Spring is here and it is officially burger season! I am trying new recipes and tricks this year to up my burger game and for this cook I tried my hand at grilling some frozen turkey burgers from Jennie-O.
I’ll be honest in that these are not my favorite burgers as they doesn’t have enough fat to come out as juicy as I like. That being said, I do have a few tips and suggestions for making the best of these lean burgers.
Fire Up the Grill to Medium High Heat
I was cooking on a Weber Traveler gas grill but this recipe will work on just about any grill out there.
Start by firing up your grill and turning the dial to Medium High. You want to be working at a temperature of around 350F.
Let the grill pre-heat for 10 minutes and then place the frozen turkey burgers directly on the grill. Do not defrost the turkey or try to thaw it in the microwave first as we want to cook the burgers from the frozen state.
I like being able to work with frozen burgers because it is easy to keep them in the freezer and grab a couple whenever you feel like it!
Season The Frozen Turkey Burgers While You Grill
We are going to follow the same general process for grilling these turkey burgers that I showed for how to grill frozen hamburgers.
The biggest change I make when I cook turkey burgers instead of hamburgers is that I baste the burgers with teriyaki sauce instead of Worcestershire sauce as I find that turkey works better with sweet flavor profiles.
More specifically this is a four flip process that looks like:
- Close the lid and grill for four minutes.
- Flip the burgers over and season with salt and pepper.
- Close the lid and grill for four minutes.
- Flip the burgers over and season with salt and pepper.
- Close the lid and grill for four minutes.
- Flip the burgers over and baste with teriyaki sauce.
- Close the lid and grill for four minutes.
- Flip the burgers over and baste with teriyaki sauce.
- Add cheese if desired and remove from grill when the internal temperature of the burgers reaches 165F.
Using this method the frozen turkey burgers should be fully cooked in about 16 minutes.
Toast Your Buns and Choose Toppings
Once the burgers are cooked and off the grill it is time to toast you burger buns.
I’ve said this before and will keep on saying it..toasting the buns makes a massive difference in the quality of the final burger. I skipped this step for years because I was lazy and kicked myself once I realized what a difference it made.
For this double cheeseburger I went with the following toppings:
- Mayonnaise
- Lettuce
- Pickles
- Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce
I used Sweet Baby Rays because I like my turkey with a sweet flavor profile. Some sliced tomatoes would have been a nice addition but I didn’t realize that I was out when I started grilling 🙂
Like I mentioned before, these burgers are okay but not great. The inherent problem with a turkey burger is they are really lean and will never be as juicy and succulent as a beef burger.
That being said, if you do end up needing to grill some frozen turkey burgers then this is a pretty slick way of getting the job done!
Grilled Frozen Turkey Burgers
Ingredients
- 2 Frozen Turkey Burgers
- 2 tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Black Pepper
- 2 Tbsp Teriyaki Sauce
Instructions
- Pre-heat your grill with Medium High Heat for 10 minutes.
- Place the frozen turkey burgers on the grill, close the lid and cook for four minutes.
- Flip the burgers and season each one with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.
- Close the lid and cook for four minutes.
- Flip the burgers and season each one with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.
- Close the lid and cook for four minutes.
- Flip the burgers and season each one with 1/2 tbsp teriyaki sauce.
- Close the lid and cook for four minutes.
- Flip the burgers and season each one with 1/2 tbsp teriyaki sauce.
- Close the lid and cook for four minutes until an internal temperature of 165F is reached.
- Remove the burgers from the grill and serve on a toasted bun with toppings of choice.