Seriously Meaty Turkey Burgers Recipe (2024)

Why It Works

  • The combination of soy sauce, anchovy, and marmite adds umami without masking the turkey flavor.
  • Eggplant puree adds moisture to this lean meat and aids in browning the meat.

There are a few things in life that—no matter how many times I've seen them—always make me ask, "Why?" Right at the top of this list, rubbing shoulders with ludicrous creations like Jar-Jar Binks and talking heated toilet seats in Japanese airports is that culinary absurdity, the turkey burger.

Now, I've always been of the mind that if you're going to eat a burger, you're in it for the flavor, not for your health. So for the 15 minutes it takes to scarf one down, all diets be damned. If saturated fats and cheese products are what make it taste great, then pour it on!

So why bother with a turkey burger? If turkey burgers that I've had in the past are any indication, the answer is simple: don't. The only times they ever approach being edible are when they are so packed with herbs, cheese, and other seasonings that not only are they no longer any healthier than beef, they are also no longer burgers—they're more akin to turkey meatloaf in patty form on a bun.

More to satisfy my own culinary curiosity than to strive for a noble goal, I decided to try to discover the secret to making turkey burgers that don't suck. I set myself a few parameters at the outset:

  • The only meat in the burger must come from turkey. No cheating by adding pork fat or beef fat, or any other kind of imposter.
  • The final fat content must be reasonably close (within a couple of percentage points) to pure ground turkey. I'm trying to appeal to the widest turkey-burger-eating audience if possible.
  • The burger patty should taste like turkey, not turkey-loaf. I wanted my burger to be juicy, robust, and meaty, without hiding behind a veil of herbs and spices.
  • The burger must not suck.

With these four goals in mind, I started testing, beginning with the simplest thing I could think of: 100 percent pure ground turkey, cooked in exactly the same manner as I'd cook a beef burger. Whether it was breast meat or leg meat, the results were unequivocally horrid: Dry, lean, and bland, the patties had the texture of particle board with the flavor of a not-quite-fresh towel (that is to say, not as bad as an old gym towel, but nothing that puts a smile on your face like a Downy-fresh towel).

To simplify matters, I decided to focus on one aspect at a time, first trying to improve the flavor, before moving on to fixing the texture.

Making a Flavorful Turkey Burger

Seriously Meaty Turkey Burgers Recipe (1)

What do all these things pictured have in common? That's right: glutamates.

We've all been around long enough to have heard the word umami, the Japanese term for the sensation of "meatiness." It's one of the five basic tastes that are sensed directly on the tongue (the others being salty, sweet, bitter, and sour), as opposed to the vast majority of what we perceive of as "flavor," which is actually created by aromatic compounds stimulating receptors in our soft palates and nasal passage. Glutamates are the molecules that lend this umami sensation to foods, and are a salt of glutamic acid, an amino acid found in abundance in certain things like seaweed and cheese. It can be bought in crystal form as monosodium glutamate (aka Ac'cent).

Like salt and sugar, glutamates have the ability to enhance certain qualities of foods without actually changing their flavor profile, making them the ideal candidate for—pardon the expression—beefing up my turkey burgers.

Seriously Meaty Turkey Burgers Recipe (2)

To test the effects of different sources of glutamates, I made a series of one-ounce ground turkey thigh burgers that I mixed with various glutamate-rich ingredients:

  • Hondashi: A dried, powdered form of dashi, the Japanese broth made with sea kelp and smoked bonito flakes. While sea kelp on its own can contain up to 3200mg/100g of glutamates, the amount in powdered dashi is considerably less—closer to 1,000mg/g.
  • Pure MSG powder: To be used sparingly. By the way, any time someone claims to be allergic to MSG, just point out to them that Parmesan is about 1 percent glutamic acid—a far higher concentration than is in your typical container of take-out Chinese food.
  • Dried porcini mushrooms: While mushrooms themselves only contain about 180mg/100g of glutamates, drying them concentrates this amount.
  • Parmesan cheese: This is a heavy hitter, with around 1200mg/100g.
  • Marmite: The most concentrated of the lot at 1900mg/100g. Marmite (and vegemite) is made with yeast extract, the same ingredient that food manufacturers add to canned beef broth, allowing them to create soups that taste meaty, even when they contain almost no meat at all.
  • Soy sauce: Aside from high salt levels, soy sauce has around 1,000mg/100g.
  • Anchovies: A common addition to French stews, anchovies are on the same level as soy sauce, with about 1,000mg/100g.
  • Worcestershire sauce: Remember the old Lea & Perrins commercials? "Lea & Perrins—for a better steak." Well, it's the 800mg/g of glutamates that do the bulk of its work.

Seriously Meaty Turkey Burgers Recipe (3)

I tasted them in batches of three side-by-side and against patties made with pure turkey, and immediately discarded porcini, Hondashi, Parmesan, and Worcestershire sauce from the running—their underlying flavors were too distinctive, distracting from the overall turkey-ness of the patty. I also decided to leave the pure MSG powder out of the running. Although I often cook with it, it's a controversial ingredient that makes some people squeamish, so I figured if I could make these patties work without it, all the better.

