This recipe uses some of the same techniques and seasonings as the shish kebab to improve the dull turkey burger. For something made with meat that is 95% fat free this is pretty good!

Chef John's Turkey Burger

turkey

bread crumbs

almonds

chile paste

garlic,

ginger

salt

garam masala

lemon juice

plain yogurt

cilantro

Combine ground turkey, breadcrumbs, almonds, chili paste, garlic, ginger, salt, garam masala, lemon juice, yogurt, and cilantro; mix thoroughly with a spatula or clean hands.


Shape ground turkey mixture into a ball and divide in 4 even pieces; refrigerate for 1 hour. Form each piece into a patty with damp hands.


Preheat grill to medium heat and refrigerate turkey burger patties until the grill is hot. Grill turkey burgers until patty appears to be cooked about half way up the side and then flip, grilling each side for about 4 to 5 minutes. Burger is done when surface is cracked and juices start to rise to the top.


I had to try this burger after I saw the photo for a "Turkey Shishkaburger" while on here looking for dinner ideas.
The name gave me a laugh - which is always good incentive - so I clicked on the link and was re-directed here (the written version of the Chef's video, I think). 
Whipped them up and they were a hit; fantastic burger!
I prefer the flavours in my burgers to complement - rather than overpower -  the taste of the actual meat, and this is just that burger.  Beautifully moist with a nice mix of spicy and tangy without being cloying.
I didn't have any chile paste, so added a pile of cracked pepper, and as usual I added an extra bit of fresh ginger and garlic. Refrigerating them first is a must: the patties are quite soft and this helps to solidify them a bit for the heat.
Grilled them stove-top in a cast iron pan for 1 min. per side (to seal in all the juices!) then booted them in the oven at a high temp for 7min.
Although we did top them with a little bloop of mango chutney, and the smallest sprinkling of caramelized onion and goat's cheese, these burgs would be fantastic all on their own.
Glad I could be the first reviewer; Thanks, Chef.

VERY good!  one of the best turkey burgers I've ever had.  My grocery only had 20oz packages of ground turkey vs. the 24 oz needed for this recipe so my burgers came out just a TAD salty but I will be making them again.  I will keep everything else the same just reduce the salt by a half tsp or so.  YUM!

This is a superb recipe! I followed it closely other than... didn't have garam masala, and the closest market didn't either, so I used some Rogan Josh seasoning. These were wonderful.

Out of this world delicious. The Greek yogurt really keeps the turkey from drying out and the flavor is extremely satisfying. I didn't have the almonds and only refrigerated for 30 minutes or so but they still turned out wonderfully. I served with a little lite mayo on a toasted sandwich thin. I'll have to use tomatoes next time!

A recipe with minimal chopping and minimal cooking? What's not to like?

These burgers were wonderful! I was looking for a burger recipe that I could make for my non-red-meat-eating cousin and that had low sodium/cholesterol for me (I left much of the salt out). These were juicy, flavorful, wonderfully spiced - in fact, one of the guests who usually ate the regular beef hamburgers opted for my turkey burgers, instead! I made oven baked sweet potato fries w/ zesty dipping sauce on the side.

This was a huge hit with my family because I didn't think my dad would care for the garam masala, surprise, he loved the spiciness.  I on the other hand thought it was a little overpowering. I will definitely use this recipe for turkey burgers going forward, but will substitute the garam masala for other spices.  The texture of the burgers were fabulous and we all loved the addition of ground almonds.  At the last minute during assembly I found out we were out of mayo - so I had to throw something together - I used some of the low-fat Greek and put it in the food processor with fresh cilantro, basil, ginger, lemongrass and fresh lemon - OMG, it was DELICIOUS and complimented the burger perfectly!

I am deferring this rating to my hubby who gave it a 5!  He said this was really tasty, and he only wanted it as a patty with melted cheese for his dinner tonight.  He kept saying that it had a lot of different flavors, and he really liked that about it.  I would definitely make this again but as a sandwich the next time!  Thanks, Chef!

really, really liked this.  what a great blend of spices.  i'm so glad i have more in the freezer for lunch!

Chef John does not disappoint with this turkey burger!  The spices are wonderful, the burger moist and flavorful, and it's very easy to prepare.  Even my somewhat picky 9 year old declared it the best turkey burger she's ever tasted.  Watching the video is helpful - definitely recommended!

I thought these tasted pretty good. I scaled it to 3 servings because I had 1 1/4 lbs of turkey. I used a mini burger mold and got 8 burgers. I broiled them instead of grilling them. However, I think I would have preferred them grilled. It does not say, but I would not use the leanest turkey or white meat only as mine were a little dry. Also take note of Chef John's serving suggestions. They worked well with the burger.

