minced carrots & zucchini folded into these turkey burgers make them super moist and as flavorful as they are nutritious! they’re sure to be a hit with them entire family.
Shoutout to all the mamas out there just trying to get an extra serving of veggies into their kids & husbands!
I hear from SO many of you about trying to get your family to eat more vegetables so I created these easy sneaky veggie turkey burgers so you can do just that!
The best part about adding veggies to these burgers is that it makes them SUPER moist. So you really don’t even have to hide the fact that they’re in there because they only make them better!
These are really just a rift on my veggie-loaded baked chicken meatballs with a few tweaks.
I mean is there anything better than seeing bits of carrot and zucchini when you cut into a burger? It makes my mom heart so happy (especially when I see Owen gobbling them up!).
Don’t be alarmed when you pull these together, the mixture will be wet due to the veggies (you can always add more panko breadcrumbs as needed to be able to mold them), but they cook up just fine and that moisture is what makes them so juicy! You can’t grill these, but baking and pan frying work really well. If you want a drier mixture, you can squeeze out the zucchini before folding it in.
Since there’s no cheese folded into the mixture topped ours with a little pepperjack cheese (Owen loves spicy food) for even more flavor, but you can choose whatever works for you – or omit the cheese all together.
Other than that, it’s just the usual lettuce, tomato, onion, mustard & avocado and you’re off to the races. Serve with roasted potatoes, chips or french fries!
sneaky veggie turkey burgers
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 burgers depending on size 1x
- Category: dinner
- Method: baking
Description
minced carrots & zucchini folded into these turkey burgers make them super moist and as flavorful as they are nutritious! they’re sure to be a hit with them entire family.
Ingredients
- 1 medium zucchini, washed & roughly chopped
- 2 medium whole carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 pound ground turkey (try to opt for no more than 93% lean or the burgers will be dry)
- For serving: whole wheat hamburger buns, avocado, lettuce, tomato, onion, ketchup, mustard
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
- Place zucchini and carrot into a food processor and pulse until all the veggies are well-minced (see note #1)
- Add breadcrumbs, egg, olive oil and spices and pulse several times until all ingredients are combined.
- Place ground turkey into a large mixing bowl and add all pulsed ingredients and use a wooden spoon (or your hands!) to combine.
- Scoop out mixture (enough to fill the palm of your hand) and roll into a ball then place on the baking sheet, working with your hands to form into a burger shape as needed. Repeat until all of the mixture has been used.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, until just browned or a meat thermometer reads 165*F.
- Serve on toasted whole wheat buns with desired toppings
Notes
- If you want a more mold-able texture, squeeze out the veggies in a cheese cloth or towel before adding, though not that it might result in a slightly drier texture, though easier to work with.
Keywords: burgers, healthy, dinner, family dinner, kid-friendly
Looks delicious! Could you give us an estimate of how big your carrots and zuchinni were? I feel they may vary quite a lot im size…or maybe how much they yielded once shredded?
Thanks!
I would say about 1/3 – 1/2 cup yield once shredded 🙂