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Mediterranean Turkey Burger

This easy Mediterranean turkey burger recipe, loaded with feta, onions and herbs and slathered in cooling homemade tzatziki, is one you’ll reach for time and time again.

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Mediterranean Turkey Burger on a plate with feta, lettuce, tomato and tzatziki sauce

Because, Who Doesn’t Love a Good Turkey Burger?!

Our turkey burger recipe goes beyond the basic—and predictable—meat/cheese/bun burger formula and adds in unexpected, flavorful elements like fresh parsley, feta cheese, and a creamy homemade tzatziki sauce you’ll basically want to put on everything. Plus, our turkey burgers are easy to pull together (hello, last-minute dinner guests!) and a nice trade-up when you’re either tired of beef, or just plain don’t eat beef burgers.

5 ground turkey burger patties on a baking sheet
Mediterranean Turkey Burgers on a baking sheet with whole wheat buns, lettuce tomatoes and tzatziki sauce on a spoon

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How To Make Turkey Burgers.

Our easy turkey burger recipe comes together in a snap, and it’s one kids can even help out with, thanks to the creamy tzatziki sauce that littles can mix together while you handle the meat. Simply combine ground turkey and grated onions with garlic, parsley, cumin, and oregano for basically the best turkey burger recipe, ever. Don’t believe us? It’s as easy and 1, 2, 3:

  1. Combine uncooked ground turkey with seasonings.
  2. Mix tzatziki sauce. Better yet, let’s the kids whip it up while you mix the meat.
  3. Cook turkey burgers, assemble, and eat.

How To Cook Turkey Burgers

No grill? No problem. Our favorite turkey burgers are cooked in a shimmer of oil on the stove top, in our trusty cast iron skillet. They’re easy going—you could just as easily toss them on the barbecue, or even a George Foreman, if that’s your jam. You can even bake our turkey burgers in the oven. We recommend baking them on a rimmed baking sheet at 425°F for 15 minutes. Whether you’re cooking them over gas, campfire coals, in the oven or stovetop, just make sure your turkey burger temperature reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. The easiest way to test for homemade turkey burger doneness is to insert a cooking or meat thermometer into the thickest part of the patty, and only removing the turkey burgers from heat once they reach that internal temperature of 165°F.

Person holding a plate with a Mediterranean Turkey Burger With Tzatziki sauce on it.

How To Season Turkey Burgers

When it comes to turkey burger seasoning, you almost can’t go wrong! Our Mediterranean turkey burgers get their juiciness, herbaceous flavor from oregano, bright parsley, and grated onion—the latter of which ensures that we wind up with perfectly moist turkey burgers. But there are so many delicious variations on our turkey burger recipe—the key is to always mix something (or a few somethings) into the meat that will give the turkey burger moisture, since ground turkey is so lean.

  • Opt for a Greek turkey burger by mixing in fresh feta cheese and diced roasted red peppers.
  • Or, go for a Mexican turkey burger with black beans, cotija cheese, and chopped cilantro—and obviously you’ll need to top that with some homemade guacamole.
  • You can also keep your turkey burgers super classic. Just add grated onion, a little ketchup and some Worchestire sauce to the ground meat before forming patties.

Are Turkey Burgers Healthy?

Burger, healthy? Perhaps it’s not such an oxymoron. Take for instance, this Mediterranean turkey burger recipe. Using lean ground turkey and topping the turkey patty with a cucumber-and-Greek yogurt tzatziki sauce, makes this a healthy turkey burger recipe, for sure. But, if you’re choosing to slather your turkey burger with mayo and top it with bacon and extra cheese, then they may not be the healthy turkey burgers your doc wants you eating every day. Still! That also sounds delicious and we’re not here to judge.

two Mediterranean Turkey Burgers With Tzatziki tomatoes on plates

Tools to Make The Best Turkey Burger Recipe:

  • Small mixing bowl. One like this that doubles as a serving bowl is perf.
  • Food thermometer. True story: the hubs got me one for Christmas one year and I was like, “So romantic, thanks…” It took me less than two meals to realize it was legit the best gift, ever.
  • A solid cast iron skillet. Trust us when we tell you it’s hands-down one of the most versatile kitchen pans you will ever own
two Mediterranean Turkey Burgers With Tzatziki tomatoes on plates

Other Ground Turkey Recipes We Love:

Buy a *little* too much turkey during your last freezer restock? Better pull some out to defrost and get cooking these three turkey recipes we also love.

The Best Turkey Burgers Ever, Right?

Show us how your Greek-inspired turkey burgers turned out and tag us @themodernproper and #themodernproper. Hurry, while you’ve still got a bite left!