This left me with soy sauce, marmite, and anchovies. In a moment of weakness, I decided to forgo my rigorous testing protocols and just went ahead and threw all three into my next batch. Woot! That's some meaty poultry! Using all three of them in conjunction with each other was better than simply upping the amount of any single one. But why?

Turns out that when it comes to umami, glutamates aren't the only players in the field. There is another molecule in town: inosinate. Although inosinates don't add much umami flavor on their own, they act in synergy with glutamates, causing them to bind more tightly to receptors on our tongue. They are the Robin to glutamate's Batman—they aren't necessary for the job, but holy savory ground meat patties do they sure help a lot! Anchovies happen to be extremely rich in inosinates, so when used in conjunction with glutamate-rich marmite and soy sauce, the three work much better than the sum of their parts.

How to Achieve the Best Texture

Seriously Meaty Turkey Burgers Recipe (4)

With flavor settled, I moved onto texture. Again, it would have been quite simple to add some pork fat to the mix and call it a day, but I wasn't here to take the easy way out. The texture of turkey suffers for two related reasons, both of which arise from the fact that the patty has to be cooked to well-done in order to be eaten safely. First, the proteins in a ground meat patty form an intricate, cross-linked network that tightens up and contracts as it's heated, making the patty turn tough. Secondly, as it's doing this, it squeezes moisture out, which dissipates into the air, leaving your burger high and dry. What I needed to do was introduce an element that would prevent the meat from forming a network that is too tight, while at the same time providing some additional moisture. I broke my possibilities down into three categories:

Seriously Meaty Turkey Burgers Recipe (5)

Seriously Meaty Turkey Burgers Recipe (6)

  • Dairy: Aside from adding a trivial amount of fat, both milk and eggs contain proteins that can interfere with the cross-linking of meat proteins, creating more tender results (think Bolognese sauce made with milk, or a meatloaf made with egg). I tried cottage cheese, yogurt (which also contains enzymes that can break down meat proteins), ricotta, and whole egg.
  • Grains and legumes: Grains contain starch molecules that have a tendency to hang on to water very tightly. In addition, if distributed well enough, the pieces of grain should physically interfere with the meat proteins binding with each other. I tried white bread made into a panade with a bit of milk, crushed crackers, cooked lentils, cooked ground pasta, and cooked rice.
  • Vegetables: I picked vegetables that have a relatively neutral, but meaty flavor—eggplants and mushrooms (okay, technically a fungus, not a vegetable). My hope was that since vegetables don't start losing structure until higher temperatures than meat, they would help retain some of the interior moisture. For the eggplant, I first roasted it in the oven, incorporating the purée into my meat.

Dairy was a washout. None of them significantly improved moisture level, and while the meat was softer, it was almost mushy, like something that had already been partially digested, as opposed to merely tender. Grains were not much better. Bread crumbs and cracker crumbs kept the turkey burgers moist alright, but the texture was more akin to meatballs—all softness without the robust meaty texture of a real burger. Lentils, pasta, and rice didn't fare much better. The surprise winner?

Eggplant, by a landslide. Once I roasted it and added the mushy purée to the meat, it completely blended in—you literally couldn't tell it was there. All you got was a patty that despite being well done, was moist and tender, while at the same time being robust and meaty. On top of that, the eggplant actually helped the turkey meat brown better, further improving its flavor.

When I finally combined the results of my flavor experiments with my texture tests, I had a burger that was not only good for a turkey burger, it was actually a good burger, period. Robust, juicy, tender, with a meaty turkey flavor that really stood out, instead of hiding behind a veil of seasonings. Granted, any health benefits this patty may have given me were completely obliterated when I melted two slices of aged Cabot cheddar over the top and slathered on a few tablespoons of mayo, but to each their own, I suppose. I've been known to order my veggie burgers with bacon.

N.B. Under extreme time duress, I made the mistake of buying Whole Foods brand hamburger buns—the only damn buns they sell in there! This is a mistake that I do not wish anyone else to make. Go commando if you must, but avoid these ghastly, cottony things at all costs!

Recipe Details

Seriously Meaty Turkey Burgers Recipe

Prep20 mins

Cook45 mins

Freeze10 mins

Total75 mins

Serves4 burgers

Ingredients

  • 1 small eggplant, about 6-8 ounces

  • 1 teaspoon olive oil

  • Salt

  • Freshlyground black pepper

  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce

  • 1 anchovy filet, mashed to a paste (or 1 teaspoon anchovy paste)

  • 1/4 teaspoon marmite

  • 1 pound boneless, skinless turkey thighs, cut into 1-inch cubes

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C) and set rack to upper-middle position. Rub eggplant with olive oil until coated. Season with salt and pepper. Wrap with aluminum foil and set on rimmed baking sheet. Roast until completely tender, turning once, about 30 minutes. Allow to cool slightly, remove from foil, and scrape flesh away from skin. Chop flesh until fine purée is formed. There should be about 4-6 ounces of purée.

