Today, we’re taking a closer look at GoodFood’s Orange-Teriyaki Beef Meatballs recipe.
In this review, join me as I dive into the flavours and very quick and easy preparation of this dish, providing you with valuable insights to make your meal way better than what they are proposing.
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This is my thorough review of this recipe and how you can elevate it.
Expected time to cook: 25 minutes
Full disclosure: I may receive a small incentive or a free box myself (so will you) if you use my link. I do not own that recipe. I only review and elevate it to make it better!
Table of Contents
Ingredients In The Package
Nutritional values
- 1/2 pound of Ground beef
- 225 gr of Baby Bok Choys
- 2 Garlic cloves
- 2 Green onions
- 1 cup of White rice
- 30 ml (1 oz) of Teriyaki sauce
- 60 ml (2 oz) of Orange sauce
Nutritional values
The Setup
Veggies
Chop all the vegetables:
- Mince the garlic. If you want more flavour, use a lemon zester to grate the garlic cloves.
- Cut the green onions in a bevel cut. Of course, this is optional but it looks better than straight cut as we are used to doing for green onions.
- Chop the bok choys in a rough cut of about 1-inch size.
Rice
Prepare your rice by doing like this instead…
GoodFood suggestion
Cook the rice in a medium pan by adding water with a big pinch of salt.
Once it starts boiling, reduce to medium heat and let it cook for about 17-20 minutes.
Once the water has been absorbed, remove it from the stove and let it sit for about 5 minutes
“sooo boring…”
Better suggestion
For better rice:
- Rinse the rice with cold water before placing it in a medium pan
- Double the amount of water from the rice amount; i.e., for 1 cup of rice, go with 2 cups of water.
- Pour one lump of olive oil (or the oil of your choice), why? This is my secret! No really, it helps pop the starch bubbles…you know those that spill all around the pan when you cook rice? Here is my secret!
- Vegetable stock; one tbsp
- Bring it to a boil, bring it down to medium and let it cook until you don’t see water anymore bubbling.
- Remove from stove, and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. Do not remove the lid in between!
You now have perfect rice!
Preparing the Meatballs
GoodFood suggestion
While the rice is cooking, in a big bowl, blend the ground beef, the green onions (the white part), and one (1) whole egg.
Add salt and pepper and roll into height (8) golf ball size.
“No flavours, and hard as a rock once cooked…Don’t do that.“
Better suggestion
Fluffy and tender meatballs:
Now I’m not pretending to be anywhere near as good as Joe Bastianich but I can get those meatballs a bit better than GoodFood for sure!
- In a big bowl, put the ground beef
- Throw the white part of the green onions in
Now, here is the weird part. If you throw an egg into the blend, half a pound of beef will become a slimy raw beef soup. Also, adding an egg makes the balls harden and tougher when cooked.
My suggestion:
- Don’t use an egg. Use bread crumbs. Personally, I use the Pastene Italian Bread Crumbs. (not sponsored) 1/3 to half a cup would be enough
- If you like salt, add a pinch or 2 of pink salt and a bit of cracked black pepper
- Blend thoroughly with a food processor or your hands.
Cooking Processes
Cooking the bok choys
No brainer here.
Use a non-stick pan, put some olive oil in it and heat up at medium-high.
Throw the bok choys in and cook for about 3-5 minutes until softened, then add half of the garlic you have already minced or grated.
Let it cook for another 2-3 minutes, remove from pan and reserve in a bowl
Quick tips: If you like the taste of roasted garlic like me, simply start cooking the garlic first in the pan for about 1 minute then put the boy choys in.
Cooking the Meatballs
GoodFood suggestion
In the same pan (you cooked the boy choys in), pour some olive oil and place the meatballs in.
Cook for about 5-7 minutes and flip them from time to time so they cook equally all around.
Cover for faster cooking.
Once almost cooked, throw the leftover garlic in, add the orange sauce, the teriyaki sauce and 2 tbsp of water.
Cook for about 1 to 2 minutes while basting the meatballs with the sauce in the pan or until the sauce thickens and the meat is all glazed and covered in sauce.
“How much fat do you want injected in your blood stream?“
Better suggestion
Nothing is “wrong” with the GoodFood way of cooking the meatballs.
However, look at the fat you will eat if you don’t do this first:
To prevent that, follow the same first steps up to “Once almost cooked…”
- Remove the meatballs from the pan drain the excess fat and scrape the burnt meat or anything left over in the pan.
- Add the garlic, roast for a minute or 2 and add all the sauces with your 2 tbsp of water.
- Mix until the liquid becomes homogen.
- Add the meatballs and bast
Continue with the rest of the steps from GoodFood.
You’re welcome!
Finish and Serve
Go back to your rice pot put the leftover green onion (the green part) in the pot and blend with a fork.
Place a nice scoop of rice on a plate, the bok choys on top and 3 meatballs each. Why three? I just think it looks better ah!
This is purely esthetic.
Bonne appétit!
Honest Review
Actual time taken: 35 minutes
I will base this review on the original recipe without my suggestions
PROS:
-Easy to do
-Comfort food
-Inexpensive
CONS:
-The meatballs are flavourless without the sauce
-The sauce is too sweet and salty
-The amount of fat that GF lets you ingest is extreme
My Final Thoughts for Orange-Teriyaki Beef Meatballs
I was dissapointing the way GoodFood proposed how to do this.
The fact that they make you cook the garlic, and the sauce with the dirty fat of the meatballs is somewhat gross and extra fat is useless in this case.
Your meat has enough like that.
The orange sauce is way too sweet and the teriyaki sauce too salty…and it has sweetness as well. I really feel I was eating raw sugar syrup with tasteless beef underneath.
The rice and the boy choys saved the meal somewhat.
I ended up throwing the leftovers of the meatballs in the recycling because even my son and wife didn’t even like them either.
I will not keep that recipe in my book.
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Star Rating
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