Grilled Middle Eastern Turkey Burgers (Video)

These Grilled Middle Eastern Turkey Burgers are loaded with fresh herbs and I eat them in low-carb pita bread to make this a carb-conscious meal. Enjoy the turkey burgers and sauce in lettuce wraps if you want even fewer carbs!

PIN the turkey burgers to try them later!

If anyone just turned their nose up a bit at the mention of turkey burgers, stay with me here for a minute. While it’s true that ground turkey can sometimes be a little ho-hum, these Grilled Middle Eastern Turkey Burgers have finely chopped mint and parsley added to the turkey, and they’re seasoned with an interesting mix of paprika, cumin, coriander, and pepper flakes for a delicious turkey burger that’s moist and flavorful. I actually had the leftovers for breakfast and again for lunch the day after I first made them, which is a pretty high recommendation in a house like mine where the fridge is always packed with interesting things to eat.

WHAT INGREDIENTS DO YOU NEED FOR THIS RECIPE?

• ground turkey
• Minced Garlic (affiliate link)
• salt
• fresh mint
• fresh parsley
• Olive Oil (affiliate link)
• sweet paprika (I like Szeged Sweet Paprika (affiliate link)
• ground Cumin (affiliate link)
• ground coriander (affiliate link)
• Aleppo Pepper (affiliate link)

What makes this a middle eastern turkey burger?

I’m not claiming this is an authentic middle eastern recipe, but using lots of fresh chopped mint and parsley and the seasonings in the meat make these a meal with middle eastern flavors. And they are served in pita bread with Tzatziki Sauce!

How did I serve the turkey burgers?

I loved the turkey burgers wrapped inside Joseph’s Low-Carb Pita Bread (affiliate link), which is my favorite low-carb pita bread, but you could also enjoy them in lettuce wraps for a version that’s lower in carbs. I served them with a dollop of Tzatziki Sauce enhanced with some freshly chopped mint and parsley. I thought that was the perfect sauce to go with the flavor of the turkey burgers, but if you don’t want to go to the trouble of making Tzatziki, I have a few quicker sauce recommendations after the recipe.

What if you don’t have an outdoor grill?

If you don’t have an outdoor grill (or it’s not grilling weather) these tasty turkey burgers can be cooked on a stove-top grill pan with ridges or George Foreman Grill as well. (affiliate links) Use Grilling Recipes to find more ideas for grilling.

How to make Grilled Middle Eastern Turkey Burgers:

(Scroll down for complete recipe with nutritional information.)

1. Put turkey into a bowl and let it come to room temperature while you chop the fresh mint and parsley.
2. Add chopped mint, chopped parsley, olive oil, and spices to the bowl with the meat. 
3. Then mix with your hands, just enough to combine.
4. Put cling-wrap on the baking sheet. Then divide the turkey mixture into six even portions, roll the turkey into a ball, and flatten to make a patty.
5. Put more cling wrap over the top and put baking sheet into the fridge and chill the turkey at least 30 minutes.
6. When you’re ready to cook, oil or spray the surface of the grill and heat to medium heat.
7. Brush the top of each patty with  a little more olive oil. Put burgers on the grill with oiled side facing down.
8. For criss-cross grill marks, rotate the patties after about 4 minutes. (Lift an edge and see if the marks are showing to tell when it’s time to rotate.)  
9. Grill the turkey burgers about 5-6 minutes per side, or until an Instant Read Meat Thermometer (affiliate link) reaches 165F/75C.
10. Serve hot, inside low-carb pita bread, in lettuce wraps, on a hamburger bun, or just plain with the sauce. 
11. We cut the patties in half and served them inside my favorite low-carb pita bread, which has 7 net carbs per whole pita.
12. We loved the turkey burgers with Tzatziki Sauce with extra chopped mint and parsley sprinkled on.

What other types of sauce can you use?

If you don’t want to make Tzatziki Sauce, you could also serve the turkey burgers with Creamy Cucumber Sauce, Tartar Sauce, Homemade Ranch Dip, Easy Avocado Sauce, Green Goddess Salad Dressing or even Cafe Rio Salad Dressing. And if you don’t want to make a sauce or dressing, you can buy Tzatziki sauce, and I think purchased Ranch Dressing would taste pretty good on this too, especially if you added the extra chopped herbs.

Make it a Meal:

I think Grilled Middle Eastern Turkey Burgers would taste great with Tomato, Cucumber, and Radish Salad or Cucumber and Yogurt Salad with Feta and Dill.

