What’s summer without juicy burgers piled high with your favorite toppings? Today we’re grilling up a super unique burger flavor that I created a few years ago and absolutely fell in LOVE with. These Moroccan-spiced turkey burgers are filled with warming spices that give them the most wonderful flavor.
I topped these babies with my go-to burger toppings like fresh lettuce and red onion, plus my *famous* creamy feta sauce for the perfect mix of spicy, salty, creamy, and oh-so-delicious.
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Let’s talk spices
The reason these turkey burgers are called “Moroccan-spiced” is from the incredible, warming spices mixed right into them. We’re using a blend of ground cumin, turmeric, cinnamon and cayenne pepper to give the burgers an incredibly delicious flavor that’s unlike your regular old hamburger.
The blend of spices, along with other flavorful ones like ground ginger, saffron, allspice, paprika, cardamom and coriander, are often found in traditional Moroccan dishes like warming bowls of tagine.
What you’ll need to make these Moroccan-spiced turkey burgers
Along with ground turkey (or chicken), you’ll just need your blend of spices to make the burgers, plus my incredible feta sauce and any toppings your heart desires. Here’s everything to stock up on:
- Ground turkey: I like to use a 93% lean ground turkey or chicken so that it still has a bit of fat content to stay nice and juicy.
- Veggies: you’ll also mix some finely diced red onion and cilantro into the burgers for extra flavor.
- Honey: a little sweetness pairs beautifully with all of the savory flavors in the turkey burgers.
- Spices: you’ll need ground cumin, cinnamon, turmeric, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper.
- Sauce: trust me when I say the creamy feta sauce drizzled on top of one of these burgers is UNREAL.
- Toppings: I like serving these turkey burgers on a multigrain bun with butterhead lettuce and some sliced red onion, but up to you!
Easy ways to customize your turkey burger
The best part about burgers? You can totally customize them to your taste preferences and what you have on hand.
- Choose the meat. As I mentioned, feel free to use ground chicken instead of ground turkey, too! I would still recommend no leaner than 93% fat. This recipe will also work with regular beef!
- Swap your sauce. If you want to keep this recipe dairy free and/or paleo-friendly, feel free to swap the feta sauce for my delicious tahini sauce.
- Use your fav toppings. Burger toppings are truly what makes the burger, right? Pick your favorite buns or use lettuce wraps, add some fresh produce like tomato, lettuce, red onion, avocado or even cilantro, or keep them simple with the sauce.
- Pick the spice level. If you love spice like I do feel free to add a little extra cayenne pepper or even dice up a jalapeño in the burger mixture. Not a fan of spice? You can also omit the cayenne pepper completely.
Juicy turkey burgers in four simple steps
- Make the feta sauce. Start by making that creamy feta sauce so that it’s ready when your burgers are. You can even make it a day ahead of time if you’d like!
- Prep your grill. Preheat your grill to medium high heat and brush the grates with olive oil to prevent sticking.
- Make the burgers. Next, you’ll mix together all of the ingredients for the turkey burgers: ground turkey, red onion, cilantro, honey, and those amazing spices.
- Grill & serve. Finally, grill the burgers for 6-8 minutes per side and top them with the feta sauce, veggies, buns and your fav sides!
Make them on the stovetop
Don’t feel like firing up your grill? You can 100% use the stove! To make these turkey burgers on the stovetop simply add 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil to a nonstick skillet and place it over medium heat. Once hot, cook your burgers for 4-5 minutes per side until they’re no longer pink.
When are turkey burgers fully cooked?
Unlike beef burgers, you’ll need to fully cook turkey and chicken burgers. I recommend using a meat thermometer and checking to make sure it reads 165 degrees F. Remember to sign up for the AK Guide to Grilling for more tips like this!
Get our best tips for grilling burgers
Looking for more tips & tricks for grilling all types of burgers? Head to this post and you’ll make the best, juicy burgers every time.
Storing tips
Store any leftover turkey burgers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. Feel free to reheat in the microwave or in a skillet.
Make ahead & freeze burgers for later
These Moroccan-inspired turkey burgers make the best meal prep dinner that you can freeze for later! Here are two ways to do it:
- Freeze before cooking: shape your turkey burgers and place them in an airtight, freezer-friendly bag or container. If you’re stacking the burgers I’d recommend putting wax or parchment paper in between the layers so that they don’t stick together. Freeze for up to 3 months. To reheat, you can either let them thaw in the fridge before cooking or cook them directly from frozen – you may just need to cook them a bit longer from frozen.
- Freeze after cooking: let your turkey burger patties cool completely before placing them in airtight, freezer-friendly containers or bags. As I mentioned above, put wax or parchment paper in between the layers of burgers if you’re stacking them. Freeze them for up to 3 months. To reheat, let them thaw in the fridge before reheating in the microwave or on the stovetop for a couple minutes on each side. You can also reheat these directly from frozen – I recommend doing so on the stovetop.
The perfect sides for your turkey burgers
What are burgers without some delicious side dishes? Here are some of our favs:
- Best Healthy Coleslaw Ever (no mayo!)
- Grilled Corn Salad with Avocado, Goat Cheese & Hot Honey Vinaigrette
- Tony’s Melt-In-Your-Mouth Grilled Brussels Sprouts
- The Best Guacamole You’ll Ever Eat
- Avocado & Tomato Chickpea Pasta Salad with Lemon Basil Vinaigrette
Get all of our delicious summer recipes here!
Our recommended tools
- Grill brush
- Grill (this is the one I have!)
- Spatula
- Meat thermometer
Head to my Amazon Shop Page see more of our fav kitchen essentials.
