Grilled Turkey Burgers

Most turkey burgers are dry and tasteless and leave you yearning for the real deal. Not these! I’ve added Italian turkey sausage — a trick often used with meatballs — which amps up the flavor and makes them incredibly juicy. The best part is that you can throw them together in a matter of minutes — only five ingredients and no chopping, slicing or dicing required.

Begin by removing the sausage meat from the casings. I use Shady Brook Farm’s lean Italian turkey sausage, which is available at most supermarkets. The best way is to cut the casings with kitchen shears and peel them away from the meat. This is much easier than trying to squeeze the meat out.

Next, combine the sausage meat with the ground turkey, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and pepper in a large bowl. (Note that the recipe does not call for any salt; there’s enough in the sausage to season the entire thing.) For mixing, your hands are the best tool.

Form the mixture into eight even patties.

Preheat your grill to high. Grease the grates well and cook the burgers for five minutes or until the first side is golden brown with nice grill marks. Resist the temptation to fiddle with the burgers or flip them too soon; you want a nice crust to form. Flip and cook a few minutes more until done.

Enjoy!

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Grilled Turkey Burgers
Printable Recipe

Makes 8 burgers

Ingredients

1.3 pounds 93/7 lean ground turkey (I use Shady Brook Farms; one package equals 1.3 pounds)
6 links or 1¼ pounds Italian turkey sausage (I use Shady Brook Farms hot or sweet varieties)
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard (I like Maille)
8 hamburger buns

Directions

1. Remove the sausage meat from the casings. The best way is to use kitchen shears to cut through the casings and then peel them away from meat. Place the sausage meat in a large bowl along with ground turkey, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and Dijon mustard. Use your hand to mix together until well combined. Form meat into 8 even patties about ½-inch thick. Place on foil lined baking sheet and cover until ready to cook.

2. Clean grill and preheat to high. To grease grill, lightly dip a wad of paper towels in vegetable oil and, using tongs, carefully rub over grates several times until glossy and coated. Place turkey burgers on grill and cook for five minutes, covered, until nice grill marks form. Flip and continue to cook, covered, for 3-5 minutes more. Heat buns on grill, assemble burgers and serve.

Note: You may notice a strong odor when you open a package of turkey sausage. I contacted Shady Brook Farms about this and they assured me that as long as you are within the sell by date and the odor dissipates, the meat is perfectly fine to use.