Garlic Ginger Terriyaki Meatballs

I pride myself on cooking from scratch, but there are those moments when life happens and you just need something quick, easy, and wonderful to take to that church potluck. I sometimes make them for supper (in a smaller quantity) and serve with sticky rice.

Meatballs: pull your large bag of meatballs out of the freezer. Open the top of the bag and place in the microwave on high for about 3-4 minutes. This just helps with the thawing process.

Next, put half the meatballs in a large skillet (you have to do this twice unless you have an enormous pan than can hold the entire bag). Add about 1/2 cup of water to the pan and a couple of splashes of low sodium soy sauce. Add 1 clove of crushed garlic and one teaspoon of minced ginger. Don’t mix it up yet, just cover it with a lid and let it steam on medium-high for about 7 minutes.

Remove the lid and stir it all up. Put the lid back on and let it cook for another 5 minutes or so, stirring a couple of times. Just make sure there is enough liquid to keep the meatballs from scorching. Transfer to a large 5-quart crockpot set on high, and repeat the process with the remaining meatballs. The hard part is now done.

Sauce: in a small or medium saucepan, add one bottle of Kikkoman terriyaki glaze, 1/2 cup of low sodium soy sauce, 1/2 to 3/4 cup of honey, 2 to 3 cloves of crushed garlic, and 1 heaping teaspoon of fresh or jarred minced ginger. Stir on medium heat until hot. Pour over the meatballs and mix it up until everything is well coated. Your meatballs will not be floating in sauce, but if that’s important to you, just increase the amount. Garnish with sliced green onion.

Turn your crockpot down to low to keep these tasty little balls of yumminess warm and prepare for the compliments!