Want a new, different and totally tasty burger to add to your repertoire?  Here it is! A turkey burger with a Spanakopita flair!  This recipe was inspired by Rachael Ray’s, Spanakopita Burger from her book, 365: No Repeats.  I made her recipe “as is” last year, and it was good, but this year I made it my way and loved it!  

These burgers can be grilled or pan fried.  I am sure some cucumber raita or hummus would go well on these burgers but we ate them the traditional American way, on a good bun with sliced homegrown tomatoes, a bit of crunchy lettuce and ketchup.

Make the patties as big or as little as you want. I made 8 patties, approximately 4 oz. each, but I love those little slider buns that are available now and think hosting a BBQ and serving a variety of burgers would be fun.  My son’s girlfriend just took a bite of his leftover and warmed up Turkey burger, and her exact words were, “WOW! That’s fantastic!” Yep—and she scored big points with the boyfriend’s mama!

Note: If you use applesauce instead of a grated half apple, your mixture might be looser. This will also happen if you don’t squeeze every bit of moisture out of that spinach! You might have to add something more to firm up the meat mixture. I would start by adding more breadcrumbs. But don’t let this put you off making these, they really are very tasty and much lighter than a regular burger.

And toast your bun! Always toast your burger bun 🙂

Turkey Burgers with a Greek Flair

INGREDIENTS

• 1½ – 1 1/3 lbs of ground turkey
• 1 box (10 oz) frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry to rid it of moisture
• 1 cup (4 oz) crumbled feta cheese
• 18-24 (2-3 oz) Kalamata olives, diced
• ½ cup very finely diced or grated red onion
• ¼ cup chopped fresh basil or parsley, if you have some on hand
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• ½ – 1 tsp. black pepper
• ½ tsp. salt—the feta & olives are already salty so you can skip the added salt if you are salt sensitive
• 4 oz. applesauce—1 individual serving cup OR ½ a peeled, grated apple
• ¼ cup seasoned breadcrumbs—any breadcrumbs or Panko will work
• 1 egg, beaten
• To serve: buns and choice of toppings.

DIRECTIONS

1. Place the ground turkey in a large bowl.
2. Remove the defrosted spinach from the box and squeeze, and I do mean s-q-u-e-e-z-e all the water from the spinach—I did not say drain, I said squeeze. Take about 1/3 of the spinach into your hand and squeeze, squeeze, squeeze until totally dry.  Repeat until all the spinach is in little tight balls.  Fluff the balls up and add to the ground turkey in the bowl.
3. Add the feta, olives, red onion, garlic, oregano, basil or parsley, salt and pepper, applesauce or grated apple, and the bread crumbs to the turkey mixture .  With a fork, lightly mix the ingredients until everything has been uniformly distributed.
4. Divide the mixture into 8 equal parts. Pat each part into a flat patty, just slightly bigger than your hamburger buns.
5. Grill, or pan fry until cooked, about 3 minutes on each side, but this all depends on how hot the grill/pan is and your preferences.
6. Toast the buns!  (I obviously love toasted buns)
7. Serve with your choice of condiments—ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard, riata, tomatoes, lettuce, grilled red peppers, etcetera… 🙂

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today!  I hope you enjoy these burgers!