Our easy turkey burger recipe makes the juiciest, most flavorful burgers that won’t dry out when you cook them.
This easy recipe requires 6 ingredients and about 30 minutes to prepare, and it makes the best turkey burgers. The secret is to add finely chopped mushrooms, which adds a savory, meaty flavor to the patties.
If you’re not a fan of mushrooms and think this mushroom turkey burger might not be for you, trust me. The patties don’t end up tasting like mushrooms, just like meaty, rich, and flavorful burgers. I love this trick so much, I use it when making the best turkey meatloaf. For more, you should take a look at our chicken burger recipe, which has zucchini instead of mushrooms added to the mix.
Key Ingredients
- Ground Turkey: For the best turkey burger, use ground turkey with a bit of fat. Look for 90% to 93% lean turkey, which will have a combination of dark and breast meat. Ground turkey breast does work for this recipe, but the burgers will not turn out as juicy.
- Mushrooms: My secret for moist turkey burgers. Most varieties of mushrooms will work, but I usually use baby bella or cremini mushrooms.
- Garlic and Ketchup: These add a little extra flavor to the burgers. It might seem odd to add ketchup, but it’s sweet, vinegary, and adds a bit of color. When I have it in the fridge, I love using homemade ketchup.
- Fish Sauce or Worcestershire: These are both secret weapons for enhancing flavor in almost any savory dish. I use them a lot in our recipes. Use whichever you have on hand.
Find the full recipe with measurements below.
How to Make the Best Turkey Burgers
Tip 1: Add cooked, chopped mushrooms. This recipe starts similarly to our turkey meatloaf. We cook finely chopped mushrooms until they release all their moisture and shrink. Then, add more flavor with garlic, ketchup, and fish sauce (or Worcestershire sauce).
Tip 2: Mix the mushrooms into the ground turkey. Ground turkey doesn’t have much flavor, and since it’s lean, it can dry out quickly. That’s why we mix in the mushroom mixture, which adds flavor and places lots of little pockets of tiny mushrooms that will hold onto any juices in the meat. This is totally different from our classic beef burgers or smash burgers, which only use salt, pepper, and minimal mixing.
Tip 3: Cook them in a skillet. For a golden brown sear, cook your burger patties in a hot skillet with a bit of oil. Using a well-seasoned cast-iron pan or nonstick pan helps to keep the oil low (for healthier burgers). They take 4 to 5 minutes per side. I like using my internal temperature thermometer to check they are done in the middle (you are looking for 165°F).
Serving Suggestions
My favorite way to serve these is on top of an English muffin with lettuce, tomato, red onion, and avocado. A slice of cheddar or American cheese is lovely, too! If you are up for it, try making homemade English muffins!
They are also amazing without the bun and served as lettuce wraps, or by themselves next to a salad. During the summer, I love this tomato and mozzarella salad, and in the fall, these burgers are excellent on top of this creamy tahini kale salad.
My go-to burger sides are dill pickles, baked french fries, sweet potato fries, or potato salad! For sauces, I love this burger sauce or spicy mayo.
More Burger Recipes
- The Best Juicy Burger
- The Best Black Bean Burger
- Best Veggie Burger We’ve Ever Made
- Juicy Chicken Burgers
Seriously Good Turkey Burgers
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
This turkey burger recipe is one of my favorite ways to use lean ground turkey! We add lots of umami and flavor by stirring cooked, chopped mushrooms into the burger mixture. The magic of the mushrooms doesn’t stop there. They also help keep the turkey burgers juicy and moist. If you are not a mushroom fan, don’t worry, you won’t really taste them. Instead, they make the patties taste more meaty. You won’t find egg or breadcrumbs in our recipe below, as these ingredients tend to make the burgers lean more towards a meatball than a burger.
Watch Us Make the Recipe
You Will Need
1 pound ground turkey, 90% to 93% lean (450g)
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
6 ounces mushrooms, trimmed and very finely chopped (170g)
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 tablespoon fish sauce or Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ tablespoons ketchup, try homemade ketchup
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
Directions
1Cook the mushrooms: Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wide, nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. (You’ll use this same skillet later to cook burgers.) Add the finely chopped mushrooms to the skillet. Sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon of salt and ¼ teaspoon of black pepper. Cook the mushrooms, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes. The mushrooms will initially release liquid, which bubbles away as they cook. The mushrooms are done when all the liquid has boiled away.
2Add more flavor: Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant. Remove the skillet from the heat, then stir in the fish sauce (or Worcestershire sauce) and the ketchup. Set aside until warm, not hot.
3Make burger mix: Add the ground turkey to a large bowl. Then, gently mix in the mushroom and garlic mixture until combined. The mixture may be sticky.
