Jalapeño Cheddar Turkey Burgers

A few months ago I tried a jalapeño burger for the first time when a friend made them for dinner.  Admittedly, I had a bit of fear to take a bite because I'm not the biggest fan of jalapeños.  My father, on the other hand, is a jalapeño fanatic, and would sometimes offer me $1.00 if I could put a slice of pepper on my tongue and keep it there for a full minute.  I was never successful, and in turn hated the pepper for some time, avoiding anything with jalapeños in it.

But upon biting into this burger that I expected to melt my tongue, I discovered that the spice level had dropped significantly (and these were fresh peppers, not jarred), and the burgers were delicious.  The jalapeño added just a small kick and really brought out some great flavor.  It was then that I realized I had to make something like it for my husband.  And Jalapeño Cheddar Turkey Burgers were born.

I started out by chopping one jalapeño into small pieces, then added some ground turkey, egg, bread crumbs, shredded cheddar cheese, salt and pepper to the mix.

I formed the meat into burger patties, and cooked them for about 3-4 minutes on each side in a cast iron skillet.  I flipped them a few times despite hearing some time ago that you should only flip a burger once; I wanted to make sure they were fully cooked in the center.

I served them up and my husband and I enjoyed fresh burgers for dinner.

It's safe to say that I am officially a jalapeño fan.  The jalapeños added an awesome flavor to the burger and the cheese just made it perfect. My husband thought the burgers were great, and the next day I devoured a second burger for lunch.  Now that I have unlocked the power of the pepper, I plan on saving some seeds and trying to grow a plant of my own.  I can see a little bit of jalapeño adding a lot of flavor to many of my favorite dishes, and I still have one fresh one left to experiment with in another recipe.  This burger recipe will is super easy and will be a frequent addition to our dinner list for sure!

Jalapeño Cheddar Turkey Burgers Recipe

Ingredients:

1 pound ground turkey
1 jalapeño pepper
1 egg
1/3 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Instructions:

Dice jalapeño into small pieces. In a mixing bowl, combine ground turkey, diced pepper, egg, bread crumbs, cheddar cheese, and salt and pepper for seasoning. Form into burger patties and cook for about 5 minutes on each side on medium heat.