Episode 014 Turkey Burgers

Intro: Welcome to Let’s Make Dinner, your audio library of amazing dinner recipes you can get on the table any night of the week. I’m your host, Susie Weinrich. 

Susie Weinrich: Welcome in everybody. All right, turn up the volume and get ready to listen, because this episode is going to be full of tips and tricks for you to make really good grilled Turkey burgers. I know we’ve all had a grilled Turkey burger that was either too dry, didn’t have any flavor or fell apart on the grill. And I’m going to give you all the tips and tricks to make sure that doesn’t happen to you this summer. 

Let’s get started with this one. We are talking just a classic grilled Turkey burger. Just like you would have a grilled burger, which if you need a good grilled burger recipe, head back to episode number one. 

Tips and Tricks: This one we’re talking about ground Turkey, and that’s where you can run into some issues. My very first tip for you is when you are buying your ground Turkey meat, you want to get the 93% lean ground Turkey. The 99% will cook like the bottom of a shoe. It is way too lean to make Turkey burgers. So get that 93%, which just means that it has 7% fat content mixed in with the ground turkey meat. That fat is going to add juiciness to your burgers, and it’s also going to add flavor to your Turkey burgers, which we need when we’re cooking with Turkey.

The second rule, when you’re talking about making grilled Turkey burgers, is adding flavor to the mixture. It is crucial to add a lot of flavor to your Turkey burgers. In this recipe, we’re going to be adding a Lipton dry onion soup mix, sour cream, dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic powder, you could even add fresh chopped garlic if you want to. Then of course, salt, pepper, and some Tabasco, and all of that together is going to make for really juicy Turkey burgers and really flavorful Turkey burgers.

The third rule when you are making Turkey burgers is to make sure you cook them to 165 degrees internal temperature. Turkey is not like beef. Beef you can cook 130, 135, 140, 145 and be golden. Turkey and chicken need to be cooked to 165-degree internal temperature to be safe to eat. 

So those are my three golden rules for making great Turkey burgers. Let’s pop into the recipe and stay tuned because this recipe is going to be full of tips and tricks.

Juicy Turkey Burgers Recipe: So let’s get started. Get your grill out. If you have a charcoal grill. Wonderful. Set it up for direct heat grilling. Same if you have a gas grill. Set it up for direct heat grilling with medium to high heat. Then you’re going to make your mixture. You’re going to start by making somewhat of a panade. A panade is a starch and a liquid mixed together to keep a ground meat recipe really juicy. With ground Turkey, we need that help. Our panade is going to consist of a dry onion soup mix packet, two tablespoons of sour cream, one tablespoon of Dijon mustard, two teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, and then go ahead and put in half a teaspoon of garlic powder, half a teaspoon of kosher salt, and a quarter teaspoon of black pepper. If you want a couple of dashes of Tabasco sauce in there, go ahead and add that as well. This is your panade. This is what’s going to keep your Turkey burgers juicy. So mix that all together. Let that sit for just a few minutes. Then we’re going to add the ground turkey. You’re going to add one pound of 93% lean ground Turkey into your panade, and then just lightly mix it until it all comes together. If you overmix that ground Turkey, your burgers will have more of a compact texture, than more of a loose burger texture. 

For this recipe, you are just forming four patties, so divide that meat mixture into four equal portions and then form your patties. Here’s a great tip when you are making burger patties. Form them about half an inch to an inch larger than the bun you’re going to use. When they have a little bit of shrinkage on the grill, they will be the perfect size for your bun. 

Now, after you have your patties all formed, this is another great tip that works for any type of burger you’re making. You’re going to want to press either your clean thumb or a clean spoon into the center of your burger patty and make just a thumb size divot, that divot will help prevent more shrinkage on the grill so you don’t end up with a little hockey puck for a burger.

One key to making sure that your Turkey burgers don’t stick to the grill is making sure you oil the grill grates. I even like to oil the actual patties on both sides. Turkey is so lean that it sometimes can have a hard time releasing from the grill before it’s to a burned state. So making sure you get that oil in there is crucial.

Now take your Turkey burgers out to your prepared grill and start them divot side down for about five minutes over direct heat. Flip the burgers and cook for about another four minutes, and then you can pull them off, take their internal temperature with an instant-read thermometer and Thermo Works has the best. It’s even recommended by America’s Test Kitchen. They have the best instant-read thermometers. I will link that piece of equipment for you in the show notes. You can let the burgers rest for about five minutes. Then go ahead and serve them. You want to use all of your favorite burger toppings here because this is just like a classic burger. So, lettuce, tomato, onion, ketchup, mayonnaise, and mustard. If you want more of a barbecue-style burger, you could do provolone cheese, french-fried onions, pickled jalapenos, and barbecue sauce. If you like more of a Mexican-style burger, you could top it with guacamole, pico de cayo, and ranch. Or if you want a really good burger, you can make some of my bacon jam and top it with Borsin cheese, lettuce, and tomato. I will link that bacon jam recipe for you in the show notes so you can check it out. 

My favorite side dishes when I am serving these grilled Turkey burgers are sweet potato fries. It’s just the most perfect combination ever. You could also do just regular fries, chips, potato salad, anything that goes with barbecue, cookout style food.

That does it for today, of course, I will link all the recipes including the grilled Turkey burger recipe in the show notes so you can find it when you’re ready to make this for dinner. If you are enjoying these episodes of Let’s Make Dinner, I would love it if you would subscribe or follow on your preferred podcast player. It will just make all of our future episodes easier to find. 

Outro: Until next time, I hope this episode of Let’s Make Dinner, makes your dinner time a little easier.