Juicy Turkey Burger Recipe

If you love juicy, delicious turkey burgers, then you’ve got to check out my turkey burger recipe.

Ingredients and Prep

First off, we’re going to smash and mince three cloves of garlic. You could use a little bit more or a little bit less; it’s totally up to you. Today I’m using my baby cutting board because there’s not that much prep work to do. We’ve been on a total turkey burger kick lately, and I think we’ve been making this—how often do you think, Brian? At least once a week. Like once a week. They’re so good, really easy, and the kids love them too. That’s good. Set that aside.

Now we’re just going to mince up parsley. This gives a beautiful little bit of color, a nice kind of herbally taste, and I love it. You can omit it if you feel like it, but I highly suggest: if you ever get parsley or cilantro from the store and it’s sad by the time you get home, just give it a fresh cut at the base and put it in water. It likes to be outside; it’s just like a flower. I think it looks pretty, too. It looks like there’s just so much parsley on this baby cutting board. Okay, well, this is crazy—use a bigger cutting board.

Mixing the Patties

We’re on to the meat section, so let’s set this aside and get the bowl out. To a large bowl I’ve added one package of ground turkey—it’s 1.3 lb. You could use a little bit less; you could double the recipe if you want to make a lot of burgers and freeze them for later. It’s an excellent time saver, by the way. Don’t go for the super-lean cut; you want to have the higher-fat turkey in this because it really makes them a lot juicier. If you have no fat, it’s just going to be dry.

I’m measuring out ¼ cup of Italian breadcrumbs. It’ll give it some flavor and help hold everything together, just like a meatball. Go ahead and crack one big egg in here—that’s to hold things together as well. To further season things, I’m going to be adding ½ teaspoon of salt, about ½ teaspoon of freshly cracked pepper, and ½ teaspoon of onion powder. Two tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce. Finally, we’re going to add the garlic and parsley. So, plop that in.

I’m going to use a fork to do this, but you can also use your clean hands. Just mix that egg in and then mix everything else in as well. The main thing is you really want to mix those breadcrumbs in, because if there’s any pockets of them, it’s like a pocket of bread—it doesn’t make sense. Evenly distributed all throughout.

Shaping and Cooking

Now I’m going to get some parchment paper, set my bowl aside, and get a little bowl of water for your hands, because you want damp hands for this—not dry, or you’re going to have a mess. Just damp your hands slightly, grab some of the turkey, and now I’m going to shape it into a patty. The size of these is totally up to you: some people like them really thin, some people want that mega patty, and it also depends on the bun you’re using. These will shrink up a bit in cooking, so make it a little bit larger than your bun. Place it onto your parchment paper and repeat for the remaining turkey burgers. This recipe makes about five good-size burgers, but to be honest, whenever I make this for the family, I am doubling the recipe, and we’ll have some raw burgers left over in the fridge or the freezer for the next day. It makes lunchtime a snap.

Get a large pan over medium heat. It’s kind of optional, but I’m going to use just a spritz of olive oil over here. If you’re using a non-stick pan or even a cast-iron pan, it’s pretty much not really necessary, but it helps get those first few burgers up and going and totally lubricated. Once that pan is nice and hot, we’re going to place our burgers carefully down. Actually, you can just flop them over. I cook three to—usually give them a little bit of a press. I’m going to cover these up just so I know they’re cooked through. It’s optional, but a lot of times you just don’t want to be like, “Oh, is this turkey all the way cooked through? It looks a little pink.” Covering it will really increase the heat, and you can be confident it’s totally edible. These will cook for about 4 minutes, or until the internal temperature is 165 °F on a thermometer.

Let me know if there are any spices that you love in your burgers. I always try new things out; it’s part of the fun of cooking.

Burgers look great. Let’s give them a flip—flip and press. Cover back up. Once your burgers are done, remove to a plate and cook the remaining patties. If anyone wants some cheese, place it on after flipping; it’ll melt and be amazing.

The opposite of dry—perfectly delicious.