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Turkey zucchini burgers are one of my favorite summer dinners, and the zucchini is the whole reason they’re so good. Grated right into the turkey, it keeps these burgers juicy and tender instead of dry, which is the usual problem with turkey burgers. Add fresh mint, cilantro, and a zippy yogurt sumac sauce on top and they’re anything but boring.
Table of Contents
Why I Love Turkey Zucchini Burgers
- Kid-Friendly: Not only are these burgers juicy and flavorful, but they also provide a creative way to incorporate zucchini, making them ideal for picky eaters. One of the best ways to get your kids to eat extra veggies is by adding them to unexpected recipes like Spinach Cake Muffins or Roast Vegetable Pasta Sauce!
- Easy and Versatile: Turkey Zucchini Burgers come together in under 30 minutes and can be cooked on the stovetop or the grill. They’re perfect for a quick weeknight dinner or weekend BBQ with friends!
- Great Use for Zucchini: During the summer months, zucchini is all over the farmers market and bountiful in many home gardens. If you find yourself with tons of zucchini you need to make this burger recipe ASAP!
The Ingredients
- Ground turkey: You can use light or dark ground turkey meat for this recipe.
- Zucchini: Grated zucchini is what keeps these burgers moist and tender. It’s the difference between a juicy turkey burger and a dry one.
- Egg: This ingredient helps the burger patties stay together.
- Herbs and spices: These turkey burgers are full of flavor thanks to the scallion, freshly chopped mint and cilantro along with minced garlic and ground cumin.
- Hamburger buns: No burger is complete without a toasted bun! You could also make these turkey burgers into sliders and use mini hamburger buns.
*Find the complete list of ingredients with measurements in the recipe card below*
Variations and Substitutions
- Swap the ground turkey: If you want, you can substitute ground chicken in place of the turkey in this recipe.
- Ditch the bun: Serve these burgers protein style wrapped in lettuce or opt for gluten free buns if you need!
- Skip the egg: If you have an egg allergy and need to leave it out, that would be okay. You may want to let the formed patties sit in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes before you cook to help the patties stay together.
- Try it with yellow squash: If you happen to have yellow summer squash on hand and want to use it, you could use squash in place of the zucchini.
How to Make Juicy Turkey Zucchini Burgers
Step 1: In a large bowl combine the turkey, grated zucchini, scallions, egg, mint, cilantro, garlic, cumin and salt. Mix well.
Step 2: With dampened hands, form the mixture into 4 burgers about 1 inch thick. Or you can make about 8 sliders.
Step 3: Heat a large sauté pan or stove top grill over medium heat and add 1-2 tablespoons olive oil. Once oil is hot, add the burger patties. Cook burgers 3-4 minutes on each side for small slider burgers or 5-6 minutes on each side for regular size burgers.
Step 4: Place all the yogurt sumac sauce ingredients in a small bowl and stir to combine. Place the burgers on buns and top with the yogurt-sumac sauce and additional toppings of choice.
Serving Suggestions
Turkey Zucchini Burgers are the perfect recipe for your next easy weeknight dinner or fun summer cookout (hello Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day!). They pair well with a ton of side dishes too. Try these with Air Fryer French Fries or Sweet Potato Fries, a fresh summer garden salad, Heirloom Tomato Salad or a batch of Air Fryer Bacon Wrapped Asparagus or Grilled Lemon Asparagus! The possibilities are endless.
Make Ahead and Storage
You can form the patties and refrigerate them for up to 24 hours before cooking, which makes weeknight dinner even faster. For longer storage, freeze the uncooked patties for up to 3 months with parchment between them so they don’t stick together.
Store cooked leftover burgers in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat them in a skillet over medium heat or in the oven so they stay juicy.
More Easy Recipes with Zucchini
Turkey zucchini burgers with this zippy yogurt sumac sauce are one of my favorite summer dinners. They’re easy to make, full of flavor, and the zucchini keeps them juicy every time. If you make these and love them, consider leaving a rating and review below!
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Turkey Zucchini Burgers
Equipment
- large sauté pan
Ingredients
Turkey Zucchini Burgers:
- 1 pound ground turkey, light or dark meat
- 1 large zucchini, coarsely grated
- 3 scallions, thinly sliced
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons chopped mint
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- olive oil (for greasing the pan)
- 4 hamburger buns (or 8 mini slider buns)
- toppings and condiments of choice
Yogurt Sumac Sauce:
- 1 cup greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoons sumac
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the turkey, grated zucchini, scallions, egg, mint, cilantro, garlic, cumin and salt. Mix well.
- With dampened hands form the mixture into 4 burgers about 1 inch thick or you can do 8 slider size burgers.
- In a large sauté pan or stove top grill over medium heat, add 1-2 tablespoons olive oil. Once oil is hot, add the burger patties. Cook burgers 3-4 minutes on each side for small slider burgers or 5-6 minutes on each side for larger burgers.
- Place all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and stir to combine.
- Place the burgers on buns and top with the yogurt-sumac sauce and additional toppings of choice.
Notes
- Swap the ground turkey: If you want, you can substitute ground chicken in place of the turkey in this recipe.
- Ditch the bun: Serve these burgers protein style wrapped in lettuce or opt for gluten free buns if you need!
- Skip the egg: If you have an egg allergy and need to leave it out, that would be okay. You may want to let the formed patties sit in the refrigerator for about 20-30 minutes before you cook to help the patties stay together.
- Try it with yellow squash: If you happen to have yellow summer squash on hand and want to use it, you could use squash in place of the zucchini.
Nutrition
Photos by Matt Armendariz
Do you have a recommendation on a plant-based protein instead of turkey or chicken?
I haven’t tested it out, but you could try a plant based crumbled beef! Let me know if you try it and how it turns out.
In my daughter’s words “This is really great. It would be perfect as a snack before volleyball”. Thanks for the delicious recipe! We never could find the Sumac seasoning, but it was great with the lemon. Substituted greek with nondairy plain yogurt 😉
Fantastic!!
I made this exactly as written. The flavors were amazing, but my meat was pretty soupy. I thought maybe I would try to Grill it anyway and maybe it would firm up while it was on the griddle, but it really didn’t. It was pretty wet and I’m not exactly sure why. If I had put it in a cheesecloth and really rung it out first, this probably would’ve worked better. The flavors were good though!
Wish I could leave this recipe a five star review! The burgers were super easy to make and the sauce was a nice, refreshing addition. Thanks for this recipe Catherine.
Yay so glad it was a hit!
I made these for my family tonight which included a two year old and we all loved them. We had the burgers over a salad instead with tomato, avocados and cucumbers and a side of sweet potato fries. The burger recipe and sauce were great. We will definitely make them again. I put cheese on the burger for my 2 year old and he ate it all. Score!
Right?! Thanks for reading!
These sound so good Catherine! I think I could take a spoon to that yogurt sauce and eat it by itself!! Yum!
Nice!
I love those zucchini burgers! It’s the first thing we cooked from that book and a favorite, especially with the sumac/yogurt sauce. We’ve been playing around with the shape of them, trying to make patties to fit inside a pita for next time!
The egg helps hold everything together. You can try using a flax egg, or pressing the patties together really tight and leaving out the egg altogether.
Any thoughts on replacing the egg for egg allergy? He is 6 & just recently started liking burgers. He has several other allergies & these sound great to try.