Rosemary & Portabello Grilled Turkey Burgers

I love a good burger and indulge once in awhile on a juicy Five Guys burger and fries or the like, but not very often… so instead of taking a drive up the street and regretting it later, I often take that same drive to the grocery store right next to that den of yummy evilness and pick up some ground chicken or turkey and make the burgers at home with things from my pantry and fridge.

I think that turkey burgers have gotten a bad rap. A lot of people frown when you say turkey burger. They think that it’s dry and tasteless because they don’t realize it’s not like making a beef burger. Beef has lots of fat running through it so when you grind it up and make ground beef, naturally, you have that fat mixed through providing a lot of moisture and flavor. Not the case with chicken or turkey that have a very low fat content. When you grind up either one of these you won’t have much fat mixed in like with beef, so if you don’t add in some fat you will end up with a dry burger and blame the bird. The trick is a bit of fat… and that’s an easy fix.

In this recipe, I used some portabello mushroom and fresh rosemary to lift this pound of ground turkey out of the shadow of boring and dry and into the light. Delicious, juicy light. See what you think.

If you don’t have a stove top grill or access to a grill at all, you can either bake these in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until cooked through or in a large skillet on each side for about 5 minutes or until cooked thoroughly.

YOU WILL NEED

• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 1 cup Portabello Mushroom, chopped
• 1 sprig fresh Rosemary, finely chopped
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 1 tsp. olive oil (or your choice)
• 1 tsp. garlic salt
• Kosher salt
• Pepper

DIRECTIONS

In a large bowl, mix all of the ingredients together. A little tip is NOT to over mix the mixture. Mix everything just enough to integrate, then stop.

If you are using a grill, brush it or spray it with a light coating of vegetable oil. Let that preheat to medium high while you form the patties. Salt and pepper to taste.

When the grill is hot place the patties on  and do not move them or reposition them for about 3-4 minutes. You want them to sear to the grill so that they can form those delicious brown crusty lines across the surface. If you try to move them and find that they are sticking it’s because they are not ready to lift. The meat will tell you when it’s ready – you just have to listen.

After about 4 minutes or so, depending on how thick you make the patties, they should lift pretty easily so that you can turn them clockwise 45 degrees. This creates the cross-hatch pattern. Let them cook another 4 minutes or so then turn them OVER. Repeat this process again until both sides are cooked and seared with the pattern.

Remove them from the grill and let them rest on a plate for at least 5 minutes. (I usually let them sit in the microwave or cover with foil so they don’t get cold while they rest). If you cut into them immediately, all of the juice you’ve tried so hard to keep inside will run out onto the plate, leaving you with dry food. This is true for any meat. Always let the meat rest before you cut into it.

I served them open face style, no bun, a side dish (cauliflower gratin, recipe also found here on Pantry & Fridge) and a green salad, along with our favorite condiments. A super simple dinner that turned out really good.

You can easily make adjustments to this – add in spices you like or even more additions to the meat – peppers or chopped garlic – a lot of options to play with here. I hope you enjoy!

**If you are using the oven, lay tin foil down on a baking sheet, spray with a bit of cooking spray, place the raw patties on the foil and bake.

**To skillet fry them, heat a skillet with about a tablespoon of oil over medium heat, fry them on both sides until done.

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