Most turkey burgers are dry, bland, or loaded up with flavor-blunting fillers. To create juicy, well-textured turkey burgers, we ditched store-bought ground turkey in favor of a home-ground turkey thigh, which boasts more fat and flavor.
To ensure that our turkey burger recipe delivered maximum juiciness, we incorporated a paste made from a portion of the ground turkey, gelatin, soy sauce and baking soda. The gelatin trapped moisture within the burgers while the baking soda helped tenderize the meat by raising its pH, and the soy sauce added savory umami flavor.
Finally, we added coarsely chopped raw white mushrooms to keep the meat from binding together too firmly. To top the burgers, we created a sauce that complemented the rich dark meat of the turkey.
1 (2-pound) bone-in turkey thigh, skinned, boned, trimmed, and cut into ½-inch pieces
1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin
3 tablespoons chicken broth
6 ounces white mushrooms, trimmed
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Pinch baking soda
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus extra for brushing
Kosher salt and pepper
6 hamburger buns
Place turkey pieces on large plate in single layer. Freeze meat until very firm and hardened around edges, 35 to 45 minutes. Meanwhile, sprinkle gelatin over broth in small bowl and let sit until gelatin softens, about 5 minutes. Pulse mushrooms in food processor until coarsely chopped, about 7 pulses, stopping and redistributing mushrooms around bowl as needed to ensure even grinding. Set mushrooms aside.
Pulse one-third of turkey in now-empty food processor until coarsely chopped into 1/8-inch pieces, 18 to 22 pulses, stopping and redistributing turkey around bowl as needed to ensure even grinding. Transfer meat to large bowl and repeat 2 more times with remaining turkey.
Return ½ cup (about 3 ounces) ground turkey to bowl of again-empty food processor and add soy sauce, baking soda, and softened gelatin. Process until smooth, about 2 minutes, scraping down bowl as needed. With processor running, slowly drizzle in oil, about 10 seconds; leave paste in food processor. Return mushrooms to food processor and pulse to combine with paste, 3 to 5 pulses, stopping and redistributing mixture as needed to ensure even mixing. Transfer mushroom mixture to bowl with ground turkey and use your hands to evenly combine.
With lightly greased hands, divide meat mixture into 6 balls. Gently flatten each ball into ¾-inch-thick patty. Press center of patties down with your fingertips to create ¼-inch-deep depression.
Heat a grill until hot, about 15 minutes. Leave primary burner on high and turn off other burner(s).
Clean and oil cooking grate. Brush 1 side of patties with oil and season with salt and pepper. Using spatula, flip patties, brush with oil, and season second side. Place burgers on hotter side of grill and cook until well browned on first side, 4 to 7 minutes. Flip burgers and cook until well browned on second side and meat registers 160 degrees, 4 to 7 minutes more.
Transfer burgers to plate and let rest for 5 minutes. Serve on buns.
¾ cup mayonnaise
4 teaspoons malt vinegar
½ teaspoon molasses
¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
Whisk all ingredients together in bowl.