Teriyaki Turkey Meatballs

Good morning to all! And, for my New England friends, happy snow day 🙂

Are you torn, like me, every time the ‘no school’ bell rings? While I’m thrilled to have the kids sleep in and enjoy a lazy day at home with me, I lament the longer school year which equals a shorter summer vacation. And, the ‘no-school bell’ is just a euphemism now. When I was a kid the fire station would actually blast their horn two times in the early morning when school was canceled; one of my happy sounds of childhood 🙂 Now we get a jarring phone call…Sigh. Pause for the good ol’ days.

I have an important favor to ask of you now. If you haven’t already, please would you ‘like’ my FACEBOOK PAGE? Here’s why: I am on the verge of launching a new, better, prettier blog site to replace this one. HOLLA! I’ve been working with Zesty Blog Consulting, and am so excited for the new look and the features we are adding (think recipe indexing and a ‘print this recipe’ function). We expect it to be up by the end of the month. WOOT! However, because everything is being transferred to a new site, folks that currently subscribe to receive emails each time I post will have to re-subscribe on the new site in order to continue receiving emails. As soon as it’s ready you can bet I will be blasting Facebook with the announcement — so, connect with me via Facebook so you don’t miss a post! And thank you 🙂

Now, onto the whole reason you are all here – FOR THE FOOD!

Meatballs make everyone happy. They’re bite-sized, easy on the old chompers, and come in every single variety you can think of. I’ve shared a few meatball recipes already, from meatballs in soup, to meatballs on top of spaghetti squash, and meatballs with an Asian twist.. This latest recipe I actually made several weeks back, and due to SO MUCH ACTION in the kitchen, I am now just getting around to sharing it with you all.

While meatballs are a bit hands-on (literally!) this is one of the few times I think the effort is repaid 100%. Every single family member loves meatballs, no matter the flavor. They actually get excited 🙂 So, I don’t mind pushing up my sleeves to bang these out. And it’s really not so complicated. You take your meatballs ingredients, and have some fun mixing it all together with your bare hands. Then you shape ’em into little balls, brown them up for a few minutes, and pop them into the oven to finish cooking. While they’re hanging out there,  you make the easy teriyaki sauce, then douse them with it when they come out. That’s it.

Then, they’re ready to be devoured, be it on rice, in a sub roll, or just on a toothpick.

Now, let’s get to it!

Teriyaki Turkey Meatballs
Serves 6

Prep time: 20 minutes     Cook time: 15 minutes

Meatballs
1.3 pounds lean ground turkey
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 egg
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
2 teaspoons lower-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup minced onion

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Put all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix with hands or a large spoon until well combined. Portion into balls about 1-1/2 inches in diameter (slightly smaller than a golf ball). Heat about 2 teaspoons olive oil in a large oven-proof skillet, and lightly brown the meatballs on all sides. Cover the skillet with foil or oven-proof cover and bake for ~15 minutes.

Teriyaki Sauce
Adapted from Mrs. Schwartz’s Kitchen

1/2 cup lower sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 tablespoon sesame seed oil
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar (or regular
white vinegar)
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup cold water
2 tablespoons corn starch

In a saucepan, add the soy sauce, brown sugar, water, oil, vinegar, and ginger. Over medium heat, bring to a simmer. In a separate bowl, whisk together the cold water and corn starch into a slurry. Pour into the sauce in the pan, stirring with the whisk. It will slowly thicken over the new couple of minutes. Once it has reached the desired thickness (up to you, but 2-3 minutes ought to do it), remove from heat.

When the meatballs are done, remove the pan from the oven, and toss the meatballs in the sauce. If desired, serve with toasted sesame seeds on top.

ENJOY!!