Quick Turkey Burger Recipe

Turkey burgers might not rouse the same kind of excitement as the classic hamburger, but that's hardly a fair shake, not when they have so much going for them. Like ground beef, ground turkey is rich in protein, but it's lower in fat. Like "regular" burgers, they work with all your favorite toppings, and they can take on the flavor of all your favorite ingredients better than beef, flavors like "caramelized onions and spices," says Maren Epstein, chef and food writer behind Eating Works, whose recipe for turkey burgers will take you all of ten minutes prep and ten minutes of cooking.

And maybe best of all, unlike burgers that really need to be grilled for perfection, these burgers are great on the grill, in a pan, on a griddle, or even under a broiler if need be. Ground turkey is that flexible and forgiving, and so too is this recipe: Feel free to play with the spices however you want.

Again, you can always put your own spin on these burgers, but to make what Epstein calls a "perfect basic turkey burger, one best served on a bun with lettuce, tomato, cheese, and all," you'll need two pounds of ground turkey, three tablespoons butter or oil, one onion, two cloves of minced garlic, four tablespoons of chopped parsley, two eggs, one tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, one and a half teaspoons of salt, one tablespoon of dried oregano, and pepper to taste.

For the ideal classic burger, you'll also want to assemble the finished product with lettuce, sliced cheese, ketchup, mustard (or mayo), and a thick toasted bun.

The next step in preparing your turkey burger is to heat the butter or oil in a nonstick skillet and then add the chopped onions and salt. Sauté the onions over a low to medium heat, stirring every three minutes or so until they are well caramelized (which will take about 20 minutes). In the last few minutes of cooking, add the garlic and continue to cook until it becomes fragrant. 

Now remove the pan from the stove top and set aside the cooked onions and garlic to cool. You'll come back to this later.

Combine the turkey, parsley, eggs, Worcestershire sauce, salt, oregano, pepper, and sautéed onions and garlic for your turkey burgers in a big mixing bowl. Using a spoon or your fingers, mix together the meat and all the other ingredients until everything is completely combined.

Now, press the mixture of turkey meat, veggies, spices, and sauce into patties. Each should weigh about a quarter of a pound, and you should have seven or eight patties all told. Of course, you can make the patties bigger or smaller depending on the buns you want to serve them on.

Heat more butter or oil in a large cast iron skillet if you have it or a good frying pan if not. Cook each turkey burger patty until it is golden brown and cooked all the way through, which will require about five minutes on each side (or until they are well-browned and have hit at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit with a meat thermometer). 

If the burgers start to burn, lower the heat. You can also sear them quickly on a hot grill and then finish them in the oven for ten minutes at 350 degrees.

Nowm assemble the burgers how you (and your diners) prefer, ideally with the classics like sliced tomato, lettuce, ketchup, and anything else you want to add.