Genius Recipes
The Genius Secret to Juicy Turkey Burgers (Chicken & Pork Burgers, Too)
Lean but not mean.
Who among us hasn’t been burned by a dry turkey burger before? (Or chicken, or pork, or even beef, that time whoever was in charge of shopping went down a dark path and bought the 98% lean mix.) I had an especially dismal one just recently at the burger joint across the street from my apartment. Fool me, I don’t know, a hundred times?
But I never gave up hope. And I finally found a sure thing for juicy, unreasonably good lean-meat burgers in Niloufer Ichaporia King’s 2007 James Beard Award–winning cookbook My Bombay Kitchen, a memoir and archive of the recipes and techniques from her heritage in the Parsi community in India.
Lean meat, as a rule, needs help, whether from richer ingredients or dry-brining or just a really good marinade. Or—as King does here, inspired by traditional Parsi kebabs—by jamming that meat full of moisture (and flavor) with a mess of herbs, alliums, ginger, and chiles.
| 1 | pound ground turkey, chicken, or lean pork |
| 1 | small red or yellow onion, or 4 green onions, finely chopped |
| 6 | slices peeled fresh ginger, finely chopped |
| 2 to 4 | small green chiles like jalapeño, finely chopped (seeds and white ribs removed if you don’t want it too spicy) |
| 1/2 | cup (or more) chopped fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves and stems |
| 1/4 | cup chopped mint leaves (optional) |
| 1 | large egg |
| Salt |
| 1 | pound ground turkey, chicken, or lean pork |
| 1 | small red or yellow onion, or 4 green onions, finely chopped |
| 6 | slices peeled fresh ginger, finely chopped |
| 2 to 4 | small green chiles like jalapeño, finely chopped (seeds and white ribs removed if you don’t want it too spicy) |
| 1/2 | cup (or more) chopped fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves and stems |
| 1/4 | cup chopped mint leaves (optional) |
| 1 | large egg |
| Salt |
There is a greater proportion of vegetable matter here than I’d ever have thought wise to mix into a burger, for fear of lingering chunks of raw ginger, onion, and chile. But every last bit has just enough time to soften and release its bright, herby, spicy vapors and juices into the burgers as they sizzle, fixing both of the problems meat lacking in fat tends to have: severe deficits in flavor and moisture.
In related perks, this means that you don’t have to stress as much about seasoning the meat mix just right, or stopping the second the burger reaches doneness. You have more than enough buffer.
For the rest of dinner, King recommends a simple baked potato and a salad with avocado. Alice Medrich, longtime Food52 columnist and another genius in our midst, who sent me this recipe, likes to involve raita or King’s spicy carrot salad, also from My Bombay Kitchen. Or you could of course put it on a bun, and it will erase the memory of every sad turkey burger you’ve met.
Got a genius recipe to share—from a classic cookbook, an online source, or anywhere, really? Please send it my way (and tell me what's so smart about it) at [email protected]—thank you to cookbook author and former Food52 contributor Alice Medrich for this one!
Any Night Grilling is your guide to becoming a charcoal champion (or getting in your grill-pan groove), any night of the week. With over 60 ways to fire up dinner—no long marinades or low-and-slow cook times in sight—this book is your go-to for freshly grilled meals in a flash.
Order Now
Written by: Kristen Miglore
Popular on Food52
27 Comments
Some years later as a chili head, I o.d.'d one afternoon eating chili peppers straight from a jar that an Indian lady co-worker gave me. Did not affect me at the time too much, but OH NELLY! the next couple of days were a terror. After that I developed an allergy to chili peppers, which effectively ended my wanton consumption of hot peppers.
Another comment. I noted that you cracked the egg on the side of the bowl. The American Egg Board, years ago, -- yes, Virginia, there is an American Egg Board -- as well as Jacques Pepin recommend that eggs be cracked on a flat surface to avoid pushing bits of shell into the egg. Using a sharp edge does just that as it often results in bits of shell in the egg and increases the chance for contamination with anything on the surface of the shell.
And finally, I have to add that my mother often added things to burgers as it helped to stretch the meat, though this was decades before anyone ever heard of a turkey or chicken burger. We did not have ginger nor cilantro available in those days of yore, but anything else such as celery, peppers, and onions etc. were game for inclusion. If things were really tight, tomato sauce and catsup were added and we had sloppy joe's decades before the Manwich came to be.
course, give props to Ms. King and yourself for sharing this recipe with us. In springtime we harvest spruce tree tips (buds) and use them in place of fresh herbs like rosemary or greek oregano - they are brilliant! I'll be adding spruce tips to this recipe to give a northern Canadian flair to this beautiful dish!
No more hand burn.
You're welcome.
See what other Food52 readers are saying.