As summer is winding down, there’s still time to enjoy your end of summer grill outs with family and friends before it gets too cold to venture outside. Now everybody knows the all-American grill out involves hamburgers and hot dogs. But what do you do when you don’t eat beef or pork, like myself? You don’t want to feel left out and you also don’t want to feel like the “special diet” person.
My go to “hamburger” is my jalapeno turkey burger. These are so good you can serve them to everybody instead of beef hamburgers and they won’t be asking "where’s the beef ?".
These burgers are flavorful and hearty, just like a beef hamburger. I add fresh diced jalapenos for flavor which doesn’t make them too spicy. But if you don’t like jalapenos or you think it might be too spicy for you or the kids, you can leave them out.
I also served these up on cracked wheat Kaiser rolls and they really made the “hamburger” even yummier as they add a delicious flavoring and don’t fall apart in your hands from everything you place on your burger. Y’all know what I’m talking about – when you slather on some mayo, mustard, and ketchup and your bun starts to slip and slide and break apart in your hands as you’re trying to eat it and your left holding your burger between pieces of lettuce, onion, and tomato. Y’all know it’s happened to you too! Well, it won’t with the Kaiser rolls, not even with slaw on your burger.
That’s right, in honor of the South, I added slaw instead of lettuce to my turkey burger. And not your usual mayo based slaw, but a nice tangy apple cider vinegar based slaw that complements the deliciousness of this burger.
These burgers are so flavorful that you and your family might just enjoy them all year round instead of waiting for next summer’s get together!
Jalapeno Turkey Burgers with Slaw
Ingredients for Turkey burgers
Makes 5 turkey burgers
1 lb. ground turkey
1 cup instant oats
2 Tablespoons of your favorite salsa
1 Tablespoon Teriyaki sauce (Teriyaki glaze is the same thing)
1 egg
½ teaspoon honey
¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
1 garlic clove, minced
1 slice of red onion, chopped and diced (Not 1 whole onion, just 1 slice)
½ jalapeno, seeded and diced
Cheddar cheese, cut into 5 small squares – to be inserted into middle of burger before cooking
A sprinkle of ground black pepper, sea salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and cumin for flavoring
1 package of Kaiser rolls (for burger buns)
Slaw ingredients
Makes 2 cups of slaw
1 head green cabbage
1 head purple cabbage
The peelings of 1-2 carrots
6 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2-3 teaspoons agave (can also use honey or sugar)
Salt & pepper to taste
Directions for Slaw
Wash and dry cabbage. Slice and chop cabbage so you have about 2 cups of cabbage (green and purple cabbage combined).
Place chopped cabbage into a medium sized bowl. Set aside.
Wash and rinse carrots. Using a carrot peeler, peel off top layer (skin) and toss in trash. Once outer later is removed, start peeling the carrot over your cabbage until you have desired amount.
Add apple cider vinegar, agave, salt and pepper to cabbage mix. Toss until all cabbage is covered with cider “dressing”.
Cover and place in refrigerator until burgers are done and you’re ready to eat.
Directions for Turkey burgers
Turn on your grill to preheat.
Prepare onion, jalapeno, cheese, and garlic as required above. Set aside.
Place ingredients on the counter with measuring cups and spoons so you can access them easily without getting raw turkey all over your cupboard or door handles.
In a large mixing bowl, add ground turkey and ingredients except for cheddar cheese. Mix together with your hands. Making sure to break apart yolk in egg and mix thoroughly with turkey.
Take a chunk of meat mixture and roll into balls, then flatten gently with palm of your hand. You can make your burgers thick or thin by adding meat or making them flatter. Just keep in mind, the thicker burger will take longer to cook. I like mine medium size, not too thick and not flat.
Place on a clean plate as you prepare rest of burger patties.
After making burger patties, push a square of cheddar cheese into the middle of each patty, covering with the meat.
Place burgers on prepared grill and cook until done. Flipping them in between so they cook through. I usually eyeball mine by cutting into the thickest patty and seeing how well done it is, not cutting all the way through, but just a small cut. And cooking longer until all pink is gone. I don’t do medium rare burgers as one has to be careful about food poisoning.
You can also place a slice of cheese on top of the burger right before you take it off the grill, just long enough to let the cheese melt.
Place cooked patties on a clean plate and not the same plate used when making your burger patties.
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| Yes, there's only 4 burger patties here in the photo. The missing 5th patty is shown above. |
Serve burgers with Kaiser rolls, mayo, mustard, ketchup, sliced tomato, sliced avocado, and slaw. Enjoy!
*Helpful Hints*
- If you want to use beef, these still make for quite a tasty beef hamburger!
- All measurements are US
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Featured at ~ The Southern Special 28
Shared with: Wake Up Wednesday "Linky" #36, City of Links #39, Savoring Saturdays #34, Snickerdoodle Sunday #49, Tickle My Tastebuds #21, The Southern Special #27
