Absolute perfection on a plate, these teriyaki turkey burgers with grilled pineapple (skip the bun if you like!) are simple enough for a busy weeknight yet fancy enough for company. The taste is out of this world!
Oh my goodness. As my 12-year-old put it, these teriyaki turkey burgers with grilled pineapple are absolutely lit. And I couldn't agree more.
Effortless. Tasty. Straightforward enough for a weekday dinner but spectacular enough for guests, these burgers are making a strong claim as the most anticipated meal of the summer.
While they are wonderfully delicious dressed up with lettuce and a bun, they are equally amazing served without bread, perhaps with a slice of Swiss cheese melted on top and an extra drizzle of teriyaki sauce. Incredibly good.
Have you ever grilled pineapple? If not, now is the time. Honestly, pineapple is one of the best things to consistently come off my grill. The sweet, tangy flavors caramelize and concentrate into pure magic, and I have zero self-control when faced with fresh, juicy grilled pineapple.
For this recipe, I strongly suggest using fresh pineapple. Canned alternatives just won't deliver the same amazing effect.
However! I fully support using what you have on hand or what's easily available. Having lived in very remote places where fresh pineapple was rare, if canned pineapple rings are all you can get, go for it. See notes below for adjustments.
For fresh pineapple, slice rings about 1/4-inch thick. Using a sharp knife (or a round cookie cutter of similar size), remove the core from each slice.
Ground turkey tends to be softer than ground beef or pork. That means turkey burgers can sometimes be tricky on the grill. To help them hold their shape (and for great texture), bread crumbs and an egg are added to the mixture. I promise we're not making meatloaf here…just a really tender, delicious turkey burger.
For this recipe, I prefer 85% lean ground turkey (Jennie-O or Butterball brand). I don't recommend the ground turkey that comes in tubes—it gives me the creeps, and in my experience the texture is all wrong and kind of off-putting.
*If you don't have a grill, the burgers and pineapple can easily be cooked in a skillet or on an indoor griddle.
This might be the most crucial part of the recipe! The teriyaki flavors are what make these burgers stand out and earn those high "lit" compliments.
I think a really good store-bought or homemade teriyaki sauce will work well here. The key is using a teriyaki sauce you genuinely enjoy. If the taste makes you cringe, you might want to reconsider your teriyaki sauce strategy.
Store-bought: Trader Joe’s has an excellent bottled teriyaki sauce called soy-yaki; I’ve also used Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki sauce.
Homemade: I have a couple homemade teriyaki sauce recipes that appear as part of other recipes; I think either would be amazing in this recipe (here and here). I wish I could say I’ve tried a homemade sauce for these burgers. But I haven’t yet. Blame it on summer. It’s been a whirlwind (in all sorts of good and challenging ways). I feel like some days I barely have time to remember who I am and how I got here. Store-bought teriyaki sauce it is! 🙂
Well. There you have it. Teriyaki burgers with grilled pineapple. One of the most delicious meals of the summer and guaranteed to happen very often around here for the foreseeable future.
This is a rare zero-complaint dinner for us, and I know you know what I mean when I say: you gotta capitalize quickly and strategically when that happens.
Yield: 6 burgers
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Teriyaki Turkey Burgers with Grilled Pineapple
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground turkey (see note)
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup unseasoned bread crumbs (I use panko)
- 1/4 cup grated onion
- 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce (see note)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (I use coarse, kosher salt)
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper (I use coarsely ground)
- 6 rings of sliced fresh pineapple, cored (see note for canned)
- Hamburger buns
- Lettuce
- Additional teriyaki sauce
- Swiss cheese (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat a grill to medium or medium-high (I set my pellet grill to 375 degrees F).
- In a large bowl, add the ground turkey, egg, bread crumbs, onion, teriyaki sauce, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper. Combine well (I dig in with my hands until it’s evenly mixed).
- Form six burgers (or more, see note below) about 1/2-inch thick.
- If meat tends to stick to the grates, brush the grates with oil or lightly brush both sides of the turkey burgers with oil.
- Grill the burgers about six minutes on the first side, flip, baste with teriyaki sauce, and grill another 4-6 minutes until cooked through (instant-read thermometer registers 165 degrees F).
- Once the burgers are flipped, add the pineapple to the grill and grill 4-5 minutes, flipping once. Optional: brush pineapple with teriyaki sauce during the last few minutes of grilling.
- Serve the turkey burgers on buns with additional teriyaki sauce, lettuce, and Swiss cheese (optional). Burgers are delicious served without a bun, too.
Notes
Ground turkey: I use 85% lean ground turkey for this recipe and usually use either Butterball or Jennie-O brand. I don’t recommend using the ground turkey that comes in tubes—it is mushy and falls apart while cooking.
Teriyaki sauce: Use your favorite brand of teriyaki sauce (Trader Joe’s has an excellent sauce; I’ve also used Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki sauce). I have a couple homemade teriyaki sauce recipes that would probably work great, too (here and here).
Pineapple: I have only used fresh pineapple; you could experiment with canned. Pat dry and watch carefully on the grill (might be a bit more fragile than fresh pineapple).
Yield: I make six fairly large (but fairly thin) burgers out of this recipe – you could certainly make smaller burgers to yield more or scale down the recipe as needed.
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Recipe Source: inspired by a recipe in Cuisine at Home August 2019
