Best Seasonings for Turkey Burgers

Turkey burgers have a reputation for being dry and bland, and America’s Test Kitchen’s explanation is more specific than “turkey is lean.” Ground turkey actually holds more water than ground beef, about 71 percent against 66 percent, but cooking it through squeezes most of that moisture out as the proteins contract.¹ So the seasonings that help most do two jobs: they add savoriness, and some of them (soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce) bring a little liquid. This page compares what two extension recipes and one ATK recipe use, what each seasoning does, and where the cooking temperature advice disagrees. FSIS sets 165°F as the safe minimum for ground poultry.²

At a glance

Seasoning	Job	In which recipe
Salt	Seasoning; the base everything else builds on	Rutgers, ATK³⁴
Soy sauce	Salt plus savory (umami) depth	ATK, 1 1/2 Tbsp per pound⁴
Parmesan	Savory depth	ATK, 3 Tbsp per pound⁴
Worcestershire sauce	Tangy, savory, adds liquid	Illinois Extension, 1 Tbsp per pound⁵
MSG	Pure umami	None of the three; optional
Onion	Sweet, savory base	Illinois and Rutgers, cooked first⁵³
Garlic or garlic powder	Savory depth	Rutgers, mashed with the salt³
Black pepper	Seasoning	All three⁴⁵³
Dijon mustard	Sharp, tangy	None of the three; in the mix or on the bun
Smoked paprika	Smoke and red color	None of the three; optional

Three turkey burger recipes side by side

	ATK Skillet Turkey Burgers (Annie Petito)⁴	University of Illinois Extension⁵	Rutgers Cooperative Extension³
Turkey	1 lb 93 percent lean	1 lb ground turkey	1 lb ground turkey
Savory boosters	1 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce, 3 Tbsp grated Parmesan	1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce	None
Aromatics	None	1/4 cup onion, sautéed	1 large onion, cooked about 15 minutes; 1 garlic clove mashed with the salt
Salt and pepper	1/8 tsp table salt, 1/4 tsp pepper	1/8 tsp pepper, no added salt	1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper
Texture helpers	Melted butter, panko, gelatin, baking soda	1 egg	None
Done at	160°F	165°F	165°F or more

These are each publisher’s own recipe, not a house standard. ATK adds melted butter to make up for turkey’s leanness, plus panko to keep the texture loose and gelatin and baking soda to help the meat hold its juices.¹⁴

The savory boosters

Salt and soy sauce

Salt is the starting point; ATK’s recipe uses only 1/8 teaspoon of table salt because the 1 1/2 tablespoons of soy sauce supply much of it.⁴ Soy sauce is made from fermented soybeans, wheat, yeast and salt,⁶ and a 2025 study of its key taste compounds describes its taste as mainly salty and umami.⁷ ATK’s recipe developer added soy sauce and Parmesan to boost savoriness without overpowering turkey’s slightly gamey taste.¹ If you use both salt and soy sauce, cut back on the salt; the FDA’s Daily Value for sodium is less than 2,300 mg a day.⁸ See table salt and soy sauce powder.

Parmesan and MSG

Umami is the savory or meaty taste, and Britannica names cheese among the foods with natural umami.⁹ The FDA notes that glutamate occurs naturally in foods such as tomatoes and cheeses and is chemically the same as the glutamate in MSG.¹⁰ ATK uses 3 tablespoons of grated Parmesan per pound of turkey.⁴

MSG is the direct route. The FDA considers it generally recognized as safe; it notes that some sensitive people report short-term, mild symptoms such as headache or flushing after eating 3 grams or more without food.¹⁰ None of the three recipes uses it, so there is no named amount; start with a small pinch per pound and taste a test patty (Method). See cooking with MSG and MSG vs. salt.

Worcestershire sauce

The Illinois Extension recipe uses 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce per pound, mixed in with the egg and cooked onion.⁵ Britannica says the sauce in its original form included tamarind, soy, garlic, red onions, anchovies and spices,¹¹ and three dried Worcestershire products checked list a vinegar base with molasses, corn syrup, salt, tamarind and spices.¹²¹³¹⁴ It adds tang and savoriness along with a little liquid. See Worcestershire powder.

