Turkey Burgers

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Juicy, flavorful, and easy to make, these turkey burgers can hold their own against any beef counterpart.

Two turkey burgers on a cutting board.

Most turkey burgers are dry and tasteless and leave you yearning for the real deal. Not these! I add turkey sausage — a trick often used with meatballs — to amp up the flavor and make the burgers incredibly juicy. The best part is that, thanks to the highly seasoned sausage, you can throw them together in a matter of minutes with only five ingredients — no chopping, slicing or dicing required. These turkey burgers are not just a second-best substitute for steakhouse burgers, but they are delicious in their own right. You can customize them to your heart’s content by topping them with your favorite cheese or other burger fixings. And for an extra kick, serve them with my favorite homemade spicy relish — it’s quick, easy, and a must-have at every Segal family BBQ, as it elevates everything off the grill, from hot dogs and grilled chicken to brats and, of course, burgers.

What You’ll Need To Make Grilled Turkey Burgers

turkey burger ingredients

Step-by-Step Instructions

Remove the sausage meat from the casings. The best way is to use kitchen shears to cut through the casings and then peel them away from meat.

sausage meat in bowl

Add the ground turkey, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and Dijon mustard.

adding ground turkey and seasoningsUse your hand to mix together until well combined.

turkey burger mixture in bowlForm the meat into 8 even patties about ½-inch thick, and place them on a foil-lined baking sheet.

burgers formed on baking sheetClean the grill and preheat to high. To grease the grill, lightly dip a wad of paper towels in vegetable oil and, using tongs, carefully rub over the grates several times until glossy and coated. Place the turkey burgers on the grill and cook for five minutes, covered, until nice grill marks form. Flip and continue to cook, covered, for 3-5 minutes more.

turkey burgers on the grill

Heat the buns on the grill, assemble the burgers, and serve.

Two turkey burgers on a cutting board.

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Turkey Burgers

Juicy, flavorful, and easy to make, these turkey burgers can hold their own against any beef counterpart.

Servings: 8 burgers
Total Time: 20 Minutes

Ingredients

  • 1¼ pounds Italian turkey sausage (I use Shady Brook Farms hot or sweet varieties)
  • 1⅓ pounds 93/7 lean ground turkey (I use Shady Brook Farms; one package equals 1⅓ pounds)
  • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 8 hamburger buns

Instructions

  1. Remove the sausage meat from the casings. The best way is to use kitchen shears to cut through the casings and then peel them away from meat. Place the sausage meat in a large bowl along with the ground turkey, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and Dijon mustard. Use your hand to mix together until well combined. The mixture will seem quite wet; that's okay. Form the meat into 8 even patties about ½-inch thick. Place on a foil-lined baking sheet and refrigerate until ready to cook.
  2. Clean the grill and preheat to high. To grease the grill, lightly dip a wad of paper towels in vegetable oil and, using tongs, carefully rub over the grates several times until glossy and coated. Place the turkey burgers on the grill and cook for five minutes, covered, until nice grill marks form. Flip and continue to cook, covered, for 3-5 minutes more, until the burgers are cooked through. Heat the buns on the grill, assemble the burgers, and serve.
  3. Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The uncooked burgers can be frozen for up to three months. (Freeze the burgers on a baking sheet or plate so their shape sets, then transfer them to a sealable plastic bag for easy storage.) Defrost the burgers overnight in the refrigerator prior to serving and then cook as directed.

Pair with

Nutrition Information

Powered by Edamam

  • Per serving (8 servings)
  • Serving size: 1 burger
  • Calories: 338
  • Fat: 13 g
  • Saturated fat: 3 g
  • Carbohydrates: 22
  • Sugar: 3 g
  • Fiber: 1 g
  • Protein: 32 g
  • Sodium: 701 mg
  • Cholesterol: 104 mg

This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.

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Comments

  • absolutely delicious!

    • — Vera on October 22, 2023
    • Reply
  • Good dish overall but a bit heavy. The turkey sausage gives a very “sausage-y” taste to the burger. I topped them with the Roasted Tomato-Peach Jam – highly recommend!

    • — Liz on August 5, 2023
    • Reply
  • Not sure why people find turkey burgers dry and bland. I cut down on eating beef several years ago, so now I use turkey in a lot of my recipes — meatloaf, chili, burgers, spaghetti sauce, etc. I buy both the 85% and the leaner 95%, depending on what I’m making. For the burgers, it makes more sense to use the “fattier” ground turkey, since you’ll have a moister burger. Once I have the meat shaped into patties, I put them into a saute pan with a bit of olive oil, which also helps them to stay moist. Then I sprinkle with salt and pepper, poultry seasoning, a little garlic powder, sometimes chili powder and even a little cayenne. Sometimes I mix in the spices before I shape the patties, almost like you would when making a meat loaf — when I do it that way, I add some minced dry onion as well. But more often than not, I just sprinkle them on in the pan. Either way I do it, my turkey burgers are not bland!!

    • — Ann Marie Demers on July 2, 2023
    • Reply

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