I wanted to update this old Greek turkey burger recipe because it’s one of our favorite recipes that kids can help to make some of the steps. As an occupational therapist, I definitely love cooking with kids because of the developmental benefits. Plus, when kids are involved in making dinner, even more complex recipes like cooking this Greek turkey burger, they get a sense of autonomy and independence that they can carry over to other life skills.
This is a great cooking life skills recipe because it has different levels of tasks:
Our Greek Turkey Burger recipe has chopping, stirring, slicing, cooking the burger, spreading the ingredients. You can see how different steps require different levels of motor skill as well as safety and cognition. You could alter this recipe depending on the level and age of the kids who are helping you make it!
Greek Turkey Burger Recipe
Is there anything that says “Summer” more than a burger hot off the grill? Burgers, sun, and good times with friends and family are what summer is all about. When families go to Fourth of July picnics or grill out, it is fun to make delicious foods that help to celebrate summer. This Greek Turkey Burger recipe is a great addition to your summer grilling, and uses fresh ingredients.
Greek Turkey Burger Recipe
Ingredients for Greek Turkey Burger
Gather your ingredients:
- 1/2 cup yogurt (you can also replace the yogurt with a ranch dressing)
- 1/4 cup peeled and minced cucumber
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 3/4 cup crumbled basil and tomato feta cheese, divided
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 4 onion rolls
yogurt sauce for turkey burgers
The yogurt sauce for the Greek Turkey Burger is the main flavor ingredient. The sauce uses:
- 1/2 cup yogurt (you can also replace the yogurt with a ranch dressing)
- 1/4 cup peeled and minced cucumber
- Chop the cucumber into small pieces.
- Mix the ranch dressing and chopped cucumber in a bowl and place to the side.
My two year old helped me mix up the cucumber sauce. We love cooking together. Cooking with kids is such a great way to add learning into the kitchen as they read and follow recipes, problem solve, motor plan, and build executive functioning skills. I think that getting the kids involved in making the foods that they eat really encourages them to try new things like these turkey burgers.
Prepare the turkey burger
Next, you’ll prepare the turkey burger.
- Combine the ground turkey with 1/2 cup feta cheese and the black paper. Shape the ground turkey into 4 oz. patties and flatten them slightly.
2. Grill or broil the turkey burgers, using direct medium heat for 6-8 minutes per side or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
Get that feta cheese ready. We used a feta mixed with crumbled basil and tomato.
3. Meanwhile, heat the onion rolls only until they are warm. For each burger, spread 2 tablespoons of the cucumber and yogurt sauce onto each roll. Place the burgers on the rolls and top each burger with 1 tbsp of feta.
4. Add slivered onions and lettuce.
Enjoy!
This recipe has many tasks that require precision and fine motor control. You can have older kids slice the onions and chop the cucumbers. We covered how cooking improves fine motor skills in a previous post.
Let us know if you try this Greek Turkey Burger at your summer picnics this year. What are your favorite Fourth of July foods?
Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.
