Quick, easy, cheap turkey burgers!

I didn’t try ground turkey until recently. I always thought it sounded weird, and honestly a little bit sad: I love beef, especially good quality grass-fed beef. The grass-fed flavor can’t be beat. But I decided that for the sake of my caloric intake that I would try ground turkey, and I was pleasantly surprised. The first thing I ever made with it is still one of my favorites: turkey burgers. It’s super cheap, you can make a bunch at a time, and they’re incredible versatile. You can use them to replace beef patties (duh), crumble them for taco meat, or eat them plain, as the protein part of a meal. I usually do the latter and just eat the burgers with a little bit of Stubb’s BBQ sauce, no bun, served with a side of veggies and wild rice/quinoa pilaf.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb 99% fat free ground turkey (I had to use 93% since that’s all Costco had, and I definitely like the 99% better)
• 1 shallot
• seasoning salt of choice, my favorite is Johnny’s
• coconut oil for the pan

1. Take ground turkey out of your refrigerator and set on counter. The warmer the turkey is, the less it will freeze your hands when you shape the patties later.

2. Peel your shallot, and dice it.

3. Put the turkey and shallot into a mixing bowl.

4. Shake a bit of seasoning salt into the bowl. I would rather go the route of under-seasoned than over-seasoned, because you can simply add more seasoning salt to the finished product.

 

5. Mix with either your hands or a spoon until the shallots and seasoning are well combined.

6. Roll mixture into balls, making them as even as you can. You can make as many as 10 patties, or as few as 3, depending on how big you want them to be. I roll them into balls first to better gauge the size. Once the balls are formed, press into patties.

I made about 9 or 10, but didn’t get a chance to take a picture until some of them were already in the pan.

7. Heat pan over medium heat, and add oil. Place your patties evenly around the pan with at least an inch between them, to allow room for flipping.

8. When just over half of the patty is cooked, and flip them (about 4-5 minutes). Cook until pink is no longer visible on the outside.*This is just how I cook mine, I don’t check the temperature because I’m lame. If you are concerned about them being completely done, cook them until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees.*

9. Remove finished patties from pan and set on a plate. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes to finish cooking/allow the juices to settle before serving.

And there you have it! The shallots add a great flavor and a small amount of difference in texture, while the seasoning salt rounds everything out. Enjoy!

 

-L

 

Ground Turkey Larb Gai

This recipe is an adaptation of reddit/Fitocracy user super_luminal’s larb gai recipe, found here. My mom made this a few times when I lived at home, but I never quite took to it then. The above recipe is the first one I tried myself, and it’s fantastic! I love making this because it’s quick, cheap, high in protein, low in calories, super filling, and the flavor is amazing.

Ingredients:

• 1 package 99% fat free ground turkey
• whole butter lettuce leaves (I couldn’t find butter lettuce so I had to use a different kind, but butter lettuce is way better!)
• juice from 1 large lime
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint*
• 10 sprigs chopped fresh cilantro*
• 1 thinly sliced green onion*
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1/2 packet Stevia in the Raw
• Sriracha

*Do not prep these until after your turkey is cooked! The turkey needs a chance to cool down.

1. In a large frying pan, cook ground turkey with 1/4 cup water on medium heat, and immediately break up with a spatula. Continue to do this until the turkey is crumbly and fully cooked, but be careful not to overcook – the low fat content makes it SUPER dry when overcooked.

2. Put turkey in a container and put into the fridge. Chop the mint, cilantro, and green onions. Wash and dry lettuce leaves.

3. In a small bowl, combine the lime juice, fish sauce, and stevia into a dressing.

4. Once the turkey is room temp or cooler, take it out of the fridge and add the dressing, mixing to coat. Add in the herbs and some Sriracha, and mix to spread evenly. You can either eat now, or let it cool down more until it is completely cold.

5. Spoon larb gai into lettuce leaves. Add more Sriracha to taste, and enjoy!