Turkey Smashburgers

Smashburgers are pretty popular these days – and with good reason. They are classic diner style burgers made from layering up smaller patties with cheese and piling on all the good burger toppings. As a result of the cooking methods for making these burgers you get these delightful crispy bits of both burger and cheese to add texture to the burger as a whole. Most commonly, smashburgers are made with ground beef but for this recipe I wanted to try something a little bit different and go for some ground turkey. So here is it – my recipe for Turkey Smashburgers – complete with bacon, cheese, lettuce, tomato and onion.

Since ground turkey can be a little bit dry on it’s own, it’s important that you add in the dried minced onions. These rehydrate nicely to add necessary moisture to the mix. The Worcestershire sauce also gives some moisture to the patties as well as a great umami flavors. This recipe would also work with ground chicken if that is your preference, in terms of poultry.

Cooking burgers smash style is definitely best if you can do in on a flattop griddle like a Blackstone Griddle. They give you a nice big, evenly heated surface, to cook all your patties at once. That said, you can totally make smashburgers in any wide flat pan on your stove top. Trust me – I do it all the time. The only other thing you need is a wide flat spatula (not slotted) to press the patties down and a 2-3 oz food scoop for portioning.

For this recipe I went pretty traditional with the toppings. I did go for pepper jack cheese, but you could use any cheese you like. I do suggest you go for the thin-sliced cheese, as it will melt nicely without over cooking the burger. Crispy bacon, thinly sliced red onions, tomatoes, and green leaf lettuce nicely round out the toppings. I also urge you to toast your burger buns (for just about every burger you make) as it helps the bun stay intact while you eat the burger. Another simplification on this burger is just using mayonnaise for a sauce. The flavors of the burger are really delicate, so a really strong sauce would over power everything.

Now Let’s Get Cookin’!

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Turkey Smashburgers

Double cheese and bacon smashed turkey burgers piled high with classic toppings of lettuce, tomato and onion, with mayo.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword bacon, bacon cheeseburger, burgers, cheeseburger, ground turkey, smash burger, turkey burger, turkey smashburger

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

• 9 slices Bacon cut in half
• 12 slice Pepper Jack Cheese thin-sliced
• ½ cup Mayo
• 1 Beefsteak Tomato sliced
• ½ Red Onion thin-sliced
• 6 leaves Green Leaf Lettuce
• 6 Kaiser Burger Buns
• Cooking Spray

For the patties

• 2 lb Ground Turkey
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Black Pepper
• 1 tsp Paprika
• 1 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1 tbsp Parsely
• 1 tbsp Dried Minced Onion
• ¼ cup Worcestershire Sauce

Instructions

• In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, add bacon. Cook until crispy and remove to a paper towel covered plate and keep warm. Reserve bacon grease in the pan.
• Preheat oven to 450degF.
• Combine ingredients for patties and form into 12 equal balls. Place two to three balls into the hot pan (with bacon grease) and use a wide flat spatula to press each down into thin patties (¼ inch thick). Cook for 3 minutes then flip and press down again. Let cook for 2 minutes then top with each with a slice of cheese and let cook another minute. Stack two patties together. Repeat with remaining balls.
• Open buns and lay them out on a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Spray buns with thin layer of cooking spray. Place in oven to toast for 5-7 minutes.
• Build the burger – smear top and bottom bun with mayo. Add double cheeseburger, then 3 pieces of bacon. Top with lettuce, tomato, and red onion. Place top bun and press down slightly to help hold it all together.