Turkey burger recipe, anyone?

[Seasider too 9,107]

After a wild grocery day last week, I ended up with a package of ground turkey. I don’t usually buy it, and iirc the store was out of ground chicken and I figured I’d use it for lettuce wraps. 

Well now I am out of a couple of ingredients for the lettuce wraps, and thought I’d experiment with turkey burgers instead. Cruising the web tells me there are at least four thousand recipe variants out there. If any of you have a tried and true way to make them (that doesn’t require any odd ingredients I’m not likely to have on hand), please share. Thanks!

 

[Pam in CT 61,303]

The secret sauce to making turkey burgers taste "fuller" is Trader Joe's chipotle bean paste (for taste) and ~1tsp per burger of butter (for the fat).  If I'm broiling I add a bit of carmelized onion as well, but on the grill that tends to make them too crumbly, at risk of falling apart.

 

(I have also long used ground turkey for taco filling, chili, and meat loaf, also with the TJ paste; and it really truly is the elixir of life.  I am, sadly, on my last CoronApocalypse jar, and have begun to experiment with actual chipotles and black beans in an effort to reverse engineer the recipe.)

[AngieW in Texas 1,177]

The recipe that I use requires 85% ground turkey. If you have leaner ground turkey, then you would need to add grated butter to make it work.

1 pound 85% ground turkey

1 package fresh chives

1 jalapeno

2 Tbs bread crumbs

1 tsp chili flakes

1/4 tsp salt

Remove the insides of the jalapenos and then chop the jalapenos. Chop the chives. Mix all ingredients together and divide into 4 parts. Press into patties using a burger press (love my burger press). Cook in a skillet on medium.

This is one of the few things that my 22yo with food allergies and OCD eats.

[Farrar 64,457]

9 minutes ago, Pam in CT said:

The secret sauce to making turkey burgers taste "fuller" is Trader Joe's chipotle bean paste (for taste) and ~1tsp per burger of butter (for the fat).  If I'm broiling I add a bit of carmelized onion as well, but on the grill that tends to make them too crumbly, at risk of falling apart.

 

(I have also long used ground turkey for taco filling, chili, and meat loaf, also with the TJ paste; and it really truly is the elixir of life.  I am, sadly, on my last CoronApocalypse jar, and have begun to experiment with actual chipotles and black beans in an effort to reverse engineer the recipe.)

Is it the bean dip? I've had that bean dip. It never occurred to me to use it to fatten up ground turkey, but that sounds super promising.

[Pam in CT 61,303]

TJ's chipotle black bean dip

7 minutes ago, Farrar said:

Is it the bean dip? I've had that bean dip. It never occurred to me to use it to fatten up ground turkey, but that sounds super promising.

Yes. It makes ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING  taste better. 

 

(My aunt is compiling a book of CoronApocalypse recipes emailed in from the extended family. Most of my submissions are things like "How to Make Frozen Brussel Sprouts Taste OK" and "All-Shelf-Stable Fish Pasta Topping" and my personal favorite "How to Render Canned Asparagus into a Carrying Mechanism for Butter"

[KungFuPanda 33,052]

This is my favorite:

https://www.budgetbytes.com/greek-turkey-burgers/

[Carrie12345 19,594]

This calls for chicken, but I use turkey. It’s a huge hit. 
https://www.cleaneatingmag.com/recipes/chicken-bruschetta-burger

[Pippen 22,359]

Turkey just never seems right to me going the usual burger route, but we really like this Barbeque Turkey Burger recipe. I usually just substitute Ritz crackers for crumbs. 

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/barbecue-turkey-burgers-with-creamy-cole-slaw-holden-13254

 

I serve it with the Spicy Ranch Sauce from this Jalapeno Cheeseburger recipe and omit the cilantro. (Which is a very good recipe, but too much stinking work when I'm in the mood for a burger!)

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/jalapeno-cheeseburgers-with-bacon-and-grilled-onions-232193

Edited May 28, 2020 by Pippen

[Seasider too 9,107]

14 hours ago, Pam in CT said:

The secret sauce to making turkey burgers taste "fuller" is Trader Joe's chipotle bean paste (for taste) and ~1tsp per burger of butter (for the fat).  If I'm broiling I add a bit of carmelized onion as well, but on the grill that tends to make them too crumbly, at risk of falling apart.

 

(I have also long used ground turkey for taco filling, chili, and meat loaf, also with the TJ paste; and it really truly is the elixir of life.  I am, sadly, on my last CoronApocalypse jar, and have begun to experiment with actual chipotles and black beans in an effort to reverse engineer the recipe.)

I’ll have to look for this. Sadly my local TJ’s is small and crowded so I’ve beem avoiding it. Sounds delicious though, I’ll definitely try this when I can. This makes me think I might could add some purées black beans. I have a thousand cans of black beans in the pantry...

3 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

This is my favorite:

https://www.budgetbytes.com/greek-turkey-burgers/

Whoa!!! Any excuse to whip up a batch of tzatziki gets my attention! Another recipe I will definitely try! Have you ever tried using a pita pocket instead of a bun?

Thanks everyone, I did not expect such varied recipes! I am actually excited about my turkey now! Some will have to wait until I can pick up ingredients, but you’ve shared plenty of info, enough to get me through this batch. 

 

[Seasider too 9,107]

One more question - looks like none of these have instructions for cooking in the oven. Couldn’t I do it that way? How would you do it? 

[KungFuPanda 33,052]

1 minute ago, Seasider too said:

I’ll have to look for this. Sadly my local TJ’s is small and crowded so I’ve beem avoiding it. Sounds delicious though, I’ll definitely try this when I can. This makes me think I might could add some purées black beans. I have a thousand cans of black beans in the pantry...

Whoa!!! Any excuse to whip up a batch of tzatziki gets my attention! Another recipe I will definitely try! Have you ever tried using a pita pocket instead of a bun?

Thanks everyone, I did not expect such varied recipes! I am actually excited about my turkey now! Some will have to wait until I can pick up ingredients, but you’ve shared plenty of info, enough to get me through this batch. 

 

I usually do put them in pita pockets along with spinach, tzatziki, and tomatoes. I put olive tapenade in mine if I have it. My family skips adding fresh tomatoes because they claim it’s redundant. 

[KungFuPanda 33,052]

1 minute ago, Seasider too said:

One more question - looks like none of these have instructions for cooking in the oven. Couldn’t I do it that way? How would you do it? 

That might be because turkey dries so easily that you want to fry it with a little fat or grill it quickly. 
 

Ohhhh, I thought of another one. I make this with chicken, but turkey would work. 
 

https://ministryofcurry.com/chicken-kofta-curry-chicken-meatballs-spicy-curry/