I hope you love these Moroccan-spiced turkey burgers! If you make them be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked them. Enjoy, xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Moroccan-Spiced Turkey Burgers with Creamy Feta Sauce
Ingredients
- For the burgers:
- 1 pound 93% lean ground turkey or chicken
- ¼ cup very finely diced red onion
- ¼ cup diced cilantro
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- For the feta sauce:
- 1 batch feta sauce
- For assembly:
- 4 hamburger buns of choice, gluten-free and/or toasted if desired
- Butterhead lettuce
- Sliced red onion
Instructions
- First make your feta sauce so it’s ready to go once your burgers are done cooking.
- Preheat the grill to medium high heat (about 400 degrees F). Brush the grates with olive oil to prevent sticking.
- Make the chicken burgers by adding the ground chicken/turkey, diced red onion, cilantro, honey, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, garlic powder, cayenne pepper and salt and pepper to a large bowl. Mix with your hands until evenly combined. Divide into 4 equal portions and shape into 1/3 inch patties.
- Grill over medium-high heat (around 400 degrees F) for 6-8 minutes per side or until burgers are cooked through and a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees F.
- To serve burgers, top with feta sauce, and either place red onion and lettuce on top or bottom. Serve immediately. Great with sweet potato fries or fresh fruit!
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
This post was originally published on June 7th, 2021, republished on June 27th, 2023, and republished May 22nd, 2025.
A very tasty & unique burger! You must pair with the feta sauce. Super easy recipe too.
These are ridiculously good and feel less heavy than a traditional burger. I bought a premade feta sauce for ease and felt like the flavors in the burger paired very well with feta. I froze the uncooked patties originally and used the instructions in the recipe to cook them, which worked perfectly. I make AK recipes all the time and they’re always a hit with my husband and I. Thanks Monique!
Perfect! One of our go-to dinners in the summer 🙂 Glad you enjoyed!
I made these burgers for a family Memorial day gathering. They were a big hit and heartily approved by my daughter who is a Le Cordon Bleu chef!
Amazing!! So happy to hear that 🙂
These were easy and delish! I get my cinnamon at Costco and it’s very strongly flavored. Next time I think I’ll use 1/2t because although the flavor was amazing, the scent of the cinnamon was quite pronounced even once cooked. Thanks for such an easy and delicious recipe, as always!
So happy you enjoyed! And noted on the Costco cinnamon — spices from different retailers can really vary!
Any tips for turning these into meatballs? I think my family would enjoy meatballs more than as burger.
Absolutely! Make the burger mixture as is, then simply roll them into equal-sized meatballs (you should get around 16). Feel free to bake them for 15-18 minutes at 400 degrees F, or cook them in a skillet 🙂
These were fantastic burgers! Instead of using buns, we served the burger with the feta sauce over moraccan flavored jeweled rice and mixed greens. So much flavor in the burgers! Yum!
That sounds amazing!!
So flavorful and delicious!! I typically find turkey burgers bland and boring, but these definitely did not fall into that category. Make them and the feta sauce. You won’t be disappointed!
Amazing! Glad you found this one!
I loved this recipe!!! We had this for dinner and served with a side of potato salad. I also think this would be great inspo for meatballs with a feta sauce!
Perfect! And yes, absolutely!
These turkey burgers are so good and so easy! I have an aversion to cilantro (thanks genetics) so I supplemented with some dried parsley and white onion instead of red, because that’s what I had. Topped with some avocado, sliced tomato, and fresh basil and they were delish!!
Perfect! So glad you enjoyed!
Is there a recipe for the feta sauce? Did I miss it? All great flavor options for chicken or turkey burgers. I just made barbeque sauce to baste with and think feta sauce would be great too. We use herb & garlic goat if not sheep&goat
HERE is the recipe for the feta sauce. Enjoy!
The BEST burgers! The flavor combos are unmatched and I could make this multiple times a week (which, tbh, I probably will). 5/5 stars all around!
Yay!! I’m so happy you loved them, Morgan!
The flavor of these were burgers was delicious. Made them with a side of sautéed zucchini. Chef’s kiss
I’m so happy you loved them! And love the double zucchini haha!
Made these tonight for dinner as written. My husband and I both thought they were delicious and loved the flavor. Also a big fan of the feta sauce with it. Will definitely make again!!
So happy to hear that! Such a great summertime meal.
this is our all time favorite! never have made normal burgers since finding this amazing recipe. thank you!! also, we eat these with toasted brioche buns, the amazing feta sauce and pickled onions!
So happy to hear that! Great idea to add pickled onions – YUM.
BEST turkey burgers EVER!! Followed the recipe exactly. Used a cast iron skillet instead of grilling. 8 minutes on each side.
Absolute perfection.
Nice!! SO happy you loved them 🙂
these burgers were so juicy and flavorful – perfect blend of spices. And the feta sauce was the perfect added touch.
Easy and delicious!
Holy smokes- do not sleep on these burgers! So packed with flavor! An absolute taste bomb! Can’t wait to make all summer long!
Yaaaay! I’m so happy you tried and loved them, Sarah! Thanks so much 🙂
Another hit from Ambitious Kitchen! Saw these featured in your menu and had to make them for dinner. Amazing flavour and easy to make. The feta sauce was a perfect addition – can’t wait to try it as a dip with carrots & celery. My BF loved the burgers – these will be added to the rotation. We’re also big fans of your meatball recipes!
Woohooo! I’m so happy you both loved them. Isn’t the sauce amazing?! I think you’d enjoy the meatball recipe I just published today, too 🙂