There aren’t many things more satisfying than a juicy burger with melty cheese in between a warm bun. But you don’t always want or need that red meat. Follow this recipe for duck fat turkey smash burgers, a healthier alternative to beef that doesn’t sacrifice on flavor.

Make sure to keep scrolling past the recipe card for a deep dive into this duck fat turkey smash burger recipe. We go over all the ingredients and equipment you’ll need, as well as what to do with leftovers, best buns and cheese, and FAQ’s.

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Turkey Smash Burgers Recipe

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What is a Smash Burger?

There are a lot of folks out there claiming to be making “smash burgers” and a lot of them are full of sh*t. All the time I see restaurants advertising some big ass burger loaded with all the toppings, as smash burgers. I guess they’re trying to take advantage of a perceived trend, don’t be fooled, the smash burger is a burger in a field all its own.

A smash burger is a type of burger that is made by cooking meat on a hot griddle or skillet and “smashing” it into a thin patty. This keeps the fat from escaping and essentially cooks the burger in its own juices. This method creates a thin, crispy, seared texture on the outside of the patty, while keeping the inside juicy and flavorful.

Smash burgers are typically made with ground beef, but they can also be made with other types of meat such as turkey, chicken, or lamb. The key to making a successful smash burger however, is fat content. It’s what makes all the magic happen. So if you’re cooking with a lean meat, you’ll need to add some fat to your patties. This is where the duck fat comes in for our turkey smash burgers.

While most gourmet burgers try and load up as many toppings as they can, the greatness of a smash burger lies in its simplicity. A proper smash burger focuses a few key ingredients that showcase the flavors and textures of the meat patty. Keep it simple stupid, meat, cheese, mayo, pickle, and onion.

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Are Turkey Smash Burgers Healthy?

Healthy? Well lets just say these turkey smash burgers are a lot healthier than Ronalds quarter pounder. But they won’t exactly be getting a ringing endorsement from the heart health institute either. Unlike ground beef, ground turkey is lower in fat and calories, making it a healthier option for sure. And yes, we do add fat to these turkey smash burgers, but it is a much healthier, duck fat.

Additionally, turkey is a good source of essential vitamins and minerals such as zinc, iron, and B vitamins. These nutrients help to support a strong immune system, healthy muscles, and overall good health.

So you probably won’t be losing any LBs eating a diet of turkey smash burgers, but you can rest assured it is a healthier option to beef burgers. Turkey is way more environmentally friendly as well. Turkeys don’t produce methane and they require a lot less food and water to maintain.

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Benefits of Duck Fat

Besides being super tasty, duck fat is actually pretty healthy. Duck fat is is high in monounsaturated fatty acids, which are the “good” kind of fat that can help to improve cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of heart disease. Duck fat also contains a significant amount of vitamins and minerals, including vitamins A, D, and E, as well as iron and magnesium.

Duck fat also has a high smoke point, making it suitable for high-heat cooking methods like super hot griddles that cook turkey smash burgers. Using fats with higher smoke points can help prevent the production of harmful compounds that can form at high temperatures.

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Turkey Smash Burger Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this Turkey Smash Burger. You shouldn’t have any trouble finding everything you need at your local super market. The only thing that might give you trouble is the Duck fat, if so order some online. Duck Fat.

• Ground Turkey: I know you saw this coming. Shocker, you’re gonna need ground turkey to make turkey smash burgers. Don’t make things hard on you and get extra lean. Buy the 80/20 or 85/15 fat ratio if you can.
• Extra Fat: Duck fat, butter, or bacon grease are all good options. Remember, its the fat the cooks the meat that makes the smash burger special. Don’t forget to add fat to the natuarally lean turkey.
• Potato Bun: We love using potato buns. They are so soft and gooey and just go perfectly with these turkey smash burgers. Other great options would be pretzel buns or even sourdough slices. I’m thinking a turkey smash burger patty melt!
• Cheese: American cheese is just the best for a burger. It melts perfectly over the bun and just gives it that classic burger taste. We’re doing turkey okay, let me have my cheese!
• Sauce: You could simply just use mayo, or go for broke and make this special sauce. We don’t like overriding it with toppings so the sauce for us is key.
• Toppings: lettuce, tomato, jalapeño use what you like. Personally, I want my turkey patty to sing the loudest, and I feel like too many toppings take away from a perfectly cooked piece of meat. So for my turkey smash burgers I only use caramelized onions and a couple pickles.

