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Chicken Teriyaki Meatballs are a majorly kid-friendly and fun twist on this classic sticky Asian dish.
I’m a teriyaki sauce junkie. I love using it either as a marinade or for dipping for chicken, shrimp, or grilled vegetables. I even toss it with rice as a simple flavor booster. The tough part is finding good brands that don’t rely on corn syrup to sweeten it. Frustrated with my limited bottled options, I came up with my own homemade teriyaki sauce years ago to mimic a brand with a sweet pineapple flavor that I enjoy.
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Both of my kids love using toothpicks to eat their dinner (who knew toothpicks could be such fun), so I thought mixing my beloved teriyaki sauce with some ground chicken and making these little meatballs would be fun for them both to poke and eat for dinner. Not only did it wind up being an entertaining dish for Kenya and Chloe — they happily scarfed down almost a double batch — but luckily we had enough leftovers to put in their lunch boxes the next day.
Toothpicks make it so much fun! Great for dinner one night and then perfect to pick up and eat the next day for lunch too!
Chicken Teriyaki Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 8-ounce can crushed pineapples in juice
- 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the pineapples, soy sauce, honey, ginger, and garlic. Whisk in the cornstarch and cook, stirring constantly, until thick, about 2 minutes. Allow mixture to cool.
- Place the chicken, breadcrumbs, salt and 1/4 cup of the teriyaki sauce in a bowl and mix until well combined.
- Using a 1 tablespoon measure or small ice cream scoop, shape the mixture into balls.
- Place the meatballs on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 12-14 minutes, until cooked through.
- Serve with the extra teriyaki sauce for dipping.
Notes
- To Freeze: Place uncooked meatballs on a cookie sheet in the freezer for 30 minutes, then transfer to a labeled freezer bag. Defrost in the fridge overnight and continue cooking as directed above in step 5. Alternately, bake the meatballs directly from frozen, adding 5 minutes to the cooking time.
Tried these tonight and they were amazing!
School lunch is served at room temp. I pack lunch the night before, keep it in the fridge, then pack it with an icepack in the morning to keep everything at a safe temp by lunch time. Lunch is not warmed up, but it also is not cold like it just came out of the fridge. 🙂
These look delicious! I know my kids will love these. Do you warm these up for their lunch? If so what do you store them in? Thank you!!
Love so many of the recipes on weelicious but sadly, these did not work for my 6 yr old boys or my husband. I must admit the taste was not very appetizing.
Chicken recipe
[…] Chicken Teriyaki Meatballs from Weelicious […]
Everyone in the family loved these! I used 1/2 cup of cooked quinoa in place of the breadcrumbs, and everyone chowed–including my 2 1/2 year old. This recipe is going right into my Real Food Whole Life Meal Plan this week!
[…] for those times you’re short on ideas for what to feed your child. Every month, I make these teriyaki meatballs. I use turkey instead of chicken, and they come out super moist. I double the meat quantities but […]
I have soy yay veri veri teriyaki in my fridge already can I use this you think or should I make the one in the recipe please let me know thanks!
My kids love any finger foods and they’ve loved all the recipes i’ve made from this site so far- even my husband!
[…] 4. Chicken Teriyaki Meatballs by Weelicious […]
The food looks yummy and nutritious.
Next time perhaps add more corn starch (it’s for thickening).
Hi Catherine 🙂
I couldn’t get my sauce to thicken. I had a 20 oz can of pineapple – so used 8 oz of juice… Then tried less. Help? Stirred constantly… Is there a little trick to thickening sauces in general? Thx!!
I loved making this for my family. My toddlers ate them, they love meatballs but to have them with fruit is great. I used fresh pineapple, and I loved the sauce. Did reduce the salt a little bit, personal preference.
I prefer to use white meat, but you can use either!