Turkey Sliders with Avocado Cilantro Jalapeño Crema
Updated: Sep 12, 2023
To be honest, I'm not a fan of burgers, but when I saw these mini hamburger buns being sold in Trader Joe's, I HAD to get them. I took them home, stared at them for a bit, and contemplated what I wanted to do with them. I ended up making these delicious turkey sliders for my family and I, and they loved them! The process was a bit long, but the results were so worth it. These sliders make for a great appetizer for football games or BBQs! So, if you're a fan of sliders but want a red meat alternative, keep following along for the recipe.
Yields: 4-6
Prep time: 1 hour
Total time: 1 hour and 30 minutes
This recipe can be dairy free if you opt out of the provolone cheese.
Ingredients:
1. 2 bags of Trader Joe's mini hamburger buns (approx. 18 buns)
2. 2 lbs lean ground turkey
3. 3 plum tomatoes
4. Lettuce
5. Provolone cheese
6. 1 ½ avocado
7. ½ jalapeño
8. Bunch of cilantro
9. ½ lemon
10. Extra virgin olive oil
11. 5 garlic cloves
12. 1 head of lettuce
13. Kosher salt
14. Ground black pepper
15. Garlic powder
16. Onion powder
17. Paprika
18. Red pepper flakes
Instructions:
1. First, grab your buns and cut them into halves. Lay them out on a large pan to keep them organized during your cooking process.
2. Now, grab your ground turkey meat and make sure it's room temperature/not defrosted. It makes it easier to mash. Put the 2lbs of turkey into a large bowl and start to mash well.
3. Add 5 minced cloves of garlic into the turkey.
4. I won't lie when it comes to seasoning I didn't measure. I was pretty generous and equally seasoning when it came to the black pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. I added 1 ½ TSP of salt and a dash of red pepper flakes.
5. Mash very well.
6. Now, put on a pair of latex gloves, add a small amount of olive oil into your palms, and start making small turkey patties in your hands. You want them to be the same diameter as the buns.
7. Place them onto a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Repeat the process until all meat is gone.
8. Once you're done, you're going to grill them until well-done. I grilled them for 10 minutes on each side.
9. While you're waiting on the turkey, chop the tomatoes into thin rounds and the lettuce into smaller sizes to fit the small buns.
10. Next, you're going to make the crema. In a food processor, add 1 ½ avocado, 1 bunch of cilantro, ½ jalapeño, 1 TSP salt, ¼ cup of olive oil, and juice of ½ lemon. Puree.
11. If you want to add provolone cheese, follow this step: Grab your provolone cheese slices and a small round cup with a similar diameter as the buns. Press the cup down into the middle of each cheese slice to cut perfectly round pieces of the cheese. Repeat for each slice.
12. Now to put it all together: add a small dollop of the crema onto each bun. Layer with the lettuce, turkey burger, provolone cheese, tomato, and the top bun. Repeat with all.
