Teriyaki Meatball Lettuce Wraps

These teriyaki meatball lettuce wraps are filled with beef meatballs covered in a sweet and spicy teriyaki sauce, carrots, cabbage, and peanuts for a delicious Asian inspired meal, that is healthier and delicious.

These lettuce wraps are filled with homemade teriyaki meatballs. They’re loaded with ground beef, minced green onions, and shredded carrots. You can also use store bought frozen meatballs if you want to save a few steps and time, just don’t pick an Italian flavor, you’ll want something more neutral flavored. But definitely still top them with this yummy sticky teriyaki sauce.

These teriyaki meatball lettuce wraps are packed full of flavor. They’re delicious, and fairly easy to make, and even a little bit heathy.

Ingredients needed to make Teriyaki Meatballs:

• Ground Beef
• Panko Bread Crumbs
• Minced Garlic
• Green Onions
• Shredded Carrots
• Egg
• Sugar
• Sesame Oil
• Teriyaki Sauce
• Dried Ginger

Ingredients Needed to make Sticky Teriyaki Sauce:

• water
• teriyaki sauce
• ketchup
• rice vinegar
• honey
• sriracha
• cornstarch

How to make Teriyaki Meatballs?

Mix together all your ingredients for your meatballs in a large bowl. Roll them into 1 to 2 inch sized balls.

Place the meatballs onto a baking sheet. Bake them for about 12 to 16 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the meatballs reaches 160 F.

Add the teriyaki sauce, ketchup, rice vinegar, honey, and sriracha together in a sauce pan and whisk them together. Simmer over medium heat. 

Mix together the water and cornstarch in a small bowl, then add the slurry into the teriyaki sauce cooking until the sauce is thickened slightly. 

Add the meatballs to the sauce to simmer in it for 3 to 5 minutes. 

Let everyone assemble their own lettuce wraps by filling each leaf with cooked rice or quinoa, 1 to 2 meatballs, and your favorite toppings. Then enjoy!

Teriyaki Meatball Lettuce Wrap Toppings:

• Shredded carrots
• Shredded purple or green cabbage
• Diced bell peppers
• Diced Cucumbers
• Sliced Green Onion
• Chopped Peanuts
• Fresh Cilantro
• Sesame Seeds

Tips and substitution ideas:

• Don’t overmix the meat and breadcrumb mixture for your meatballs. Mix until just combined or you’ll end up with tough hockey puck (or should I say golf ball like meatballs).
• Try substituting ground chicken, ground turkey or ground pork for your ground beef in these meatballs to give you a leaner meatball, or for a different flavor.
• You can adjust the size of your meatballs between 1 to 2 inches. You’ll get more smaller meatballs, and they’ll need to bake for a shorter time of course. I prefer about 1.5inches in size.

How to store and reheat leftovers?

Leftovers for this yummy recipe can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days. Store the separate components of the lettuce wraps separately to prevent the whole thing from going soggy. 

You can store the meatballs in an airtight container. And store the lettuce in a ziptop bag (or their previous butter lettuce packaging from the store.) Store any leftover rice in an airtight container. And any separate toppings in small containers, or ziptop bags.

When you are ready to reheat the leftovers you can warm your meatballs up in the microwave until warm. Or in a pot on the stove in some of the sticky teriyaki sauce, until heated through.

Then reassemble the lettuce wraps with the meatballs, rice, or whatever your favorite toppings are.

How to freeze teriyaki meatballs?

You can also freeze and cooked or uncooked meatball leftovers. 

Place the formed and uncooked meatballs on a baking tray, and place it in the freezer for about an hour until they are frozen solid. Then place the meatballs into a freezer safe bag or container and store them in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let them thaw in the fridge overnight, and bake according to recipe directions or bake them without thawing by adding 5 to 10 minutes to the baking time.

The cooked meatballs can also be frozen, before adding sauce to them. Let them cool completely, then place the baked meatballs on a baking tray to freeze them through without sticking. Place the frozen cooked meatballs in a bag or container and into the freezer for up to 2 months.

Let the frozen meatballs thaw in the fridge overnight, then bake them in the oven, air fryer, or stove top with sauce until they are heated through.  

These teriyaki meatball lettuce wraps are such a yummy dinner. The meatballs and their sticky teriyaki sauce are so delicious, sweet, a little spicy – and perfect served over rice, noodles, or on these delicious lettuce wraps.

More meatball recipes:

• Easy Swedish Meatballs
• Italian Meatballs
• Buffalo Chicken Meatballs on Tidy Mom
• Grape Jelly Meatballs on Natasha’s Kitchen
• Sweet and Sour Meatballs

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Teriyaki Meatball Lettuce Wraps was originally published July 6, 2015. Recipe and tips were updated March 2021 for clarity.