Feta Turkey Burger with Honey

You may need a little comfort food with the weather cooling down and the nights getting longer. Your traditional cheeseburger might be your dirty little food secret, but by switching to a turkey burger, you can satisfy your craving without guilt! Our feta turkey burger is pan-seared, crispy (thanks to a light brushing with a bit of olive oil), and so juicy from the blend of honey, crumbled feta cheese, and olive oil mixed into the burger patties. Build it on the right hamburger bun and you have a weeknight dinner that eats like a restaurant burger.

Create a Delicious Autumn Meal with our Turkey Burgers, Fresh Herbs, and Honey

Dark honey, like Buckwheat and Autumn, lend a rich and deep flavor to meats and bread, making them perfect for cooking and baking. The honey helps to create a beautiful pan-sear that adds to the overall color presentation. Our blueberry ketchup is a perfect spread to top your flavorful turkey burgers with - it's sweet but tangy and perfectly complements the turkey burger.

Consider a spinach fruit salad companion to this simple and delicious meal. The dressing made with Mixed Berry Honey is absolutely delicious. We made sweet potato fries to round off the meal, and they were a delicious choice. Sweet potatoes have the warmth and sweetness you crave in autumn, and they're so dippable in the blueberry ketchup.

How to Make Feta Turkey Burgers with Honey

Step 1: Gather Ingredients and Prep

First things first, you'll need to make sure you have all the ingredients required to make these feta turkey burgers. You'll need:

• Ground turkey
• Chopped white onion
• Feta cheese
• Bread crumbs
• Chopped parsley
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Bee Inspired Honey
• Minced garlic
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Hamburger buns — potato rolls are our first choice (see how to choose the best hamburger buns below)

It's also good to make sure you have your favorite burger toppings handy, whatever those may be. Before you begin making your burger patties, preheat your oven to 350°F.

Step 2: Create the Turkey Burger Base

In a large bowl, combine the ground turkey, bread crumbs, chopped parsley, onion, and garlic together with a dash of salt and pepper. Mix well to form the base of your turkey burgers.

Step 3: Mix Feta Cheese, Honey, & Oil

In a separate bowl, combine the feta cheese, olive oil, and honey. Mix well. Pour the mixture into the turkey burger base and blend.

Step 4: Form the Burger Patties & Cook

This recipe makes 4 servings, so you will want to form the mixture into 4 separate burger patties. Place each burger patty on a baking sheet and cook them for at least 10 minutes, or until the middle of the burgers are no longer pink.

Step 5: Sear Each Burger Patty

When the burgers are finished in the oven, remove them from the pan and brush each side with a little olive oil. In a skillet set to medium high heat, sear each side of the burger patties until crisp.

Step 6: Top & Serve

Build your turkey burgers on toasted hamburger buns with your favorite toppings and spreads. Enhance the flavor by serving them with homemade tzatziki sauce. Serve with desired burger sides. Enjoy!

Tips for Perfect Turkey Burgers

To ensure your turkey burgers turn out juicy and flavorful, follow these tips:

• Use high-quality ground turkey with a good fat content (around 85% lean) to keep the burgers moist.
• Don't overmix the meat mixture, as this can lead to dense and dry burgers.
• Use a gentle forming technique when shaping the patties to avoid compacting the meat too much.
• Make sure to cook the burgers to the recommended internal temperature of 165°F (74°C) to ensure food safety.
• Don't press down on the burgers while they're cooking, as this can squeeze out the juices and make the burgers dry.
• Match your patty to your bun. Form the patties about a half inch wider than the bun, since they shrink as they cook.

By following these tips, you'll achieve the best turkey burgers that are juicy, flavorful, and perfectly cooked every time.

How to Choose the Best Hamburger Buns for Turkey Burgers

A burger is only as good as the bread holding it together. That is especially true here. Turkey is leaner than beef, so it renders less fat into the bun as it cooks — but the honey, feta, and olive oil worked into these patties make them far juicier than a standard turkey burger. Add tzatziki and a slice of tomato and you are asking a lot of a hamburger bun. Here is how we shop for one.

Test for Freshness First

Before anything else, press the package gently with your fingertips. A fresh bun springs back. A stale one holds the dent. It is a two-second test and it will tell you more than the sell-by date will, because a bun that has gone dry will tear the moment it meets a juicy patty. Buy the bag that bounces.

Look for Structure and Softness Together

The ideal hamburger bun does two jobs at once that seem to contradict each other. It has to be tender enough to compress around the patty when you bite down, and strong enough to soak up juices and sauce without going to pieces halfway through the meal. If a bun is so airy it collapses in your hand at the store, it will not survive dinner. If it is dense and chewy, you will spend the whole burger fighting the bread instead of tasting the turkey.

A Little Sweetness Helps

We are a honey company, so we will admit our bias here, but a touch of sweetness in the bread genuinely improves a burger. It plays against the salt in the feta and the char on the sear the same way honey does in a marinade. The line to watch is balance. A bun that tastes like dessert will bury everything you worked on in the patty. You want the bread supporting the burger, not competing with it.

