Having some ground meat in the freezer definitely comes in handy — especially when I have a kitchen full of hungry kids clamoring for food! Mini burgers are a great solution. They’re the perfect handheld size, and grown-ups love them too, so really they’re a win-win snack (double the serving for a meal). These turkey burger BLTs are extra-yummy, but you can scratch the BLT part if you don’t have the fixings and just top them with ketchup, mustard, pickles, or Swiss. Any kind of ground meat works here, even super-lean and flavorful bison. Oven-cooking the bacon and burgers is a lot less messy than pan-frying, though of course the burgers are great grilled, too.
Ingredients
6 slices bacon, cut in half crosswise
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
1⁄8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound ground turkey (light or dark meat, or a combo of the two)
6 mini buns or dinner rolls, about 3″ in diameter, split
1⁄2 cup mayonnaise
1⁄2 garlic clove, finely minced
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons (1⁄4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2–3 lettuce leaves, torn into 3″ pieces
2 ripe tomatoes, sliced
Cook the bacon. Adjust 1 oven rack to the uppermost position and leave the other in the middle position. Heat the oven to 425°F. Arrange the bacon in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until crisped and browned, about 12 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel–lined plate. Pour the bacon fat from the baking sheet into an airtight container (or top off the bacon fat you already have stored in the fridge) and refrigerate. Wipe off the baking sheet and turn on the broiler.
Make the burgers and the mayo. Sprinkle the salt and the pepper over the ground turkey and gently mix to combine (squeezing and compacting meat makes for tough burgers). Divide the turkey into 6 mounds and lightly roll each portion into a ball. Place the balls on the baking sheet and flatten them with your hands into patties slightly larger than the buns (the burgers will shrink a little with cooking). Arrange the buns, cut-side up, on a second baking sheet and place on the middle rack. Broil the burgers on the upper rack until cooked through and lightly browned, 5 to 6 minutes. While the burgers cook, mix the mayonnaise, garlic, and lemon juice in a small bowl.
Toast the buns. Take the burgers and buns out; set the burgers aside. Brush the cut side of the buns with some melted butter and broil just until lightly toasted, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Remove from the oven and spread each bun with the garlic mayonnaise. Place a patty on each bun bottom, top with bacon, lettuce, tomato, and the bun top, and serve.
D2D
Save the fat left over from cooking bacon in an airtight container in the fridge. Use it instead of butter or oil for sautéing or roasting vegetables or pan-searing chicken.
