Whether it’s around Thanksgiving, on a typical workday, for a family weekend, or simply to cut back on the fat and calories of a hamburger, turkey burgers are an excellent choice. They offer a healthier, leaner alternative to red meat burgers, especially when you bake them in the oven.
Oven-cooked turkey burgers are not just healthy and tasty. They are easy-to-bake burgers that everyone, including children, loves. So, the next time you want to serve a fun yet healthy meal for kids, opt for some turkey burgers in the oven, and you can even prepare the meal with your kids.
Let’s discuss how to cook a turkey burger in the oven with our favorite oven-baked turkey burger recipe, how you should assemble these burgers, some key variations, and how you can store them.
How to Cook Turkey Burgers in the Oven
Our recipe to cook turkey burgers in the oven is quite easy and uses a combination of turkey breasts and thighs to prepare the ground patties. These lean, healthy patties are the winning element of the burger. They turn out to be deliciously juicy and flavorful turkey burgers when baked correctly.
The following oven-baked turkey burger recipe yields eight low-fat, low-calorie turkey burgers that are well-seasoned. The best part is that you can bake them all at once. You won’t have to go through the whole process of flipping burgers on the grill or the stovetop like you usually do with hamburgers.
To maintain consistent and well-shaped burger patties, we use breadcrumbs and some eggs to bind the patties firmly together. For the best experience, we add some Creole seasoning to elevate the flavor, along with some lime juice, minced garlic cloves, chopped onions, and cilantro.
Ingredients
Here are all the ingredients you’ll need to cook turkey burgers in the oven.
- 8 hamburger buns
- 1 pound of ground turkey breast
- 1 pound of ground turkey thighs
- 3/4 cup of finely chopped onions
- 2 minced garlic cloves
- 3 tablespoons of chopped fresh cilantro
- 1/3 cup of dry breadcrumbs (unseasoned)
- 1 large lightly beaten egg
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 2 tablespoons of lime juice or lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon of Kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon of Creole seasoning (store-bought or homemade). You can also substitute this with Cajun seasoning if you want.
- Burger cheeses, tomatoes, lettuce, mayonnaise, salsa, BBQ sauce (optional)
Preparation
- Preheat an oven rack to 400 degrees
- Use heavy-duty aluminum foil to line a baking sheet and lightly spray a nonstick cooking spray on it.
- Use a nonstick pan or skillet to heat a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat.
- Add 3/4 cup of finely chopped onions and stir untilthey start to brown.
- Then add twominced garlic cloves and keep stirring for around 2 minutes before removing the pan/ skillet from the stovetop.
- In a clean bowl, add 1 pound of ground turkey breasts, 1 pound of ground turkey thighs, 1/3 cup of dry breadcrumbs, 3 tablespoons of chopped fresh cilantro, 1 large lightly beaten egg, 2 tablespoons of lime juice or lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon of Kosher salt, 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon of Creole seasoning, and lastly, add your fresh garlic and onion mix.
- Use your hands to mix everything in the bowl till all the ingredients are nicely blended.
- Shape and prepare eightburger patties, around 4 3/4 ounce each, with the turkey mix in your bowl. Ensure the patties are at least 3/4 thick and no more than an inch thick.
- Place the patties on the foil-covered baking pan, spaced at least1/2 inch apart.
- Place the pan in the preheated oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the patties are cooked through and there is no pink in the center. The USDA guides cookingground poultry to a minimum of 165 F. You can use an instant-read thermometer and insert it into the center of the thickest patty to check the temperature.
Once the patties are done, you can also opt to slightly toast your buns for an even better oven-baked turkey burger experience.
Oven-Baked Turkey Burger Assembly
Assembling the turkey burgers is completely up to your preferences, but here is how we recommend you should do it.
- Spread mayonnaise on the bottom buns
- Add lettuce
- Tomato slices
- Place the turkey patties on the tomatoes
- Sliced cheese (optional)
- Choice of BBQ sauce, salsa, or both
- More tomato slices
- More lettuce
- Finally, the top buns with mayonnaise spread on them
Of course, you can always opt for your choice of burger fixings and assembly, but our recipe and arrangement style of oven-baked turkey burgers is the one you want to try first.
Variations
Here are some variations of our recipe for when you want to cook turkey burgers in the oven but also need to meet preferences such as “gluten-free” or “no Cilantro.”
- If you want gluten-free turkey burgers, you mustreplace the burger buns and breadcrumbs with gluten-free varieties.
- If you are serving kids, you may want to opt for sliders instead of full-size burgers. For this, simply shape smaller (not thinner) 2-ounce patties. Our recipe should yield around 19 sliders. However, you may have to decrease the baking time slightlyto offset the smaller patties. No one likes dry sliders.
- If you are not a fan of cilantro, you can always chop up some fresh parsleyand use that instead.
- We recommend Creole or Cajun seasoning, but you can always change the spices for a preferred blend.
Storage
These easy-to-cook oven-baked turkey burgers become even more convenient when you store the patties for later. Take the extra turkey mix and shape the patties as usual. Place them on a baking sheet and freeze them in the freezer for around 2 hours.
Once frozen, you can transfer them into a freezer-safe bag or container and store them in the freezer for up to 3 months. The next time you crave turkey burgers, simply thaw the patties in the refrigerator before you bake them in your oven.
Our Final Thoughts
We hope you enjoy these turkey burgers as much as we enjoyed sharing how to cook turkey burgers in the oven. Ultimately, whatever variation, toppings, or assembly you choose, we guarantee that you will enjoy the most flavorful and juicy oven-baked turkey burgers as long as you bake them correctly, as mentioned.
Our recipe is a no-fuss, few-ingredient, easy to prepare, easy to store, healthy, and delicious alternative to any red meat burger. We highly recommend that you try these burgers at your next cookout.
If you want to learn more about cooking turkey burgers in the oven, other delicious burger recipes, or our favorite burgers to cook at home, please visit our website today.