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Turkey Smash Burgers Equipment

Here’s a list of things that will help you make this smashingly tasty turkey burger.

• Flat Griddle: A flat griddle or a cast iron skillet is ideal for cooking smash burgers. The flat surface ensures good contact with the patties, creating those crispy edges. When I get a bigger kitchen, Im getting this bad boy, a cast iron double sided griddle.
• Spatula: Use a wide and flat spatula to smash down your burger patty on the hot griddle. Or if you’re real fancy, they make actual smash burger smashers or burger presses, like this one.
• Parchment Paper: Helps the spatial not stick to the burger, trust me, it sucks when that happens.

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How to Make Turkey Smash Burgers

Follow these steps to make a turkey smash burger. Before you begin cooking your patties, you should have a toasted bun with mayo, pickles, and jalepeno ready to go.

Step 1: Sauté the Onion

Toss your sliced onion in a tsp of duck fat and cook in a skillet until they nice and browned. Set them aside put keep them close. You’ll add them back to the griddle when you cook your patties.

Step 2: Make your Patties

You don’t need to season your meat or add an egg. Just add your duck fat and meat to a big bowl and mix thoroughly. Make little balls out of 2oz of meat. If you bought a pound of ground turkey you should end up with 8 patties.

This may seem like a really small patty, and it is. But this will enable them to cook super quick and get that nice char we all love. And hell, 2 two ounce patties is a quarter pounder, so its not a tiny burger. Make it a triple if you want.

Step 3: Smash your Turkey Burger Patties

Heat a griddle or a nonstick skillet over high heat. Don’t add any oil. Once its super hot add the turkey smash burger patties.

Then one at a time, quickly place a small sheet of parchment paper over the balls. With the back fo a metal spatula “Smash” your patties until they are about 1/8 of an inch thick. Really lean it. The parchemnt paper should help the burger not stick to the spatula.

The griddle should be super hot and with patties so thin, they won’t take long to cook. About 30 seconds to a minute. With that time, liberally season the patties with salt and pepper.

Step 4: Flip your Turkey Burger Patties

Toss the onions back on the griddle to reheat them for a few seconds. Then use your spatula to flip the patties. Then add the American cheese slices and sautéd onions. This side will only need about 30 seconds to cook.

Starting with the first patty to touch the griddle, stack your patties onto of each other.

Step 5: Assemble & Enjoy!

Use your spatula to transfer your turkey smash burgers to your awaiting bun. I just like mayo, pickles and jalapeño on mine. Lettuce and tomato get in the way of the crispy gooey goodness. Save the salt for another day.

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Buns & Cheese

It’s hard to beat the soft fluffy potato bun. Its the perfect vessel to carry these delicious turkey smash burgers to the mouth hole. They soak up all the excess duck fat juices from the patty and the onions. They’re also just a little bit sweet, which pairs wonderfully with the savory turkey patties.

Potato buns are also a little smaller than the average bun. With 2 really thin patties you don’t want a ton of bread taking away from your burger experience. Even with 3 patties the bread/meat ratio is perfect, maybe even better.

As for the cheese, this is the only time I will heavily advocate for yellow American cheese. Theres just something about that yellow goo that melts perfectly around a meat patty. It almost forms a cheese shell. And while guarding these turkey smash burgers is fools errand, I salute you American cheese. Get some decent stuff though, go to your deli and try your best to avoid those craft singles.

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Leftover Turkey Smash Burgers

It is hard to recreate that lovely crispy seared edge that a freshly made smash burger gives you. It just isn’t the same when you reheat it. So if you want to make a bunch of burgers to have as leftovers throughout the week, follow this recipe, omit the duck fat, and don’t smash them on the griddle. You can grill up a normal turkey burger patties and store them in the fridge for a week.

You can either bring your patties back to life on a skillet over medium heat, or in the microwave for a minute and a half or so. My wife likes to go protein style with the leftovers, no bun and a bunch of toppings wrapped in romaine lettuce.

I wouldn’t recommend freezing cooked turkey burgers patties, but you could freeze the premade turkey balls and thaw them out when you’re ready to party.

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Fries with that?

You gotta have French fries with your burger, it just wouldn’t be right any other way. And in the vein eating slightly healthier, check out these air fryer potato recipes:

Air Fryer Garlic Parmesan Fries

Air Fryer Sweet Potato Wedges

Spicy Air Fryer Home Fries – Country Potatoes

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