  2. Combine soy sauce, anchovies, and marmite in small bowl with back of fork until hom*ogenous and marmite is completely dissolved and anchovies are smooth. Toss meat with anchovies/soy/marmite mixture until thoroughly coated (if using pre-ground turkey, mix together by hand until hom*ogeneous). Place feed shaft, blade, and 1/4-inch die of meat grinder in freezer until well-chilled. Meanwhile, place meat chunks on rimmed baking sheet, leaving space between each piece and place in freezer for 10 minutes until meat is firm, but not frozen.

  3. Pass meat through grinder. Combine with eggplant purée. Form into 4 patties. At this point, follow your favorite burger recipe to cook the patties, making sure to cook them to at least 150°F (66°C).

This Recipe Appears In

  • A Hamburger Tuesday: Submit Your Turkey Burgers!
Seriously Meaty Turkey Burgers Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the best binder for turkey burgers? ›

While raw egg can be used to bind the burgers, mayonnaise does the trick while also adding an irreplacable dimension of creaminess, moisture, and flavor. When the patties cook, the mayo melts into the pockets of the meat to create a wonderfully juicy patty. Goodbye, dry turkey burgers.

What holds turkey burgers 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.

Why put egg in turkey burger? ›

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.

How do you keep turkey burgers from drying out? ›

More not-dry turkey burgers

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.

Why are my turkey burgers falling apart? ›

Don't press down on the burgers with a spatula when you're cooking them. Pressing squeezes out the moisture in the meat, which makes them dry and causes them to fall apart.

What can I use as a binder instead of eggs in burgers? ›

DAY TRADER, EDUCATOR, SWING TRADER. If you want to use a binder in your meat, but don't want to use egg, other alternatives are flour such as wheat flour, cracker crumbs, or even oatmeal. How do you keep homemade burgers from falling apart? * Mix your ground beef (80/20) by hand until it's a thorough consistency.

How to keep turkey burgers from falling apart without breadcrumbs? ›

Add Egg. As the egg cooks, it binds the ingredients together which in turn holds the turkey burger together – no more falling apart burgers!

How do you improve the texture of a turkey burger? ›

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.

How do you keep turkey burgers together without eggs? ›

Ground Turkey: Choose 93% lean ground turkey. 99% ground turkey meat would be too dry. If you prefer a beef burger, substitute 90% lean ground beef. Breadcrumbs: Use seasoned whole wheat or gluten-free breadcrumbs to keep the turkey together.

Do I need a binder for turkey burgers? ›

Frequently Asked Questions: How do you keep turkey burgers from falling apart? In order to prevent turkey burgers from falling apart you need to add something to hold everything together. This is called a meat binder.

Why is my turkey burger tough? ›

Take off your rings, wash your hands and dig in. Mix the ingredients, but don't over mix the ground meat, which can make it dense and tough.

Why are turkey burgers so dry? ›

Turkey is a lean meat and dries out easily. Onions and breadcrumbs hold the moisture in and keep your burgers juicy.

How do you add flavor to ground turkey? ›

There are plenty of easy ground turkey recipes out there. But, you will always need spices like olive oil, kosher salt and pepper, chili powder, and garlic powder. You can add minced garlic, and freshly chopped onions and peppers, for an extra edge.

How do you know when turkey burgers are done? ›

Use a thermometer to ensure you don't overcook and dry out the turkey burgers. They'll continue cooking for a few minutes after being taken off the heat, so cook them to an internal temperature of 160°F. Allow them to rest a few minutes until they reach an internal temperature of 165°F.

What can I add to ground turkey to keep it moist? ›

To keep the turkey meat moist and flavorful, you should consider adding 2 tablespoons of oil per pound of meat. In retrospect, this amount of oil is very small compared to the amount of meat you're cooking with. Plus, you can use your favorite oil — whether it's old-fashioned olive oil, peanut oil, or sunflower oil.

What is the best ingredient to bind burgers? ›

Egg: An egg lends moisture and helps bind the patties together. Seasonings, herbs, and sauces: These hamburgers are flavored with an envelope of dry onion soup mix, fresh garlic, garlic powder, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, dried parsley, dried basil, dried oregano, crushed dried rosemary, salt, and pepper.

What is the best binder for homemade burgers? ›

One of the most common substitutes is breadcrumbs, but sometimes the breadcrumbs can fall off when the burgers are cooking if there are too many or they are too dry. Other popular substitutions for eggs include cornstarch, flour, ketchup, porridge oats, cracker crumbs, and ground flaxseed.

What is the best binding agent for burgers? ›

The most common burger binding agent is egg. This makes your ground beef stick together and is the most readily available ingredient. You can also use potato starch as a burger binding agent depending on your allergies or general availability.

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