The Best Turkey Burgers Recipe That You Can Make At Home

My best turkey burgers recipe that you can make at home came about because we don’t eat a lot of red meat in our house. We haven’t for a few years. Honestly, it really is a rare day when we would do an old-fashioned steak and potatoes meal and we don’t really miss it all that much.

What we do miss are burgers. Especially during the summer. Let’s face it: Burgers are fast, they are filling, and they are delicious. But once you cut the red meat out of your burger you’re usually left with a dry, relatively flavor-less, rubbery mess of regret.

Well, I set out to fix that. And I gave myself some ground rules.

Ground rules for the best turkey burgers

• Nothing that requires a special trip to the supermarket (burgers should be a last-minute endeavor that get you super excited about dinner, not a three-day-long slog that involves multiple trips to the supermarket)
• The burger has to taste grate bathed in ketchup
• The burger has to be juicy

That last one was the hardest. Turkey is a super-lean meat, which is great for your waistline but not great for a burger. That means we need to shamelessly add a little fat into the mix to help out our turkey burgers recipe (hello, mayo). A panade comes together instantly and helps the burger to retain moisture. Worcestershire sauce adds a touch of umami, and few springs of fresh parsley give a subtle fresh pop of flavor to the finished burgers.

Making sure the burgers don’t break when you grill them

Fair warning: The raw burger patties you get when you make my turkey burgers recipe are going to be wetter than you’re probably used to, so it doesn’t hurt to let them hang out in the fridge to firm up for a half an hour or so before you cook them. I’ve even made the patties a few hours in advance and just let them hang out in the arctic air that is our fridge.

I like to put mine on a half-sheet pan that’s lined with parchment paper. Three turkey burgers fit nicely on that size pan and the pan fits nicely in my fridge. If you’re making a larger batch, by all means use a larger pan! Just make sure to cover your turkey burgers with some plastic wrap before you put them in the fridge so that they don’t dry out.

If you don’t have time for this step just treat them gently. They’ll hold together like champions in a skillet and if you’re a good grill-master who keeps their grill well seasoned these turkey burgers should flip without an issue.

Tia’s Wine Pairing 🍷

• Wine Pairings: Young, cool-climate World Pinot Noir is the perfect pairing for this turkey burgers recipe.
• If you’re going to remember one fact about wine, this might be the most important: a wine’s taste is determined by the interplay of grape variety, climate/geography, and winemaking choices. Pinot Noir grown in cool regions often yields lighter, fruitier wines that are a great match with light foods like this burger. As wines age, some of that freshness and fruitiness disappears, so grab a bottle that’s no more than 3 years old. You can do a deep dive and read more about this pairing and why climate and age matter for Pinot Noir here.
• Pairing Mechanics: Turkey is a light meat, so if you pair it with a really strong wine — a California Zinfandel or a red Bandol from France — it’ll get drowned out. That said, the flavors of this burger are robust, and things like Worcestershire sauce could overpower a light white. A fruity Pinot Noir will strike the perfect balance: light enough that it won’t compete with turkey meat but hearty enough to hold up to the stronger flavors in the seasoning.
• What to look/ask for: Pinot Noir from New Zealand (especially regions like Central Otago and Martinborough) and Oregon. Ask your wine shop staff to recommend bottles that are fresh and fruity and have seen minimal or no oak.
• More information about Tia’s Wine can be found by following this link to her website!

Other things you might be interested in:

If you’re looking for more inspiration you might enjoy one of these other recipes I’ve posted!

• Small Batch Blueberry Jam
• Burnt Honey Caramel Sauce
• Tomato Confit
• Roast Grape & Goat Cheese Tart 

Tag me Instagram @jamandbreadofficial (I love seeing when other people make one of my recipes!) and please consider leaving me a review below if you make my turkey burgers recipe. I sincerely hope you love them, and that you are ON BOARD with making my turkey burgers recipe over and over again.

For even more recipe ideas follow me on Pinterest!

Enjoy! 👍🏻🦃🍔

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