Turkey Burger with zucchini and feta
Turkey burger with zucchini and feta
It’s staggering the difference 2000 kilometres can make to food culture and I’m not talking about Europe, Asia or the Americas, I’m talking about the east coast of Australia.
Burgers are a mainstay in Brisbane, check the Instagram #brisbanefood and you’ll see what I mean. Burger joints with quirky names dominate the street cafe scene. In Melbourne I could choose on a whim because Vietnamese, Thai and Burmese cafes sit cheek by jowl with Mexican, Greek, Ethiopian, Turkish, Indian and the ubiquitous Italian. In my former hometown you are spoiled for choice, but here the evidence of multiculturalism on local eating is sparse.
I’m not a great burger fan. I find it difficult to eat a mountainous mess of flabby bread, limp vegetables and dripping sauces without needing a bib and a ream of those useless single ply paper napkins burger joints supply. If I’m going to eat a burger I prefer to have it at home, on a plate with proper “eat’n’ irons.”
BBQ season has begun here so it’s good reason to experiment with some new flavours. Given my current address, it seemed appropriate to begin with burgers, but in defiance I selected turkey. I confess the idea of mixing poultry with feta and zucchini is not my own. It had entered my consciousness via a forgotten source, I just ran with it.
Char grilled home made spelt sourdough buns, delicious spicy tomato relish, smashed avocado, roasted red capsicums, cos lettuce leaves, thinly sliced cucumber, crispy prosciutto and melting swiss cheese sang a chorus of hallelujahs on my palate, led by the fat, juicy tasty turkey burger and yes, it was eaten in a ladylike manner with a knife and fork.
This recipe will be reshaped as meatballs next time the need arises, the flavours were wonderful.
Turkey, Zucchini and Fetta Burgers
1 large zucchini coarsely grated (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 teaspoon salt
500g turkey mince
100g feta crumbled
2 tablespoons dry breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons finely chopped spring onion greens
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme
very generous grinding of black pepper
Put the grated zucchini into a colander, sprinkle over the salt and allow to drain for 20 minutes.
Rinse the zucchini and squeeze out as much water as possible.
Put all the ingredients together into a large bowl the use you hands to thoroughly knead the mix into a homogenous mass.
Divide into 8 patties approximately 90g each
Heat a large pan or solid BBQ plate on a medium setting. Oil lightly.
Put the burgers into the pan and gently flatten each until they are approx 1.5cm thick.
Cook for approx 4 mins until golden brown.
Flip then cook for another 2 minutes then remove from the pan and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
While the burger is resting assemble the buns, sauces and salad, then top with the burger.
Makes 8 turkey burgers.
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36 comments on “Turkey Burger with zucchini and feta”
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Creative Commons Copyright Licence
Please Pass the Recipe by Sandra Gay is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
Please Pass the Recipe 
Excellent recipe. Looks delish! I’ve followed you as your page is very inspiring. I hope you do the same, as you may find mine the same, I practice naked cooking like jamie oliver, I’m conducting the half-blood princess project.
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Looks amazing!
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I’m not one to make turkey burgers, Sandra, but have been thinking of doing so, at least occasionally. I’d like to reduce the amount of red meat in my diet. Your burgers sound delicious and your use of zucchini here interests me. Even though well-drained, I imagine it would help to keep the burger nice and moist, even when grilled.This is one recipe I’ll be sure to come back to when I decide to make turkey burgers. Thanks!
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You’re welcome John. The zucchini did keep the meat moist, this recipe is definitely a keeper
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What a great flavor combination, I’ll have to try this. I make a turkey burger with homemade spicy peach jam, this is would another great turkey option. We all love feta cheese!
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Your spicy peach jam would be delicious with turkey for sure
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The turkey burger looks so delicious, but I am also eying up that cute bowl 🙂
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Isn’t it a gem? It’s a souvenier from Sweden, it’s made of pewter and is on of a pair, I’m always looking for reasons to use them.
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I need to add turkey meat to my list of things to try. I have an aversion due to Christmas and all that holds. I will try to get over myself. This looks lovely Sandra.
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Thanks Conor, I understand all those turkey connotations so why not make the burger and enjoy a solitary, angst free celebration
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An occasional burger is a nice thing – and this juicy one made with turkey sounds just right. Good for BBQ season, but I would not like to subsist on a burger diet. I’m sure you miss those multi-cultural food joints!
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I do. We’re desperate to find really good Asian food, you’d think being so much closer to the source that would be easy, but meanwhile we keep cooking at home
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Looks yummy!!!
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Thanks Silvia
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Looks delicious, Sandra!
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Thanks, as far as burgers go it was good..
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I’m not a burger fan either, which you don’t say too loudly in the US! But yours looks and sounds wonderful, tasty and moist. Meatballs sound good, too!
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Thanks Mimi, yes it will be a great meatball mixture,
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Great spin on the burger indeed.
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Thanks Cheery, how did you go with the British food?
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Some great curries and Asian food, a bit tough in the pubs for the Yak but gastro pub nosh is pretty tops these days. Getting a good coffee in the UK was still tricky but at least had improved since our last visit. Not a huge selection of GF in the supermarkets but what we found was pretty decent. We had better luck in health food shops both in Spain and the U.K. Had some really good food and coffee in Edinburgh actually, which surprised me for some reason. It’s a hip and happening place. Spain was marvellous but a bit tricky for gluten free and vegetarian. The Yak had his fair share of patatas bravas. 😂
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We found Spain super tricky too, ate loads of paella there washed down with gallons of sangria….
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*huge smile* Use a lot of turkey mince and most definitely shall copy your meat patty recipe! Have not eaten a ‘burger’, ie one with pappy bread on both sides, for over thirty years – not joking! Have nought against healthy carbs but that is sheer ‘badness’ towards oneself and absolutely boring 🙂 ! OK, Melbourne always has been the food capital of Australia, but when I lived on the Coast and Northern Rivers actually did think the Brisbane scene was coming good . . .have not returned awhile . . .
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Thanks Eha, the zucchini keeps the turkey really moist. Sadly quality and patronage are in a cat and mouse tailchase in Brissy. I’ve seen some fantastic food enterprises fail bacause they can’t get bums on seats. My general experience is medocrity is perfectly acceptable even at a high price. Those kinds of establishments all serve the same repetoire of pasta pizza burgers wings steak and fries. No challenges and no finesse there…..
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Looks and sounds fabulous. I’ll have to remember this for next summer.
I’ve never been to Brisbane but I did notice in nearby Cairns that portion size seemed to be the main ‘quality’ of restaurants. I still remember the ‘vini bianci’ on the wine list of the ‘Italian’ restaurant.
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The Qld/Brisbane food culture is evolving, but in my travels in Oz I’ve found once you leave the big cities, mediocrity abounds
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When we were touring the Stuart Hwy from Darwin to Adelaide, I pepared all our meals myself for that reason. Only in Darwin and Adelaide we could find restaurants worth eating at.
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Love those flavours!
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Thank you 🙂
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This looks delicious!
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Awesome looking burger but for the life of me, I cannot picture anyone eating a burger with a knife and fork… I mean… just how is it done? Please try to video it next time because this could turn out to be more interesting than the delicious burger 🙂
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Haha, it’s counterintuitive to eat a well endowed burger without cutlery, I drop more than I eat..
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Oh, yum!!! But I confess, I love to eat burgers with my hands, even though everything slips and slides and spills.
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Maybe I’m OCD….
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yum! looks fabulous! xx
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😘
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