Quick And Easy Healthy Homemade Turkey Burgers

These homemade turkey burgers are juicy, succulant and just packed with the most amazing flavours. They are quick and easy to make and a healthy alternative to your standard burger.

What’s to love about this recipe

• Turkey is low in fat so these turkey burgers are healthier than your average burger.
• The price – turkey mince (ground turkey) is cheaper than beef mince and tastes delicious.
• Taste – you can add all sorts of flavours to these turkey burgers to make them entirely your own.

Don’t just think of turkey as something that appears in the kitchen at Christmas or Thanksgiving. Turkey can be bought all year round in all sorts of forms. From a whole turkey to breast fillets, to legs and of course turkey mince also known as ground turkey.

Is turkey mince healthier than beef mince?

Yes. 100g of turkey mince contains 1.2g fat compared to 4.5g fat found in beef mince. There are 100 calories in the turkey mince compares to 124 calories in the beef variety. And when comparing saturated fat there is a mere 0.6g compared to beef mince having 2g. Finally as far as protein goes turkey mince boasts 22.3g and beef mince has 20.8g.

Flavour

Turkey mince is a great carrier of flavours. You can go Mexican, Asian, Greek, you name it. This meat will carry whatever flavour you fancy.

I’ve opted for traditional Christmas dinner flavours. You know, the taste of turkey stuffing with its sage, parsley, rosemary and thyme. I love them on my plate at Christmas and wanted to bring them together in this turkey burger. The result was totally delicious!

Ingredients for turkey burgers

• Turkey mince or ground turkey if you are in USA. Sometimes you’ll find this as just turkey mince or in some places you can get breast meat or thigh meat minced.
• The herbs and flavourings – As I’ve said I’ve gone traditional here and chosen the tried and true garden favourites of rosemary, parsley, sage and thyme. I have also used lemon zest to add a bit of a zing to my homemade turkey burgers.
• Onion and garlic for your base flavouring plus an egg and just a few breadcrumbs to bind all this goodness together.

Homemade breadcrumbs

Never throw out bread that is drying out a bit. Either turn it into homemade crispbreads or make toasted croutons and freeze them.

Easier still. Just whizz up those bread slices in your food processor and you will have homemade breadcrumbs that freeze a treat and will keep for up to 6 months in the freezer.

I always have a bag of these on hand in the freezer and just grab a handful for any recipe that calls for them.

Alternative flavourings for turkey burgers.

Go Greek with oregano, garlic, dill, parsley and thyme. Try Italian – oregano, basil, thyme and rosemary. For Asian turkey burgers why not use Chinese 5 Spice or Thia 7 Spice seasoning.

You can even have curry flavoured turkey burgers. Here is my curry spice mix so you can make your own. Or add my homemade harissa paste for a lovely middle eastern flavour.

How to make turkey burgers

This recipe couldn’t be simpler. It is a case of mixing and cooking and that’s it. Simply put all your ingredients for turkey burgers into a nice big bowl and get your hands in there and squish everything together.

You can use a wooden spoon to bring together your burger mix, but quite honestly I think it is quicker and easier just to use your hands.

I wouldn’t advise using a food processor to make turkey burgers (or any other burgers or meatballs) as you run the risk of over-whizzing and making everything into mush. You want some texture to your turkey burgers so just use your hands.

How long does it take to cook burgers?

I use a griddle pan to cook my turkey burgers and I give them about 4-5 minutes on each side over a high heat. This gives me the juiciest and most succulent turkey burgers.

Serving suggestions

I like to go traditional when I’m serving my turkey burgers. A toasted brioche bun, salad leaves, tomato, red onion, cheese and ketchup.

I have gone for stilton cheese here since I’ve used traditional stuffing flavours in my turkey burger recipe, but go for standard cheddar instead if you want a classic sort of cheeseburger.

My grown-up Bloody Mary vodka tomato ketchup is a great addition to these burgers. You could go for cranberry sauce instead to keep with the Christmas flavours I’ve used in my turkey burgers.

Storage

Your homemade turkey burgers will keep in a covered container in the fridge for up to 2 days before you cook them. You can freeze them for up to 6 months. Make sure to put a piece of baking parchment between each burger so they don’t get stuck together. Simply defrost thoroughly before cooking.

Looking for more turkey recipes? Then check these out before you go;

15 minute leftover turkey stir fry bowl

Turkey curry

Greek style roast turkey

Turkey bacon quiche

Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.