Healthy Teriyaki Turkey Recipe (with healthier Teriyaki Sauce)
Below: Learn how to make delicious teriyaki turkey, which is a delicious recipe that is healthy, easy to make, and that your whole family will enjoy.
Teriyaki sauce is one of most popular sauces in Japanese cuisine. It can be used to marinate many different kinds of meats before cooking them on the grill, oven, or the stovetop. It is different from soy sauce, since it has sugar which is caramelized during teh cooking processes rather than the salty taste of soy sauce. At the store, you can find sweet teriyaki sauce and savory teriyaki sauce.
It is used all over the world now in different cultures and gives a tasty asian twist to our dishes that we all love. You can kick the flavors up a notch too by adding ginger or sesame seeds.
Even though teriyaki sauce is popular, it isn’t the healthiest ingredient around, considering its a sauce based in soy, rice, and sugar. These ingredients can intensify symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome and other illnesses.
Today, we are going to make our own teriyaki sauce using better ingredients that we have used in our other recipes like healthy chicken fajitas.
We will then use it to make a flavorful teriyaki ground turkey. You can really use this recipe for any type of ground meat though, including ground turkey, ground beef, or ground pork.
How can you make healthy teriyaki turkey?
It is no secret that if you are suffering from a chronic illness like irritable bowel syndrome, consuming recipes that have teriyaki sauce may make the symptoms even worse. This is because of the ingredients that normal teriyaki sauce has like soy, brown sugar, and corn starch.
Incorporating these types of food in our diet can cause us to take a step back in our progress, which is why it is important to make healthy substitutions when possible so we can continue enjoying the great flavor that they have.
For this recie, I am going to show you how to make your own healthy teriyaki sauce using liquid coconut aminos, which you can find here. Coconot aminos or cocoaminos, is a healthy substitute for soy sauce, although it is slightly sweet and has a flavor maybe even a little bit more similar to teriyaki sauce. It has a dark brown color and is made from coconut. It is a good source of antioxidants, it is anti-inflammatory, and has antibacterial properties.
When we combine it with a starch like organic arrowroot powder, it has a similar effect to cornstarch, but is more healthy. It helps to thicken sauces and is really a great ingredient. It doesn’t have any flavor so you can add seasonings to it as well, which makes it great for breading meats also. It is a great source of potassium, iron, and vitamin B, which are great for improving metabolism, circulation, and heart issues.
Combining arrowroot powder and coconut aminos makes a thicker sauce that resembles teriyaki sauce. When we add ground ginger, toasted sesame seeds, salt and black pepper, the resemblance becomes even more apparent!
If you are in a place where it is difficult to find arrowroot powder, you can use other gluten-free flours like cassava flour or tapioca starch.
How do you cook healthy teriyaki turkey and is it good for an anti-inflammatory diet?
Turkey is a white meat that contains choline, which is an important anti-inflammatory nutrient. Turkey is also rich in other essential nutrients and has less fat than beef, like I explained in our healthy lettuce wraps recipe.
It is also important to incude a variety of different veggies in our foods, which helps provide even more nutrients to our bodies. With that said, although fruits and vegetables are healthy, they aren’t created equal and some are not as good for our health as others.
For example, in my case with Lupus, I cook without any legumes or garlic powder or garlic cloves because of the inflammatory effect that they have.
If you are diabetic, it can help you to dilute the homemade teriyaki sauce using cocoaminos from above with a little bit of water. It is easy to look up online different ingredients and food that you can eliminate or reduce to help with your specific ailment.
For this recipe, I added a lot of tasty vegetables like broccoli, carrots, red onions, and squash. You can of course add your favorite vegetables instead like green beans, water chestnuts, bell peppers, snow peas, baby corn, and green onions.
To make this healthy meal, you will need these ingredients:
- 1 lb of lean ground turkey
- 1/4 red onion
- 1/2 cup of shredded carrots
- 1/2 cup of chopped broccoli
- 1/2 cup of sliced squash
- Salt, Pepper, Cumin, and ground ginger to taste
- Homemade teriyaki sauce from below
For the homemade teriyaki sauce, gather the following:
- 1/2 Cup coconut aminos
- 1/2 cup of water
- 1 tsp of ground ginger
- 2 tsp of toasted sesame seeds
- 1 tbsp of arrowroot powder
- Salt and pepper to taste.
Start by making the teriyaki sauce by simply combining all of the sauce ingredients together in a medium bowl until mixed well. Set it aside as you preare the rest of the meal.
Now, add veggies to a large skillet with a small amount of olive oil and sautee over medium heat for a few minutes. Next, add the turkey and cook through until it is no longer pink. Add all of the spices and let cook for about 5 more minutes. the final step is to increase the temperature to medium-high heat and add the homemade teriyaki sauce, allowing to boil for about 3-5 minutes before serving hot.
You can serve this over cauliflower rice or brown rice if that is good for your diet.
Let me know in the comments below how it turns out!
Healthy Teriyaki Turkey Recipe with homemade teriyaki sauce
Ingredients
- 1 Lb Ground Turkey
- 1/4 Red Onion Sliced
- 1/2 Cup Carrots Shredded
- 1/2 Cup Broccoli Chopped
- 1/2 Cup Squash Sliced
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
- Salt
- Pepper
- Cumin
- Ground Ginger
For the Teriyaki Sauce
- 1/2 Cup Coconut Aminos
- 1/2 Cup Water
- 1 Tsp Ground Ginger
- 2 Tsp Toasted Sesame Seeds
- 1 Tbsp Arrowroot powder
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
Instructions
For the Teriyaki Sauce
- Mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.
For the Teriyaki Turkey
- Sautee the vegetables in a large pan with the olive oil for about 3 minutes.
- Add the ground turkey and cook until done.
- Add the teriyaki sauce and let boil for about 3-5 more minutes.