Turkey Burger Recipe

Here’s how to make the best Turkey Burger ever—juicy, full of flavor, and totally satisfying.

Tips For Juicy, Flavorful Turkey Burgers

Ground turkey, especially white meat turkey, has less fat. That’s good news and bad news. Having less fat makes turkey healthier, but also less flavorful and juicy (hint: that’s why so many people love a good turkey brine!). Turkey burgers can also be dry—again because they have less fat, but also because, unlike beef, they have to be cooked through and through. (No rare turkey, please!)

All those things are pretty easily addressed, though. Here’s how:

For moisture, I simply add an egg. You’ll see some turkey burger recipes that add mayonnaise, but that’s adding back fat, which doesn’t make much sense to me. Others add grated onion, and I’ve even seen one from Bon Appetit magazine that adds mashed avocado. But honestly, both of those options sound like a lot of work. Especially since an egg works so well.

For flavor, I add garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. There’s never anything wrong with that combination, right? But I also add a couple of ingredients that really make the difference between a good turkey burger and a great one: Worcestershire sauce, because it helps give the turkey a meatier, more savory flavor, and chili powder, because it adds flavor, but also because it adds a little color. That color helps my turkey burgers look more brown and appetizing and less pale and plain.

Making Turkey Burger Patties

A tip for putting all the ingredients together: do it as delicately as possible, because overworking the meat can lead to tough burgers. With that in mind, I find it helps to mix the seasonings with the egg first, then add the meat, mixing it in as gently and sparingly as possible.

The combined mixture will be a little wet, but once you form the patties, refrigerating them for about an hour will help them hold their shape when you cook them—whether you do it in a skillet on the stovetop or on the grill.

When you sit down to eat, you’ll be rewarded with tasty, tender turkey burgers that are a welcome change of pace—and a healthy alternative. Yay!

More (Non-Beef) Burger Recipes

If you’re looking for more satisfying burger recipes that don’t have a ground beef patty, try my Shrimp Burger that has a spiced mayo, Fresh Salmon Burgers, or even a Vegetarian Burger recipe from my other site, TheCookful. I also have a Chicken Burger recipe that is very similar to this one. So many great options and flavors.

This post originally appeared in July 2019 and was revised and republished in April 2023.