Turkey Burger and Sweet Potato Fries

I know that there is no way to have a post today that is anywhere near as pretty or as exciting as Saturday’s Orange Tian from The Daring Baker’s Challenge, so I will not even try to compare the two.

I will, however, make many friends and neighbors (and hopefully others) happy by posting an incredibly delicious recipe for something simple and healthy that can be whipped up in almost no time for dinner.

I will tell you (and you certainly may already know this)…I am not a turkey burger girl. Where’s the beef? That’s what I want to know. I think ground turkey is a total bore (even in chili). I have tried and tried to make it tasty, but I am always less than impressed. My take on food is, if it’s not worth the calories, then I am not eating it. That is generally how I feel about the gobbler burger.

I decided to take a peek on line (because I know there are so many wonderful cooks out there that post recipes), to see if I had missed something. I did find a recipe from The Neelys (Food Network) that uses Pepper Jack Cheese in the middle of the turkey burgers. Maybe now we were talking.

I know that they used some onion and garlic in the ground turkey, so I did that. Then I added some of our leftover Country Bob’s Regular All Purpose Sauce. I knew I wanted to try it in ground meat and I will tell you…it was the absolute best turkey burger I have ever had. It was moist and delicious. I must admit, that sauce is really yummy and I am so excited that I was sent a few bottles to test it out.

If you do not have or cannot find the sauce, you should try a barbecue sauce that you like (with some heat and sweetness) or A-1 sauce and add some heat (maybe a pinch of red pepper flakes). The incredible flavors were achieved with the addition of that one ingredient. It also created the moistness in the burger. Be sure to cook these burgers inside and not on the grill. They will stay together better if they are sautéed in a pan. They will also be juicier.

In addition to the burger, I oven roasted some sweet potato fries. Oh, my gosh! I sprinkled them with Za’atar, which is Middle Eastern spice that is normally used to top pita bread (or it can be used in other various dishes). Forget the pita and top these fries! This was such an incredible, simple dinner. It was low-fat and healthy. I even used 80 calorie whole wheat buns from Sara Lee. Shocking, I know.

This is the perfect quick and easy dinner that still has tons of awesome flavors. I have finally found something to make me want to eat turkey in a burger and not just have sliced turkey breast meat for Thanksgiving! 🙂

Print Recipe

Turkey Burgers and Sweet Potato Fries

Serves 3

Ingredients:

Burger
20 oz. ground turkey (white and dark meat)
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste (a bit more than a pinch!)
1/4 cup Country Bob’s Regular All Purpose Sauce (substitute your favorite barbecue sauce or A-1)
Slices of Pepper Jack Cheese
Additional sauce, warmed to top cooked burger
Olive oil

Fries
2 large sweet potatoes
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Za’atar seasoning

Directions:

For burgers:
Mix first 5 ingredients together in a large bowl. Shape ground turkey into 6 thin patties. Fold cheese slices into small squares (I used 1/2 slice per burger) or cut slices from a block of cheese. Place in the middle of the burgers. Top with another patty. Be sure there is enough room all around the sides to seal the burger well (you do not want all the tasty cheese oozing out while it cooks!). Repeat this 2 more times to make 3 burgers.

Heat a small amount of olive oil in a large nonstick pan over medium heat (preferably a griddle pan, if you have one). Brown burgers on one side (about 5 minutes). Flip the burgers and brown on the other side (another 4-5 minutes). Check to be sure the turkey is cooked.

Place cooked burgers on a bun and top with warm Country Bob’s Sauce (or substitute), lettuce and any other burger condiment you like. That’s it! It is soooo good!

For fries:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wash and scrub sweet potatoes. Cut into large slices (do not make them too thin or they will burn). They should be the size of homestyle potatoes. Toss them with the olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Place on a nonstick baking sheet.

Cook them in the oven for 15 minutes and then flip over. They should be crispy and brown in about another 10-15 minutes. Remove from the sheet and sprinkle generously with Za’atar seasoning.

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