Teriyaki Beef Meatballs

Taste it after thickening and add the allowed sugar for sweetness, vinegar for tanginess or soy sauce for more savory flavor.

You can whisk it up to five days ahead and refrigerate in an airtight container, then thicken it in the skillet when serving.

After freezing the fully cooled meatballs with sauce, thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.

Keep it aside until the other meatball ingredients are thoroughly combined, then gently mix it in by hand.

The garlic ingredient gives a powder alternative to pressed cloves for the meatball mixture before the beef is incorporated.

Asian sweet chili sauce : this is a non-traditional addition to this homemade teriyaki sauce and it is phenomenal. It is sweet and spicy and packed with flavor from a combination of red chilis, onion, garlic, brown sugar and fish sauce. It can be found in the Asian section of your grocery store. Just don’t confuse this Asian SWEET chili sauce with traditional (hot) Asian chili sauce ! Store-bought meatballs: homemade Teriyaki Meatballs are infused with garlic, ginger and soy sauce which is part of what makes them Teriyaki You can make shortcut Teriyaki Meatballs with frozen meatballs but they won’t be as good. If you go this route, consider adding ¼ teaspoon garlic powder and ginger powder to the homemade teriyaki sauce because you will be missing them in the meatballs. Make Ahead 100% Make Ahead: make the recipe in its entirety, refrigerate and simply reheat on the stove or crockpot (see instructions below) when ready to serve. Make Meatballs: roll the meatballs up to 24 hours ahead of time, cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate, then bake when ready. Let the meatballs sit on the counter for 30 minutes to help come to room temperature before cooking. Make Teriyaki Sauce: the sauce can be whisked together and stored in an airtight container up to 5 days ahead of time. Thicken in a large skillet when ready to serve. HOW TO STORE and REHEAT To storage: let meatballs cool to room temperature. Transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. If you are going to be reheating the meatballs in the crockpot, remove the entire crockpot ceramic insert and refrigerate. To freeze: let the Teriyaki Meatballs with sauce cool completely. Transfer to a freezer safe bag, squeeze out excess air and seal or transfer to an airtight container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Let the meatballs thaw in the refrigerator overnight before reheating. See post for how to freeze just the meatballs (baked or raw). To reheat in the microwave: transfer meatballs to a microwave safe plate and microwave for 60 seconds then at 15 second intervals until warmed through. To reheat on the stove: melt some butter in a large nonstick skillet or add a drizzle of olive oil. Add the meatballs and reheat over medium-low heat, stirring often until warmed through. To reheat in the crockpot: lightly spray the crockpot with cooking spray. Reheat over LOW for 1-2 hours, or until completely warmed through, stirring 1-2 times.