One of my favorite strategies to stretch my food budget is to substitute half the meat I eat by using beans. When I got an email from my reader, Lori, with a link to this Black Turkey Burgers Made of Beans recipe from Allrecipes.com, I had to look it up. It appeared to be extremely easy and delicious. However, I was looking to create my version of it. I took inspiration from Lori, who mentioned that she enjoyed adding her spices, such as sriracha and cumin, and decided to add an American twist to the turkey and black beans combination.

WHAT’S IN BLACK BEAN TURKEY BURGERS?

Then, in addition to roasting ground turkey as well as black beans (obviously), I made simple chili powder and cumin, garlic, and cayenne to enhance the flavor of the meat and beans. I then added some sliced green onions to give it some texture, color, and taste. That’s it! This is all you need to make a truly delicious black turkey burger with beans.

HOW TO SERVE THE MINI BURGERS

It is possible to eat these Mini Turkey Burgers made of black beans on a bun. However, I chose pita bread as they are usually more affordable in the area where I live. Then I added some slices of tomato and prepared a simple avocado-sour cream sauce since avocados were available for sale. The sauce was to have fun, and you could cut it off if you wish, or you could make slices of avocado if you’re running in a hurry.

CAN I MAKE FULL-SIZED BURGERS?

These burgers were made mini-sized as I think that A) they cook quicker and A) two small patties would fit better in my pita than a single patty. It is possible to create regular-sized cakes if you’d like, but be aware that they’ll need to cook for a bit longer.

INGREDIENTS

BURGERS

1 15oz. can of black beans* ($0.60)

$3.30 for 3 Green Onions ($0.38)

1/2 Tbsp chili powder** ($0.15)

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin ($0.05)

1/2 1 tsp of garlic powder ($0.02)

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper ($0.03)

1/2 tsp salt ($0.04)

19 oz. lean ground turkey ($4.59)

AVOCADO SAUCE (optional)

One avocado ($1.00)

One lime ($0.20)

1/8 teaspoon mince powder ($0.02)

1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)

1/2 cup sour cream ($0.75)

1/2 tsp sugar ($0.01)

BURGER TOPPINGS

Five pita halves ($0.83)

2. Roma tomatoes, cut ($1.12)

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350oF. Clean and drain the beans. Place the beans into a bowl and crush them using your hands or a potato mashing. Cut the green onions into slices and add them to the bowl alongside the chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, and salt. Make sure the beans are well sprinkled with spice.

Add the turkey ground to the cooked black beans. Mix thoroughly with your hands. Make ten patties (about 2-2.5 inches in diameter and 1/2 inches thick). The patties should be placed on a baking pan for roasting or a baking sheet, covered with foil, and cooling racks made of wire.

The patties can be baked in a heated oven for 20 minutes to cook them until they are browned on the outside but not pink in the middle. Alternately, prepare the patties using a skillet on the grill or with an outdoor countertop grill.

While the patties bake, make your avocado sauce. Mix an avocado (diced) as well as the juice of half of a lime (about 2 Tbsp), the garlic powder, sugar, sour cream, and about 2-4 Tbsp of water into the blender. Mix all the ingredients while adding the water gradually until a smooth and thick sauce is formed.

Sprinkle some sauce into each pita half, and add some tomato slices and two turkey patties.