4Test seasoning (optional): To test the seasoning, heat a pan over medium heat and add a tablespoon of the burger mixture. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, flipping once, until thoroughly cooked through. Taste the mini patty. If it seems under-seasoned, sprinkle a little salt on the turkey burger patties just before cooking them.
5Form the patties: Form the turkey burger mixture into 4 patties (or more for sliders).
6Cook burgers: Heat another tablespoon of oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Place patties into the skillet, then cook for 4 to 5 minutes on each side or until an instant-read thermometer reads 165°F when inserted into the middle of a patty. Transfer to a plate and let rest, lightly covered with foil, for 5 minutes. Serve on a plate or on buns with your favorite toppings.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Storing: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Freezing the burgers: To freeze uncooked patties, prepare them as directed, then individually wrap each patty. Freeze. To cook them, thaw the burgers, then cook as directed. To freeze cooked patties, prepare and cook them as directed, then line them up on a baking sheet. Slide the baking sheet into the freezer and freeze until partially frozen, about 30 minutes. Wrap them with plastic wrap (place a piece of wax paper if wrapping multiple patties together), then store them in the freezer. To serve, reheat in the microwave or oven.
- Mushrooms: Use one or more of the following: white button, cremini or baby bella, shiitake and portobello mushrooms.
- Food processor: To quickly chop the mushrooms or to make them extra small, use a food processor.
- Even juicier burgers: Consider mixing 1 to 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise into the burger mixture before forming the patties. This adds a bit of extra fat.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
This is a great recipe, not dry at all I have also been adding 2 tsp of old bay seasoning and about 40g of cheese chopped into small chunks to the meat mixture
Delicious! Juicy! Heart healthy! I won’t be tempted to make beef burgers again. My sometimes picky husband loved them too. You really don’t taste mushrooms- very savory.
I thought you could not beat your chicken burgers. These are amazing! And the avacado just added extra to an already extraordinary burger. Looking forward to trying many more recipes of yours.
Wonderful! 🙂
I’ve been saving this recipe for awhile to try. My favorite neighborhood restaurant discontinued their turkey mushroom burger. This was a great opportunity to create my own!! The flavor is incredible, and I love how it made the turkey go further (5 patties instead of 3). They were a little wet, but I’m sure I used too much butter (I know, I know). Added white American, blue cheese, spinach, and avocado to finish them off. Ahhhhhhmazing!! Thank you for sharing!
So glad you enjoyed the recipe, Sheila!
These are AWESOME! I probaby make them 3 times a month. Even my picky eater who is 7 years old loves them. They are moist and delishious! Best receipe for turkey burgers!
I look forward to making these, but I have a question: Can you bake these instead of pan-frying them?
You can! I’d do 350-375F and assume they will take 20 to 25 minutes. You may want to flip them halfway through baking to get a little golden brown color on both sides.
I have never left a recipe review but I love cooking and eating. And I have loved every recipe I have tried from inspired taste. These burgers were amazing!! About 2 years ago, I developed a red meat allergy following a tick bite. One thing I miss most is a good burger. THIS burger recipe is truely incredible and I like mushrooms ok, but don’t really love them. I pulverized them in my food processor. If you’re not sure…try it!!!
These really were delicious. I added a bit more pepper and some oregano.
Oregano is a great idea! 🙂
These are the Best turkey burgers ive ever had! When i crave a burger these are my go to!! Thank you!
Wow, Michelle, I am so happy you agree!
These are the best turkey burgers ever and so simple to make, just 6 ingredients. I have also adapted the recipe and used pork or beef with the same fantastic results. You don’t have to make burgers, the ingredients can be shaped into meat balls, I made a delicious sweet and sour pork changing the turkey mince for pork mince and forming the mixture into balls and cooking them in the air fryer for 15 min. Just try different meats, I have found they all work. I made beef burgers for our evening meal tonight and the first thing my family said to me was you can make these again! M.D. eat your heart out these burgers have real flavour.
So happy you enjoy them! Thank you for coming back.
WOW!!! amazing burgers, I don’t like mushrooms but you don’t know they are there, I added a quarter of an onion finely chopped. Will be making these for the next bbq 😀
Hi Sally, we love the mushrooms in these. Adding onions is a great idea!
I never met a turkey burger that I liked, until now. As written except that I sautéed a wee bit of finely diced onion with the mushrooms. They were real good!
This is awesome!! First time I tried your Blueberry Muffins, 2nd time I used apple and pear, was delicious!! Now… I ate 2 burgers. I was full after the first one, but… IT WAS TOO GOOD!! I love this blog, like seriously people should try out more of your recipes, like finally, not wasting ingredients, time and money on recipes that don’t work!
