This healthy turkey burger recipe bursts with irresistible Thai flavor! Cook them on the grill, on the stovetop, or in your air fryer, then top with fresh and crunchy Asian slaw, cucumber ribbons, and sriracha aioli. Gluten-free, made without bread crumbs. Video. Serve with Sweet Potato Fries.
Here’s a ground turkey recipe that will rock your world! These Thai turkey burgers are an easy, delicious weeknight dinner, or special enough for entertaining. Infused with fresh lemongrass, ginger, lime zest, shallots, and basil, they are bursting with Thai flavor. We leave out the breadcrumbs in the recipe so they are gluten-free, light, and healthy.
They are topped with a crunchy Asian slaw and fresh cucumber ribbons, and the buns are slathered with spicy aioli, basically like sriracha mayo. There is so much deliciousness happening here!
A very common problem when making turkey burgers is how dry they can get because they need to be cooked through, unlike beef burgers. I will show you a little tip on how to keep them moist and juicy. Love cooking with ground turkey? Here are our best turkey recipes!
Why you’ll love our Turkey Burgers!
- Versatile! The burgers can be cooked on the grill, can be pan-seared on the stovetop, or made in your air fryer!
- Healthy and Flavorful. Full of vibrant Thai flavor, yet lean and light, with no addition of bread crumbs needed.
- Make it ahead. The burger patties and sides can be made ahead if entertaining!
Turkey Burger Recipe video
Turkey Burger Ingredients
- Ground turkey– or sub ground chicken, beef or lamb, or a plant-based “meat”.
- Shallots – add the BEST flavor here. Use red onion in a pinch.
- Lemongrass – freshly chopped lemongrass, lemongrass paste, or sub-dried lemongrass in a pinch.
- Ginger– use fresh grated ginger root, or ginger paste.
- Garlic -adds a pungent flavor.
- Lime zest- add lime flavor without liquid.
- Cilantro or Thai basil
- Extra virgin olive oil– to add a little richness and keep them moist!
- Serve with: Asian Slaw, cucumber ribbons, Sriracha Aioli and Buns- make our Sourdough buns, or buy GF buns. Serve over dressed greens or in a lettuce wrap!
Turkey Burger Instructions
Combine all the turkey burger ingredients in a medium bowl and using a fork, break apart the ground turkey. 
Mix with fork, then using a wet hand, knead until mixed well.
With damp hands, shape into 3-4 burgers, compressing. The burgers will feel tender, but should hold their shape.
Place on a parchment-lined plate in the fridge until ready to grill or cook.
Grill patties on a well-greased, pre-heated grill for 4-5 minutes ( use the grill cover.)
Flip, lower heat and continue cooking until cooked through to 160F. (They will continue to cook to a perfect 165F). Keep warm until ready to serve.
Assemble the burgers. Grill the buns and slather with sriracha aioli. Add cucumber ribbons if you like and top with the slaw.
The cucumber ribbons and crunchy Asian slaw add refreshing texture and flavor. The sriracha aioli adds punchy flavor!
Turkey Burger Variations
- Add pickled onions, microgreens, or avocado.
- If you are feeling crafty, these quick sourdough buns are amazing!
- Serve in lettuce wraps and go totally grain-free.
- Serve the burger over the Asian slaw as a main course salad.
- Create Burger Bowls!
What to serve with Turkey Burgers
- Asian Slaw
- Sweet Potato Fries
- Quick Sourdough Buns
- Pickled Red Onions
- Asian Cucumber Salad
- Thai Noodle Salad
- Vermicelli Salad
- Grilled Bok Choy with Ponzu Sauce
- Sesame Cabbage Noodle Salad
Storing turkey burgers
Leftover turkey burgers will keep up to 4 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator, great for meal prep! Freeze for up to 3 months.
More Recipes you may like:
- Chimichurri Poblano Turkey Burger
- Bison Burger
- Thai Turkey Meatballs
- Lamb Burgers
- Sloppy Joes
- Homemade Meatloaf
On the home front: Earlier this spring, I hosted a birthday gathering at my house for a couple of friends. I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before – I’ve been meeting with a group of women friends every Thursday night for the past 20+ years. It has been a godsend and truly one of the best things in my life.
The group shifts and a few have come and gone through the years, and not everyone is present every single Thursday night, but for the most part, we gather as best we can to eat, drink, and commune. Together we ride the waves of our lives, supported, held up, loved.
Birthdays are extra special. We make a big deal of them, celebrating and honoring each other, and taking the pressure off our spouses to do this for us. So it was at one of these birthday celebrations for my dear friend Jill, that this recipe came to be.
I hope you enjoy these Thai Turkey Burgers as much as we have! Let us know what you think in the comments below!
xoxoxo
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Thai Turkey Burger Recipe
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 45 mins
- Yield: 4
- Category: Main, burgers,
- Method: Grilled
- Cuisine: Thai
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
This irresistible turkey burger recipe is topped with crunchy Asian Slaw and bursts with Thai flavor! Use the grill, stovetop, or air fryer!
