Herbed Turkey Burgers

 

 

With this past weekend being the Canadian Thanksgiving, I did want to have some turkey to enjoy. It is impossible to buy a turkey here in the UK at this time of year without it costing an arm and a leg.  Actually it costs an arm and a leg at Christmas also, but at Christmas they let you keep a portion of your arm and let if that makes sense. Turkey is expensive.

I decided instead to cook Turkey Burgers.  I like turkey burgers. I would rather have a turkey burger than a regular burger, but that is just me.  I know most people prefer beef burgers.

 

 

I have cooked quite a few turkey burgers on here.  They are my favourites after all, but every now and again I like to try a new recipe.  I found and adapted this recipe from one I found on Simply Recipes. 

I cut the recipe in half basically. I did not need 8 burgers. I did not really need four either, but I figured I could freeze two of them for another time. Its nice to have burgers in the freezer ready to cook.  You do need to thaw them first, but once you have done that it is a quick and easy proposition!

I used basically the same herb mixture.  Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.  Those herbs are beautiful partners and all go very well with turkey. There is also some sauteed red onion and garlic in the mix.

I also chose to use half breast and half thigh meat. In the past I have used only breast meat, but the thigh meat ends up being a lot moister. 

Another trick that I use to keep the burgers moist is to insert a small pat of butter into the centre of each patty.  A juicy lucy technique, which many use on their beef burgers. It works just as well on turkey burgers. 

One thing when shaping burgers is you need to bear in mind that the meat will shrink as it cooks. This usually means that it will shrink in from the edges. 

 The most common result of this is a burger that is super thick when it is done. I don't like super thick burgers.  A certain amount of thickness is to be expected, but I like to be able to get my mouth around what I am eating.

One way to prevent this is to make sure that the middle of your patties is much thinner than the edges when you are shaping them.  You can even make a little divit in the middle about the size of a North American quarter or a one pound coin.

 This usually works really well.  Just be careful that you leave enough turkey covering the butter so that it doesn't all melt out and disappear. You want that butter inside flavouring and moistening the meat.

You can use whatever buns you like. I am a fan of the brioche bun myself.  Toasted.  I just pop them under the grill until they are golden. I don't like using untoasted buns as they fall apart.

 

Toasting them helps to hold them together at least until you are halfway through eating.  It is a tad bit less messy! 

I don't remember burger buns falling apart when I was a child, do you?  Even at McDonald's these days the buns don't last out the burger.  Its strange that.

 Once your buns are toasted and your burgers are cooked all you have to do is to decide what it is you want to garnish your burger with.

I like to have a slice of cheese melted on the top of mine, glutton that I am. Today I used a Swiss type of cheese.  Swiss melts wonderfully and I find burger slices over here have a funny, almost powdery taste that I don't like at all.

 I like lettuce and tomato with my burger.  I prefer the darker green lettuce, so I use a few leaves of romaine. I, personally, think the flavour of iceberg gets lost in a burger, although I know that is what most people use.

Today I had a yellow beef-steak tomato which I sliced up to put into the burger.  I am not sure it tasted as good as a red tomato would taste, but it is all that I had.

 

Usually I will add mayonnaise of some sort or ranch dressing on the bottom half of the bun as well. If I am using just mayo I might also add some cranberry sauce.  Today I had none.  *sniff *sniff* 

 

Finally I like to add a bit of onion. The sharpness of raw onion goes well with all burgers. I like fried onions too, but I think on a burger I like raw onion more.   I use red onions so that the flavour is not quite as sharp as it could be.

Altogether these were really delicious burgers.  Moist and filled with lots of lovely favours! I highly recommend. Not quite as tasty as a Roast Turkey Dinner, but a person does what they need to do and has to be content with that.

Print

Herbed Turkey Burger

Yield: 4

Author: Marie Rayner

prep time: 15 Mincook time: 15 Mintotal time: 30 Min

Deliciously moist and filled with flavour. If you like turkey burgers, you will love these.

Ingredients

• 1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small red onion, peeled and minced
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and  minced
• 1/2 pound ground turkey breast meat
• 1/2 pound ground turkey thigh meat
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 3 TBS chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
• 1/2 TBS minced fresh rosemary leaves
• 1/2 TBS minced fresh sage leaves
• 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 2 TBS butter, divided into 4 flat pieces
• 4 slices of swiss cheese
  

You will also need: (all are optional)

• toasted burger buns
• sliced tomatoes, onions, lettuce
• mayonnaise
• ranch dressing
• Dijon mustard
• relish and or pickles
• ketchup
• cranberry sauce
• crisp bacon

Instructions

1. Heat the olive oil in a skillet.  Add the onions and saute until softened.  Add the garlic and cook until the mixture becomes fragrant.  Set aside and allow to cool.
2. Crumble both ground turkey meats into a bowl. Mix together. Add the onion mixture and all of the fresh herbs and seasoning. Gently mix everything together until all are evenly distributed.
3. Divide into four equally sized balls.  Place 1/2 TBS butter in the centre of each ball and flatten into a patty around the butter.  Try to get as flat a patty as possible.  As the meat cooks it will shrink up and you don't want them to end up being too thick.
4. Heat lightly greased grill or skillet.  Cook the burgers for 5 to 6 minutes per side until cooked through. The internal temperature will read 74*C/165*F.  Lay a slice of cheese on top of each and allow it to melt.
   
5. Serve hot on toasted buns with your favourite burger toppings/condiments.

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 So what are your favourite kinds of burgers? Do you prefer Beef or Turkey? Maybe you can't stand either one?  What are your favourite toppings on any burger???  I really want to know! 

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