Teriyaki Meatball Stir Fry with Veggies and Noodles

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This Teriyaki Meatball Stir Fry recipe with delicious vegetable and noodles is the perfect easy family weeknight dinner!  Make the meatballs ahead and freeze for an even faster dinner with only 30 minutes cook time!

This Teriyaki Meatball Stir Fry recipe is sweet, salty, tangy, and so incredibly moist and addictive.  The garlic, ginger, scallion, red bell pepper, and soy sauce all infuse the meatballs with the most amazing flavor.  Combined with a simple Garlic & Ginger Soy Veggie Stir Fry and served over rice noodles, it’s a perfect family dinner.  Drizzle over or dip the meatballs in the tangy Teriyaki mustard sauce and they burst with even more flavor.

This is a great recipe to add to Theme Dinner Nights on International Wednesdays or Freezer Fridays!

See How Easy Teriyaki Meatball Stir Fry is!

Use Meatballs to Try New Flavors

Meatballs are great for busy moms and dads looking for ways to easily meal prep.  They can be made ahead and frozen for cooking a few at time or just having in a pinch for family dinner main dishes. 

They are also great for trying new flavors.  It can be hard to get kids to try new flavors.  But sometimes using familiar foods to introduce new flavors works wonders.  Enter meatballs!  What kid doesn’t like a good meatball, right?  I encourage you to experiment with different flavors and sauces. 

I have tried sweet & sour, apple, chipotle, and other flavors, but this Teriyaki Meatball Stir Fry is a favorite because it’s unexpected, fun, and just plain delicious! 

Here are some other Meatball recipes you can try at home for dinner!

• Incredible Healthy Meatballs with Zucchini & Lean Beef
• Ground Chicken Greek Meatballs!
• Meatballs in Cauliflower Dill Cream Sauce
• Chipotle Meatballs in Mexican Corn Cream Sauce
• Moroccan Meatball Stuffed Pitas
• 5-Ingredient Meatloaf Muffins or Meatballs

Quick note!  This post contains affiliate links, which means I earn a commission (at no extra cost to you) if you purchase from them.  This commission is what helps me keep this blog afloat :).  But, I also share these links because I have used the products, genuinely love them, and want you to know exactly what I used. 

Simple Equipment For Meatball Stir Fry

For this recipe, I used a mini food processor for the ingredients for the meatballs. 

For the stir fry, I used my absolute favorite 12″ Ceramic Pan, which is great because food really does slide right off with minimal oil and I don’t have to worry about food sticking and burning.  It comes with a glass lid, which is perfect for watching your dinner cook!.

Lastly, you will also need a large sheet pan (I use a 17×11) for baking the meatballs.

Simple Ingredients and Substitutes

Meatball Ingredients

• Lean Ground Beef – I used 90% lean ground beef. You can use any ground chicken, ground turkey, ground beef.  Ground pork is good too for pork meatballs. Instructions will be the same for all.
• Scallions – or green onions – I love scallions for the green color and mild onion-flavor. You can swap with finely minced yellow or red onion or even shallots.
• Fresh Garlic, minced – Fresh is best when it comes to garlic! You can substitute in dried garlic flakes or garlic powder if needed.
• Ginger – Fresh is best, but you can use dry ginger powder as a substitute if you cannot get fresh.
• Red bell pepper – The red pepper brings in some sweetness and peppery flavor without the heat. You can substitute with any color bell peppers.
• Chili pepper flakes – Chili Pepper is for some heat, so you can add more or leave out based on your preference. You can substitute in Sriracha Sauce or hot sauce.
• Soy Sauce – I used regular Soy Sauce, but you can also use light or low sodium soy sauce, or Gluten Free Soy Sauce. If you don’t have Soy sauce, you can add Worcestershire sauce or beef, chicken, vegetable, stock or broth.
• Sesame Oil – If you don’t have sesame oil, you can use toasted sesame seeds. You can leave them whole or blend them in a spice grinder or even in a blender with a couple tablespoons of olive oil to make your own sesame oil. You can also just eliminate this ingredient from the dish.
• Panko Breadcrumbs – breadcrumbs are the binder for the meatballs. I used Panko breadcrumbs, but you can use any plain variety. You can also use gluten free breadcrumbs. If you don’t have breadcrumbs, you can blend up crackers in a food processor.