Ingredients
Turkey Burger:
- 1 lb ground turkey (see notes)
- 3 tablespoons shallot, very finely diced (or sub red onion)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated or finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves- finely minced (or 1 teaspoon granulated garlic)
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped lemongrass
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro or Thai basil
- 2 teaspoons lime zest
- 1 scallion, chopped
- 1/2 – 1 jalapeño, seeded, finely chopped (or sub 1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes)
- 1 teaspoon salt (or one tablespoon fish sauce- see notes)
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar (optional)
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper- or sub black pepper
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
Crunchy Asian Slaw:
- 1 cup grated carrots
- 1 cup shredded purple cabbage
- 1 scallion, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons lime juice ( or rice wine vinegar)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper
Spicy Aioli:
- 1/4 cup mayo, vegan mayo or tarter sauce
- 1–2 tablespoons sriracha or chili garlic sauce
Optional Additions: Toasted Buns, Cucumber Ribbons, pickled red onions ( yum), Pickled radishes, spicy greens like watercress, sprouts, avocado
Instructions
- Preheat grill to medium-high. ( See notes to pan-sear or air fry)
- Combine all the burger ingredients in a medium bowl using a fork, breaking apart the ground turkey. Using a wet hand, knead until mixed well. It will feel very tender. With damp hands, shape into 3-4 burgers, compressing and tidying up the edges. Place on a plate in the fridge until ready to grill.
- Toss the Asian slaw ingredients together in a medium bowl. (You could do this up to a day ahead).
- Mix the spicy aioli ingredients together in a small bowl. ( You could make this up to 3 days ahead)
- Grill patties on a well-greased, pre-heated grill 4-5 minutes each side until golden and cooked through to 160F. (They will continue to cook to a perfect 165F).
- Toast or grill the buns.
- Spread aioli on the bottom bun, top with the patty, then the slaw, cucumber ribbons (optional) , more aioli, then the top bun. Enjoy!!
Notes
- To make cucumber ribbons, use a veggie peeler to make long thin slices. No need to peel English or Turkish cucumbers, but do peel those with thick waxy skins.
- The burger patties can be made up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated until ready to grill.
- To Pan-Sear: heat 1-2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet, over medium heat, pan sear turkey burgers until golden and cooked through, about 5-6 minutes on each side. Resist the urge to fiddle with them- let them develop a good crust before flipping. 🙂
- To air fry- Heat the air fryer to 370F. Place turkey burgers in a single layer, and air fry for 9-12 minutes or until they reach 160 F. (They will continue to cook to a perfect 165F).
- The original recipe used 1 tablespoon fish sauce, instead of the salt, we changed this to make them easier to handle, but feel free to do that if you are used to it!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 burger with slaw, mayo and bun
- Calories: 451
- Sugar: 8.6 g
- Sodium: 764.5 mg
- Fat: 24.3 g
- Saturated Fat: 4.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 31 g
- Fiber: 2.5 g
- Protein: 27.8 g
- Cholesterol: 84 mg
These are absolutely delicious! The slaw and aioli really make them special. The entire family enjoyed them. Thank you also for a recipe that doesn’t make me scroll for an eternity.
I am making these tonight. I love your recipes!!!!
Another outstanding recipe from my favorite new recipe site! I used a bit more lime zest since I didn’t have lemon grass. I also added an egg and a Tbs of oat bran just to be sure it would hold together and cooked in a skillet. I used the garlic chili paste as it had a bit more complex flavor for the aioli. Made Homemade hamburger buns using a King Arthur recipe. We will make this again!
THIS IS THE BEST FOOD I HAVE EVER EATEN!!!! And trust me, I LOVE food and fine dining. This is Sylvia’s third recipe I’ve tried and my mouth is watering just thinking about the incredible food I made last night. These were unbelievably delicious! I can’t even describe. MAKE IT NOW!!!!!!!!!
I used brioche buns from Trader Joe’s and grilled them on both sides. I also made homemade mayonnaise with Tapatio hot sauce, and spread that on the bun, put the burger on then added more mayo, put the coleslaw then added the other bun with the mayo spread on that. I forgot to add the cucumber and I also purposefully didn’t add any sugar. It was INCREDIBLE. Wow wow WOW!!! This recipe as well as the other recipes on here have upped my game. I feel like a chef. Can’t wait to make more of these recipes! The miso mushroom bowl is up next!!!!
Glad you enjoyed this!
We had these last night and WOW were they delicious! All three components worked beautifully together. There were no leftovers (which was rather sad today…), but a definite reflection of how much my family loved these burgers.
Really amazing burgers and were very flavorful. The only thing I would change is add about a quarter cup of Panko. The first half of the batch were delicate when removing from the grill and were crumbling when we start to eat the burgers. I added the panko for the last ones and didn’t have that issue.
Best Burger EVER!! Used mint, cilantro, and basil in the meat mixture.