Aromatics and spices

Onion and garlic

Both extension recipes cook the onion before it goes into the meat: Illinois sautés 1/4 cup until soft, and Rutgers cooks a whole chopped onion for about 15 minutes.⁵³ Rutgers mashes a garlic clove with the salt into a paste before mixing it in.³ Onion powder and garlic powder spread evenly through ground meat and skip the precooking; that is common practice, not something these recipes test. See onion powder and garlic powder vs. garlic.

Dijon mustard

Dijon mustard is made only from black or brown mustard seed,¹⁵ and white (yellow) mustard seed is less intensely flavored than brown.¹⁶¹⁷ Yellow mustard seed goes into traditional hot dog mustard.¹⁸ That fits the common view that Dijon tastes sharper than American yellow mustard, though no side-by-side tasting was found. Mix a teaspoon or two into the meat or spread it on the bun; neither use comes from a named turkey burger recipe. See mustard powder.

Smoked paprika

Spain’s Pimentón de la Vera, the best-known smoked paprika, is made in sweet, bittersweet and hot versions, and its specification describes a smoky, intense and penetrating flavor and aroma.¹⁹ Sweet smoked paprika adds smoke and a red-brown color without much heat. See smoked paprika.

Others to try

Black pepper is in all three recipes.⁴⁵³ Chili powder is built on dried chiles, usually ancho, with oregano, cumin and garlic, according to Saveur,²⁰ so it brings cumin with it. Cumin, basil and oregano are reasonable additions by taste. See chili powder, cumin and spices for hamburgers.

How hot to cook a turkey burger

Sources disagree on the finishing temperature:

Source	Temperature
USDA FSIS safe minimum, ground poultry	165°F²
University of Illinois Extension recipe	165°F⁵
Rutgers Cooperative Extension recipe	165°F or more³
America’s Test Kitchen recipe and article	160°F¹⁴

The FSIS figure is the federal safe minimum for all ground poultry, so use 165°F, checked with an instant-read thermometer in the center of the patty. ATK’s lower figure is its own recipe target, not a safety standard.

Emily Rahravan, “This Recipe Will Change Your Mind About Turkey Burgers”, America’s Test Kitchen, 2023. americastestkitchen.com · Publication ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
“Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart”, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, updated 2025. fsis.usda.gov · Regulator ↩ ↩²
“Baked turkey burgers”, Rutgers Cooperative Extension, 2015. extension.rutgers.edu · Reference work ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹
Annie Petito, “Skillet Turkey Burgers”, America’s Test Kitchen, 2019. americastestkitchen.com · Publication ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰
“Turkey Burgers”, Eat. Move. Save., University of Illinois Extension. eat-move-save.extension.illinois.edu · Reference work ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸
Gregory Lewis McNamee, “Soy sauce”, Encyclopaedia Britannica. britannica.com · Reference work ↩
Li et al., “Multivariate Analysis of Key Taste Compounds in Soy Sauce”, Foods, 2025. mdpi.com · Peer-reviewed ↩
“Sodium in Your Diet”, US FDA. fda.gov · Regulator ↩
“Umami”, Encyclopaedia Britannica. britannica.com · Reference work ↩
“Questions and Answers on Monosodium glutamate (MSG)”, US FDA. fda.gov · Regulator ↩ ↩²
Michael Raffael, “Worcestershire sauce”, Encyclopaedia Britannica. britannica.com · Reference work ↩
“Worcestershire Sauce Powder”, Spice Jungle. spicejungle.com · Merchant ↩
“Worcestershire”, World Spice Merchants. worldspice.com · Merchant ↩
“Worcestershire Sauce Powder, H518”, Woodland Foods. shop.woodlandfoods.com · Merchant ↩
William Sertl, “Avez-Vous du Vrai Poupon?”, Saveur, 2007. saveur.com · Publication ↩
“White mustard”, Encyclopaedia Britannica. britannica.com · Reference work ↩
Sandra Gutierrez G., “When the mustard shortage hits, make your own”, Popular Science, 2022. popsci.com · Publication ↩
“Mustard”, Government of Saskatchewan, Ministry of Agriculture. saskatchewan.ca · Regulator ↩
Pimentón de la Vera PDO product specification. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk · Regulator ↩
“Chili Powder”, Saveur, 2009. saveur.com · Publication ↩

Good Seasonings for Turkey Burgers: Savory Boosters, Aromatics and Spices