I’ve been craving burgers. Like really, really craving burgers.
Last week I even drove through the In-N-Out drive thru to grab a double-meat, protein-style hamburger, but it was disappointing at best. It didn’t even come close to satisfying my burger craving, so I decided to make our own turkey burgers at home.
Brian and I are in the homestretch of our first Whole30 however, and following the Whole30 rules means no buns, and after my not-so-great In-N-Out burger experience, I definitely didn’t want lettuce wraps, so we decided to go with sweet potato buns. I had seen a photo of a burger with a sweet potato bun on Facebook not that long ago and it looked awesome.
Natalie also wanted fries with her burger, so we also made some Whole30 compliant wedge-cut Seasoned Parsley Fries to go with our burgers. While Natalie devoured her fries and turkey burger on a traditional bun, Brian and I realized that sweet potato burger buns are really filling, so you more than likely will be too full to eat fries or any other side dish!
Making Sweet Potato Burger Buns
I know that making Sweet Potato Burger Buns sounds complicated and time consuming, but it’s actually really easy and totally worth the extra effort because they’re packed with so much flavor that perfectly compliments the turkey burgers! All you have to do is:
- Slice a sweet potato to the desired thickness — I like to keep the slices between 1/4″ and 1/2″ thick — and lay them out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or foil.
- Brush one side of the sweet potato slices with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt, black pepper, paprika, and parsley flakes.
- Flip sweet potato slices over and repeat.
- Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
Making The Best Turkey Burgers Ever
Because Brian eats no red meat or pork, we end up eating a lot of turkey and turkey burgers, or we make Black Bean Burgers. But HOLY MOLY! These were the best tasting turkey burgers we have ever made. They were juicy, full of flavor, and the perfect consistency, and the best part is that they’re easy and fast to make.
To make the turkey burger patties, I combined ground turkey, diced green onions, onion powder, garlic powder, sea salt, black pepper, paprika, cayenne pepper, and parsley in a large bowl and mixed the ingredients together with my hands until well incorporated. I then made five thick turkey burger patties and cooked them in a little olive oil over medium heat on the stove while the sweet potato buns finished cooking.
The sweet potato buns take about 20 minutes to cook, and my turkey burgers took about 10 minutes because they were so thick.
Assembling The Loaded Turkey Burgers With Sweet Potato Buns
Once the sweet potato burger buns and the turkey burger patties were done cooking, all that was left was assembling the burgers and eating them up.
To assemble, all you have to do is pile all of your burger toppings, like spinach, tomato, red onion, guacamole, mustard, and ketchup on one sweet potato bun, and lay the other bun alongside the burger. That’s it. Impressive and so amazingly tasty that Brian and I both have agreed that we’re never going back to traditional burger buns.
The first time I made these turkey burgers, I tried to actually make a burger and while it was ridiculously delicious, it wasn’t very pretty or easy to eat. The second time however, we made and served them open-faced and not only were they delicious, but they were also gorgeous!
NOTE: To keep these Loaded Turkey Burgers With Sweet Potato Buns Whole30 compliant, we use the Tessemae’s Organic Ketchup — it’s insanely flavorful, so much so, that we’re not ever going back to regular ketchup either!
Loaded Turkey Burgers With Sweet Potato Buns
When eating these burgers sandwiched between sweet potato buns packed with flavor, you won't miss traditional bread buns at all!
Prep Time
Cook Time
Total Time
Ingredients
- 1-2 large sweet potatoes
- 1 lb lean ground turkey
- 2 large green onions, diced
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 large tomato
- 1/2 red onion
- 1 tsp parsley flakes
- A large handful of spinach leaves
- Guacamole
- Mustard
- Ketchup
- Olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. Slice sweet potatoes to desired thickness, I like mine 1/4-1/2 inch. Lay potato slices on baking sheet. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with a little sea salt, black pepper, paprika, and parsley flakes. Flip potato slices over and repeat. Bake for 20 minutes.
- While potato buns are baking, slice the tomato and red onion, and cut stems off the spinach leaves.
- Prepare turkey burger patties by combining the ground turkey, green onions, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, sea salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper in a large bowl and mixing toegther well. Make 5-6 burger patties and cook in a little olive oil in a large skillet on the stove over medium heat.
- When the turkey burger patties and sweet potato buns are done cooking, assemble the loaded turkey burgers, top with ketchup and mustard, and serve immediately.
Notes:
This recipe made five turkey burgers.
They are absolutely gorgeous served open faced.
To keep this dish Whole30 compliant, we use the Tessemae's Organic Ketchup — it's insanely flavorful, so much so, that we're not ever going back to regular ketchup!