I loved this!  But I love garam masala. If you don't, then you'd best substitute another spice.   :)  I had to substitute in dried coriander and powdered ginger...next time, I'll be ready and have fresh.  And I don't know how this affected the outcome, but I had to use thai chili sauce instead of chili paste...closest sub i had.

Nice change from bland turkey burgers!  Thanks!

Def a good recipe, I would 100% make this again. I decided to ignore other's comments and just make it as Chef John provided. In hindsight I wish I listened to the people saying to cut back on the garam masala. It really really is too much, i'm not lying to you. You'll thank me when you cut back to just 1/2 tsp. As Chef John has it, you can't taste any of the other ingredients, just the garam masala. Even with this one flaw, the burger was still delicious. I just think it could be better next time with less garam masala. Lastly, I did end up cutting the salt back a bit. I think that was a good choice as well.

I absolutely loved this burger.  I made it even a bit more spicier by adding some chopped jalapeño peppers

Another Chef John delicious recipe!!I didnt have garam masala so I made some homemade from a recipe on Allrecipes.com made from powdered spices. While I cant wait to try this recipe again with homemade garam masala from fresh ground spices and toasted seeds, this one came out good! I doubled the recipe and must confess to tripling the garam masala,garlic and cilantro. Came out fabulous. Instead of using a bun, we used pita and tzatziki :) Yummy!! Thanks Chef John!! PS I grilled them on a George Foreman and they were juicy, juicy juicy.

Wow, but these were tasty!  The only change I made was to I scale the recipe for just 1 lb. of ground turkey.  Mixed it up yesterday, and froze the four (BIG!) patties separated with wax paper.  Threw them on a pre-heated grill tonight, and cooked over medium setting, about 5-6 minutes per side.  Topped with a mild (Colby Jack) cheese... Mmmmm!  Just a tip: like all turkey burgers, these are fairly low-fat, and don't shrink much if any while cooking, so regular burger rolls won't cut it.  I used ciabatta rolls, and they were a perfect fit.

We didn't care for this recipe. The flavor of garam masala overpowered everything else. If you're going to try this one, I would suggest only 1/2 tsp. of the garam masala. We love Chef John's flour tortillas and Ham and Potato soup, but this one won't appear at our table again.

Made it.  Grilled it. Serve on a brioche bun with tzatziki sauce. Will make it again and again.

Okay I have to admit. I was skeptical that I would like these nevermind that my hubby would even try them.  Try them?  He ate both of his with gusto and gave me an enthusiastic thumbs up.  "Anytime" he said when asked if he'd eat them again.  A little bit fussy but definitely follow the Chef's instructions for preparing.  They almost came apart on the grill so had to handle them very gently.  But they tasted AWESOME!!!

These burgers turned out great on the grill. The only change I made was to swap cilantro for parsley (husband doesn't like it). We loved the spicy flavor. Served them with grilled onion, tomato and mayo on onion rolls.

These burgers were amazing. I didn't have any chile paste so used some dried red chili peppers. The burgers were extremely flavorful and incredibly moist, not like the usual dry turkey burgers. I highly recommend. The entire family loved them.

Has a very good flavour to it. Good tasting turkey burger for sure.

A different version but delicious nonetheless.  Will make again

My kids liked it but said it will little spicy for them. I did not have Chile paste so I looked up substitutes and crushed red peppers mixed with ketchup came up. I use ketchup in my meatloaf all the time so I knew it would be great. My husband did not care for it at all. I think it was definitely a different taste that has to be acquired. If I make it again, I will reduced the garam masala as another reader suggested and eliminate the Chile paste. I will also sauté the garlic with some onions for a softer texture and taste.

This was a really different burger. You kind of have to get your head around the flavor after your first bite. It is definitely unique and quite tasty. I can only compare it to the type of unique burgers you would find at a high-end burger place. We ended up loving these burgers. Loved the garam masala and chili paste. I made it just as written without variation and it was a new item to add to my go-to burger recipe list. Thank you again Chef John!

Awesome burger! I didn't have any plain yogurt so just used some light sour cream. Turned out great.

My husband liked these a lot and would have given them 5 stars, my daughter did not care for the spices, and so gave them 3 stars. so, 4 for the final rating. I will make them again when my daughter isn't home for dinner. Thanks!

It was very good and we love Chef John”s recipes

Amazing!!! Very yummy and delicious! My husband and i loved it!!! Done 3 times already and will continue to.

