Thanksgiving Turkey Burgers

This turkey burgers recipe has been a long time coming - at least as far as publishing it goes!

I’ve made some version of this for years, but never actually made a *recipe* for it.

With us observing 2 very different Thanksgivings every year, usually we do something more casual for one of them. This has been even MORE the case in the past few years, as we enjoy doing a “Thanksgiving” camping trip.

The quotes are because sometimes we play a little fast and loose with what dates we’re booking for that trip. A few days earlier, a few days later, whatever - we do it in the SPIRIT of the day - laziness and lots of good food!

A Easy Thanksgiving Meal

Anyway, for those casual Thanksgiving meals - or just as a seasonally themed meal before or after the big day - these Thanksgiving burgers have always been a hit.

The ground turkey patty was designed to represent both the roast turkey and the stuffing aspects of our regular Thanksgiving dinner - veggies shredded into the burger for colour, flavour, and moisture, then seasoned like turkey dressing.

Then, the burger is finished off with mayo, cranberry sauce, and shredded Brussels Sprouts - the latter being our favourite veggie to roast up at the holidays

Up until this year, I’ve always made these burgers as I cook anything that’s not intended for one of our food blogs - throw stuff together until it looks/smells right.

So, each batch has varied a bit. Sometimes it had carrots... sometimes it had celery, sometimes both. I’d aim to use dried Summer Savoury, but in the times I couldn’t get any, I’d use sage and/or rosemary - sometimes poultry seasoning.

This year, though, I sat down and worked out a proper recipe with measurements.

The first batch was done up using this first draft version - while staying at Meaford Memorial Park - and I tweaked it from there.

Success!

DAMN. Definitely hit the best batch of these burgers I’ve ever done, so we’ll be going with the recipe from now on. Also: making cranberry sauce on the side of Georgian Bay definitely beats standing over a stove!

Anyway, - since actually writing it up - I can’t tell you how many of these burgers we’ve eaten so far. Porter says he could happily live on them.

The batch we used in this post were photographed on the side of the road in Bruce Peninsula National Park. The fall leaves were too pretty to pass up, even if we had much more scenic options nearby!

Anyway, let’s take a look at what you’ll need to get a batch of these EPIC Thanksgiving Turkey Burgers on, for yourself!

Ingredients

This recipe uses MOSTLY super common ingredients. This is key, as we’re often relying on small town grocery stores on the road, when making these turkey burgers!

So, you shouldn’t have any trouble finding whatever you need in pretty much any grocery store.

Here are some ingredient notes for you, though, as always:

Ground Turkey

As this has always been intended as a Thanksgiving recipe, we tend to make it with lean ground turkey.

On a few occasions in the past, we’ve had to substitute lean ground chicken - perfectly fine. It would probably make a good burger with lean ground pork, if not entirely on theme.

I wouldn’t bother making it with ground beef, though - the seasonings and veggie flavours will definitely get lost against the beef.

Bread Crumbs & Burger Buns

Here’s where you have a lot of control over who you can serve these Thanksgiving burgers to: Your choice of bread.

I make my own bread crumbs by saving crusts from loaves of Carbonaut bread, and running them through a mini food processor. This is not only gluten free, but low carb. (I assemble my own burger on Carbonaut bread, for the same reason).

Gluten free bread crumbs / buns make this recipe gluten free.

If you don’t need it gluten free and/or low carb, you can use whatever bread crumbs you like.

As far as the bun goes, we like to use a kaiser bun. This year, we happened to find kaiser buns with seeds on top - LOVE it!

Fresh Veggies

As a lean meat, ground turkey (and ground chicken) can make for really dry burgers - especially as you don’t have the option of undercooking them for juiciness, as you do with ground beef.

So, I like to add shredded produce to my poultry burger recipes, both for moisture, and to boost the flavour profile. See my Apple Chicken Burgers with Basil & Gouda recipe as an example - SO good!

Anyway, in the case of these Thanksgiving turkey burgers, I was looking to not only retain that moisture, but evoke the tastes of Thanksgiving dinner - and stuffing, specifically.

So, I use celery, onion, and carrot.

