Greek Turkey Burgers with Tzadiki Sauce

Topped with fresh veggies, feta, and our delicious homemade tzadiki sauce, these light, juicy Greek Turkey Burgers are perfect anytime you want a healthy, satisfying meal. Ready in less than 30 minutes!

These Greek Turkey Burgers are big on savory Mediterranean flavors! These have become one of our favorite go-to meals; not only do they check all the flavor boxes, but they're also budget-friendly and take only a few minutes to put together.

Start to finish, you can be biting into these tasty Mediterranean-inspired burgers in less than 30 minutes. Even better, the burger patties and tzadiki sauce can be prepped ahead of time, in which case dinner can be on the table in the time it takes to broil the burgers!

Jump to:

• Turkey Burger Ingredients
• How to Make this Mediterranean Burger Recipe
• Substitutions
• Alternate Cooking Methods
• Top Tip: Greek Sliders
• FAQ
• Pairing
• More Greek-inspired Recipes
• Greek Turkey Burgers with Tzadiki Sauce
• Food Safety

Turkey Burger Ingredients

Burgers

• Ground turkey: This recipe calls for 85% lean ground turkey, which means the turkey contains 15% fat. You can use a lighter ground turkey (i.e., 93% lean/7% fat), but your burgers won’t be as flavorful, and they won’t hold together as well.
  • After making these burgers with a variety of ground meats, we highly suggest using store-ground over the kind that comes in the round prepackaged chubs-o-meat. The store-ground has more air in it, which will result in a lighter, airier burger. Moreover, we have found that meat packed in chubs is generally of lesser quality, which also directly affects the flavor of the burgers.
• Greek yogurt: We suggest using full fat greek yogurt. Lower fat yogurts will make for runny tzadiki.
• Spinach: You can use fresh or frozen. If you use frozen, defrost it first, and squeeze out the moisture. 
• Cavenders All-purpose Greek Seasoning: This is one of our favorite everyday seasonings! 
• Feta: Use plain of seasoned feta, crumbled.
• Red onion: Red onon has the right combo of sweet-hot flavor. You can also use a sweet onion.
• Spinach: Use fresh spinach.
• Egg: Use a large or extra large egg.
• Garlic: Go ahead a double the garlic if you love it.
• Oregano: Dried or fresh.
• Bread crumbs: Use fresh breadcrumbs or Panko crumbs. Do not use seasoned bread crumbs. Bread crumbs are added to balance the moisture in the meat mixture.

• Buns: Use Store-bought buns, or make your own. (We love these burgers with homemade buns seasoned with roasted garlic and Cavenders All-purpose Greek Seasoning.

Tzadiki Sauce

Tzatziki (Greek Cucumber Yogurt Sauce) is a creamy traditional Greek sauce made with cucumbers, fresh garlic, and fresh mint (or dill). Served on the side with many Mediterranean dishes, tzadiki also makes a delicious vegetable dip.

• Greek yogurt: Use a whole-milk yogurt. The extra moisture in non-fat yogurt will make the burgers mushy.
• Cucumber: Use a regular or English cucumber. Use a spoon to remove the seeds.
• Garlic: Double if you love it.
• Cavenders Greek Seasoning
• Mint: Use fresh mint!
• Lemon juice: Use fresh, frozen or bottled lemon juice.
• Olive oil

How to Make this Mediterranean Burger Recipe

Make Tzadiki

Make the sauce first to give the sauce ingredients the maximum amount of time to meld and marry. 

To make tzadiki, first peel, seed, and coarsely grate the cucumber. Collect the grated cucumber in your hands and squeeze out as much of the water as you can.

You can also lay the grated cucumber between paper towels and press the moisture out. It is important to remove as much water possible so you don't end up with weepy cucumber sauce.

Once the cucumber is squeezed out, put it in a medium bowl with the rest of the tzadiki ingredients: plain yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and seasonings. Stir gently to thoroughly combine the sauce ingredients.

Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to serve the turkey burgers. 

Mix & Form Burgers

Place turkey burger, chopped spinach, egg, grated onion, chopped garlic, feta crumbles, and seasonings in a large bowl and use your hands to quickly combine, as you would a meatloaf. Mix only until everything is evenly mixed. 

If the mixture seems too loose to easily form into patties, add ¼-⅓ cup bread crumbs and allow the mixture to sit for at least 5 minutes before proceeding.

TIP: It is important to keep burger ingredients cold until you are ready to cook them. This especially applies to the ground turkey.

If the meat starts at room temperature, the heat of your hands will melt the fat as you are working with it, which may result in a dense, dry burger. 

