Teriyaki Beef and Jasmine Rice
Glossy, savoury-sweet teriyaki beef over fluffy jasmine rice — 49 grams of protein and 700 calories a bowl, with a homemade sauce so you control the sugar and the salt. Easy comfort food that actually fuels a bulk.
Plate 01 / Finished
The teriyaki I grew up eating out of a takeaway box was lovely and also a sugar bomb — gloriously sticky, but with a sauce that was honestly more syrup than anything else. When I started counting properly, I worked out one of those boxes could carry as much sugar as a dessert, and I’d had no idea. Nobody had ever told me. That’s the kind of thing that makes me quietly cross on your behalf.
So I started making my own. It took me a few goes to get the balance right — enough soy for the savoury depth, just enough honey for that glossy stickiness, a little garlic and ginger to make it sing, and a touch of cornstarch to bring it together. The version I landed on has a fraction of the sugar of the takeaway and tastes, if anything, better, because you can actually taste the beef underneath instead of drowning it.
This is a beautiful bulking bowl, love. Lean strips of beef seared hard, glazed in that glossy sauce, piled over fragrant jasmine rice — it eats like a treat and the macros do real work, nearly 50 grams of protein and the calories to grow on. It’s fast, it’s familiar, and you’ll never miss the takeaway version once you’ve made your own. I’ve got you on this one.
01Who it’s for & when to eat it
The beef and sauce stay constant — you scale the rice and the sweetness to your goal. Here’s how I steer it.
The default bowl
A full portion of jasmine rice under a generous pile of glazed beef. Easy, calorie-dense fuel that still lands close to 50g of protein. My go-to on a training day when the appetite’s up.
Lean it down
Use leaner beef, halve the rice and bulk the bowl out with stir-fried broccoli and pepper. Cut the honey to a teaspoon. Big flavour, far fewer calories. See the variations below.
Steady portion
A moderate scoop of rice, a normal serving of beef, plenty of stir-fried veg alongside. Balanced carbs and protein for a satisfying evening meal that won’t overshoot.
Timing: a great post-training meal — the rice refills your tank and the beef rebuilds. It also reheats well, so it earns its place in the meal-prep rotation.
02Ingredients
Makes 2 bowls. The homemade sauce is the heart of it — making it yourself is how you keep the sugar honest. Scale every line in proportion for more.
Servings 2 · adjust on the live recipe card- Lean beef strips rump or sirloin300 g · 10.6 oz
- Cooked jasmine rice300 g · 10.6 oz
- Soy sauce reduced-salt3 tbsp · 45 ml
- Honey2 tbsp · 40 g
- Rice vinegar1 tbsp · 15 ml
- Garlic, grated2 cloves
- Fresh ginger, grated1 tbsp · 10 g
- Cornstarch to thicken1 tsp · 3 g
- Sesame oil1 tsp · 5 ml
- Sesame seeds & green onionto finish
Swaps I actually use: chicken thigh or breast works beautifully in place of beef — adjust the macros for the cut. Drop the honey to a teaspoon and use a sweetener if you want it leaner. No rice vinegar? A squeeze of lime brings the same bright lift. Tamari in place of soy keeps it gluten-free. For more fibre, run the rice half-and-half with brown rice.
03Step by step
Whisk it together first
In a small bowl, whisk the soy, honey, rice vinegar, garlic and ginger together. Stir the cornstarch into a tablespoon of cold water until smooth, then mix that in too. Having the sauce ready means the cooking goes fast once the pan is hot.
Magnus says: taste it raw. Too salty, add a splash of water; not glossy enough later, that cornstarch will fix it.
Slice thin, pat dry
If your beef isn’t pre-sliced, cut it thin across the grain — thin strips cook fast and stay tender. Pat them dry with paper towel so they sear instead of stewing in their own moisture.
Hot pan, don’t crowd it
Heat the sesame oil in a wide pan or wok over a high heat. Add the beef in one layer — work in two batches if you need to, because a crowded pan steams. Sear for a minute or two until browned, then push it to the side.
Magnus says: a crowded pan is the enemy of a good sear. Give the beef room or do it in batches.
Pour in the sauce, let it cling
Lower the heat a touch and pour the sauce over the beef. It’ll bubble and thicken quickly thanks to the cornstarch — toss the beef through it for a minute until everything is glossy and coated. Don’t let it cook down to glue; you want it sticky, not dry.
Rice down, beef on top
Spoon the warm jasmine rice into two bowls and pile the glazed beef over the top, scraping every bit of sauce from the pan. Spoon any extra glaze over the rice too — that’s the best part.
Sesame, green onion, eat it hot
Scatter over sesame seeds and sliced green onion and serve straight away while the glaze is glossy. A few stir-fried greens on the side never hurt.
Magnus says: the green onion and sesame aren’t just for looks — they cut through the sweet glaze and wake the whole bowl up.
