Southwest Turkey Burgers

I’ve said it before, and i will say it again, Rachael Ray is a genius. You can never go wrong with her recipes. She releases a new burger recipe every month and I’m always eager to see what she has come up with.

Of course, some don’t fit within the clean eating parameters, but with a little tweaking, you can make it healthier and equally as delicious.

Her southwest turkey burger recipe is pretty good as is, but i changed it up a bit to make it 21-day fix approved and it turned out phenomenal.

Southwest Turkey Burgers

Yield: Makes 2 burgers

Fix Portions (per burger): 1½ red, 2 yellow (1 yellow if you eat open-faced, or 0 yellow if you go bunless!), ½ green, 1 blue

Ingredients

• ½ pound 93% lean ground turkey
• 4 slices turkey bacon
• 1 garlic clove, grated
• ½ green container onion, finely chopped
• ½ green container red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• Small handful cilantro or parsley leaves (finely chopped, about 2-3 tbsp when chopped)
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp tabasco or mexican hot sauce of choice (more or less to taste)
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp montreal steak seasoning (or to eliminate salt, combine ½ tsp each black pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder)
• 2 slices pepper jack cheese
• 2 whole wheat hamburger buns
• Fresh lettuce and tomato slices (for topping)

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, garlic, onions, bell peppers, jalapeno, cilantro/parsley, tabasco, and seasonings
2. Form 2 burger patties, pressing a thumb print in the center of each patty (it will rise when cooked, so this way you have a perfectly even patty. Set aside (burgers cook best when meat is at room temperature, so make you patties first and let them sit while you prep everything else)
3. In a cast iron skillet, cook turkey bacon. Remove once cooked through
4. Add a swirl of EVOO around the skillet, then add burger patties. Cook on both sides until cooked through (internal temp of 175)
5. While still in skillet, top burger patties: Layer turkey bacon, then top with cheese. Cover with foil until cheese melts
6. Remove from pan and add patties to bun. Top with lettuce and tomato, and spicy mustard, as desired.

BONUS TIPS

• Use poblano peppers instead of bell peppers (or a combination of the two) for an added kick
• I recently discovered a Habenero Pepper Jack cheese that was amazing with these, as a spicy substitute to the standard pepper jack.