Teriyaki Meatballs

Course Appetizer, Beef, Main Course

Cuisine American, Asian Inspired

Keyword meatball-recipes, teriyaki-meatballs-recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings meatballs

Calories 45kcal

Ingredients

1 lb lean ground beef
1 lb ground bulk pork sausage
½ cup panko breadcrumbs
½ cup chopped green onions
¼ cup buttermilk or milk
¼ cup teriyaki or soy sauce
¼ cup chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 large eggs lightly beaten
4-6 cloves garlic minced
2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon fennel seed
¼ teaspoon ground clove or allspice
⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Sauce:
1 12.5 oz bottle sweet Thai chili sauce
1 11 oz bottle teriyaki marinade (i.e. Lawry's or similar)
⅓ cup packed light brown sugar
toasted sesame seeds and chopped chives for garnishing optional

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray a broiler pan or a large baking pan fitted with a rack with cooking spray. Set aside.
To a medium size mixing bowl add ground beef and pork, panko, green onions, milk, teriyaki sauce, cilantro, lime juice, eggs, garlic, salt, pepper, ginger, red pepper flakes, clove and cinnamon.Using your hands, mix everything together thoroughly.
Form into bite sized 1 inch meatballs and place onto the rack. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until no pink remains.
Meanwhile, make sauce. In a medium saucepan, simmer together Thai chili sauce, teriyaki marinade and brown sugar until slightly thickened and reduced. Keep warm.
Add meatballs to sauce, gently stir to coat. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and chives, if desired.
Serve immediately with picks as an appetizer or over rice drizzled with sauce, as an entree.

Notes

Slow Cooker Method: While meatballs bake, simmer sauce on high in a slow cooker. Add meatballs, stir gently to coat. Simmer on low for 1-2 hours then keep warm until serving.

At the end of conventional or slow cooking, you can thicken the sauce further using a cornstarch slurry. To make, mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in just enough cold water to dissolve. Stir into the sauce, repeating until the desired thickness is achieved.
The Lawry's teriyaki marinade I use for the sauce in this recipe is available on the condiment aisle of most grocery stores. It's thicker than typical teriyaki sauce which lends the best texture to the meatball sauce. K.C. Masterpiece also has a tasty honey teriyaki marinade as well as other brands found on the Asian foods aisle. Use your favorite brand.
If using 1 ½ teaspoon Chinese 5 Spice, omit ginger, clove and cinnamon. Reduce red pepper flakes and fennel seed to ½ teaspoon each, or to taste.

Nutrition