Turkey Piri Piri Burgers

Some like it hot! As your summer heats up, spice up your burger game with these turkey piri piri burgers. Ground turkey is a fairly neutral tasting lean meat that easily takes on the savory profile of the spices you add to it so it’s the perfect base for a spiced burger that brings the heat to your table.

This burger uses the heat of piri piri peppers in combination with cumin, coriander, and garlic to round out the taste profile. Piri piri peppers are a medium hot spiced pepper falling above a jalapeño on the heat scale and just below habanero. If you can’t find piri piri pepper or piri piri hot sauce, use Tabasco or a habanero based hot sauce for heat.

For a healthy and delicious low carb alternative to a bun, grill up some red bell pepper halves until lightly charred but still somewhat firm so they remain hand holdable. Grilling the peppers brings out a sweet smoky flavor that is the perfect complement to the piri piri pepper and spices in the burger. Other non-bun alternatives you could use include lightly grilled slices of summer squash, zucchini, eggplant, sweet potato, tomato ends, or lettuce wraps. Top these off with spicy mayo, cilantro, and red onion for a tasty turkey burger!

Turkey Piri Piri Burgers

Calories 403, Protein 23g, Total Carbs 8g, Fat 31g

Prep time: 15 min

Cook time: 15 min

Serves: 4-5

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground turkey (or chicken)
• 1 teaspoon minced piri piri peppers, piri piri hot sauce, or hot chili powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced (about 2 cloves)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt
• 1/4 teaspoon coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Burger Toppings:

• Spicy mayo (combine 1/2 cup mayonnaise with 1 teaspoon hot piri piri pepper sauce or habanero hot sauce)
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/4 red onion, sliced into rings
• 4-5 red bell peppers cored and cut into large burger size chunks (about half a pepper per each side of the bun) and grilled lightly

Preparation Instructions:

1. Preheat a grill or grill pan to medium high heat.
2. Combine the ground turkey with the spices until well mixed.
3. Form into 4-5 burgers and grill about 5 minutes per side until cooked through.
4. While burgers are cooking, prepare the toppings and set aside.
5. Grill the red pepper pieces until lightly charred on each side but still firm, about 2-3 minutes per side.
6. Assemble burger with toppings between the grilled pepper pieces.