Whether you are looking for a healthy meal idea or a way to sneak vegetables into your kids’ diets, these mini turkey burgers are for you! Made with turkey mince, courgette, carrot, red onion and a handful of tasty other ingredients, these show that burgers don’t have to equal junk food.
Serve them in gluten free wholemeal pittas, with a scoop of homemade tzatziki, crispy salad and a squirt of sriracha sauce if you like a bit of heat. It’s the perfect lunch that will keep you full all afternoon.
These burgers can totally be had for lunch, as well as dinner, as they are so quick to make. They’d be wonderful on the BBQ too, as there is no ovening required for this recipe, simply pan-frying or grilling.
For the homemade tzatziki recipe, you’ll find all the details underneath my turkey burger recipe. It’s a simple dip to make at home and any leftovers go wonderfully with flatbread, crisps or crudities.
Mini Turkey Burgers with Hidden Veg (Makes 15 Patties)
Mini Turkey Burgers with Hidden Veg
Ingredients
- 500g turkey mince (7% fat ideally)
- 1 courgette
- 1 carrot
- 1 small red onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 medium egg
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp zatar OR cumin OR coriander powder (whichever you have, to give a little flavour boost)
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tsp Henderson's relish or gluten free Worcestershire sauce (optional)
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Finely dice the red onion and fry over a low heat for 5 minutes until soft and translucent.
- While the onion is cooking, prepare the other ingredients. Grate the carrot and courgette into a large bowl. Squeeze the grated veg and pour off any excess water.
- Add the turkey mince, egg, parsley, minced garlic cloves, paprika, zatar/cumin/coriander and Henderson's relish to the bowl. Then finally tip in the cooked red onion and add a pinch of salt and a good grinding of black pepper.
- Mix everything really well (hands best for this, but you can use a wooden spoon if you prefer), until you have a nice smooth burger mixture with all ingredients well-incorporated.
- Add a little olive oil to the pan. Shape the burger mixture into little patties (a large heaped tsp for each) and carefully place them into the pan to cook. Cook them for approximately 15 minutes, turning halfway through, over a low-medium heat. After this time they should be nicely browned on both sides and fully cooked in the centre. Check one and if not quite cooked give them an extra few minutes.
Time to serve the turkey burgers! I love pairing these with homemade tzatziki (see recipe in my post below), some sriracha chilli sauce and crunchy salad in gluten free pittas. But you can have them with all sorts.
Below are some images to help you when making the turkey burgers, and below these you will find my homemade tzatziki recipe.
Homemade Tzatziki
- Grate half a cucumber into a tea towel. Bunch the towel up around the cucumber (see pic below), twist the top and them as much water as you can out of the cucumber. Transfer the strained cucumber it to a medium-sized bowl.
- Add 0.5 tsp dried mint, 1 large clove of garlic (finely minced), 1 tsp olive oil, 1 tsp white wine vinegar, 0.5 tsp salt, some black pepper and 3 tbsp Greek yoghurt to the bowl. Stir well to combine.
- Pop into the fridge to chill until ready to serve (or simply eat straight away if you can’t wait!).
You can use fresh mint instead of dried if you like, I tried it today and it works just as well. Ideally make the tzatziki a little in advance so that the mint and garlic infuse into the yoghurt and cucumber, but I often serve straightaway when I’m in a rush.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this gluten free turkey burger recipe! For more healthy meal ideas, why not try one of my other gluten free recipes:
- Healthy Chicken Kebabs
- Greek Salad
- Sweet Potato, Leek & Feta Frittata
- Teriyaki Salmon Sushi Bowl
- Peanut Butter Tahini Noodles
Enjoy! x
