Tasty Turkey Burgers (I Swear!)

My son ate two of these for dinner. Cheese, bun, meat. Everything.

That probably doesn’t mean much to you. For context, you know how you take your kid to the pediatrician every year for the well visit and the doctor asks you what said child likes to eat?

I say “air.” I’ve been saying “air” for nine years. The child doesn’t eat. Ever.

Tonight, he ate two burgers.

I may have won the James Beard Award. Seriously–stay tuned. I can’t think of a bigger culinary accomplishment than getting my air-fed child to eat two burgers. And healthy ones, at that.

I broke out the George Foreman Grill for these, but you can make them in a cast-iron grill pan, a skillet, or on a real grill. Whatever floats your boat. Just remember to break one in half before you serve them–you can’t do medium rare with poultry. Be sure these are done all the way through. No pink. Anywhere.

A few ingredient notes: My market sells ground turkey in 1.3 pound packages. I know not why. So that’s what I used.

I used dried onion flakes. You can use fresh onion if that’s what you have. But I like the dried for two reasons: they give a great crunch without an overpowering onion flavor, and McDonald’s uses them. Which means my burgers get a ton of street cred just for having those in there. Just like a happy meal! Which, of course, it’s not (hear that, James Beard people?), but we’ll let the short peeps go with it.

There’s ketchup in these. You won’t taste it. Promise. It just makes them a bit more burger-y. If you really want yours to taste like beef, throw a teaspoon or two of Worcestershire in there.

These are a lot like my Crockpot Meatballs recipe. They use more bread crumbs because I wanted them firm, not soft like meatballs. They use more seasoning because they’re not cooked in sauce. But it’s the same principle.

We had these with a healthy serving of Sweet Potato “Fries,” which, thank heavens, are really healthy *ahem*. Because some of us *ahem ahem* ate a lot of them.

One more thing: The bun. Go Martin’s or go home, y’all. Seriously. It’s a potato bun or nothing at all. Trust me. They are beyond good. You’ll eat them on their own once you try them. I am seriously contemplating trying to make French Toast out of some Martin’s potato rolls. Amazing.

So with that, go get your grill pan rolling and put these together. Your kid might eat several. I’ll see you at the awards ceremony. 😉 You’ll need:

1.3 pounds of lean ground turkey

1 egg

2/3 cup Italian-style bread crumbs

2 tbsp dried onion flakes, or finely diced fresh onion

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tbsp ketchup

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl using your hands and a gentle folding motion–don’t mash! Divide into eight portions. Roll each into a ball (seriously–don’t mash!) and then gently pat into a round patty, about 3/4 inch thick.

Heat your grill pan, grill, skillet or Foreman grill (I had mine turned all the way up to 425 degrees). When it’s hot, give it a quick spray of olive oil and gently lay the burgers on it. Cook until done all the way through, flipping once as necessary. Top and enjoy.