Mediterranean Turkey Burger

  • Serves: 6
  • Prep Time:  30 min
  • Cook Time:  10 min
  • Calories: 420

Ingredients

Turkey Patties

  • 2 lbs ground turkey
  • 2 tsp oregano
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 small onion, grated
  • ¼ cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp olive oil

Tzatziki Sauce

  • 1 cup Greek yogurt
  • ½ english cucumber, grated
  • 1 tbsp dried dill or 2 tbsp fresh dill
  • 2 tsp za’atar, optional
  • 1-2 garlic cloves, minced
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp pepper

Burger

  • 6 Romaine lettuce leaves
  • 2 tomatoes, sliced
  • 4 oz feta, crumbled
  • 6 hamburger buns, toasted
  • 1 cup tzatziki sauce

Method

  1. In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the tzatziki sauce. Cover and place in the fridge for a 1 hour to allow flavors to meld (optional).
  2. To make the burger patties, mix the ground turkey, oregano, garlic, onion, parsley, cumin, pepper and salt in a bowl with your hands until fully combined. Divide the mixture into 6 evenly sized burger patties, slightly larger than the hamburger buns.
  3. Heat the oil in a large cast iron skillet set over medium heat**. Season the outside of the patties with a little sprinkle of salt. Cook the patty for 4-5 minutes on each side. Use a food thermometer to be sure they have reached a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 °F.
  4. To assemble the burgers, layer them with tzatziki sauce, the patty, tomato, lettuce more tzatziki sauce and feta. Enjoy.

**These turkey burgers are cooked on the stove top, in a cast iron skillet. You could just as easily toss them on the barbecue, or even a George Foreman, if that’s your jam. You can even bake our turkey burgers in the oven. We recommend baking them on a rimmed baking sheet at 425°F for 15 minutes. Whether you’re cooking them over gas, campfire coals, in the oven or stovetop, just make sure your turkey burger temperature reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. The easiest way to test for homemade turkey burger doneness is to insert a cooking or meat thermometer into the thickest part of the patty, and only removing the turkey burgers from heat once they reach that internal temperature of 165°F.

Nutrition Info

  • Per Serving
  • Amount
  • Calories420
  • Protein37 g
  • Carbohydrates23 g
  • Total Fat20 g
  • Dietary Fiber3 g
  • Cholesterol111 mg
  • sodium837 mg
  • Total Sugars5 g

Mediterranean Turkey Burger

Questions & Reviews

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  • Melissa Grimaldi

    If anyone has done these on the grill- how high a heat and approx total cook time.

    Medium high for about 6-7 minutes per side. Hope you eenoy Melissa!

  • Bianca

    What can I use if I don't have fresh parsley?

    You could use dried parsley if you prefer (4 teaspoons should do the trick). Hope you enjoy!

  • Heather Campbelll

    My family is not big on onions (really at all) though we love gyros. Any suggestions for how to replace the moistness that the grated onion contributes with a different ingredient?

    You can just leave it out : ) It should still be fine! But you could also grate up some bell peppers or a little zucchini, but just ring them out first because zucchini has a lot of liquid in it.

  • Nichole Hannegan

    Do you squeeze the juice/strain after you grate the onion?

    We did not for this recipe. Hope you enjoy Nichole!

  • Jenny Burch

    First off I just want to say these are the best homemade "gyro" meat I have ever had!! My husband works out of state for 2 for weeks at a time and wants to make these for him to take! My question is if I cook these and freeze the burgers will it work ok for him to reheat in the microwave from freezer? Also how long will the sauce last in the fridge? Or can it be froze? Thank you!

    Yes! You can freeze them. They will reheat great. The sauce will keep for a week or so!

  • Just Mw

    I would give this recipe 5/5 stars. It was a very good Greek burger, and the sauce was spot on. I will be making this recipe again.

    Thank you, we are so glad you loved it!

  • Dani

    SO GOOD! I was out of buns, so I used a Trader Joe gluten-free everything bagel. Will be making again!

    Thanks Dani! We are so glad to hear that!

  • Debbie Melanson

    This is such a good recipe. Just made them and they were so tasty. Didn't have Za'tar so I made it (less the sumac but added coriander)

    I'm making sure I keep this one close at hand. Thanks so much *****A++++***

    Thanks Debbie! so happy you loved them!

  • Gala Coge

    Loved it! Thank you for the recipe - it was easy to make, healthy, affordable and very very delicious! I added some lemon zest on top of the patti before serving and it was soooo good!

    Thanks Gala, we are so happy you loved these!

  • Jaye Hansen

    These are the most flavorful burgers I have ever made! I did find that the raw ground turkey was way too moist--I couldn't shape them in my hands. Maybe it was because of the brand that I bought? So, it would have been impossible to grill them. I baked them, and then the next day I sliced the cooked meat and browned it in the cast iron skillet. Then I wrapped them in a large whole wheat tortilla, and served them like gyros. They were so delicious! And the tzaziki sauce was the best recipe that I've ever used!

    Thank you so much Jaye, we are thrilled that you loved them!