Italian Burgers with Lemon-Garlic Aioli

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April 25, 2023
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My family LOVES these grilled Italian burgers.  They are quick and easy to prepare and require minimal ingredients.  The patty is created with a combination of ground beef and a little Italian sausage and is complimented with bright marinara, melted cheese, and a  smear of tangy lemon-garlic spread.   It’s kind of like a giant bbq’d meatball sandwich and it’s a nice change of pace from the every day bbq’d burger.   This is a family favorite of ours as both kiddos and adults love them!
italian burger on cutting board

Ingredient and Equipment Notes

Grill Pan – If you’re making these indoors, I recommend using an indoor grill pan.

Italian Sausage – The burger patties are beef, with a touch of Italian sausage thrown into the mix. Links or loose packed Italian sausage from the meat department works great. Just make sure it’s Italian sausage, not breakfast sausage.

Buns – Make sure to get a good quality bun or Italian roll. Check your store’s bakery for fresh varieties of buns and rolls and grab what looks good to you.

How to Make Italian Turkey Burgers

1. Preheat your outdoor grill or indoor grill pan.
2. Place ground beef in a mixing bowl.  Remove castings from sausage if necessary and add to ground beef.   Add Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper and use your hands to gently combine.
beef and italian sausage
When you’re working with ground meats, you want to be very gentle. It’s best to use your hands to combine it (use food-safe gloves if you’d like to keep them clean!)  Otherwise you end up over-mixing and you’ll end up with a tough burger.
 
5. 33. Divide beef mixture into equal portions, making either 6 small to medium sized burgers or 4 larger ones. Place patties on grill. Cook for 3-4 minutes and then flip and cook an additional 3-4 minutes until cooked through, or until a thermometer registers 165 degrees.
4. In the last minute of cooking, add a couple slices of cheese to each burger.
5. While burgers are cooking, you can mix up your aioli. Combine mayo, lemon juice, garlic, and basil.
6. Assemble them all together and get ready for one of the best burgers you’ve ever had!
Italian Burger on platter with marinara
These Italian Burgers are so incredibly flavorful and juicy.  You’ll definitely want to serve them with a pile of napkins!
marinara and cheese on burger

Serving Suggestions

Toss some veggies on the grill for an easy side. Consider Grilled Corn on the Cob, Grilled Caprese Zucchini, or Garlic Balsamic Asparagus. These Dressed Up Avocados would be great, as would some classic Oven Steak Fries sprinkled with Garlic Bread Seasoning.

FAQs

Can I make these ahead of time? If you’d like to plan ahead, you can definitely mix up your meat and form patties up to a day ahead of time. Store them in an airtight container in the fridge, separated by pieces of parchment. You an also prep your aioli a day ahead of time. Try to prep toppings and toast buns closer to serving time, as these are best fresh.

Did You Make This?

I’d love to hear from you! Snap a picture and tag me on Instagram, and then come back and give this recipe a rating!

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Italian meatball burgers

Italian Burgers

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5 from 1 review

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Description

This burger is similar to a large barbecued meatball sandwich — a nice change of pace from the every day burger.

Ingredients

1 pound ground sirloin
8 ounces Italian turkey sausage
1 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
8–12 slices mozzarella cheese
4–6 hamburger buns or Italian rolls
1 cup Marinara sauce
Butter for toasting buns

Aioli
3/4 cup mayo
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon finely minced fresh garlic (1 small clove)
1 tablespoon minced fresh basil

Instructions

Mix all aioli ingredients together and store in fridge until ready to use.  This step can be done ahead of time.

Preheat outdoor grill or indoor grill pan. Place ground beef in a mixing bowl. Remove casings from sausage, if necessary, and add to ground beef. Add Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper and use your hands to gently combine.

Divide beef mixture into equal portions, making either 6 small to medium sized burgers or 4 larger ones. Place patties on grill. Cook for 3-4 minutes and then flip and cook an additional 3-4 minutes until cooked through, or until a thermometer registers 165 degrees. In the last minute of cooking, add a couple slices of cheese to each burger.

While cheese is melting, lightly butter buns and place face down on grill to toast, or place under the broiler until golden brown.

Spread aioli on buns and add burger.  Top with 1-2 tablespoons of marinara.  Toss on a couple basil leaves if desired and top with other half of bun.

 

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Sara Wells
Meet The Author

Sara Wells

Sara Wells co-founded Our Best Bites in 2008. She is the author of three Bestselling Cook Books, Best Bites: 150 Family Favorite Recipes, Savoring the Seasons with Our Best Bites, and 400 Calories or Less from Our Best Bites. Sara’s work has been featured in many local and national news outlets and publications such as Parenting Magazine, Better Homes & Gardens, Fine Cooking, The Rachel Ray Show and the New York Times.

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Questions & Reviews

  1. Umm I am a huge meatball sub fan but I will never go back. This was like one only better and easier to eat! This is going onto my tried and true list. The aioli just takes it over the top!



    Reply

  2. melanie-
    something super weird happened because I just realized that the recipe is missing! lol. I SWEAR it was there before, no idea how it got deleted. Anyway, I updated it so it’s all there again, so weird…

    You need 8oz of the turkey sausage, which is 2 of those links, or just get 8oz of another brand you can find. Hope that helps!

    Reply

  3. Do you use the entire package of turkey sausage as pictured? I couldn’t find an amount listed in the post. Sure looks yummy.

    Reply

  4. I made this a few nights ago and Yum!! My whole family loved them! Even my 6 year old!

    Reply

  8. MMMM, Red Robin has a burger like this, and they also throw red peppers on it, with FRIED mozzeralla, it’s amazing. I can’t wait to make this! I think I’ll do it for Easter Eve. YUMMY!

    Reply

  9. Heidi- I buy the links just because I think it tastes better! Are you talking about as opposed to ground turkey sausage in the tube? I prefer the flavor and freshness of these links, and also the fact that you can use just one or two (and freeze the rest) instead of having a whole package open. I also have trouble finding other types of turkey sausage in the stores around me (not too much variety in my state!) But if you have another kind you like you could certainly use it; I’m sure it would be fine in the recipe as long as it had a good flavor.

    Reply

  10. Just curious, but why buy the sausage in links instead of just buying ground turkey sausage?

    Reply

  11. You’re shooting all my meal-planning to heck. We had these tonight instead of what I had planned. And they were awesome.

    Reply

  12. Sara can you just LIVE at my house? You can make even the raw meat look appetizing.
    The marinara burgers with that mmmmmmmmm. . .melted cheese look fabulous!

    Reply

  13. YUM! Sam would love me forever if I made those for him with marinara. Hopefully he’ll love me forever, anyway, but this probably wouldn’t hurt…

    Reply