heart. But at least he is with his own breed and presumably having a great time.
YES YES YES to baking them!!!! For best results, refrigerate the balls then place on a rack (also sprayed with oil) (these 2 tips help keep them round) then place the rack on a tray and bake 180C/350F for 20 minutes (assuming you make them 1 rounded packed tablespoon per recipe). Simmer the sauce in a saucepan until it thickens (you can reduce the water by 1/4 cup) then once the meatballs are baked, toss them in the sauce or just pour it over when serving. Thanks for the question, I’ll update the recipe. As for BOOTS…..well, the cheapest (decent) cowgirl boots I found were over $200 and given I don’t see myself wearing them back in Sydney, I had to pass on them! HOWEVER I decked myself out on theme…..will share pics in the next post!!! N xx
Ha! Ha! Nagi, I can just see you wearing “cowgirl boots” in your swimmers on Manly beach. Why not? Plenty of females wear “boots” with whatever they want including “short – shorts” and a winter jacket over their singlet top and in Ozzie winter time. It’s OK Jack, you’ll be right mate, have another beer. Ha! Ha!
Love the idea of baking these in the oven as I too don’t seem to be able to get meatballs to stay in a “nice” round shape in a frypan. Glad you’re enjoying Canada, it is beautiful up in the Rockies – but not just to see in the distance. Dozer obviously is enjoying himself as well.
Hi Nagi. It sounds like you are having a great time just chilling with Jo! These meatballs are calling me. They would be a great party food, but that sauce soaking into the rice makes me want these that way. I’d eat these any way I can get them! Now, what do you mean no cowboy boots?? You really need to remedy that. Even I have cowboy boots, two pair in fact. GO SHOPPING!!
TWO PAIRS OF COWBOY BOOTS????? 😂 PS Imagine how much I will be mocked if I wear COWBOY BOOTS in SYDNEY!!!!
Hi Nagi. You would not be mocked, you would be making a fashion statement!! PS $200.00 for a nice pair of boots is not expensive, $600.00 is getting expensive.
Can you imagine me stomping around the northern beaches in COWBOY BOOTS???!! 😂