Read the Ingredient List

Turn the bag over. The best supermarket hamburger buns have a short, readable ingredient list — flour, yeast, butter, a little sugar, and, in the case of potato rolls, potato flour or potato flakes. A long run of dough conditioners and preservatives usually signals a bun engineered for shelf life rather than for eating. Same principle we apply to our own minimally filtered honey: the fewer things standing between you and the ingredient, the better.

Our Pick: Potato Rolls

Potato rolls are what we reach for, and we are not alone — they have become the default among burger cooks who take the question seriously. The potato flour is doing the work. It gives the crumb an unusual tenderness and a faint natural sweetness, and it holds moisture, so the bun drinks up juice and melted butter instead of turning to paste. They also griddle beautifully, which matters for the next tip. Size is part of the appeal too: a standard potato roll fits a four-ounce patty almost exactly, so the bread frames the burger rather than swallowing it.

If your grocery store does not carry them, a good brioche bun is the next best thing. Brioche brings its own butter and egg richness and toasts well, though it runs sweeter, so ease up on any sweet spread you are adding.

Toast the Bun in Honey Butter

This is the step most people skip and the one that makes the biggest difference. Stir a teaspoon of honey into two tablespoons of softened butter, spread it on the cut sides of your hamburger buns, and toast them face down in a dry skillet over medium heat for about a minute, until the edges are golden. The toasted surface acts as a seal against the tzatziki and the blueberry ketchup, so the bun stays intact through the last bite, and the honey caramelizes just enough to echo the honey in the patty. For a fall version, use Buckwheat Honey, which is dark and almost molasses-like against the browned butter.

Skipping the Bun

These burgers hold together well enough to eat without bread. Serve the patty over a kale or spinach salad, wrap it in butter lettuce, or set it on a split baked sweet potato. You lose the toasted honey butter, which is a real loss, but the burger itself stands up on its own.

Our founder, Kara Brown, was asked about choosing store-bought hamburger buns for Real Simple.

Toppings and Assembly

Assemble your delicious Turkey Burgers with a variety of toppings to suit your taste. Some popular options include:

• Crisp lettuce
• Creamy avocado
• Homemade sun-dried tomato ketchup
• Refreshing cucumber-yogurt tzatziki sauce - turn them into Greek turkey burgers!
• Crumbly feta cheese
• Thinly sliced red onion
• Juicy tomato slices

To assemble your burger, start with the bottom half of a honey-butter-toasted hamburger bun, followed by a cooked turkey patty, a dollop of tzatziki sauce, a sprinkle of feta cheese, and your choice of toppings. Keep the wettest ingredients — tomato and sauce — in the middle of the stack rather than against the bread, and the bun will hold. Finish with the top bun and serve immediately. These turkey burgers are not only delicious, but also customizable to your preferences, making them a perfect meal for any occasion.

Storage and Reheating Instructions

To store your cooked turkey burgers, follow these steps:

• Allow the burgers to cool completely on a wire rack.
• Place the cooled burgers in an airtight container or zip-top bag.
• Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 2 months.
• Store buns separately at room temperature, and freeze any you will not use within three days — potato rolls thaw well and toast straight from frozen.

To reheat your turkey burgers, follow these steps:

• Preheat a non-stick skillet or griddle over medium heat.
• Add a small amount of olive oil to the pan and swirl to coat.
• Place the frozen or refrigerated burgers in the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes per side, or until heated through.
• Toast a fresh bun while the patty reheats. Reheating a burger on the original bun is how you end up with a soggy sandwich.
• Serve immediately and enjoy!

These storage and reheating instructions will help you maintain the quality and flavor of your turkey burgers, making them a convenient option for meal prep or quick meals.

Homemade blueberry ketchup with honey tastes delicious with sweet potato fries!

Adapting Feta Turkey Burgers

Any recipe does not reach true perfection until you've added your touch. At Bee Inspired Honey House, we encourage you to play with your food. Change up this recipe. Here are some ideas:

• Use your favorite cheese in place of feta; try goat cheese.
• Add in a little heat with diced jalapeño peppers.
• Swap the potato roll for a brioche bun, a pretzel bun, or a seeded whole wheat bun and see which one you like best with the feta.
• Toast your burger bun in honey butter before you build your feta turkey burgers.
• Skip the burger bun altogether and serve on a kale salad.
• Serve with a baked sweet potato for a hearty side dish.
• Turn this into spinach and feta turkey burgers by mixing in some fresh spinach to the burger patties.
• Enjoy ground chicken more than ground turkey? Feel free to swap them!

Greek turkey burgers and flavorful turkey burgers are versatile and customizable options, perfect for busy weeknights and meal prep.

If you decide to make our feta turkey burger, take a photo and share it with us using #beeinspired on Instagram. We love seeing your photos and how you are adapting our recipes!