My Best Ever Turkey Sliders

This post is inspired by the wonderful parents of Mrs. Enyart’s PK4 class at Northland Christian.  We had our Thanksgiving feast on Friday and it was a great 1!  The dessert table was packed full of yummy goodies from cookies and chocolate covered pretzels to pumpkin pie and apple cinnamon muffins!  We had so much food that I think we parents ate more than the kids.  Did I mention we are a group of parents who love to eat?!

Ok on to the purpose of this post…. for the feast, I made some turkey sliders.  It was my chance to get our kids to eat their veggies.  Let me tell ya, you can hide almost anything in a burger, pizza, or muffin and they’ll be none the wiser.  Some of these kids are slick though; if they don’t want it, they just ain’t gonna eat it!  No worries, we keep trying new things and learning new tricks!  Anywhooooo…. these sliders were pretty good (if I do say so myself) – of course I had to taste test – and you won’t believe how simple they are.  Some of the parents like them so much they asked for the “recipe”.  So here it is…

Best Ever Turkey Sliders

*Note:  I use the term “recipe” lightly because I don’t normally measure things.  Just so happens that this time I did keep track of what I used; I’m not real sure why, but probably out of concern for the kids I’m sure. 😉

2 lbs ground turkey
4 medium carrots (you can use any veg really, just make sure you get it into tiny pieces)
1/4 yellow onion (use more if you like onions/onion flavor)
smokey seasoning to taste (recipe below – this stuff is SO good)

2 parts salt
1 part cumin
1 part paprika
1 part garlic powder
1 part pepper
1 part dried parsley flakes

Mix up your smokey seasoning and set aside.

Dump the turkey in a large bowl.  Grate the carrots and the onion and add to the turkey. The onion will yield a lot of juice and pulp – put it all in.  Add smokey seasoning – start with 2 tablespoons and work your way up (you can always add more, but you can’t take any out).

Now get your hands dirty and mix it all up a little.  Once mixed, you should be able to see the seasoning.  If you can’t, add more a little at a time.

This next step is not absolutely necessary, but it definitely makes the flavors more intense….. Cover the mixture and stick it in the fridge for at least an hour or 2 (or overnight).

When you’re ready to make the burgers, let the mixture come to room temp first then use an ice cream scoop to get the perfect amount for slider size, make your patties and grill ’em up.

Even though you still might want them, I promise you will not even need condiments with this.  It’s got plenty of flavor.

Quick tip:  if you don’t have slider buns, not to worry.  Use a large cookie cutter to cut rounds of regular loaf bread into perfect slider sized “buns”.

Quick tip 2:  play around with your additions to the turkey.  The options are limitless – cheese, grated garlic, even olives, peppers, kale, spinach… almost anything you can imagine.  Amp up the nutrition with a slice of tomato 9if you and your kids like them) and kale or romaine for the lettuce.  YUM… I’m hungry just thinking about it!

If you try this, let me know how it turns out for you.  Tell me what you try and what tips you come with.