Celery and onion makes it into pretty much every batch of Thanksgiving stuffing I’ve ever made, and we always serve some sort of roasted or glazed carrots with the meal. (Usually Honey Roasted Carrots and Parsnips or Maple Bourbon Glazed Carrots!)

If you’re less into celery or carrots, feel free to swap more of the one you do like - just try to keep the volume you use, the same as the volume you’re replacing.

Also: While I say “shredded”, usually I get lazy with the celery and onion. I’ll shred the carrot, but chop the celery and onion before blitzing them in the food processor.

Brussels Spouts

Then - when assembling the burgers - I use shredded Brussels Sprouts instead of lettuce.

We generally serve Brussels Sprouts at every Thanksgiving (Bacon Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Dijon Vinaigrette!), and really... who eats lettuce with Thanksgiving dinner? LOL.

I use a sharp paring knife to cut washed Brussels sprouts into really thin slices, then just separate them into ribbons.

Summer Savoury

My time in Newfoundland FIRMLY cemented the belief that Summer Savoury is the One True Herb when it comes to Thanksgiving - and roasted poultry in general.

Mt Scio is the best brand, and I will always choose it over all others - regardless of price.

That said, it can sometimes be harder to find in other parts of Canada (unless you have Newfoundland stores!), so I’ve had to buy other brands.

When living in the USA, it was all but impossible to find. So, I’d use either dried rosemary (crushed a little), rubbed sage, or a combination of the two.

In a pinch - or if it’s what Thanksgiving tastes like to you, use poultry seasoning. It’s what my gramma used to use in her stuffing, so it’s nostalgic for me!

Everything Else

Rounding out this recipe, you will need:

Cranberry Sauce
Mayonnaise
Ground Black Pepper
Garlic Powder
Salt

... I just don’t have anything to add, as far as these last few ingredients go.

How to Make Festive Thanksgiving Turkey Burgers

The full recipe is in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post, here is the pictorial walk through:

Place ground turkey in a large bowl, along with the bread crumbs, carrot, celery, onion, and seasonings.

Gently use hands to get a really good mix going, making sure that everything is evenly distributed and well incorporated in the meat mixture.

Divide the turkey mixture into 3 or 4 equal balls.

Gently flatten each ball into a patty that is roughly the size of your burger buns – maybe a little larger.

Spray the grill and turkey burgers with nonstick spray.

Place turkey burgers on the grill grates, grill over medium heat until the internal temperature reaches 165 F on a meat thermometer / instant-read thermometer.

Turkey Burger Assembly

Split your hamburger buns, toast if desired.

Spread the bottom bun with cranberry sauce; top with shredded Brussels sprouts, and one of the turkey patties. Spread some mayo on the top bun before adding it to the burger. Serve immediately, with Sweet Potato Chips!

Leftovers

Leftover turkey burgers can be cooled to room temperature and kept in an airtight container the fridge for up to 3 days. I’ll usually reheat the cold patties in the microwave for about 45 seconds, before assembling my burger.

Note: You can cook these on the stovetop, if you prefer. I like to use a large nonstick pan to cook the turkey patties over medium heat, but a large cast-iron skillet / cast iron pan over medium-high heat is also a good option.

More Grilling Recipes for Camping

Looking for some great meals to cook on a campfire or grill? Here's a few of my favourites!

Bacon Venison Burgers with Whiskey Onions
Bison Burgers with Bacon and Caramelized Onions
Campfire Pizza
Elk Burgers with Bacon & Sauteed Mushrooms
Fajita Chicken Kebabs
Greek Chicken Souvlaki
Grilled Chicken Fajitas
Lemon-Dill Fresh Salmon Burgers
Easy Grilled Shrimp Tacos
Grilled Tuna Tacos
Mediterranean Chicken Kebabs

Be sure to check out our other Camping Recipes, including Camping Desserts, Camping Snacks, Make-Ahead Camping Mix Recipes, and a ton of delicious Camping Main Dish Recipes.

Also, we had SO much fun designing gourmet jerky recipes for our camping trips, we started a whole new blog for them! Check out Dried & Tasty for all kinds of fun recipes to make in your food dehydrator!