Sometimes I crave a burger, and over time I’ve learned how to make a lot of different types of them. There are so many choices! You get to make decisions over the type of bun, cheese, condiments, sauce, and type of protein (it doesn’t have to be beef!).

I have been testing out recipes for a ground turkey burger and have discovered a great one that I present to you today. I actually do something quite unique and combine the ground turkey with Italian-style pork sausage. I have found that the sausage makes all the difference — it adds a lot of flavor and makes the burger much richer. Otherwise, 100% ground turkey by itself can be a bit boring. This burger has additional spices, bread crumbs, and an egg which helps to hold the burger patty together and add moisture. The ground turkey I am using is 85% lean / 15% fat. Leaner turkey tends to be drier and may not hold very well.

To make it more decadent I added pepper jack cheese and tarragon mayo. This combination of flavors is really nice! If you’re looking for a new type of burger, you might be surprised by how different this is compared to what you’re used to.

Do let me know how this turns out if you give this one a go — I like hearing from you!

Ingredients

Tarragon sauce

• 1/2 cup full-fat mayo
• 1 tbsp. mince Italian parsley
• 1 tsp. mince fresh tarragon
• 1.5 tbsp. mince chives
• 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp. lemon zest
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. black ground pepper

Burger patty

• 1/2 lbs. ground turkey
• 1/2 lbs. New York style sausage
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup panko
• 1/2 tsp. dried chili flakes
• 1/4 tsp. each salt, ground black pepper, onion, and garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. dried Italian herb mix
• 1/4 cup each finely chopped yellow onion and celery
• 1 tbsp. minced Italian parsley
• 4 slices pepper jack cheese

Assembly

• 4 Kaiser rolls or Brioche buns
• Soften butter
• Tarragon sauce
• Burger patty
• Shredded romaine
• Sliced tomatoes
• Avocado slices

Instructions

Tarragon sauce

In a small bowl, combine all sauce ingredients; stir to mix. Cover and chill until needed.

Burger Patty

In a medium mixing bowl, combine all burger patty ingredients and mix lightly but well. Then, shape into 4 patties to fit the buns you’ll be using.

Heat an indoor electric grill to about 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly brush the grill grate with oil or cooking spray. Cook the burger for 10-12 minutes or until no longer pink, turning once. Place cheese on top of the burger patty during the very last minute of cooking. Cover and turn off the grill. Once the cheese is melted, remove the cover.

Assembly

Butter the cut sides of the buns. Toast them in a large skillet or grill them until the edges turn golden brown. Spread a tbsp. of the tarragon sauce made earlier on the cut side of each bun. Arrange lettuce, tomato, avocado, onion (if using). Top each with burger patty and set the final bun on top and enjoy!

Serves 4

Did you make this dish? I’d love to know how it turns out! Feel free to like this post, share, and comment or use the hashtag #globaldinein on Instagram. If you would to be notified of upcoming posts, please consider subscribing to my blog!