Skip store-bought burgers and make these Air Fryer Turkey Burgers from scratch tonight! They’re ready in 20 minutes, easy to customize, and are as moist and juicy as traditional beef burgers. Even kids love them!
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📋 About the Recipe
- Perfect weeknight meal - Making homemade turkey burgers from scratch is easier than you think. All you need is about 10 minutes to prep, 10 minutes to cook, and a few simple ingredients. It's a family favorite for busy weeknights, just like my cheeseburger tater tot casserole!
- Easy to customize - Use your favorite spices, lean protein, add cheese, your favorite toppings, and more.
- Freezer friendly - These air fryer turkey burgers can be frozen before or after air frying. Scroll below to my detailed "How to Store" instructions for the full details!
🛒 Ingredients
A few notes about the ingredients:
- Ground turkey - I used 93% lean and 7% fat. You can use any ratio you prefer. However, keep in mind that if you choose a leaner ratio of turkey, the burgers may become drier while cooking.
- Egg - In addition to providing moisture and flavor, adding an egg to your burger mixture creates a binder to hold the patties together.
- Breadcrumbs - The breadcrumbs help provide structure and keep the burger patties moist. I opted for plain breadcrumbs, but feel free to use Italian seasoned breadcrumbs or another variety, as desired.
- Seasonings - Dried oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and black pepper are my favorites to flavor the meat while keeping it simple and versatile. Feel free to use any seasonings you like.
⁉️ Substitutions and Alterations
- Alternative protein: Try ground chicken in place of the ground turkey as a similar lean protein choice.
- Add cheese: You can make these turkey burgers with a slice of cheese on top, or with cheese stuffed inside! Swiss cheese, cheddar, havarti, colby jack, american cheese and sliced mozzarella are some of the best.
📓 Instructions
- Mix together the turkey and seasonings. In a medium-sized or large mixing bowl, add the fresh ground turkey, large egg, breadcrumbs, dried oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Gently mix everything together using your hands or a fork until just combined.
- Form burger patties. Separate the ground turkey burger mixture into 4 equal parts. Form each part into a flat burger patty, about 5 inches in diameter.
- Prep your air fryer. Spray the air fryer basket or tray with nonstick cooking spray. Place the turkey burger patties in a single layer in the basket or on the tray. Depending on the size of your personal air fryer, you may need to do this in batches.
- Cook for 10 to 12 minutes. Air fry the turkey burger patties for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F.
- Serve. Serve turkey burgers while warm on hamburger buns, or as desired.
🍽 Serving Suggestions
Serve these Air Fryer Turkey Burgers up on hamburger buns layered with favorite toppings such as tomato, lettuce, fresh onion slices, Instant Pot bacon, avocado, pickles, and a condiment like Tangy Pomegranate Barbecue Sauce or Lemon Dill Yogurt Sauce.
If you’d like to skip the bun for a low carb meal, try them in a lettuce wrap or make my Loaded Burger Bowls with a bed of crisp lettuce.
You can also make my Apple Turkey Burgers with Cranberry Aioli and Kale Apple Slaw. Or turn them into sliders and use my Challah Rolls as fluffy burger buns.
Side dishes: These turkey burgers pair well with french fries, sweet potato fries, Air Fryer Carrot Fries, Air Fryer Green Bean Fries and Red, White, and Blue Fruit Salsa for dessert!
❄️ How to Store
To store: These turkey burgers can be stored in the refrigerator cooked or uncooked. Storing raw, uncooked turkey burgers can be a great option if you’re prepping ahead for dinner or doing meal prep.
For best results, store raw, uncooked patties in an airtight container in the fridge up to 48 hours in advance. Cooked turkey burgers, on the other hand, can be stored in an airtight container or wrapped in plastic wrap for up to 4 days.
As always, never store cooked and uncooked meat together in one container. This is unsafe and can cause contamination.
To freeze: Similar to refrigerating, turkey burgers can be frozen raw or cooked for up to 3 months. In both instances, it is best to flash freeze the burger patties on a cooking tray first before transferring to a freezer safe container.
Thaw frozen turkey burgers in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 days before air frying as usual.
To reheat: Cooked turkey burgers can be reheated for a couple of minutes in the air fryer until warmed again. Be careful not to overcook them - doing so will dry out the patties.
🔍 Recipe FAQs
Turkey burgers should not be "pink" in the middle when they are fully cooked. Make sure the internal temperature reaches a safe 165 degrees F and looks light brown. Turkey must be fully cooked for safe consumption.
These turkey burgers are made with breadcrumbs to give them structure and make them more tender and moist. Turkey burgers are notorious for drying out easily, so adding breadcrumbs to the mix helps hold the moisture inside, leaving you with a juicy patty!
If you would like to make gluten-free burgers, I’d suggest a gluten-free 1:1 breadcrumbs mix in place of the breadcrumbs.
The best, most accurate way to check for doneness is to use a meat thermometer. Insert the meat thermometer into the center of the turkey burgers. When ready, the thermometer will read 165 degrees F.
I don’t find this to be necessary because hot air circulates really well in the air fryer and cooks both sides evenly. If you typically put a sheet of aluminum foil in the bottom of your air fryer for easy clean up you will want to flip them half way through because the aluminum foil would prevent the air from circulating properly.
💭 One More Tip
Make sure to shape the burgers to the same thickness. If some patties are significantly thicker than others, they will cook unevenly. I recommend shaping the turkey mixture into patties that are about 5 inches in diameter.
It can be helpful to weigh the meat mixture on a cooking scale and divide it into 4 equal weighted portions. This will ensure each burger is the same size and help result in juicy turkey burgers every time!
🍴 Related Recipes
Share your cooking with me! If you make this recipe, I'd love to know! Tag @yourhomemadehealthy on Instagram or leave a comment with a rating and some feedback at the bottom of this page!
📖 Recipe
Air Fryer Turkey Burgers
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound (16 ounces) ground turkey I used 93/7
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup plain breadcrumbs
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 4 hamburger buns
- topping suggestions: sliced red onion, sliced tomato, lettuce, pickles, ketchup, mustard, or mayonnaise
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a medium mixing bowl. Gently mix everything together using your hands or a fork until just combined and seasoning is evenly distributed throughout the ground turkey.
- Separate the ground turkey into 4 equal parts. Form each part into a flat burger patty. (Each of my patties were about 5 inches wide, since they shrink a little as they cook.)
- Spray your air fryer basket or tray with nonstick spray. Place burgers in a single layer in the basket or tray. You might need to cook them in batches, depending on the size of your air fryer.
- Air fry turkey burgers at 370 degrees F for 10 to 12 minutes*, or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F.
- Serve turkey burgers on hamburger buns with your favorite toppings!
Notes
- *I did not preheat my air fryer. Cook time might change slightly depending on the size of your air fryer and the size of the burgers. Make sure the burgers are cooked to 165 degrees F in the middle. Start by air frying for 10 minutes at 370 degrees F and add a minute or two more if the burgers aren't done at the 10 minute mark.
- Ground chicken would also work well in place of the ground turkey.
- Feel free to season these burgers however you'd like. However, make sure to use the egg and breadcrumbs, so they don't fall apart.
Nutrition
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