Maple turkey breakfast patties

Just for the record, maple flavored breakfast sausage would make it onto my hear me out cake. I am not into lots of maple flavored things, but something about savory sausage or bacon with maple hits all the right notes. If I’m at a diner, or eating out for breakfast, I’m ordering it.

Like many things delicious it’s not really the best for you, at least if you buy the store-bought kind. It’s a processed meat which I am trying to eat less of (although deli sandwiches are hard to resist), so I set out to make my own which I discovered is stupidly easy.

I mixed one pound of ground turkey with 1/4 cup maple syrup, olive oil, and spices, and then cooked in a pan on the stove. That’s literally it. You can truly use any spices but I used the amounts listed below. I’ve also tried ground chicken, but I prefer the taste of ground turkey. I’ve also found that ground turkey is not as dry as chicken, aka, more flavor.

They don’t have quite the same taste as the processed stuff but they’re very close. And if it means they’re better for me, I’ll sacrifice the slight difference in taste.

This is such a simple recipe, and each time I make them I’ll be trying small variations. I’m interested in adding some chopped & sautéed onion and bell peppers next time, to see if that adds extra savory flavor.

One pound of ground turkey made about 10 medium sized patties, and they freeze very well. For a recent breakfast, I took two patties out of the freezer and into a small frying pan with a layer of water. I kept them on low-medium heat until they were thawed and the water had evaporated, flipping them throughout, and then added a teaspoon of oil to finish frying them off. Paired with eggs and cheese in a wheat tortilla, I had a diner breakfast made right at home.

Maple turkey breakfast patties
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp all-purpose italian seasoning
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 tbsp olive oil

1. In a large bowl, whisk all dried spices together. Then add olive oil and maple syrup, and whisk until well combined.

2. Add ground meat and mix with your hands or a fork to evenly combine.

3. Heat a large skillet with a thin layer of frying oil over medium heat.

4. You can either form patties with your hands, or just spoon a few tablespoons into little piles on the pan and flatten with a fork until you have a somewhat circular shape. If it wasn’t already obvious, I will always choose the latter.

5. Cook patties on one side until deeply golden brown, then flip and repeat for the other side. Be careful not to use too high heat, as the maple syrup can burn.