I followed this recipe subsituting chicken for beef. Result was simply delicious. Among the best burgers I havet ever eaten, and the best I ever made.
Awesome! Great to hear!
I may be the only one, but I did find it very bland. It was not something that my family enjoyed. I expected a burst of flavours, but it was the opposite. Something positive: all other recipes I tried from your site were amazing!
Intersting… I wonder, did you happen to use less salt?
The burger portion of the recipe does not call for salt? I was wondering if it’s a typo and the 1 teaspoon of sugar should actually be salt. (Even if not a mistake, I omitted the sugar, added some salt, and thought it was great. One of the best turkey burgers I’ve had.)
Glad that worked for you. The salt comes from the fish sauce here. 🙂
There used to be a restaurant in my neighborhood with an amazing turkey burger. Ever since it closed two years ago I’ve been looking for a good turkey burger, and this is better. It’s great as is, but I’d recommend using sesame instead of olive oil. Also, a slice of grilled pineapple is killer!
Fantastic recipe! I recommend sesame oil instead of olive, but otherwise follow the recipe as is and it’s really great!
This is absolutely one of the best burgers I’ve had and my husband agrees. I never comment but this is one we’ll put in the recipe box to be made again.
Tons of flavor. We added a spicy bread and butter pickle to it! Yum!
Thank you! Can’t wait to try some of your other recipes.
Great recipe! I added mango into the slaw and topped with crumbled goat cheese as well, it was excellent.
Interesting. I was going to try adding pineapple. I’ll do it next time.
Made this for dinner, so good!!!! Will definitely be adding to my rotation. The slaw is delicious on the burger. Yum!
Thanks and glad you enjoyed this!
Edited rating. Though I had to wait til the next day to grill these and they fell apart into a mess, I still made them it tasted good.
Hummm, I’m so sorry about that. I’ve never had them fall apart on the grill. Any ideas what could have caused that?
Really lovely turkey burger, moist and juicy.
SO good and packs an awesome punch. I made this with both turkey and a separate batch with beyond meat for my boyfriend (he LOVED it). We almost went without the sriracha mayo and SO glad we didn’t skip it. Once you have the more obscure ingredients (I would try not to sub things out if you can – it’s perfect with these exact flavors) it’s so simple with the best flavors. Excited to add this to our repertoire.
Awesome! Glad you liked this! 🙌
This was a really delicious way to use turkey burger. I didn’t have lemon grass so I substituted lemon zest. They turned out great! I’m excited to eat the left overs for lunch. I have a feeling they will taste even better the next day 😁
I never rate recipes but I don’t like turkey burgers…this was AMAZING!! I’ve sent the recipe to all my friends and insist that they make it…I took me forever to prep because I didn’t know how to cut lemongrass or julienne carrots…but it was so worth it. next time I anticipate it going much faster but ahhh so good!! Make it and don’t leave any ingredients out! I can’t eat Thai food because of the cross contamination with my nut allergy and I was so excited to try this because it tasted exactly like all the aromas from my husband’s thai dishes!!
Awesome, thanks, great to hear! 🙌
My family loved this recipe! That says a lot because my husband is a real red meat guy and I just didn’t mention what we would be having for dinner before we actually sat down and ate. Needless to say, he an our children loved them. I cooked them on a gas grill. Can’t wait to try another one of your recipes. Thank you!
Yay!!! Great to hear. Thanks for sharing! 🙌
These are so good! I didn’have lemon grass so replaced it with lemon verbena, which grows in my yard. Then as my family isn’t keen on fish sauce, I used some mushroom umami powder and bit of Worcestershire. Sauce. Worked just fine. Reminded me of larb on a bun. Will make again for sure.
Nice! Love that!
Everything we make from your recipes are amazing! My husband is so inspired the balance of plant base and carnivores! Your spices in this burger are perfect! We can’t wait to share with family and friends, thank you again!
thanks so much!
I absolutely LOVED it!!! Turkey can be extremely bland but this Thai recipe made a moist and delicious burger! I used rice wine vinegar in my slaw. I also added my homemade Thai sweet chili sauce as well… So fresh and I will definitely make these again
Thanks Kimberly!
These burgers are so tender, juicy, and delicious. Great combination of flavors. We like a little more heat, so added thinly sliced serranos to the slaw, super tasty with great heat; and yeah, the mayo is awesome! Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe. Funny, who’s the first person that thought – let’s add some Fish Sauce to this recipe. It’s amazing how great it can taste. As always Sylvia, thanks for sharing another phenomenal recipe. Sissy.
Thanks Sissy!
Hi Sylvia,
Thank you so much for sharing this fantastic recipe! We made these Thai turkey burgers last night. We followed the recipe closely, except we accidentally forgot to add the fish sauce. I strive for low sodium, so next time, I’ll probably add only half of the TBL of fish sauce. And I can hardly wait until next time! Best ever!
Awesome Dennis! Yes you can keep it reduced for low sodium. Glad you liked it!!!