As far as healthy food swaps go, choosing a turkey burger over a beef burger is right up there with subbing regular french fries for sweet potato ones.
Or thats how we often see it anyway — a perception rooted in the larger assumption that ground turkey is always healthier than ground beef.
And given that turkey burger patties arent just ground turkey — they require co-ingredients to hold their shape and moisture — does ordering a turkey burger even end up being the healthier choice we all want it to be?
If you’re looking to reduce calories for weight loss, either lean ground turkey or lean ground beef are healthy choices. Keeping tabs on saturated fat for heart health? Lean ground turkey is the better pick by a slim margin.
What about everything else added to turkey burger patties, though?
For anyone thats tried to form a ground turkey patty at home, you already know that even a healthy turkey burger recipe almost always calls for breadcrumbs.
So compared to a ground beef patty, which comes to shape with just rolling and flattening, a potential turkey burger nutrition concern arises. Could the high-carb co-ingredient take your turkey burger patties into the less-than-healthy territory, especially since theyre going to be served between two pieces of bread?
“When you look at the amount of breadcrumbs compared to the amount of ground turkey in the patties, its actually pretty miniscule,” says Beaver. “That one-fourth cup of breadcrumbs, panko or crushed crackers isnt really enough to significantly contribute to a turkey burgers nutritional profile, so its not something to worry about.”
Another option is subbing egg for the breadcrumbs.
“I actually like to add a little bit of both, since the egg helps bind the ground turkey together and the breadcrumbs offer some tenderness and likely some flavor, too,” Beaver adds.
Choose 93:7 ground meat
Amid the variety of available protein to fat percentages, which is the optimal choice?
“I would say 93:7 ground meat is the right balance,” Beaver says. “Youre getting a good amount of protein, but youre also still getting a reasonable amount of fat that doesnt overdo it but still helps provide moisture and flavor. Plus, anything higher than that just doesnt taste good, especially when you get into the 99:1 range with ground turkey.”
This TURKEY BURGER recipe is juicy, healthy and easy to make!
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