Recipe: How Sweet It Is Blog's Thai Turkey Burgers

About a month ago, this recipe showed up in my inbox. Up until this point I've been a sort of fair-weather vegetarian. I rarely (if ever) eat red meat and I only sparingly eat poultry. However, I've decided to take the plunge and officially declare myself a legitimate vegetarian. I figured I might need to blog about this recipe BEFORE I make that declaration so I can forget this tasty, delicious meal exists. Clearly you carnivores need to try it though. It is possibly the BEST turkey burger recipe I've ever tried. PB and I both LOVED it. The sauce is simply out of control.

I've posted the recipe below exactly as it appears on How Sweet Eat's blog. We followed exactly, except I fully omitted the slaw.  We couldn't find napa cabbage here and we both hate cilantro (or coriander if you're in the UK.)

Thai Turkey Burgers

Yield: makes 4 burgers

Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

1 pound 94% lean ground turkey
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup shredded carrots, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 whole wheat buns, toasted

thai sauce
1/2 cup sweet chili sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup lite canned coconut milk
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, pressed or finely minced
1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon-sized knob of ginger, grated
1 lime, juiced
1/2 tablespoon soy sauce

slaw

2 cups chopped napa cabbage
3/4 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup chopped peanuts

 

Directions:

 

Begin by combining all the ingredients together for the sauce: the sweet chili sauce, rice vinegar, coconut milk, brown sugar, garlic cloves, peanut butter, ginger, lime juice and soy sauce, and whisk until combined and fairly smooth. Scoop out about 1/4 cup of the sauce and set it aside. Place the rest in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 3-4 minutes until slightly thickened. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the ground turkey with the salt, pepper, sliced green onions, chopped shredded carrots and about 2-3 tablespoons of the 1/4 cup of sauce that you set aside. Mix until just combined, being careful not to overmix but making sure everything is incorporated. I ended up using the full 1/4 cup. The patties can be slightly difficult to put together since they are so "wet," so to cook them, I heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, added 1 tablespoon of olive oil then quickly formed the patties one at a time, placing them in the skillet.

Cook for at least 4-5 minutes, until you can see the edges brown and the turkey becoming opaque so the burgers flip easily. Flip gently but quickly, and cook for another 4-5 minutes or until the burgers are cooked through. (Note: because of how wet the ground turkey is, I am not sure how these would hold up on the outside grill.)

To make the slaw, quickly throw together the cabbage, carrots, cilantro and peanuts, tossing well. Add 3-4 tablespoons of the sauce, then toss well to coat. Add additional sauce if desired. Place each burger on a bun and top with a heaping spoonful of the slaw and additional sauce if desired.

We served our burgers on a bed of spinach with some sweet potato fries. 

SOOOO.

GOOOOOOD.

Make these this week.

You'll thank me. 

(Do you follow How Sweet It Is?!)