I made these pesto turkey burgers a couple of nights ago and loved them. In fact, I like them so much that I ate one the next morning for breakfast. I changed things up a little bit for my kids who were not wild about putting the “green sauce” (pesto sauce) on their burgers. For them I used spaghetti sauce. By switching pesto sauce with spaghetti sauce you will have “Pizza turkey burgers” which might be more appealing to kids, and even some adults. 🙂 Do what works for your family.

Let’s talk FreeStyle Smart Points for a minute.

Not all pesto sauce is created equal.

Here is the thing. When you look up pesto sauce on the Weight Watcher app you realize that there are many different brands of pesto sauce and they not all created equal. This recipe uses 5 tablespoons of pesto sauce. Generally speaking it is pretty safe to say that 5 tablespoons will be somewhere between 8-12 smart points. The pesto sauce we used was the Barilla brand that is 9 WW FreeStyle SP for 5 tablespoons.

Our grocery store carries this Barilla Traditional Basil Pesto Sauce pictured below so that is what we used.

Why use pesto sauce if it is high in WW FreeStyle Smart Points?

Spaghetti sauce is lower in smart points than basil pesto sauce, so if you are wanting to cut down on smart points per serving you can substitute the pesto sauce for spaghetti sauce. I chose pesto sauce for its health benefits. Pesto sauce can be good for your body in small quantities in the same way that avocados are high in a fat, but are still good for your body.  You can go here to read about why/how pesto sauce is good for you.

A couple of ways to lighten up this recipe:

One burger (following the directions in this recipe) is 6 WW FreeStyle Smart Points.
Think Sauce: One burger (swapping pesto sauce with the spaghetti sauce) is 5 WW FreeStyle Smart Points.
Think Bun: We are using light hamburger buns in this recipe. You will shave off one smart point by using “light” hamburger buns.

Don’t be afraid to make this recipe your own. Change it up and make it work for you.

Pesto Turkey Burgers

Here is what you need to make the burgers the way I did:

1 slice whole wheat bread, torn into pieces
5 T. Barilla prepared basil pesto sauce
2 large egg whites
1 lb. (97-99% fat-free) ground turkey breast
1/2 carrot, grated or shredded (1/4 cup)
1/8 sweet onion, finely chopped (1/4 cup)
1/4 t. ground black pepper
1/8 t. salt
6 slices thin-sliced provolone
6 light hamburger buns
1 plum tomatoes, cut into 6 slices

 

Here is what you do:

Tear bread slice into small pieces. Combine bread pieces, 3 tablespoons pesto sauce, and egg whites in a small bowl. Let stand 5 minutes, until bread is softened.

Preheat grill pan or sauté pan to medium heat.

Meanwhile in a separate bowl, mix together turkey, carrot, onion, pepper and salt.

 

Mash up the bread/pesto mixture with a fork and add to the turkey mixture. Mix well.

Form meat mixture into 6 patties (about 1/3 cup each). Place patties on the grill pan. Allow to cook for 7 minutes. Flip and cook other side for 5 minutes or until the patties are no longer pink in the middle.

Top each patty with one slice of provolone cheese and allow to melt for 30-60 seconds.

Optional: Toast buns on the pan.

To put burgers together, put bottoms of buns on serving plate. Top each bun with a burger, tomato slice, and 1 tsp. of pesto. Top with top half of bun.

One burger (following the directions in this recipe) is 6 WW FreeStyle Smart Points.
One burger (swapping pesto sauce with the spaghetti sauce) is 5 WW FreeStyle Smart Points.