Turkey Burgers Recipe - The Cookie Rookie® (2024)

FAQs

What keeps turkey burgers from falling apart? ›

Just half a beaten egg in the raw meat will work as a binder to hold it all together. Just be sure to mix it into the meat well before forming patties. Turkey burgers are really worth the extra effort. When they turn out well, they are a fantastic burger that stand alone as great BBQ food.

Since turkey burgers tend to be drier than their ground beef counterparts, we added an egg to ours to help it hold together and give it more moisture. We also use 94% lean ground turkey in our patties—we don't recommend any higher than that, or your burgers might not hold together.

Just like in a traditional meatloaf, you need something to hold the meat together. Try adding some dry breadcrumbs to the turkey mixture before you shape the patties. The crumbs will absorb the moisture and, together with the egg, will act like glue and help your burgers maintain their shape on the grill.

In this recipe, egg and panko help bind the turkey burgers and keep them from falling apart.

Keep your burgers from falling apart.

We recommend adding a raw egg and a handful of breadcrumbs.

Turkey burgers are much leaner than hamburgers, but they can be dry and dull. Moisten them by adding ketchup and a bit of grated onion to the ground turkey — or mayonnaise and a bit of mustard. The idea is to emphasize condiments, and keep the turkey moist.

Turkey burgers always sound like a great idea, but they too often taste like a fat sawdust patty. No more, friends! Mashing avocado into the turkey mixture helps prevent the meat from shrinking and drying out during cooking, which is why these stay awesomely juicy, even when they're cooked all the way through.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking dish with cooking spray. Form turkey mixture into four patties; arrange in the prepared baking dish.

Leaner meats like turkey and chicken have less fat to keep the meat moist as it cooks, which can result in tougher, easily overcooked, dry burgers. By adding super finely chopped mushrooms, you are putting back a lot of water content that cooks out of lean meats like turkey.

Mustard on a Burger

If you're looking to add dimension to your burgers, mustard is a great option. But it's a really strong flavor, so make sure you're not using the same amount that you would for other condiments. Yellow mustard is the best option. Add a little bit to the burger bun or directly onto the burger.

Why do people put mayo on burgers? ›

Let's understand this condiment's reason for being; it's for mouthfeel, not flavor. I always spread mayonnaise on my burger buns like butter, and maybe an extremely light touch on the patty for slip if necessary.

Whenever I made turkey burgers, I would dissolve some beef bouillon in a little water and add it to the turkey with a little canola oil, then season and form the patties. The bouillon gave it some flavor and the water and oil helped with moisture. Just make sure not to overcook.

A few tablespoons of panko bread crumbs break up the finely ground turkey; gently tossing all the ingredients together and using a light touch to shape the patties helps keep the texture loose. Baking soda and gelatin keep the meat moist; help with browning, richness, and savory flavor; and provide a juicy mouthfeel.

Furthermore, apart from eggs and breadcrumbs, you have the choice of using ingredients such as potato starch, corn starch, flour, porridge oats, or cracker crumbs to bind the burger.

Before you fire up the grill spray it generously with nonstick grilling spray and be gentle when placing the burgers on the grill. Chill overnight. A freshly prepared turkey burger mixture can be soft and sticky. Chilling the mixture overnight will firm it up, increase the flavor and make shaping patties easier.

The very low fat content of the hamburger probably has something to do with it, but there are a couple of tricks you can use: Add 1 egg yolk per pound of hamburger. It won't add appreciably to the fat content and will bind the meat beautifully.

watch the edges, and don't flip them until the edges are browning. also pay attention to the way you shape your burgers. if they're much thicker in the middle than they are on the edges, the middle will still be loose while the edges of the burger are firm. and then you have the fall-apart thing happening.

If you brine the turkey for too long then it can start to have a negative effect and the proteins in the meat will start to break down, causing the meat to fall apart. So always keep to the guideline times and if your cooking time changes, remove the turkey from the brine, pat it dry and refrigerate it until needed.