This egg free teriyaki chicken meatballs recipe comes together with simple ingredients in about 30 minutes. Once baked, meatballs are tossed in a sweet and savory teriyaki sauce. Great for a quick weeknight meal or easy appetizer!
If you're looking for a fast, family friendly dinner to get on your table tonight - you're in the right place. My classic dairy free and egg free chicken meatballs have quickly become a staple in our house, so now I'm sharing the different variations we've been loving.
These eggless chicken teriyaki meatballs are juicy, tender, and bursting with flavor! I'm on a teriyaki kick after making my crispy teriyaki tofu. Teriyaki sauce is a Japanese sauce made from soy sauce, sugar, and mirin. It has a balanced sweet, salty, and umami flavor with a thick, glossy texture.
Why you'll love this recipe
Homemade meatballs are perfect for an easy dinner, game day appetizer, or potluck offering. Here's what makes them really special:
- Quick and easy to make: To make these juicy chicken meatballs, simply combine everything together in a large bowl, shape into balls, bake for 20 minutes, then coat in delicious teriyaki sauce.
- Versatile: Like I mentioned above, you can serve these egg free teriyaki chicken meatballs as a main dish over rice or noodles. Or you can serve them as a starter, piled onto a platter with toothpicks! They make spectacular party snacks!
- So flavorful: The meatballs themself are super yummy, with soft centers and slightly crisp edges. Add homemade teriyaki sauce into the mix - and now you're really cooking. I suggest making teriyaki sauce from scratch but this is the best store-bought teriyaki sauce my husband and I have tasted.
What's in teriyaki chicken meatballs
Below is a list of ingredients needed for this recipe. Check out my tips and recommended substitutions below.
- Ground chicken: I suggest using 92% ground chicken. Extra lean ground chicken lacks enough fat to keep the meatballs tender and juicy. You can easily substitute with ground turkey or ground beef, using my dairy free and egg free meatballs recipe as the base.
- Breadcrumbs: Panko breadcrumbs work great for binding everything together. For gluten-free teriyaki chicken meatballs, use gluten free panko or almond flour.
- Onion: A yellow or white onion works best! Finely dice it or use a food processor to avoid big chunks in your meatballs. The excess liquid helps keep them moist, so I don't recommend swapping it for onion powder.
- Ground flaxseed: During recipe testing, my husband and I preferred the baked chicken meatballs with a flax egg mixed in. When flaxseed meal is is combined with water, it forms a thick, gel-like mixture that works as an egg substitute.
- Teriyaki sauce: My simple teriyaki sauce calls for soy sauce, water, brown sugar, mirin, grated ginger, minced garlic, and a cornstarch slurry to thicken it up.
How to make eggless teriyaki chicken meatballs
This is a quick overview of the steps for teriyaki chicken meatballs without eggs. Find the measurements and detailed directions in the recipe card.
- Combine chicken meatball ingredients together in a mixing bowl.
- Shape into 18-20 medium-sized meatballs.
- Bake for about 20 minutes in a preheat oven set to 400F.
- Stir teriyaki sauce together and reduce in a skillet.
- Add cooked meatballs, coat fully, serve over rice with broccoli.
Serving suggestions
We typically serve this dish over white rice with roasted broccoli or steamed veggies! Some of our other favorite side dishes to serve with this are air fryer green beans and my kale crunch salad.
If you like this recipe, try my dairy free buffalo chicken meatballs or chicken pesto meatballs next!
Cooking confidently with Jenna
I've tested these egg free teriyaki meatballs several times in my kitchen so you can recreate them with ease in yours. Follow these tips for the best results:
- Wet your hands with water before shaping the meatballs. This will keep the meat mixture from sticking to your hands!
- Use a cookie scoop lightly coated with olive oil to form equal sized meatballs. This ensures the meatballs cook evenly.
- Avoid over-mixing the meatball mixture, this can make the meatballs tough. Mix until just combined.
- For extra flavor, add 1 teaspoon grated ginger and ½ tablespoon sesame oil to the meatball mixture.
- Check for doneness using a meat thermometer. Baked meatballs are cooked when they are lightly golden brown and reach an internal temperature of at least 165F.
If you tried this recipe or any other on my blog, please leave a star rating and share your experience in the comments below. Thanks for stopping by!
Chicken Teriyaki Meatballs without Eggs
Ingredients
For the eggless chicken meatballs
- 1 pound ground chicken
- ⅓ cup panko bread crumbs
- ¼ cup diced yellow onion
- 1 flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flaxseed + 3 tablespoon water, stirred together)
- 1 garlic clove minced
- ½ tablespoon soy sauce
For the homemade teriyaki sauce
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup water
- 3 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 tablespoon mirin
- 2 teaspoon grated ginger
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 teaspoon corn starch + 1 tablespoon water, stirred into slurry
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil coated with cooking spray.
- Add meatball ingredients to a large mixing bowl. Using wet hands, mix everything together until just combined, being careful not to over mix.
- Using your hands or a cookie scoop, roll the mixture into about 20 meatballs. Depending how big/small you shape your meatballs, quantity and cook time may vary.
- Bake meatballs for 20 minutes, until lightly golden brown, and a meat thermometers registers an internal temperature of at least 165F.
- As the meatballs bake in the oven, prepare the teriyaki sauce. Add teriyaki sauce ingredients to a large skillet. Warm over medium heat and bring to a simmer for about 5 minutes. Once the sauce is thickened, turn off the heat.
- Add the cooked meatballs to the skillet and toss to combine. Serve immediately! Optionally, garnish with toasted sesame seeds and sliced green onions.
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