This was really good. I had to make some substitutions because I didn't have all the ingredients, but I thought it was great. I used sour cream instead of yogurt, a dash of ground ginger instead of fresh, and I didn't have garam masala, so I look up what that was and added a dash of cinnamon, ground cloves, cumin, and black pepper. It tastes great even with all my substitutions. That's the fun thing about cooking - you can add a dash of this and a dash of that, and it will still taste great!

I liked it mostly but the garam masala+ginger threw both my wife and I off a little. Not the “mmmmmm” I was hoping for.

I’d try this recipe again. I didn’t measure the grated ginger, but used a piece that was about an inch long in 16 oz of ground chicken meat. I also used Massaman curry instead of garram massala. The flavor was a bit strong and overwhelming. I was also missing the onion which  was necessary for balancing the curry and ginger flavors.

I was expecting a wonderful burger, but it was just okay. Unfortunately, it had an almost minty taste because of the cilantro.

These came out fabulous! We cut back on salt and Garam Masala as others have suggested. I also didn't have almonds on hand, it doesn't seem like it makes much difference. We are  making them again tonight!

Excellent flavor.  I fried them because they were too wet to BBQ even after a couple extra tbsp of cracker crumbs.  Fabulous with a slice of home grown tomato.

Excellent turkey burgers. Omitted the cilantro (don't like it) and ground almonds (didn't have any) and used crushed pork rinds in place of the bread crumbs. Can't have too many burger recipes and this one is a keeper for sure. Thanks, Chef John.

We've made this several times and liked it.

this was so good that my coworker and supervisor were both ooh-ing and aah-ing over the aroma of my lunch.. my supervisor actually asked about it again the following day.. i really liked the burgers but could see how the garam masala could be perceived as overpowering.. i'd reduce it just a touch next time.. i left out the bread crumbs and the yogurt and wonder if that would have tamed the garam masala.. either way i enjoyed this.. ty for the recipe

OH MY MY!  This burger is a wonderful expression of a great blend of spices which packs so much flavor and taste.  I would give it a 10 if I could.  I followed the recipe exactly.  I built my burger how Chef John suggested and it was wonderful. All the flavors meld so well together.  The  tomatoes tossed in lemon juice added a delicious touch and it went so well with the cilantro.  All the flavors compliment each other so well. This has to be one of my absolute favorites. My hubby said he couldn't wait to eat another one and I'll probably be dreaming about them in my sleep tonight haha! I cooked it on a cast iron grill on my stove top. I wouldn't recommend cooking them in a pan though, the grill worked so much better. To save time I started cooking two of them in a pan since the grill could only cook 2 at a time.  I ended up taking them out because they were just parboiling in liquid and finished cooking them on the grill.  They were very forgiving and cooked up well. It would be a shame to change anything in this recipe because this burger is perfect!  Thank you for sharing this Chef John.

I can't say this recipe wasn't flavorful. The directions were very easy to follow. I guess the problem lies in my stomach - it wasn't happy with the spiciness of the burger, much to my dismay. I will have to try it again leaving out the chili paste.

Thanks Chef John. I am always looking for clever ways to sneak ground turkey into my family's diet (as a substitute for beef or pork).  They loved these burgers. Great flavor, great texture. I did bail on the ground almonds since not sure where I would find this ingredient at the store or use this ingredient again.

I always follow a recipe exactly as written when I make it for the first time.  That being said, this dish was absolutely delicious and everyone enjoyed the dish.   The family was asking for more, but I did not make enough.  This dish will definitely be in the family meals rotation in the future.

This is one of our favorite recipes! We raved about it to family.  We use 2 pounds of ground turkey but don't alter the other ingredients except to eliminate or greatly reduce the chilli paste as I don't like spicey.  I love it!  Good flavor this way.  We adore the cilantro and ginger.  It does take a while to prepare, and these seem to disappear very quickly.  Next time I will double the batch to freeze some.

I was amazed I had all ingredients and didn't have to make substitutions. these were really tasty. I think they're missing a tang that I would adjust by using goat cheese as suggested by others. But the balance of flavors is great, and I'll make these again.

Followed this recipe to the letter and these turned out so good. Very moist and tons of flavor. 
**Found out, though, that hubby and I don't love the taste of fresh ginger, so I'll definitely make these again, but I'll cut the ginger down to maybe just 1/2 tsp. So if you're not so crazy about the taste of fresh ginger, keep that in mind. **

See how to grill a burger that's 95-percent fat-free!

chef john's turkey burger

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total: 1 hours, 30 minutes

Servings: 4

Cost: $6.42 /serving

Author : Chef John

Ingredients

Instructions

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