turkey burgers

Recipe At-A-Glance

We love serving these Greek turkey burgers topped with tzatziki, grilled red onions, fresh tomato slices and crisp Romaine lettuce. But feel free to doctor these burgers up with whatever tickles your fancyโ€”grilled zucchini slices are also amazing.

Ready in 5 minutes

After months and months of frigid cold, we’ve settled back into our run-of-the-mill early Spring weather here. Which basically means that our days alternate between 70ยฐ and sunny (love those!) to 30ยฐ and snowy. It seems like every weekend this month has been like thatโ€”a beautiful, flip-flop-worthy Saturday followed by a bring-back-out-the-parka Sunday. I ain’t complaining. I’ll take it. It just means that we gotta make the most out of those Saturdays! And one of my favorite ways to celebrate warmer weather is by bringing the grill out of hiding.

Greek turkey burgers grill

These Greek turkey burgers are an oldie-but-goodie in our house. It’s one of the very first meals Craig and I made early in our marriage. We discovered early on in our marriage that neither of us were very skilled housekeepers (more on that later in the week), and we quickly learned that grilling=fewer dishes. And fewer dishes=both of us being very, very happy. So these burgers went into weekly rotation.

Greek turkey burgers

For some reason, they dropped off the menu a while back, and it wasn’t until I was glancing around the fridge this weekend and saw some ground turkey and feta kickin’ around that I remember this Johnston family classic. These burgers are awesome not only because they taste fantastic, but also because of all the filings, they do a great job of stretching a pound of ground turkey. We try to only buy sustainably-raised meat in our house, which can be pretty pricey, so it’s always discouraging to make burgers and see that much moolah go into only four burgers. But this recipe gets you six large burgers! And if you didn’t have monster potato buns like I had (yum.), you could easily get eight normal-sized burgers. And, they freeze awesomely. We doubled the recipe, and stashed our extras in the freezer for quick-and-easy post-baby grilling.

Greek turkey burgers freezer

If you’ve ever grilled turkey burgers and been left with dry hockey pucks, you know that working with ground turkey can be a bit tricky because it’s so low in fat. And low in fat=low in juiciness and flavor. The add-ins help keep these burgers flavorful, but to keep them juicy and tender, it takes a gentle hand on the grill. You’ll want to grill them on medium-high heat and only flip them onceโ€”the more you handle them, the more juices you lose. And never, ever (when you’re grilling any kind of burger) press down on the burgers with a spatula. You’re just squeezing out all the juiciness! And like you do when cooking all meat, make sure to let it rest for 5-10 minutes before you dig in.

Oh, and make sure you have a big ole bowl of 10 minute tzatziki for slathering on top.

Greek turkey burgers

I hope, wherever you are, the weather has been at least giving you a little bit of a break. Welcome to Spring (almost), friends!

Enjoy.

Greek Turkey Burgers

Greek Turkey Burgers

Yield: 6 larger burgers
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Additional Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 33 minutes

We love serving these Greek turkey burgers topped with tzatziki, grilled red onions, fresh tomato slices and crisp Romaine lettuce. But feel free to doctor these burgers up with whatever tickles your fancyโ€”grilled zucchini slices are also amazing.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground turkey
  • 1 egg
  • 3/4 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs
  • 6 ounces crumbled feta
  • 1 cup black olives, sliced
  • 3 green onions, sliced thinly
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon dried dill
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 batch 10 Minute Tzatziki
  • Buns and burger toppings

Instructions

  1. Preheat a grill to medium-high heat. Oil the grates.
  2. In a large bowl, mix together the ground turkey, egg, breadcrumbs, feta, black olives, green onions, lemon juice, oregano, dill, salt and pepper using clean hands. Form into six burgers.
  3. Grill the burgers over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes on each side. Let rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.
  4. Top burgers with tzatziki and burger toppings.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1 large burger
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 590Total Fat: 32gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 17gCholesterol: 161mgSodium: 999mgCarbohydrates: 42gFiber: 5gSugar: 9gProtein: 37g

At Wholefully, we believe that good nutrition is about much more than just the numbers on the nutrition facts panel. Please use the above information as only a small part of what helps you decide what foods are nourishing for you.

 

How’s your weather been? Anyone done any grilling yet this spring?

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11 Comments

  1. Made these last night and they were a hit! The hubs isn’t a huge fan of olives so I chopped up some pepperoncini instead. I also added more seasoning/salt as well, as I find that turkey burgers benefit from over-over-seasoning. The tzatziki sauce was delicious as well, thanks for a great recipe!

  2. We have not grilled yet- but these make me want to! And I recently found an amazing looking salmon burger recipe I’ve been dying to make.

    1. Youโ€™ll want to grill them on medium-high heat and only flip them onceโ€”the more you handle them, the more juices you lose. And never, ever (when youโ€™re grilling any kind of burger) press down on the burgers with a spatula. Youโ€™re just squeezing out all the juiciness! And like you do when cooking all meat, make sure to let it rest for 5-10 minutes before you dig in.

  3. These look delicious! I’m crazy about Greek anything. Will have to put these on next week’s menu.

    As for spring…well, it was just above freezing here today. I guess that’s a start.

  4. To answer your question: it’s not spring yet! The day after tomorrow is the first official day of spring, and I hope to do lots of grilling. :]

  5. These look delicious! I am a huge fan of cooking with turkey, and love jazzing it up with extra flavors ๐Ÿ™‚
    …the weather here has been…meh. like y’all, we have gorgeous days of 70+ degrees, then right back down the next day to about 20. #over it

    Happy (almost)Spring!

  6. These sound delicious! And I’m totally with you on reducing the number of dishes by grilling. We’ve managed to pull out the grill only once so far this season, but grilled chicken and coleslaw is on the menu tonight. I’m excited!

  7. Our weather has been…discouraging. It seems like we will be enjoying some days in the 50s this week, but there are snow showers in the ten-day forecast. I am SO over it.