Well, it’s Friday night and you want to rock something fun, flavorful, but not a ridiculous amount of effort. How about some guac turkey sliders? What I love about guacs and salas is that all your toppings are already in your sauce, so you can get to table with huge flavor, very quickly.

Guacamole Turkey Sliders

(Serves 2)

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp cup grated onion
• 2 tbsp bread crumbs
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/8 tsp dried parsley (optional)
• Guacamole (recipe below)
• Small hamburger buns or white bread dinner rolls
• Mayo (optional)

Prep

• In a medium mixing bowl, combine all your ingredients with your hands.
• Form into a large, patted spread. With a biscuit cutter, cut out your patties. If you have small hands, like me, you can roll out the patties by hand; your choice.
• Using an electric grill or a cast-iron griddle, cook your patties for about 4-5 minutes per side. The goal is to get a nice sear on each side and reach an internal temperature of 155-160 degrees. The meat needs to rest and finish cooking from its internal temp.
  Note: Do NOT press the patties while cooking. They lose their juices. 
• Place on a plate to rest while you prep your guac and toast your buns buns.

Now, prep your guac…

• 1 very ripe avocado, cubed
• 1  small, ripe tomato, chopped
• 1/2 red or white onion, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 jalapeno, minced
• 1 fresh garlic clove, minced
• Fresh squeezed juice from 1/2 lime
• salt and pepper, to taste
• Ground cayenne, to taste

• With a fork, mash and stir the avocado. You can leave it a little chunky.
• Fold in the tomato, onion, jalapeno, diced garlic and stir.
• Squeeze in the lime juice and stir.
• Add in about 1/4 tsp of salt and 1/8 tsp black pepper. Stir and taste.
• Add in a few shakes of cayenne. Stir and taste.
• If your quac seems bland, you can add in a little more salt or cayenne, but don’t go to crazy. Ground spices are more potent than freshly chopped peppers so the taste changes quickly.

Note: This mixture is more potent than usual, which is needed for the burger. It’s not a ‘dipping guac.”

Let’s bring it home…

• Toast your buns or rolls lightly. Add a little mayo on bottom roll, if using.
• Add the burger patties to each bottom roll.
• Spoon guacamole in heaping spoonfuls to each slider and top with bun.

I didn’t serve these with a side; they are dense and loaded with flavor. If you really want a side, I’d say go simple like a handful of tortilla chips or a small salad of mixed greens. To me, a Friday night meal is quick eating.

~Nom On