turkey burgers sliders with goat cheese & fig butter on apple "buns"

My number one rule going grocery shopping is: have a list. And then, follow that list. Oh, and don’t go in hungry. Well, I failed at all three of those things in this case - but it lead me to the creation of this recipe, so I am not mad about it at all. This grocery shopping “no no” led me to discover the fig butter at Trader Joe’s and in turn, whip up these Turkey Burger Sliders with Goat Cheese, Fig Butter and Arugula on Apple “Buns.”

The honeycrisp apple buns were such a fun change-up from traditional slider buns that added a good crunch factor and paired perfectly with the goat cheese and fig butter. The arugula was dressed simply with olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt and pepper. The turkey burgers were a mix of lean ground turkey (93% lean is my go-to), chopped yellow onion, minced garlic, sea salt, pepper and thyme.

I already want this meal all over again, so it’s safe to say the apple buns will certainly be making a reoccurring appearance in my kitchen.

Ingredients:

  • 2 honeycrisp apples

  • ¼ lb lean ground turkey

  • 4 tbsp fig butter

  • 4 tbsp goat cheese

  • 1 cup arugula

  • ½ tbsp olive oil

  • ½ lemon, juiced

  • ¼ cup yellow onion, chopped

  • 1 clove garlic, minced

  • ½ tsp thyme

  • Sea salt

  • Pepper

Instructions:

Start by mixing the ground turkey, onion, garlic, thyme and a pinch of salt and pepper in a bowl. Form into mini patties - about the size of a golf ball. You should be able to make 4 patties. I find the best method for cooking turkey burgers is on a cast iron skillet with lots of avocado oil. While the mini turkey burger patties are cooking, toss the arugula, olive oil, lemon juice and a pinch of sea salt and pepper together in a bowl and let sit until you put together the turkey burger.

Next, hold your apples side down and slice evenly, about 1/4 inch. Lay out your apple slices and pick your best, most-even 8 slices. Spread a tbsp of goat cheese on 4 of those. Spread a tbsp of fig butter on the other 4 apple slices. Top the goat cheese-spread apple slices with the cooked turkey patties. Top the patties with the dressed arugula, and complete by topping with the fig butter-spread apple slice.