Smash Burgers
Sam Sifton
2637 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,637
20 minutes
Turkey Burgers
- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 burgers
- ½medium onion
- 1pound lean ground turkey
- 1tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2tablespoons ketchup
- ¾teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
- 4hamburger buns, preferably whole wheat
- 1tablespoon canola oil, or use pan spray
- Sliced tomato
- Sliced onion
- Iceberg lettuce
- Pickles
- Sliced red pepper
- Ketchup and mustard
For the Burgers
For Serving
Preparation
- Step 1
Grate the onion on the fine holes of a grater. You should have about two tablespoons of grated onion (and a lot of juice, which you can discard). Place in a bowl with the ground turkey, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, salt and pepper. Using a fork, mix together well. Shape into four patties — the mixture will be quite moist — and press the patties into ½-inch thick rounds.
- Step 2
Heat the canola oil in a nonstick griddle or large nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. (Alternately, spray the griddle or pan with pan spray.) When you can feel the heat while holding your hand just above griddle or pan, cook the patties for five minutes on each side. Serve on buns, with the condiments of your choice.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Ari
I think in the future I'm going to use the phrase "grating an onion" as a metaphor for a nearly impossible task. What mush I did get was delicious and worked well for the patties, but at the risk of sliding layers off while applying pressure and grating my fingers...
vern
The seasoning for the burgers are delicious. For the same results with less time, I baked the patties in the oven first for 30 mins at 375 F and then seared it on my griddle for 2 mins on each side. It came out delicious, moist and full of flavor
KDR
KLK, try the donut method of burger forming. You make the patty and then put a depression in the center - it helps reduce shrinkage and cooks more evenly (which is good since it is poultry).
Kathy K
Just wanted to add that the burgers shrink a lot during cooking so this recipe is best for 3 patties, not 4.
Brandon
Put a piece of heavy duty aluminum foil on the grate and pam it. Cook the burgers on the foil for a few minutes per side until they firm up. Then, move them to the grate.
Kim
Who knew a turkey burger could be so good? Simple seasoning but the end result got rave reviews from my husband and boys (and I got eye rolls when I said we were having turkey burgers!) I did add about 1/2 cup of panko (as others suggested) as the mixture was wet. Maybe next time - and there will be many next times - I'll add an egg and chill the burgers a bit before cooking. I did them on a cast iron griddle on the barbeque. Crispy outside and moist inside. Thanks for another winner : )
Jaime
My boyfriend made these for dinner last night and they were AMAZING! We baked them in the oven at 375 for about 30 minutes. They turned out moist and delicious on the inside and crisp on the outside. We added an egg as a binder. We also added some whole grain mustard. We also minced rather than grated the onion. We will definitely make these again!
sean
Excellent recipe. My one modification: i replaced the ground turkey with ground beef. Divine.
Kathy K
Very easy and lots of flavor! Followed recipe but added some fresh basil as well.
Mickey
It would be nice to have the recipe of the author prepared first as a baseline for all. Then any modifications could help others appreciate the results. I don't see bell peppers having the same flavor profile as onions. I also don't agree with the substituting HP sauce for Worcestershire to obtain the taste of the authors recipe. The anchovies, raisins in the Worcestershire brings that. 10 people preparing a recipe without directions=10 different results, grilled, pan fried sous vide,,
Willa
I've made turkey burgers for years and this is by far the simplest and best recipe I have ever found.
Christina
Incredibly easy and the burgers come out well - you can cook in less oil if using a non-stick pan. The burgers hold their moisture.
Grating the onions makes my eyes tear so I just finely chop them and the burgers came out fine!
Lynn in New Jersey
Jane Brody has a somewhat more complicated version of the same recipe that is fabulous. I've made it over and over for years. Add to one pound of ground (93% fat free) turkey: 1/2 cup dried bread crumbs 1 chopped onion 2 Tablespoons ketchup 1 Tablespoon lemon juice 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 1 teaspoon soy sauce 1/2 teaspoon paprika 1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce salt and pepper to taste
tdalec
I've made this many times and it's always a family favorite. As I have fiddled with the recipe I have found out a couple of things. Shallots throw off much less liquid than regular onions (and save you worrying about that other half onion). Less ketchup replaced by prepared horseradish.
Anne L.
These were terrific. Very moist, great taste. Cooked in a cast iron skillet on the grill which made a great crust on the burger.
lisanne dickson
I used the Nutribullet to grind up the onion, which took mere seconds, then strained off the excess onion juice. Doubled the recipe, which also worked well. Really love this recipe and will keep it regular rotation. It’s the ultimate turkey burger!
Brenda W
Thank you, Martha Rose! Weaning my husband off red meat has taken decades, and ground turkey has certainly helped. I make these, and simmer them with onions in a rich vegetarian gravy. Served with mashed potatoes and a simple chopped salad..."cafeteria food" at its finest.
ccfca
Made per recipe except: used the normal holes on the grater and squeezed excess onion juice out, added 1 Tbs of mayo. Chilled and grilled (w/dimple in center of patty) then melted Swiss cheese on top. Yum.
LH
Add anchovies. Zipped them up with the onion in a wee food processor. Two or three decent sized anchovies per pound of turkey. Finally, a truly savory turkey burger!
Amanda Lurie
This was, truly, the best turkey burger recipe, ever! I agree with the reviewers who said to use panko. You do not need the egg. There is more than enough liquid from everything else to bind with the panko. My 16 year old grandson, who hates anything healthy, loved these. That is as big of a recommendation as I can give!
Gigi
Moist and flavorful. Didn't have an onion but used a shallot. Delicious.
Eric
I finely diced a mushroom, some red pepper and a clove of garlic, and added some panko. The garlic and mushroom cooked nicely in the patties; it added them a nice hint of complexity. My wife doesn't usually like turkey burgers; she loved these and we will make them for Memorial day!
MaryAnn
What did I do wrong? Mine completely fell apart while cooking!
Wet
What is the wettest thing on earth? A fish? A slip n slide? Baby wipes? The bottom of the deep blue sea? If you guessed any of these you’ll be mistaken - it is what you end up with after following this recipe. I’ve made burgers my whole life. Burgers of all stripes - beef, smash, turkey, bean, mushroom. You name it I’ve made it. I have been cooking for three decades and never had an event like this. Had to build an ark. Ground turkey in the driveway. No.
Jeff B
This is a good recipe for turkey burgers. I prefer a tbsp of mayo vs the ketchup, along with the Worcestershire and grated onion. A food processor is helpful for grating the onion.
TaiL
This did not work for us at all. I generally love Martha Rose Schulman's recipes but this just turned into mush and I could see there was no way to make a burger out of it. I grabbed some stale Italian bread, made bread crumbs as fast as I could, and cooked in a pan on the stove for 8 minutes, then 6 minutes a side. I feel hopeful, but you really do need egg as a binder and bread crumbs to make a burger.
Miriam
These were very tasty, but the texture was crumbly. Instead of adding binders, I simply served this with potatoes, where the falling apart improved, rather than impaired the final product.
catherine
Add 1 tb mayo to mixture and 1 grated zucchini (salted with moisture removed) and it’s perfect
Lisa
I added a strip of thick bacon and cooked them in butter to un-healthify them. Best turkey burger I've ever had!
Kay D
These turkey burgers are absolutely fabulous. I love the flavor provided by the grated onion and I will be using that in other recipes in the future. I cook things like this exclusively in cast iron and I got a wonderful crust on the outside. Maybe one day I will try these on the grill. This will be my go-to turkey burger recipe from now on. The kids loved them. Since I have extra hamburger buns left over that's my excuse for cooking these again very soon.
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