Chipotle Bacon Cheese (Turkey) Burgers

I saw this recipe for Chipotle Turkey Burgers at the The Kitchen Sink blog, and thought they sounded perfect for a weekend barbeque. I don’t eat beef, so burgers for me are either ground turkey or ground chicken, and if you’ve ever cooked with either, you know they can lack flavor. Plus, patties made from the birds tend to fall apart because they lack the fat content that beef does. This problem is easily solvable by adding fat and moisture back in—good fat and good moisture. (Which we quickly compensate for here by topping the healthy turkey burgers with cheese and bacon. Ha!) Examples of good fat and good moisture: olive oil, fresh herbs, garlic, onions, veggies. You dice these ingredients up small, oh so small, and mix them into your meat before making the patties. The result is a moist burger bursting with flavor. I promise—you won’t miss the beef.

To spice up these burgers, I add adobo sauce from canned chipotle chiles (available in the Latin/Hispanic/Mexican section of your grocery store) directly to the ground meat. I also borrow The Kitchen Sink’s idea for Chipotle “Ketchup.” Her recipe is here. My version is in the guidelines. I’d use this sauce lightly. Too much and it overwhelms the flavors of everything else. Plus, it’s spicy, and if you’re not into heat, it might be too much for you. If you know you won’t dig it, simply leave the sauce off.

Ingredients:

1- 1 ½ lbs turkey burger
1 shallot, finely diced
2 cloves of garlic, finely diced
1 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper (to taste)
4 tsp. adobo sauce, divided into 2 tsp. and 2 tsp.
1 tbsp. cilantro, finely chopped
4 oz. sour cream
squirt of lime juice
1 Vidalia onion, sliced into thick rings
smoked cheddar cheese, 2-3 slices per burger
bacon, about ½ lb.
1-2 tomatoes
onion hamburger buns

Guidelines:

Mix the first seven ingredients in a large bowl. Notice that you only use 2 tsp. of the adobo sauce in the meat. Shape the mixture into burgers roughly the same size and thickness. You should have 4-6 burgers.

While the grill heats, prepare the Chipotle sauce. Mix the remaining 2 tsp. adobo sauce with the sour cream and lime juice. Set aside.

If you haven’t already cooked your bacon, get that going, too.

Grill the burgers until done, but still juicy inside. Depending on thickness this doesn’t take long—about 5-7 minutes per side. During the last few minutes of cooking, put the smoked cheddar cheese on top of the burgers. Remove from grill and let rest for a minute.

Grill your thick sliced Vidalia onions, and toast your hamburger buns directly on the grill.

Once everything is cooked, assemble your burgers—bottom bun dressed lightly with sauce, burger with cheese, bacon, onions, a few slices of tomato, top bun dressed lightly with sauce.

Enjoy, and don’t be afraid to get messy!