This delicious Turkey Burger bursts with Thai flavors and is topped with fresh and crunchy Asian Slaw, Cucumber Ribbons & Spicy Sriracha Aioli. Light, healthy, and Delicious! Video. Serve with Sweet Potato Fries.
Infused with fresh lemongrass, ginger, lime zest, shallots and basil, these Turkey Burgers are bursting with Thai flavor. They are topped with a crunchy Asian Slaw and fresh cucumber ribbons, and the buns are slathered with a spicy aioli basically like sriracha mayo. So much deliciousness happening here!
The burgers are great on the grill or can be pan-seared on the stovetop. Easy breezy!
Thai Turkey Burger | 60-second 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 -the star of the recipe, fresh is best but dried will work in a pinch!
- Ginger- use fresh grated ginger root!
- Garlic- and pungent flavor.
- Lime zest- add lime flavor with out liquid.
- Cilantro or Thai basil.
What I love about these Turkey burgers are how they are loaded up with fresh healthy crunchy veggies!
Turkey Burger Components!
- Turkey burger
- Asian Slaw
- Cucumber ribbons
- Sriracha Aioli
- Buns! Or serve over dressed greens, or in a lettuce wrap!
The cucumber ribbons and Crunchy Asian slaw add refreshing texture and flavor.
And then there is the spicy aioli….easy and yummy. Mix Chili Paste like sambal or Sriracha, with either mayo, or vegan mayo or even tarter sauce. So tasty.
Low-carb Burger options!
- Serve in lettuce wraps and go totally bread-free.
- Serve the burger over the Asian slaw, as a main course salad.
- Create Burger Bowls!
Optional Additions!
- Add pickled onions, microgreens, or avocado.
- If you are feeling crafty, these quick sourdough buns are amazing!
On the homefront: 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, 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 that these Thai Turkey Burgers came to be.
What to serve with Turkey Burgers
- Sweet Potato Fries
- Asian Cucumber Salad
- Thai Noodle Salad with the BEST EVER Peanut Sauce
- Vietnamese Vermicelli Salad with Chili Vinaigrette
- Grilled Bok Choy with Ponzu Sauce
- Sesame Cabbage Noodle Salad
More recipes you may like:
- Chimichurri Poblano Turkey Burger!
- Bison Burger
- Thai Turkey Meatballs
- Lamb Burgers
- Quick Sourdough Buns
- Pickled Red Onions
I hope you enjoy these Thai-inspired 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 with Crunchy Asian Slaw
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 45 mins
- Yield: 3-4 1x
- Category: Main
- Method: Grilled
- Cuisine: Thai
Description
Thai Turkey Burgers infused with lemongrass, ginger and basil, served with a Crunchy Asian Slaw and Spicy Aioli. Serve this on a tasty bun, in a lettuce wrap or over grains and greens for healthy bowl.
Ingredients
Turkey Burger:
- 1 lb ground turkey ( see notes)
- 3 tablespoons shallot, very finely diced ( or 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 (or reg basil, or mint)
- 2 teaspoons lime zest
- 1 scallion, chopped
- 1/2 – 1 jalapeño, seeded, finely chopped ( or substitute 1 Tablespoon sriracha sauce, or red chili sauce)
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce (or sub soy sauce)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper- optional
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 teaspoon sugar
- 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)
- Combine all the burger ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well using hands. With wet hands, shape into 3 burgers, 1-inch thick. Place on a plate in the fridge.
- Toss the slaw ingredients together in a medium bowl.
- Mix the spicy aioli ingredients together in a small bowl.
- Grill patties on a well-greased, pre-heated grill 4-5 minutes each side until golden and cooked through.
- 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 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. 🙂
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 3 burgers
- Calories: 442
- Sugar: 7.4 g
- Sodium: 738.7 mg
- Fat: 30.2 g
- Saturated Fat: 5.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 12.8 g
- Fiber: 2.3 g
- Protein: 31.5 g
- Cholesterol: 112 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!!!