Teriyaki Sauce and Stir Fry Ingredients

• Dipping Sauce – This is optional as there really is a lot of flavor in the stir fry. But I love to dip my meatballs into extra sauce! It has Teriyaki sauce, Dijon Mustard, and Sesame oil.
• Extra virgin olive oil – The oil is for cooking the veggies in the pan. You can substitute with any vegetable oil that you have.
• Broccoli florets and carrots – In terms of the veggies, you can really use any of your favorites. Since there is red pepper and sliced green onions or scallions blended up in the meatballs, I used carrots and broccoli in the stir fry.
• Garlic and Ginger – See above for substitutes.
• Soy Sauce – See above for what to buy or substitute.
• Vermicelli, Rice noodles uncooked – Rice noodles are the perfect vehicle for this delicious sauce!  Of course, you could swap in rice or even a spaghetti pasta in a pinch. 

Prepare the Teriyaki Meatballs Ahead 

You are busy, so these are the steps you can do a day or two in advance to prepare food ahead!  (See the recipe below for more details)

Prep the veggies and aromatics ahead of time!

Peel and slice the carrots. Cut the broccoli into small florets.

Peel the garlic cloves. Mince 1 clove for the stir fry. Coarsely chop the remaining 2 cloves garlic and scallions and ¼ of the red pepper.

Peel the ginger. You can scrape the skin off with a spoon, use a peeler or simply cut off the skin. Mince or grate the fresh ginger root using a grater or microplane. You need 1 teaspoon for the stir fry and store with the minced garlic. Chop the remaining ginger – about 1 inch of the root (the blender will do the rest).

Into the food processor, put the garlic, scallion, red pepper, ginger, chili pepper flakes (optional), and the soy sauce. Pulse for 30 sec, scrape down the bowl and process 1 minute more, or until finely ground.

Mix the blended ingredients into meat along with the panko breadcrumbs.

I use a tablespoon to measure out the meat for each meatball. Roll meat into 24 balls each about 1.5 inches in diameter. TIP: score the meat in half, then each in half again, then again to give you 8 equal portions of meat. Then roll 3 balls from each of the 8 portions to give you 24 same-size balls.

At this point, you can flash freeze the meatballs by placing the sheet pan in the freezer for 2-3 hours. Once frozen, transfer the frozen meatballs to a freezer bag. They can be stored in the freezer up to 6 months. Just place the frozen meatballs on a sheet pan to cook in the oven according to the recipe instructions.

Cook the Teriyaki Meatball Stir Fry

Cook the rice noodles. Drain and rinse under hot water. Place back in the pot until ready to serve. If they stick together, just run them under hot water and then drain again before adding to the stir fry.

Preheat the oven to 400 F degrees. Place the meatballs on an oiled sheet pan. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes (if frozen, cook for 30 min).

While the meatballs cook, combine the Dijon Mustard with the Teriyaki Sauce and Sesame Oil.

While the meatballs are cooking, make the veggie stir fry. Preheat a large skillet over medium heat and add a tablespoon of olive oil and the Carrots. Cook the carrots for about 5 minutes, then add the broccoli, garlic, and ginger. Stir so that they do not burn and cook for about 5 minutes, until they start to soften.

Add the water and teriyaki sauce and then stir in the rice noodles, and meatballs to combine and cook for another 3-4 minutes to warm through.

Serve the rice noodles, then top with veggies, then the meatballs. Drizzle the Dipping sauce over top or serve on the side and enjoy!

ENJOY!  😍 Carrie

Teriyaki Meatball Stir Fry FAQs