Divide and form the turkey burger mixture into patties about ½-inch thick.

We use a nifty little burger press to make our turkey burger patties, and it makes the process so easy! Not only does it form perfect, round burgers, but it also adds circular impressions that help keep the burgers from shrinking too much or doming up in the middle.

(If you don't have a burger press, use this easy dimpling trick to keep your burgers in shape.)

Turkey burger patties tend to shrink by about 20-25% when cooked. Make them slightly bigger than the buns you want to use so that burger-and-bun will fit together nicely when they are cooked. 

This Greek turkey burger recipe will make eight regular-size burgers (about 5 ounces each), or 16 slider-size burgers (about 2½ ounces each).

Broil Burgers

After much experimenting, we found that broiling is the best way to cook these burgers, with grilling coming in a distant second. 

1. Preheat broiler for 5 minutes. Place burgers on broiling pan. Season lightly with Cavendar's Greek Seasoning, or kosher salt and pepper. 
2. Place pan in preheated oven 4-5 inches below heat. Broil 5-6 minutes on one side. 
3. Remove burgers from the oven and use a spatula or tongs to carefully flip the burgers over. Season again with Cavendar's Greek Seasoning, or kosher salt and pepper. 
4. Return burgers to the oven and broil for an additional 5-7 minutes, or until the tops are richly browned and the internal temperature has reached 165° [74 °C].

Use a meat thermometer to check for doneness. Burgers are done when they reach an internal temperature of 165° (74 °C).

Greek Turkey Burgers can also be skillet-fried on the stovetop, grilled on the barbecue.

Assemble Burgers

First, toast your buns. (We like to use homemade buns seasoned with roasted garlic and Cavenders All-purpose Greek Seasoning.) Toasting helps prevent the burger juices from making the bun soggy. 

Layer onto thinly sliced red onion, sliced tomatoes, fresh spinach, and fresh feta crumbles, then top it all off with a generous dollop of creamy tzadiki sauce. 

Substitutions

Ground Turkey: You can also substitute ground chicken or ground beef in this Greek turkey burger recipe; just pay attention to the fat content. If the meat you use is less than 10% fat, add a tablespoon of olive oil, a ¼-13 cup of bread crumbs, and an additional egg to the mix.

Cavenders All-purpose Greek Seasoning: If you don't have any Cavenders on hand, you can substitute in ½ teaspoon each: kosher salt, basil, oregano, and freshly ground pepper.

Mint: If you don't have fresh mint, you can use a teaspoon or two of dried mint, or use fresh or dried basil.

Alternate Cooking Methods

Grill on Barbecue

• Grill turkey burgers on your outdoor BBQ as you would any other burger, about 5-6 minutes per side.
• Turkey is a lean meat, so be sure to oil your grill thoroughly before slapping on the burgers.

Fry on Stovetop

• In a large, heavy skillet, fry turkey burgers on the stovetop over medium heat for 5-6 minutes on each side, flipping once. If burgers aren’t done enough in the middle, you can finish them by placing them in 400°F (205°C) oven for 3-4 minutes. 

In all cases, use a meat thermometer to check for doneness. Burgers are done when they reach an internal temperature of 165° (74 °C).

Top Tip: Greek Sliders

Slider-size Greek turkey burgers are perfect for parties & game-day celebrations! Simply buy or make slider-sized buns and you're set to go!

FAQ

Change up your burger sauce! Swap the tzadiki out for something completely different, like Cool Buffalo Blue Cheese Dip or Feta-Dill Sauce!

Pairing

Rounding out this meal can be as easy adding a handful of grapes or a simple vegetable or fruit salad on the side. If you want an even more hearty meal, Stuffed Grape Leaves, Spanakopita, and Greek fries all pair well with this Greek turkey burger recipe!

5-Minute Greek Salad: A simple Greek Salad is makes a light, delicious side for Greek turkey burgers, and you can easily make one in about 5 minutes using the leftovers from your burgers. If you have any leftover cucumber, tomato, onion, and feta after you make your burgers, you have the makings of a quick, easy Greek side salad.

To do this, simply chop and combine the veggies and toss with a drizzles of extra virgin olive oil and a splash or two of balsamic vinegar. Top with crumbled feta.

More Greek-inspired Recipes

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Food Safety

• Burgers are done when they reach an internal temperature of 165°F (74 °C).
• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food that previously touched raw meat.
• Always wash hands after touching raw meat.
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
• Never leave cooking food unattended.
• Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove.
• Store food in suitable, covered containers.

See more guidelines at USDA.gov.

Thank you for visiting the Good Hearted Woman. Remember to bookmark this site, and come back soon!