These unique turkey burgers are based on the recipe shared from the executive chef at the Mar-a-Lago Resort in Florida. Oprah once listed them as one of her favorite things from Donald Trump’s famous resort restaurant and shared the recipe. They’ve become a family favorite for us. Don’t be scared by a unique ingredient in the patties (apples!). These burgers have an amazing sweet and savory flavor combo and an easy sauce takes them over the top. They’re great for a casual dinner at at home, and fun to serve to dinner guests, too! Try them with a great side salad and some sweet potato fries on the side for the perfect summer dinner.
Ingredient Notes
- Butter – for sautéing
- Celery – I realize it sounds like a strange thing in a burger, but trust!
- Apples – The original recipe calls for Granny Smith apples and I like to stick to that. Granny Smith are a more tart apple. You can substitute another variety of apple, and it would just add a little more sweetness, but still be delicious.
- Green Onions
- Ground turkey breast – Feel free to use lean ground turkey breast, or if you prefer, ground turkey (not 100% breast) works great, too. 100% breast is leaner and generally not as juicy or flavorful, but it works in this recipe combined with so many other great things. I personally like the added fat and flavor from ground turkey with dark meat (85/15).
- Tabasco sauce – This doesn’t make the burgers too spicy, but you can also leave it out, I often do. Feel free to add a little more if you like your food with a kick.
- Parsley – Opt for flat leaf Italian style parsley (as opposed to the curly leaf style you see used as garnish).
- Lemon
- Major Grey’s Chutney – You can find this in the grocery store near the BBQ sauces, often on the top shelf. It’s a delicious sweet and savory jam made with mangoes and seasonings.
- Buns – A good quality hamburger bun is a must, I prefer brioche buns.
- Additional toppings: as desired, like lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese, etc.
How to Make Mar-a-Lago Turkey Burgers
- Sauté celery, apples, and onions. Apples and celery not only add really great flavor here, but they also keep the burgers nice and moist- which is helpful as turkey has a tendency to dry out on the grill.
- Next, combine the sautéed apple mixture with ground turkey, Major Grey’s Chutney, the zest and juice of half a lemon, salt, pepper, and a splash of Tabasco. Form that into patties.
- Grill. When you place them on the grill, do it very gently. Turkey is much more fragile than beef and it’s easy to crumble the burgers right up. Another key thing is to not flip the burgers too soon, or too often or they can also fall to pieces. Let them cook completely on one side and then flip just once to finish cooking on the other side. When you’re all done you’ll have beautiful burgers!
- Add Mango Chutney sauce. I’m a huge fan of mango chutney, and one of my favorite things to do is make a burger spread to go along with these burgers with simply mango chutney + mayo. It brings all the flavors together and is great on other burgers as well.
Serving Suggestions
I love pairing these burgers with a side of Baked Sweet Potato Fries. You could also try these Oven Steak Fries , or even Grilled Corn on the Cob.
If you love mango chutney, and have some to use up, I highly recommend this Chicken Salad With Mango Chutney Dressing!
Frequently Asked Questions
While I have not personally tested any substitutes, apricot or peach jam may make a great substitute. Feel free to try it if necessary, just remember that chutney is quite thick, so a thinner jam may not hold up as well when forming patties.
Absolutely! If you have a crowd to feed, go ahead and mix everything up a day ahead of time and store in the fridge, either all together in an airtight container, or pre-formed into patties and separated by a piece of parchment between each one.
You can absolutely cook them indoors on a grill pan or large skillet.
Mar-a-Lago Turkey Burgers
Ingredients
Burger Patties
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup finely chopped celery
- 3 Granny Smith Apples peeled and very finely diced or shredded
- ¼ cup thinly sliced green onions
- 4 pounds ground turkey breast or 85/15 turkey
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons tabasco sauce
- ½ lemon zested then juiced
- ½ bunch parsley chopped
- ¼ cup Major Grey’s Chutney
Burger Spread
- ¾ cup mayo
- 4 tablespoons Major Grey’s Chutney
For Assembly
- 8 good quality hamburger buns
- additional toppings as desired lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese, etc.
Instructions
- In a saute pan over medium-low heat, sauté the celery, apples, and green onions in butter until tender. Let cool. Place the ground turkey in a large mixing bowl. Add sauteed items and the remaining ingredients. Shape into eight 8-ounce burgers. Refrigerate for 2 hours to firm.
- To make burger spread, combine mayo and chutney and whisk until smooth, Feel free to add more chutney as desired.
- Season the turkey burgers with salt and pepper. Place on preheated, lightly oiled grill. Grill each side for 7 minutes until meat is thoroughly cooked to an internal temperature of 165℉. Let sit for 5 minutes.
- To serve, toast buns if desired and spread with sauce. Add toppings as desired like greens, onion and tomato.
- Try it with a side of Sweet Potato Fries, or some Grilled Corn on the Cob for a great (and healthy!) summer meal.
Questions & Reviews
Love these! Can you freeze the formed burgers for later grilling?
yes you can freeze them 🙂
An important step has been left out and was in Oprah’s original recipe: refrigerate the formed patties for 2 hours before you grill. It really helps the patties set and they won’t fall apart as easily on the grill 🙂
A really delicious recipe 🙂
That was not left out, it’s the last line of step one in the recipe 🙂
I have made this for years since Oprah first published this. The original recipe called for “Chipotle Tabasco” not regular Tabasco or Green Tabasco. This makes a huge difference. The smokey chipotle flavor perfectly complements the sweetness of the chutney!
Such a great recipe. Very juicy and flavourful. These are the farthest thing from dry which is what usually happens with turkey burgers. Highly recommend!
Where did you find the mango chutney?
I’m in the Star/Boise area and can’t find it
They should have it in most grocery stores- I buy it regularly at Fred Meyer!
Making these tonight. I have a jalapeño cheddar turkey burger recipe I LOVE that I was planning to make tonight, but then realized I’m missing lots of important ingredients (oops). Hopped on your side and found this recipe, had to swap out shallots for the green onions but I’m expecting it to be delicious. Also, using Trader Joe’s mango chutney because that’s what I have ??♀️
Just noticed this recipe on OBB…have been making it since seeing it on Oprah years ago. Wondering if you’ve ever tried the amazing Pear Chutney that goes on top? We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it all together! You’re missing yet another layer of amazingness if you leave it out!
INGREDIENTS
1 Anjou pear, peeled and diced
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. sea salt
1 1/2 cups Major Grey’s Chutney
1/4 cup dried currants or raisins
Preheat oven to 350°.
Toss the diced pears with the cinnamon and salt. Bake on a parchment-lined cookie sheet for 10 minutes.
Cool and mix with the chutney and currants or raisins.
Where do you find Chutney? I cant find it anywhere
It’s usually on the top shelf near the jams and jellies, but sometimes it’s by the bbq sauces- if you have trouble, just ask a grocery store manager. Sometimes they put it in funny places!
Made these yesterday and loved them so much, made them again today! Yesterday’s version did not include the chutney/mayo spread, but today’s did, and OMG, that really made the burgers more special.
I varied the burger recipe a little by adding less salt (the two tablespoons scared me, but I think it would have been fine), and I only used the juice from half the lemon (which I will do again). I followed the rest of the recipe exactly. I love these burgers! Thanks for such an awesome recipe!