Ground turkey can be kind of, well, boring if you don’t dress it up right. That’s why I made these turkey burgers with a twist and added fun add-ins to the burger patty for maximum flavor and color. And instead of the ketchup and mustard treatment, these juicy burgers get a homemade lemon dill yogurt sauce, crunchy slices of cucumber, and a few slivers of red onion. If you’re looking to change up your burger game, these Mediterranean Turkey Burgers are it!
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Can the Turkey Burgers be Grilled?
Yes, you can definitely grill these burgers instead of cooking them in a skillet. An outdoor grill or even an indoor countertop grill, like a George Foreman grill, will work great.
Why 19 oz. of Ground Turkey?
I’ll never understand why, but some brands sell ground turkey in 19 oz. packages instead of one-pound packages (if you work in that industry and know why, please let me know). If you can only find a one-pound package of ground turkey, you can still make this recipe. I wouldn’t adjust any other ingredients, just make four patties instead of five and they’ll be a little extra flavorful.
What to Serve with Mediterranean Turkey Burgers
Since I had a half cucumber and red onion leftover from the recipe, I used them to make a small batch of my Super Fresh Cucumber Salad. It’s the perfect light side to these burgers. You could also serve them with something like Herby Potato Salad, Mediterranean Coleslaw, Steak Fries, Mediterranean White Bean Salad, Quinoa Tabbouleh, or a simple green salad (mixed greens, tomatoes, and a vinaigrette).
Can I Use Fresh Spinach?
Yes, you can use fresh spinach in this recipe instead of frozen, if you prefer. I suggest chopping the spinach until it’s in small pieces so it’s easier to mix into the meat. You may also want to sauté it briefly in a skillet to get some of the water out. You’ll want about ¼ cup once sautéed.
Mediterranean Turkey Burgers
Servings 5Ingredients
Lemon Dill Yogurt Sauce
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt ($0.50)
- 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice ($0.03)
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- 1/8 tsp dried dill ($0.02)
- 1/8 tsp salt ($0.02)
Turkey Burgers
- 19 oz. ground turkey* ($3.89)
- 1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes ($0.83)
- 1/4 cup minced red onion ($0.08)
- 2 oz. frozen spinach (1 cup when frozen) ($0.25)
- 1/4 cup crumbled feta ($0.57)
- 1 tsp dried oregano ($0.10)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.04)
For Serving
- 5 hamburger buns ($3.04)
- 1/2 cucumber, sliced ($0.75)
Instructions
- Make the lemon dill yogurt sauce first. Stir together the Greek yogurt, lemon juice, garlic powder, dried dill, and salt. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Prepare the add-ins for the turkey burgers. Finely chop the sun dried tomatoes, mince or finely dice the red onion, crumble the feta, and then thaw and squeeze all the moisture out of the frozen spinach (2 oz. will be about 1 cup when frozen, ¼ cup when thawed and squeezed dry).
- Add the ground turkey, sun dried tomatoes, red onion, feta, spinach, dried oregano, garlic powder, and salt to a bowl. Mix the ingredients together until evenly combined.
- Divide and shape the turkey mixture into five burger patties. Make them flatter and wider than usual because they will shrink up and in as they cook.
- Heat ½ Tbsp cooking oil in a skillet over medium. Once hot, add three of the turkey burgers and cook for 5-7 minutes on each side, or until browned and cooked through. Repeat with the remaining cooking oil and the rest of the burger patties.
- To serve, smear some of the lemon dill yogurt sauce on a bun. Add a turkey burger, some sliced cucumber, and sliced red onion, then enjoy.
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Equipment
- Chef’s Knife
- Color Cutting Boards
Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Mediterranean Turkey Burgers – Step By Step Photos
Make the lemon dill yogurt sauce first, so the flavors have a little time to blend. Stir together ½ cup Greek yogurt, ½ Tbsp lemon juice, ⅛ tsp garlic powder, ⅛ tsp dried dill, and ⅛ tsp salt. Refrigerate the sauce until ready to use. And yes, you can use plain non-Greek yogurt if needed, it just makes a less thick sauce. :)
Prepare the burger add-ins. Chop about ¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes (I use the dry pack, not the kind packed in oil), mince or finely dice ¼ cup red onion (save the rest to slice and place on the burgers), crumble 1 oz. feta (about ¼ cup), and thaw then squeeze all the moisture out of 2 oz. frozen spinach. The spinach is about 1 cup when frozen, ¼ cup after it has been thawed and squeezed dry.