You have made our day! Happy Cooking 🙂
Really delicious! I was so surprised how meaty and delicious they taste, without the dryness I’ve experienced using Turkey mince previously.
Absolutely delicious & moist! I added 2 cups of chopped mushrooms & some leftover chopped (probably just 2 tablespoons) red onion. I did the trick of putting a deep thumbprint impression in the middle of each patty (there’s just three of us so I went for broke & made three large pattys) & grilled on our indoor electric grill until JUST at 160 degrees then lightly tented & let rest while I air crisped some seasoned potato wedges. Then right before constructing the burgers to everyone’s liking (can’t go wrong with fresh arugula & sliced red onion & dijon mustard, I melt a slice of cheese on each one to warm back up. PERFECTION!
These were easy and delicious. Didn’t miss beef burger at all
The best Turkey Burger I ever had!
Delicious! I agree – most flavorful Turkey burgers, and best consistency, and the mushrooms are the key. I had fish sauce, so I used that. Wanted to bake rather than fry them. It ended up being 40 minutes in a 375 oven, turned once, before the liquid that leached out evaporated, and the burgers had a slight crust. My husband and I ate them on English muffins with lettuce, tomato and a mayo, ketchup and sriracha sauce I whipped up. We’re saving the 2 extra baked ones for another meal. BTW, I made your herby bean salad for the side. Was great too! Thank you.
Absolutely the best Turkey burger! Thank you! Sonia
Totally enjoyed these turkey burgers! They were flavorful and juicy and this is my new go to recipe!
This recipe is phenomenal. Very easy to execute and no obscure ingredients. I use white meat turkey. We love these burgers more than ground beef burgers. Putting sliced avocado on these burgers brings them to a whole different level.
Delicious and juicy. I don’t think I could find a better turkey burgers recipe. From now on I know how to make them well!
I feel silly for asking but… when do I add the ketchup?
We add the ketchup at the same time as the garlic.
Are these ok to grill?
Yes, they can be grilled. I personally use a grill pan on the grill grates since turkey is a little leaner than beef burgers and can sometimes stick.
These burgers were absolutely delicious! I added some thyme to the mushrooms as I love that combo! However mine fell apart- will try adding an egg next time
I made these tonight-they’re great and easy to make!
These were really good. A fab juicy burger.
“Seriously Good” is an understatement! Wow delicious. Used butter lettuce as a bun alternative and added a little paprika, onion powder and chilli flakes to the turkey meat, but the mushroom mixture was a game changer. Will be making again. (and again and again)
I have recently gone red meat and processed food free, and as I’m already gluten, diary, alcohol and sugar free for health reasons so finding good recipes is hard work… and a burger recipe without bread as a bulker is hard to find, so I am just loving your site, and this recipe, it’s just inspiring!! So I made this recipe, I did add half a red onion and an egg (and used 500g mince as that’s what we have in the UK) and it made 5 x 140g burgers!! And they are so juicy and tasted just divine! I blitzed it all the the food processor to hide the onion and mushroom better from the kids, and it makes it more like shop bought burger, and pressed them in a burger press. My kids didn’t suspect a thing 😉 Thank you inspired taste, I will be batch making and freezing these because they are awesome and the family love them (and we had it with your potato salad using your mayo recipe too! Yum!!)
Any recommendations for a ketchup replacement? Or would you say you can’t really taste the ketchup? Unfortunately, I don’t like ketchup. Can’t wait to try!
Hi Laura, You could try barbecue sauce or simply leave it out.
Absolutely delicious recipe! This recipe is a keeper!
Hi! I love the way these taste, but mine seem to fall apart when I cook them! I’ve cooked them three separate times and it keeps happening. Any suggestions!?
Hi Hailey, Are you using extra lean ground turkey or turkey breast? If so, the burgers will be a bit drier and might crumble on you when cooked.
I added an egg to my 99% lean turkey and I didnt have any issues with it falling apart. I also partially froze them before I cooked them.
OMG this was the best turkey burger I have every had!! I will be watching more of your videos. Had the sweet potato fries (also your video) with the burger and they too were awesome.
Hi could you advise on the oil to use to cook them.. trying to do more whole plant food diet and the professionals tell you not to use oil as when cooked is really bad for the arteries
Hi Christina, If you have a really good non-stick pan, you can try to use either no oil at oil or much less than what we call for in the recipe. A grill pan is also a nice option.
My new go to turkey burger recipe! So yummy!
This turkey burger recipe is awesome! Moist and delicious! I personally added some salt but otherwise it’s perfect!!! Also made your veggie burger that was amazing also! Keep up the good work!!!!