Anne Burrell Gives Turkey Burgers A Perfect Crunch With One Ingredient

Celebrity chef and Culinary Institute of America alumni, Anne Burrell has an easygoing and energetic personality that's won over many fans. In addition to the Food Network shows she hosts, Burrell has been a contestant on "Chopped All-Star Edition" and "Iron Chef America" demonstrating her ability to improvise with unconventional or limited ingredients. Her creativity and powers of improvisation fueled the crunchy addition she now always gives her turkey burgers.

In an August 2024 interview with Fox News, Chef Burrell shared that she first added diced water chestnuts to her turkey burgers when asked to make dinner at her sister's house. With a limited pantry, she grabbed canned water chestnuts and drained and diced them to add some much-needed crunch and a subtly sweet nuttiness to complement the meaty texture and gamey flavor of the turkey burgers. The water chestnuts added that unique je nes se quois textural component that you should use on your next turkey burger recipe. Water chestnuts are a canned staple with a long shelf life that takes minimal prep to provide little bits of crunch to break up the chewy, juicy ground meat. You could even save yourself some preparation time by buying this can of Reese's diced water chestnuts.

Water chestnuts are a common ingredient in Asian cuisine, so Chef Burrell's recipe incorporates other Asian flavors like fresh ginger, cilantro, sambal, and soy sauce. We have an herbaceous Thai turkey burger that would benefit from the addition of water chestnuts.

While diced raw onion is a common ingredient in burgers that might provide some crunch, Chef Burrell sautes onions and garlic before adding them to the recipe. The crunch of the water chestnuts compensates for a lack of crunchy raw aromatics, while the sauteed onion and garlic add a caramelized depth of flavor. If you're not a fan of the spicy bite of raw onions in a burger, you can follow Chef Burrell's lead.

Chef Burrell's turkey burgers also don't include a binding agent like eggs or breadcrumbs. Since turkey burgers have a tendency to dry out more easily because of their lean protein content, overloading them with dry ingredients isn't a good idea. She adds some extra moisture to the rax mixture by stirring in a bit of water. You can always swap water for a more flavorful liquid like goat milk as per our recipe for juicy turkey burgers, which also uses umami-rich Worcestershire sauce instead of the soy sauce in Burell's recipe.

While her burgers retain their form and stay moist as she fries them in a skillet, you can always dust newly formed patties with a bit of flour to ensure they'll be the juiciest burgers ever. The flour will create a browned crust while also sealing in the burger's juices as they fry. Regardless of the flavor profile you want your turkey burgers to have, water chestnuts will bring a really nice crunch to the textural profile.