The Best Homemade Turkey Burgers

Looking for a fiya homemade turkey burger recipe? Well, look no further because these bad boyz are Juicy, succulent, and flavorful making them perfect for family picnics and summer cookouts. These are a healthier option for those of you who don’t eat red meat. Give this recipe a shot because it’s one of the easiest and most delicious homemade turkey burger recipes you’re gonna find online, and they take less than 30 minutes to make. My mother, who stopped eating red meat after marrying her husband in 2001, put me onto ground turkey. I wasn’t a fan of ground turkey at first but I’ve come to enjoy eating her turkey burgers every 4th of July and Labor’s Day. So I decided to make my own turkey burger recipe and put my own spin on it. Trust me, they are very good so be sure to try this recipe and let me know how you like them.

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Hey, friends! I just begun a new lifestyle journey of healthy eating! I didn’t do it just to look good but to feel better physically. Carrying all this weight can slow you down, make you feel fatigue, and just limit you in so many ways. I just turned 35 and so my metabolism has gotten so slow to where everything I eat seems to stick. Cancer, colon cancer which my Grandmother passed away from, runs in my family so it would be to my benefit to leave red meat alone. But I live in Philly, home of the World’s best cheesesteaks, so avoiding red meat can be pretty difficult and suppressing the urge to eat it while walking by all these corner papi stores in my neighborhood is even harder. I love red meat – I don’t care if it’s ground beef in my Spaghetti, a juicy burger, ribeye steak, or a slab of beef ribs… I love it all!!! So going from eating red meat twice a week to leaving it alone altogether was a pretty hard adjustment to make. 

I obviously knew of ground turkey but didn’t really know how it taste and wasn’t aware that the texture is so different from that of ground beef. I remember the first time my mother, who stopped eating red meat and pork after marrying my stepfather, made turkey spaghetti for me. I frowned in disgust and shook my head while pushing the plate away. She laughed and said, “You don’t like it”? And I gave her a passionate, “NO”! I thought it was too soft and lacked flavor which was never the case for ground beef. 

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My stepfather grew up in a Islamic family so pork was a no no. He and his children were adamant about not eating pork and was unapologetic when expressing their disdain for it! LMBO!!! So although her husband and his children are now Christian, they still stuck with not eating pork. Beef wasn’t an issue at first but after the passing of my grandmother in 09, who died from colon Cancer, my mother decided to slow down on the red meat and eventually stopped eating it altogether. 

Since I’ve been dieting, I’ve eaten nothing but Salmon, turkey, and chicken. I was in the mood for a burger and decided to experiment with turkey burgers since I had some ground turkey sitting in the freezer for a few weeks. I remember watching my grandma Gwendolyn, who I’ve mentioned several times before, preparing homemade burgers but she always used beef. She would use binding ingredients like eggs and flour and add finely chopped onions, peppers, and even celery to the ground beef before mixing it in. But what I thought was so cool was the condiments she used. 

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Being a 15 yr old, I never saw anyone put BBQ, steak sauce, and gravy in their ground meat to make burgers. I don’t even think I knew how they were made. LMBO! But she made them sort of the same way she made her meatloaf, she just used less ingredients. I remember being so fascinated by the preparation process and how you could add whatever condiments you wanted to the meat to give the burgers flavor before they were cooked. I personally like to use BBQ or steak sauce  because I think they taste best in burgers. I add in a little liquid smoke too to give the burgers a grilled flavor and when I’m making beef burgers I use a little Worcestershire sauce.  

Speaking of preparing burgers, there’s a few very important things you need to know. 1. DO NOT OVERWORK THE MEAT. Make sure every stir counts!!! When you mix in everything, make sure you don’t over mix the ingredients because it may change the texture. I know this is true with ground beef, not so sure about ground turkey, but still don’t over mix or press it too many times while shaping it into a Pattie. The less mixing and shaping you do, the better the results. 2. DO NOT USE A LOT OF BINDING INGREDIENTS. People think you have to put a whole container of breadcrumbs, 10 slices of bread, and 2 cups of eggs and flour in the meat for it to bind! This ladies and gents is sooooo not true. LMBO!!! A little bit of breadcrumbs and the moisture from all the other ingredients goes a long way and creates a stickiness that helps to keep the burger intact while cooking. Just make sure when you’re shaping the burgers you firmly press the meat together to so that it stays together. 

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And LASTLY, because we all have a tendency to watch and mess with food while it’s cooking, DO NOT PRESS the burgers unnecessarily while they’re cooking because all you’re doing is squeezing out the juice and flavor. It’s absolutely no reason to press them with the spatula while they cook. I don’t know why ppl do it because it doesn’t help them cook any faster. It’s almost like a natural instinct for us though. LMBO! As for the cooking time, I usually cook them over med heat for 4 minutes per side. But the cooking time really depends on the size of the burger. If you’re making large thick burgers they will need more time to cook all way through and because big burgers take up more space, you might only be able to fit and cook 3-4 in the skillet at a time. If this is the case, you probably wont be able to cook them all at once especially if you double the recipe. So here’s what I want you to remember, the 2nd batch of burgers you add to the skillet will always take less time to cook and will get done faster because the oil is hotter.  

One more thing, especially for those of you new to cooking, a good way to tell when the burgers are done is when the juices stop flowing from the top. You may even need to flip the burgers a couple times before they’re done and that’s fine but make sure to take them out right when you stop seeing the juice flowing from the top because you don’t want to them overcooked and tough. And when flipping them over, use two spatula’s as seen in the photo below. Ok yall… enough yapping for now! I want yall to give this recipe a shot and let me know down in the comment section how you like it.

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Enjoy, later.


PBJ~

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The Best Homemade Turkey Burgers

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• Author: PhillyboyJay
• Prep Time: 20 Mins
• Cook Time: 10 Mins
• Total Time: 30 Mins
• Yield: 4
• Category: Poultry
• Cuisine: Soul Food

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Description

Juicy, succulent, flavorful homemade burgers perfect for summer cookouts.

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Ingredients

• 1 Lb Ground Turkey
• 1 Tbs Onions, chopped
• 1 Tbs Green Bell Peppers, chopped
• 1 Large Size Egg
• 1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 Tbs Plain Breadcrumbs
• 2 Tbs Original BBQ or A1 Steak Sauce (optional)
• 1 Tsp Liquid Smoke (optional)
• 2 Tsps Garlic Powder
• 1–1/2 Tsps Seasoning Salt
• 1–1/2 Tsps Complete Seasoning
• 1 Tsp Adobo Seasoning
• 1 Tsp Onion Powder
• 1 Tsp Italian Seasoning
• 1/2 Tsp Black Pepper

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Instructions

1.  Chop an onion and green bell pepper into small pieces, then set aside.
2.  Add ground turkey to a large mixing bowl.
3.  Add in the seasonings, the egg, bbq, liquid smoke, and breadcrumbs, then stir well.
4.  Add in the onions and peppers then stir well again.
5.  With your hands, shape the ground turkey into 6-8 medium 1/4 inch size patties and set aside.
6.  Place a skillet over medium heat and add in the oil.
7.  After 3 minutes, add in the patties and cook for 4-5 minutes per side, then set aside.

Notes

If you make thick burgers you may need to let them cook for 5-6 minutes per side.

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