Collard Green & Cornbread Turkey Burger

People often ask me how I come up with such crazy ideas. I think it’s simple. You take a flavor profile that you love and figure out how to present it in brand new ways. With the start of Summer and grilling season, I’ve got the perfect idea for a flavor combo that’s super rich in my culture and my history. My collard green and cornbread turkey burger is a perfect way to get a taste of Sunday dinner in each bite. We start by making a simple turkey burger – we infuse great flavor in the meat. Then, we make a filling of, you guessed it, collard greens and cornbread. The creamy and delicious filling gets stuffed into the turkey burgers and they get grilled up to a delicious juicy perfection. To assemble the burgers, we fry up some thin cut sweet potatoes, make a sriracha mayo, and top the whole thing with juicy ripe tomato and crisp lettuce. In the end, this is a combination that you’re sure to love.

For the turkey burger:

-1 pound of ground turkey

-1 tablespoon of salt

-1 teaspoon of black pepper

-1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder

For the filling:

-4 ounces of cream cheese, room temperature

-1/2 cup of frozen chopped collard greens

-1/2 cup of cornbread

-1 pinch of salt

-1 pinch of pepper

-1 pinch of onion powder

-1 pinch of garlic powder

-1 pinch of red pepper flakes

For the Sriracha mayo:

-1/4 cup of good mayo

-1/2 teaspoon of Sriracha

-1 pinch of salt

-1 pinch of pepper

For the fried sweet potatoes:

-1 medium sized sweet potato, thinly sliced

-3 cups of vegetable oil, for frying

-Kosher salt, to sprinkle

*Pepper Jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, and toasted bun

1. To make the filling, combine the cream cheese, collard greens, cornbread, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes together in a bowl until well combined.

2. Meanwhile, season the ground turkey with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Form into patties while stuffing about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the collard green and cornbread mixture on the inside.

3. Get a cast iron skillet super hot, add in a bit of vegetable oil, then cook the burgers on one side until golden brown. Flip and place in a 400 degree oven so the burgers can cook through.

4. Meanwhile, fry up the thinly sliced sweet potato chips and season with salt as soon as they come out of the oil. Cook them until nice and crispy.

5. To make the Sriracha mayo, just mix the mayo, Sriracha, and salt and pepper together until well combined.

6. To assemble the burger. Add some Sriracha mayo to the bottom of a toasted bun, then top with the burger, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and fried sweet potato chips. Enjoy immediately.