Rosemary and Thyme Turkey Burgers

So, I did a poll on my instagram stories to see which recipe my readers wanted me to post next; these rosemary and thyme turkey burgers, or black bean and walnut tacos. It was actually a pretty close race, but these turkey burgers won the poll, so I’m posting them today. I promise for those of you that want the tacos, I’ll post those later this week, or next week for sure. I’m actually making those tacos for dinner tonight, per Mattie’s request.  Update: Here’s the link to the black bean and walnut tacos!

Also, my last post, 5 minute warm quinoa cereal didn’t go out to my email subscribers, so if you haven’t seen it, please check it out. It’s so easy and so good! Perfect fall breakfast!

So let’s get back to these rosemary and thyme turkey burgers. The idea for these turkey burgers came when I was visiting Zoë a few weeks back. We had lunch at this cute outdoor cafe in Culver City called, Cafe Vida. I had this below rosemary turkey burger on a bed of greens and it was SO GOOD and chock full of rosemary, that I vowed to recreate the recipe when I got home.

We love burgers, so I knew Steve and the kiddos would not mind being guinea pigs at my attempts to get the recipe down. I made 5 batches of these rosemary and thyme turkey burgers and kept tweaking them until we got the flavor that all 5 of us agreed on, which is the one I’m posting today. 

Turkey burgers can be on the drier side and the meat can be hard to work with, so it helps to add cheese for moisture/flavor and bread crumbs for binding. I didn’t want to add either of those, as I’m staying away from dairy and gluten, plus I was up for the challenge. I added some avocado oil and Dijon to the mix and that bumped up the moisture. The issue I was still facing is that turkey meat can be inconsistent, sometimes its super sticky and hard to work with, and other times it works great! I think the fresher it is (meaning that it was just ground) the more sticky it can be. With that being said, I made these 3 times with 2 tablespoons of avocado oil and two times the burgers held together perfectly, another time, they were harder to work with, so I decided to just post the recipe with 1 tablespoon avocado oil to ensure success for you all. 

These burgers are the perfect topper for a big green salad. The rosemary and thyme paired with the sautéed red onion, give these burgers a pop of flavor. If you like rosemary, then you will love these burgers. 

Rosemary and Thyme Turkey Burgers

• 1 tablespoon avocado oil 
• 3/4 cup diced red onion
• 1 teaspoon Celtic sea salt, I love this Celtic sea salt, as it’s unrefined and chock full of minerals
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lb ground turkey – preferably the dark meat, as it has more flavor 
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard, I love this Dijon from Primal, as it’s clean and doesn’t have any added sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Sauté the diced onion and teaspoon salt in avocado oil for 3 minutes over medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté for roughly 1.5 to 2 minutes, or until the garlic begins to brown. Remove from heat, transfer onions and garlic to a medium sized bowl to cool down a bit.

While the onions are cooling, prep the rosemary and thyme.

Once the onions are cool to the touch, add the minced rosemary, thyme, dijon, red pepper flakes and pepper to the bowl. Using a spatula mix all the ingredients together. Add the ground turkey to the bowl.

Using your hands, gently mix everything until well combined. When you mix your seasonings into the meat, it’s important to remember that the more you handle the meat, and the more you squish it around, the more dense your burger will be. You might also squeeze out some of the juices and end up with a drier burger.

Gently form the mixture into four patties. Use your thumb to create a dimple or well in the center of the patty, as this will ensure the burgers cook evenly without plumping up. Start cooking the burgers indentation side up.

You can either grill up the burgers, or cook them up in a skillet. Steve cooks them on a pre-heated grill over medium heat. If you’re going to cook them up in a skillet, put a little avocado olive oil in the skillet to keep the burgers from sticking, and cook them over medium heat on a pre-heated skillet. Cook the patties until cooked through, 5 to 6 minutes per side, or until an instant read thermometer inserted in the burger reaches 165 degrees.

Steve, Mattie and I love these burgers on a salad topped with my roasted red peppers and some sliced avocado. Eli loves his with a toasted brioche bun and some ketchup. My easy dairy free tzatziki would be wonderful on these and  adding some caramelized onions would take these burgers over the top! 

You have to try my turkey burgers with spinach and feta.They’re chock full of flavor and cook up perfectly moist and delicious. The feta adds an amazing salty flavor and the red pepper flakes give it a kick, and Popeye is always happy when you include some extra spinach.

My favorite turkey burgers are a family and fan favorite. They’re packed with so much flavor from the Gruyere cheese, mustard, scallions and garlic. If you ask me what recipe gets made the most from readers, it’s these burgers and my lacinato kale salad. 

I love the combination of sun-dried tomatoes, feta and basil on a salad or pasta, so why not in a burger? These turkey burgers with sun-dried tomatoes, basil and feta might be one of my new favorites.