While some people (we won’t name any names) say that a burger is not a real burger unless it’s made out of beef, we heartily disagree. Not only are we suckers for a good veggie burger (we have vegetarians on staff, after all), but we also have a hankerin’ for turkey burgers every now and again. That’s why we’re so excited about the Trader Joe’s Turkey Burgers, which we’re reviewing today.
There are so many ways to cook a burger (especially if they’re pre-cooked), but these ones come raw so they require a grill or skillet. Thankfully, the grill and skillet just so happen to be the best ways to cook a burger anyway (we used a skillet since the weather wasn’t cooperating with our outdoor grilling ambitions).
A quick scan of the ingredients will show how simple these burgers actually are. They’re just made from turkey, salt, and rosemary extract — that’s three ingredients. Of course, simplicity isn’t always a bad thing, especially when it comes to burgers, and these patties don’t need to be fancied up to shine.
As is, these burgers taste fantastic. Turkey has a leaner taste than beef (it is a leaner meat, after all), so you won’t get that red-meat flavor here. Still, this meat has a richness to it that we weren’t expecting, and the rosemary extract really serves it well. Plus, we decided to toss our burger back into the skillet after our initial photograph so we could let one side get just a little bit charred. The smokey flavor of the charred meat was absolutely incredible, though we did have to open some windows and turn on some fans to clear the smoke away. It was absolutely worth it, though.
Because these are so simple, they can be dressed up in countless different ways based on your preferences. We decided to try our test burger with a slice of swiss cheese, some mayo, and a piece of lettuce, as shown below.
However, if you want to add some ketchup, go for it. Mushrooms and onions would be lovely here as well, and we could even imagine some sprouts for the truly adventurous. Or, you could go a completely different direction and add some barbecue sauce. Now there’s an idea!
One burger patty will only set you back by 180 calories (90 from fat) and 280 mg of sodium. That’s pretty respectable, but keep in mind that you’ll likely be adding several toppings, each of which will increase those numbers.
The Trader Joe’s Turkey Burgers are surprisingly rich in flavor, and we absolutely adore them. In fact, we might even prefer these to beef burgers — they’re just that tasty.
To learn more about the nutrition content, ingredients, or cooking instructions for these Trader Joe’s frozen burgers, check out our package scans below.
