Saturday, May 1, 2010

Onion and Cilantro Turkey Burgers


I've never been a huge burger fan, I'll admit. At cookouts, I'd rather eat the side salads! Then my mom made some great burgers last summer that I absolutely love -- turkey burgers with onion and cilantro! The ingredients are mixed in with the turkey, making the meat more juicy and flavorful.

I really prefer turkey meat over beef because it is less fatty and also less heavy in your stomach. The trick though is to buy ground turkey breast for this recipe, not just "ground turkey". You'll see a price difference (turkey breast is more expensive), but the content is worth it -- regular ground turkey is much more fatty because they throw everything in.

These burgers are best made as sliders, in my opinion. They are pretty customizable too -- I like mine with slices of fresh avocado on top, whereas my boyfriend prefers to mix diced jalapeno peppers into his burger mixture before grilling and topping it with pepperjack cheese.

Ingredients

-- 1 package ground turkey breast (about 1 lb)
-- Small bunch of fresh cilantro
-- 1 small sweet onion
-- slider rolls
-- optional add-ins like avocado, jalapeno, and cheese

Directions

1. Dice about 1/2 of the onion into small pieces
2. Rinse and pat dry the cilantro. Pull off the leaves and chop them finely until you have about 1 1/2 - 2 TBSP
3. Put the ground turkey breast in a bowl. Mix in the onion and cilantro. If you choose to add diced jalapeno, mix that in too.
4. Form patties with the mixture about 1/2 inch thick. You can make about 4 medium-sized burgers or 6 sliders with this amount. (Hint: You may want to refrigerate the mixture for a little while before you make the patties as turkey breast is really messy and will stick to your hands if it is warm).
5. Grill over an open flame or on an electric grill for about 7 minutes before flipping. Continue cooking until burger is no longer pink around the sides or in the middle.
6. Serve on a roll and enjoy!

3 comments:

  1. These look really good! As I become more aware of what I eat (we watched Food, Inc. today in my advertising class... bad news bears) I enjoy looking for recipes like this.

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  2. Yeah, Food, Inc. has been known to make a temporary vegetarian out of more than one person haha. I'm a big fan of finding the healthy alternative if I can!

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