Flavorful, juicy turkey burgers… yes, turkey burgers! These burgers are boldly flavored with rosemary and garlic with a hint of lemon and the sun dried tomato aioli sets the whole thing off. The only thing that could make this burger better would be a nice slice of melty aged cheddar cheese.
Turkey burgers are burgers and should be treated so! Would you use 95 percent lean ground beef and wonder why you are eating a tasteless piece of cardboard? The same holds true with turkey burger. You simply cannot use ground turkey breast and expect a juicy tender burger. Dry, lean meat produces a dry, lean (and tasteless) burger.
Use ground turkey meat and not ground breast meat for juicy burgers. If you are worried about the calorie or fat situation, use a 50/50 blend if you must. I hedge my bets a little by adding a little chicken broth for extra moisture.
Turkey burgers dry out quickly and most people err on the side of overcooking for fear of undercooked poultry… resulting in dry burgers. Don’t guess at whether or not it’s done; get out the digital thermometer and take it’s temperature! Remove the burgers from the grill at 160°F then cover them with foil for 5 to 10 minutes. The internal temperature will rise another 5 degrees for perfectly cooked ground poultry and the juices will flow back into the middle of the burger where they belong.
Check out my post How To Grill Better Burgers for more tips…. seriously, read it now! 😉 The post was written with beef burgers in mind, but it pretty much applies to turkey or any other type of burger too.
- 2 pounds ground turkey
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
- 2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ cup chicken broth
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Toasted burger buns, for serving
- Mixed greens, for serving
- Sun Dried Tomato Aioli (recipe below)
- Crumble ground turkey into a large mixing bowl. Add in the rosemary, garlic, lemon zest, Italian seasoning, and black pepper. Toss gently until well combined. Add in chicken broth and toss again until the the broth is incorporated; do not compress the meat.
- Weigh out 6- or 8-ounce portion and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Form into balls just tight enough that they hold together and them press into patties slightly larger than the bun. Cover and put in the refrigerator until ready to grill.
- Set up grill for medium-high to high heat direct grilling. Brush and oil grates before cooking. Season both sides of the patties with salt and pepper and press a dimple into the center of each one with your thumb. Lay each patty on the hot grill and cook undisturbed for 3 to 5 minutes depending on the thickness of the patties and how hot your grill is. Flip and cook until the internal temperature reaches 160°F, don't guess, use the thermometer! Remove from the grill, cover with foil and rest the burger 5 minutes before serving.
- Serve on toasted buns, dressed the way you like it and slathered with sun dried tomato aioli.
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup oil-packed dried tomatoes, drained and minced
- 1 clove garlic, pressed or creamed
- 1 tablespoon oil from tomato jar
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 pinch kosher salt
- Combine all the ingredients in a small mixing bowl and stir to combine. Will keep covered in the refrigerator for 2 or 3 days.
Cheers and Happy Grilling!
~Jeff
Good day very nice blog!! Guy .. Beautiful .. Superb .. I’ll bookmark your website and take the feeds additionally…I’m happy to find numerous useful info here in the put up, we want work out more strategies on this regard, thanks for sharing.
Thank you! Hope to hear from you again. Happy cooking!
Informative article, just what I was looking for.
Great to read, Brigid. Let me know how the recipe turned out.