Place 19 oz. ground turkey, sun-dried tomatoes, red onion, feta, spinach, 1 tsp dried oregano, ¼ tsp garlic powder, and ¼ tsp salt in a bowl (sorry, I forgot the oregano, garlic powder, and salt until after the photo was taken).
Mix the ingredients into the ground turkey until it’s all evenly mixed.
Divide and shape the meat mixture into five burger patties. Make the patties thinner and wider than you’d expect because they do shrink up and inward as you cook them.
To cook the burgers in a skillet, add ½ Tbsp cooking oil to a skillet and heat over medium. Once hot, add a few of the burger patties and cook on each side for 5-7 minutes, or until well browned and cooked through. Repeat with the second half of the oil and the remaining burger patties.
To serve, spread some of the lemon dill yogurt sauce on a bun, add a cooked burger patty and a few slices of cucumber and red onion. Enjoy!
I did half the called for feta and and the other half chopped kalamata olives. Overall less punchy flavors than I was expecting, but all of the mix-ins make for an actually flavorful, not-too-dry turkey patty. Definitely don’t skip the sauce.
I used ground pork as it is what I had, and made a roasted garlic aioli instead of the yoghurt sauce because I had two heads of roasted garlic that needed using up, and wow was this fantastic. I would highly recommend the aioli (really just two heads of roasted garlic squeezed into about a quarter cup of mayonnaise) – yum.
Also, just FYI – I formed this into four quite large but thin (1cm) burgers and roasted them in the oven for 20 minutes. It made life easy – I could not have fitted more than one burger at a time into my pan and this way everyone’s lunch was ready at the same time. The burgers did shrink by perhaps 15% which worked perfectly with the large wholemeal baps I got from M&S.
going to run a restaurant], really admire your site. All the best>
Good luck with your restaurant! That’s exciting! ~ Marion :)
Hi Beth,
I noticed you made some adjustments to this recipe. I copied this recipe from you in 2018. Lost copy, I just went online and noticed you”ve made adjustments. You no longer add an egg or breadcrumbs and use garlic powder instead of mined garlic for yougurt sauce. Any particular reason why?
Hi Joan! When I retested this recipe I found that I liked it even better without the breadcrumbs and egg (and with less ingredients it’s easier!), so I went with that. :) And then I also decided I liked the garlic powder here instead of the minced garlic because it produces a more even, deep garlic flavor instead of the pungent sharp garlic flavor that fresh garlic has. Depending on the application, sometimes I like fresh, sometimes powdered, and sometimes a combo!
Does the nutritional info included at the bottom of the recipe include the hamburger bun and/or sauce or just the patty?
All ingredients listed in the recipe are included. XOXO -Monti
I made these tonight, but I made them bite sized. They were great!! I also used the sauce and served it with pita bread and a cucumber and tomato salad. This was super refreshing and filling. Will make again.
These have so much flavor going on, it’s delightful!
Thank you!
I made these for dinner last night and they were a HUGE hit! My husband said it was the best turkey burger he’s ever had. Loved how easy they were to prepare; I made the patties earlier in the day while my baby napped and then refrigerated them until dinnertime. I got 5 patties out of 1 lb. of meat, but maybe they were smaller than usual…? I was just matching them to the size of our burger buns. Will definitely be making these again!
Can these be frozen after they are formed.? I am the only one eating turkey burgers in my house.
Yes, that should work well.
I absolutely loved these! My ground turkey was 1 lb so I made 4 patties. I froze 2 bc I am only one person and when I later ate those they were just as good! Only change I made was roma tomatoes instead of sundried. I am back for the recipe to make them again tonight an I plan to use sour cream instead of Greek yogurt for the sauce bc I like it better. Also, I air fried the first burger I made but the other 3 burgers I did on my inside cast iron grill pan! The grill pan in best!
These burgers are delicious! They have tons of flavor and taste like you spent much longer in the kitchen than you actually have to. They even got a thumbs up from my husband, a hamburger traditionalist :) Thank you for the great recipe!
Does the nutrition info include the bun?
Yes. I reran the recipe through the nutrition calculator just to be sure. :)
Anyway I can get the old recipe? I recall egg and breadcrumbs so I would love to have it just as it was— it was so good!
Yep, I’ll email it to you. :)
These were so good! Really juicy and amazing flavor. Easy and healthy!
I love how flavorful and juicy this recipe is! Really turns boring ground turkey into something delicious!