I’m preempting my scheduled post for these turkey burgers because my husband and I liked them so much. It’s been raining buckets here in northern California and I’m prone to feeling melancholy during the rainy season. My way of counteracting the wet weather blues was to use the grill, rain and all.
And you know what? Having a summertime-inspired dinner helped to lift the gray clouds, figuratively speaking. Nothing is easier than a burger when you want a grilled meal. However, I wanted to enjoy one without the guilt I often have after consuming a beef burger so I used ground turkey instead. I knew I would have to amp up the flavor with some add-ins so into the meat mixture went some chives, pickled red peppers, grated pepper jack cheese, red onions, ground cumin and chili powder.
These burgers were flavorful and wonderfully juicy. Not one ingredient overpowered the others; instead, they all worked together to give beef burgers a run for their money. I highly recommend preparing these with sliced avocado, tomatoes, red onions and slice pepper jack cheese. My burger craving was satisfied and I’m not feeling the least bit guilty for eating 1 1/2 giant servings!
I served these with baked sweet potato fries. I tossed them in olive oil, ground cumin, chili powder, granulated garlic, salt and pepper. I baked them in the oven at 450ºF for a few minutes but they still weren’t crispy. If you have a foolproof recipe for baked sweet potato fries, please do share!
Southwestern Turkey Burgers
* Makes 4 large burgers
- 1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 teaspoons each ground cumin and chili powder
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 2 tbsp chopped chives
- 1 tablespoon sweet relish
- 1/4 cup grated pepper jack cheese
- 2 tablespoons pickled red peppers (I use Trader Joe’s Peri Peri peppers in a jar)
- 1/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup diced red onion
- 2 pinches kosher salt
- A few turns freshly ground black pepper
- Hamburger buns
- Fixings: Sliced avocado, pepper jack cheese, sliced tomatoes, sliced red onion, mayo, mustard, ketchup
Preheat your grill to 400ºF
Mix the burger ingredients from the ground turkey to the black pepper. Form mixture into 4 large patties.
Grill one side for five minutes, flip and grill second side for 3-5 minutes. Just use this as a guide since all grills work differently. My burgers ended up just fully cooked without losing any juiciness. Prepare the burgers with the fixings and serve with sweet potato fries.
That burger looks yummy! With the potatoes, I would parboil them first. Then bake them at high heat.
That looks like one mean burger. So much flavor!
I honestly do not have any guilty feelings after having a beef burger but I do choose turkey over beef very often because I just like the taste better. You just inspired a dinner for this weekend. I want a home-made burger! I hope it will help with my rain blues too
This sounds terrific!! I’ve seen many recipes for turkey burgers that’s made me want to try it- but by the looks of this burger and ingredients- I want to try this ASAP! I am happy you posted this- definitely bookmarking this for future cooking! YUM!
I also love the size! My 5 year-old could eat one and FINALLY feel full hehe. He seems to be an eating machine right now.
Yummy looking burger. Loved the pics.
These look really good. As a New Englander, I am pretty darn jealous that it’s warm enough for you to grill. It actually has been snowing here this week.
We did this last week to get that spring time feeling. I love the red onion, avacado combination. I tried a horseradish mustard mayo spread which went great with the avacado and sort of woke up the burgers…but yours look so full of flavor (I can’t wait to make these). Definitely doing this for the weekend. Thanks so much for sharing.
Jean – these look and sound amazing!!! Every once in a while you just need to have a good burger. Love all of the toppings!! Have a brilliant Friday and weekend! 🙂
This weekend might be perfect for this!!
I LOVE turkey burgers…people are always so skeptical of them, but I actually almost prefer them to regular burgers…shhhh don’t tell that to my bf 😉
I don’t like the rain either. It always limits bebe and I during the week. Sometimes, it’s nice to stay home but it does get melancholy if it rains for days. Your turkey burgers and using the grill look like they were the perfect rain-buster. Love the addition of sweet relish to the meat. Sounds yummy!
I often make a dish similar to this – Southwestern turkey burger and sweet potato fries slathered in my favorite spicy BBQ sauce. Your gorgeous pics are reminding me it’s been too long…and that perhaps it’s time to switch my recipe up. Love the pickled peppers in the burger, and the addition of avocado!
Yes, sometimes you just have to defy the weather! We love turkey burgers and yours turned out great – they definitely can rival any beef burger !
I could have sworn I commented on this the other day (I probably did in my head!). You mentioned these last week on twitter and I have been itching for a burger ever since! They look like they turned out great!