More Tasty Ideas with Ground Turkey

• Asian Lettuce Cups with Spicy Ground Turkey Filling
• One-Pan Ground Turkey Curry
• Turkey Lettuce Wrap Tacos with Tomato-Avocado Salsa 

Continue to Content

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Yield: 6 servings

Grilled Middle Eastern Turkey Burgers

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 12 minutes

Additional Time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 7 minutes

These Grilled Middle Eastern Turkey Burgers are loaded with flavor and they're delicious served inside low-carb pita bread, in lettuce wraps, or just eaten plain with sauce!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lb. ground turkey
• 1 tsp. finely minced garlic
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt (I used fine sea salt)
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh mint
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley (I used curly parsley, but either type will work)
• 3 T olive oil
• 2 tsp. sweet paprika
• 1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin (recipe called for 1 tsp., but I love cumin so I used a bit more)
• 1/2 tsp. ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp. Aleppo pepper (recipe called for cayenne, and any type of ground red pepper would work)

Instructions

1. Take the ground turkey out of the package and break into pieces in a bowl, then let it come to room temperature on the counter while you chop up a generous amount of fresh mint and parsley.
2. Add garlic, salt, chopped mint, chopped parsley, olive oil, Sweet Hungarian Paprika (affiliate link), ground cumin (affiliate link), ground coriander (affiliate link), and Aleppo Pepper (affiliate link) or other spicy red pepper flakes to the bowl with the meat.
3. Then mix with your hands, just enough to combine.
4. Put a piece of cling-wrap on a baking sheet. Then divide the turkey mixture into six even portions, roll the turkey into a ball, and flatten to make a patty.
5. Put another piece of cling wrap over the top or the patties, put baking sheet into the fridge, and chill the turkey at least 30 minutes (or at bit longer longer if you have plenty of time.)
6. When you're ready to cook, oil or spray the surface of the grill and heat to medium heat. (If you don't have grilling spray, put some oil on a paper towel and rub on the grill grates before you heat the grill.)
7. Brush the top of each patty with  a little more olive oil. Then put burgers on the grill, putting the side you brushed with oil facing down.
8. If you're going for criss-cross grill marks, rotate the patties after about 4 minutes. (Lift the edge and see if the marks are showing to tell when it's time to rotate.)
9. Grill the turkey burgers about 5-6 minutes per side, or until an Instant Read Meat Thermometer (affiliate link) reaches 165F/75C.
10. Serve hot inside low-carb pita bread, in lettuce wraps, on a hamburger bun, or just plain with the sauce.
11. We cut the patties in half and served them inside my favorite low-carb pita bread, which has 7 net carbs per whole pita.
12. We loved the turkey burgers with Tzatziki Sauce with some extra chopped mint and parsley sprinkled on.
13. You could also serve these with Creamy Cucumber Sauce, Tartar Sauce, Homemade Ranch Dip, Easy Avocado Sauce, Green Goddess Salad Dressing or even Cafe Rio Salad Dressing. And if you don't want to make a sauce, you can buy Tzatziki Sauce or I think purchased Ranch Dressing would taste pretty good on this too, especially if you added the extra chopped herbs.

Notes

Nutritional information is for turkey burgers only. The low-carb pita bread I used has 9 carbs but 2 grams of fiber for 7 net carbs per serving. Tzatziki sauce has only four carbs in one-fourth cup, and all the other sauces recommended are very low in carbs.

Recipe adapted from Fine Cooking Grilling Volume 2.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 360Total Fat: 27gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 18gCholesterol: 120mgSodium: 683mgCarbohydrates: 1gFiber: 1gSugar: 0gProtein: 29g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

Did you make this recipe?

Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating (under the PRINT button in the recipe) or share a photo of your results on Instagram! THANKS!

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
If Grilled Middle Eastern Turkey Burgers are served plain or inside lettuce wraps with any of the sauces listed above, and these turkey burger patties would be low-carb and good for any phase of the original South Beach Diet (and maybe even Keto since you’re adding extra oil to the meat and brushing them with olive oil.) Serving the burgers inside my favorite low-carb pita bread adds 7 net carbs, but this is still a pretty low-carb meal and also suitable for phase 2 or 3 of South Beach.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use the Turkey Recipes or Grilling to find more recipes like this one.Use the Recipes by Diet Type photo index pages to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You can also Follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe for Grilled Middle Eastern Turkey Burgers was first posted August 2009. The recipe was updated with better photos and slightly easier instructions June 2020 and it was last updated in 2021.

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