Finally, a real alternative to a hamburger, a Turkey Reuben Burger (or Sandwich)! It’s tasty. It’s filling. It’s not that hard to prepare…and you’ll moan at first bite, really! (Oh my, I just thought how great this would be with some sweet potato fries…) Trust me on this one, this recipe has to go in your “Make it NOW” file! The original recipe is from “Cuisine Tonight: Sandwiches and Salads” but I’ve changed the ingredients and the method a bit to make it easier and…, tastier!

This recipe was also the latest in my teaching the nineteen year old’s how to cook series. I told them the only trick to this recipe is to shape the patties into the shape of the bread, and to make each patty thin, but complete (no holes for the cheese to leak out.) They both were impressed with themselves for making these impressive burgers, and they were both impressed with how tasty they were. I also mentioned this might be a good recipe to experiment with–it would be easy to make a cheddar stuffed hamburger with grilled mushrooms or onions instead of the coleslaw….

Turkey Reuben Burger

For the coleslaw

1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon pickle relish
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon horseradish (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups shredded green cabbage
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 half freshly grated green apple (peel before grating)

For the burger

1 1/4 lb. ground turkey breast
1/2 grated green apple (peel before grating)
salt and pepper, to taste
8 slices of Swiss Cheese

8 slices of Marbled Rye or Cornmeal Rye bread, toasted

Make the coleslaw first and then set aside for flavors to develop. Whisk the mayo, relish, ketchup, lemon juice, horseradish, and salt together in a small bowl. Set aside. Combine shredded lettuce, chopped onion, and grated apple together in another bowl. Add dressing the the lettuce-onion-apple mixture. Cover and refrigerate until needed (Make as close to serving time as possible. You want the cabbage to retain some crunch). In another bowl combine turkey, apple and salt and pepper. Mix with a fork to combine (See the pictures below for a visual of the next steps).

Using approx 1/4 of the turkey mixture, on a piece of wax paper, form two VERY THIN patties, roughly the same size and shape of the bread you are using. (These TWO patties will make ONE burger, so don’t make them too thick!).

Heat a skillet and spray it with Pam. Keep the pan on medium heat. Take one of the patties, with the wax paper still on it, and turn it upside down onto the hot pan. Remove the wax paper. Place two slices of Swiss cheese on top of the patty in the pan.

Tear the cheese to fit inside the patty, leaving an approx. 1/4 inch border, then put the other thin patty on top of the first patty and the Swiss cheese.

With a fork, seal the edges so no melted cheese can escape. Sear burger 2 minutes on one side, then flip and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes on the other side (or until the ground turkey is no longer pink).

Toast the bread. Place 1/4th of the coleslaw mixture on one slice of bread. Top with the cooked turkey patty.

Top with the second slice of bread. Cut in half and serve. (Half a burger may be enough for one serving) Yummmm.

This recipe will probably make four burgers, but this all depends on the size of the slice of your bread. The bread I had was huge, so from this batch I only got 3 sandwiches (which, when cut in half, made six-girl sized servings…, but the boys wanted both halves, so only 3 boy sized servings).