04The spec sheet
Real numbers, calculated — not guessed. The recipe makes 2 bowls, about 660g of finished food total. Here’s what one serving (~330g) and a flat 100g actually give you.
| Nutrient | Per serving | Per 100g |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 700 kcal | 212 kcal |
| Protein | 49.0 g | 14.8 g |
| Carbohydrate | 76.0 g | 23.0 g |
| — of which sugars | 15.0 g | 4.5 g |
| Fat | 20.0 g | 6.1 g |
| — of which saturates | 6.5 g | 2.0 g |
| Fibre | 2.0 g | 0.6 g |
| Sodium | ~1.05 g | ~0.32 g |
Moderate. Dense enough to make a surplus comfortable, light enough that you can finish a satisfying bowl — handy when you’re building.
Strong for a sticky-sauce bowl. The lean beef does the work; the homemade sauce keeps the sugar in check so it stays a high-protein meal, not a dessert.
- Iron~4 mg · 22% DV
- Zinc~8 mg · 73% DV
- Vitamin B12~2.4 µg · 100% DV
- Selenium~26 µg · 47% DV
- Niacin (B3)~8 mg · 50% DV
- Phosphorus~330 mg · 47% DV
Macros are calculated from standard food-composition data and will shift a little with your exact ingredients and brands. Micronutrient figures are estimates against general adult Daily Values. Numbers are for guidance, not medical advice — see our Nutrition Disclaimer.
05Bulk / Cut / TRT variations
One sauce, three jobs. The beef and glaze stay the same — you move the rice and the honey. Macros below are for a full serving.
The full bowl
The recipe as written — full jasmine rice, generous beef, the honey glaze. Add a teaspoon of sesame oil or an extra scoop of rice if you need the calories higher. Easy, comforting fuel.
Lean & veg-heavy
Use leaner beef, halve the rice, cut the honey to a teaspoon (or a sweetener), and bulk the bowl with stir-fried broccoli and pepper. Big teriyaki flavour for far fewer calories.
Steady & balanced
A moderate scoop of rice, a normal portion of beef, and a generous side of stir-fried veg. Balanced carbs and protein that fill you up without pushing the calories too high.
06Meal prep & storage
This is a meal-prep natural. The glazed beef and rice both reheat well, and the flavour, if anything, deepens overnight in the fridge.
Box the beef and rice together once cooled. The glaze keeps everything moist, so it doesn’t dry out the way plain rice can.
Freezes well in a sealed container. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating for the best texture.
Microwave with a splash of water over the rice, or reheat in a pan. Add a fresh scatter of sesame and green onion to liven it back up.
For meal prep I make a double batch of the sauce and keep it in a jar — it lasts a week in the fridge and turns any seared protein into a teriyaki bowl in minutes. That little jar has saved a lot of tired evenings.
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07Common questions
Why make my own teriyaki sauce? +
Because the bottled and takeaway versions are often loaded with sugar and salt, and you’ve no real say in either. Making it yourself means you control the honey and the soy, so a bowl carries a fraction of the sugar while tasting better. It takes two minutes to whisk together — well worth it.
Can I use chicken instead of beef? +
Absolutely — chicken thigh or breast both work beautifully and soak up the glaze. Cook it through fully before adding the sauce. Breast keeps it leaner; thigh eats juicier. The macros shift with the cut, but the method is identical.
How do I make it lower in sugar? +
Drop the honey to a teaspoon and make up the sweetness with a spoon of a heat-stable sweetener, or just leave it less sweet — the soy, garlic and ginger carry plenty of flavour. The cornstarch still gives you that glossy cling without the sugar doing the work.
My sauce went too thick — what now? +
Easy fix: stir in a splash of water or a little extra soy off the heat until it loosens back to a glossy glaze. Cornstarch keeps thickening as it cools, so always aim for slightly looser than you want in the pan.
What veg goes well in this bowl? +
Broccoli, sugar snap peas, peppers and carrots all stir-fry quickly and stand up to the glaze. Toss them in the hot pan before the beef, or alongside on a cut to add volume for almost no calories. Edamame is a nice high-protein addition too.
This bowl lives inside a full week of meals.
This teriyaki beef bowl is one plate in my 7-day bulking plan — seven days of high-protein, calorie-dense meals with the macros counted and the grocery list written. You pick the goal; I do the maths.
See the bulking meal plan →08Pairs well with
Magnus Olafsson
I’m Magnus — twenty years under the iron, from a cold gym in Stockholm to the classic-physique stage, and now mostly in my kitchen in a pink apron. I’ve cut for shows, bulked through winters, and I’ve been on TRT since I was thirty-five. I know what it takes to eat for the body you’re chasing, and I know it shouldn’t come with a side of shame.
Everything here is food I actually cook and macros I actually count. I don’t diagnose, I don’t promise, and I never make a number up. I just feed you well and tell you the truth.
Slim Diet Era shares recipes and general nutrition information. It is not medical or dietetic advice, and we do not provide guidance on obtaining or using any controlled substance. See our Medical Disclaimer and Nutrition Disclaimer.