Turkey Burgers
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Juicy, flavorful, and easy to make, these turkey burgers can hold their own against any beef counterpart.
Most turkey burgers are dry and tasteless and leave you yearning for the real deal. Not these! I add turkey sausage — a trick often used with meatballs — to amp up the flavor and make the burgers incredibly juicy. The best part is that, thanks to the highly seasoned sausage, you can throw them together in a matter of minutes with only five ingredients — no chopping, slicing or dicing required. These turkey burgers are not just a second-best substitute for real beef burgers, but they are delicious in their own right. You can customize them to your heart’s content by topping them with your favorite cheese or other burger fixings. And for an extra kick, serve them with my favorite homemade spicy relish — it’s quick, easy, and a must-have at every Segal family BBQ, as it elevates everything off the grill, from hot dogs and grilled chicken to brats and, of course, burgers.
What You’ll Need To Make Grilled Turkey Burgers
Step-by-Step Instructions
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.
Add the ground turkey, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and Dijon mustard.
Use your hand to mix together until well combined.
Form the meat into 8 even patties about ½-inch thick, and place them on a foil-lined baking sheet.
Clean the grill and preheat to high. To grease the grill, lightly dip a wad of paper towels in vegetable oil and, using tongs, carefully rub over the grates several times until glossy and coated. Place the turkey burgers on the grill and cook for five minutes, covered, until nice grill marks form. Flip and continue to cook, covered, for 3-5 minutes more.
Heat the buns on the grill, assemble the burgers, and serve.
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Turkey Burgers
Juicy, flavorful, and easy to make, these turkey burgers can hold their own against any beef counterpart.
Ingredients
- 1¼ pounds Italian turkey sausage (I use Shady Brook Farms hot or sweet varieties)
- 1⅓ pounds 93/7 lean ground turkey (I use Shady Brook Farms; one package equals 1⅓ pounds)
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 8 hamburger buns
Instructions
- 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 the ground turkey, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and Dijon mustard. Use your hand to mix together until well combined. The mixture will seem quite wet; that's okay. Form the meat into 8 even patties about ½-inch thick. Place on a foil-lined baking sheet and refrigerate until ready to cook.
- Clean the grill and preheat to high. To grease the grill, lightly dip a wad of paper towels in vegetable oil and, using tongs, carefully rub over the grates several times until glossy and coated. Place the turkey burgers on the grill and cook for five minutes, covered, until nice grill marks form. Flip and continue to cook, covered, for 3-5 minutes more, until the burgers are cooked through. Heat the buns on the grill, assemble the burgers, and serve.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The uncooked burgers can be frozen for up to three months. (Freeze the burgers on a baking sheet or plate so their shape sets, then transfer them to a sealable plastic bag for easy storage.) Defrost the burgers overnight in the refrigerator prior to serving and then cook as directed.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (8 servings)
- Serving size: 1 burger
- Calories: 338
- Fat: 13 g
- Saturated fat: 3 g
- Carbohydrates: 22
- Sugar: 3 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 32 g
- Sodium: 701 mg
- Cholesterol: 104 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Good dish overall but a bit heavy. The turkey sausage gives a very “sausage-y” taste to the burger. I topped them with the Roasted Tomato-Peach Jam – highly recommend!
Not sure why people find turkey burgers dry and bland. I cut down on eating beef several years ago, so now I use turkey in a lot of my recipes — meatloaf, chili, burgers, spaghetti sauce, etc. I buy both the 85% and the leaner 95%, depending on what I’m making. For the burgers, it makes more sense to use the “fattier” ground turkey, since you’ll have a moister burger. Once I have the meat shaped into patties, I put them into a saute pan with a bit of olive oil, which also helps them to stay moist. Then I sprinkle with salt and pepper, poultry seasoning, a little garlic powder, sometimes chili powder and even a little cayenne. Sometimes I mix in the spices before I shape the patties, almost like you would when making a meat loaf — when I do it that way, I add some minced dry onion as well. But more often than not, I just sprinkle them on in the pan. Either way I do it, my turkey burgers are not bland!!
I have never made (or eaten) Turkey burgers, but trust your recipes. Using Turkey sausage and a few other ingredients is genius. Thank you so much for another delicious recipe.
(I pan fried these because it started to rain. Still wonderful.
Just a comment here to people who don’t eat ‘sausage’, even thought the recipe calls for Turkey Sausage. I think people missed that. But, I make my own sausage out of ground turkey with seasoning mixes. There are many on amazon.com and we even use it for breakfast sausage and it is delicious. Just a thought for some of you. Making these today and I am positive they are delicious! Thanks for the share!
Hi Jenn, do you think it would be okay to substitute ground “Chicken & Apple breakfast sausage” for the Italian Turkey sausage? The chicken sausage looks like it has a very similar consistency to the Turkey sausage, but would bring different seasoning to the ground Turkey.
Also, the ground Turkey I have found is either 97% lean or 85% lean. Which would you recommend with the sausage?
Hi Shelley, If it has a similar texture and is not pre-cooked, it should work. And I’d recommend the 85% turkey. Hope you enjoy!
Wow! Packed with flavor, that sausage is a fantastic addition. The recipe was a double batch for us so we’re looking forward to pulling the remaining patties out of the freezer for another meal. We also made this with your German Potato Salad, what a great combo!
My store only has ground turkey sausage that comes in a tube. Do you think that kind might be too wet and mushy and they burgers will fall apart?
That should be fine — enjoy!
I’ve made these on the grill before and they were amazing! Can I make these in a cast iron pan too?
Glad you like them! I’d follow the cooking instructions from this recipe.
Made these last night Jenn. We opted to make sliders. The family LOVED them. So ez, and the sausage definitely worked well. Thanks again for another great recipe. Vinny
These were delicious! Easy peasy and the whole family enjoyed them. I served the burgers with the caramelized bell peppers and onions you recommended. Thank you!
I was reading this recipe but had ingredients in mind for a Greek turkey burger so I used a different recipe but still 93% ground turkey. Oiled the grill and it was such a disaster with the burgers falling apart. Are binders not needed? The other recipe used Mayo as a binder and I still had the issue of falling apart. Now I’m scared to grill turkey burgers lol
Hi Amber, I understand if your gun shy after using another recipe where the burgers fell apart. There aren’t any traditional binders in these burgers but I’ve made them many times on the grill and they really don’t fall apart. Hope you have luck with them if you make them!
I used a similar recipe w Mayo-the family wasn’t impressed. I’m kicking myself for not coming straight to Jenn’s website-there’s never a question of if it will turn out. Her recipes are always on point and delicious. Can’t wait for the next cookbook to come-already preordered!!!
These are so delicious grilled. We added mozzarella cheese slice and topped with bruschetta topping and drizzle of reduced balsamic vinegar. Thanks for the recipe.
Can I use ground chicken instead of ground turkey?
Hi Susan, I never made these with chicken, but I think it would work. Please LMK how they turn out!
I tried this with ground chicken in place of turkey and followed the recipe as written. It was delicious! Juicy and flavorable!