Air Fryer Frozen Turkey Burgers

Take your turkey burger from frozen solid to fully cooked and ready to eat, in under 15 minutes! Air Fryer Frozen Turkey Burgers are incredibly easy to make and can be eaten with an unlimited number of toppings!

Having easy, ready-to-eat protein options in your freezer is a must if you want to avoid last minute takeout. We've all been in the situation where it's 5:00 pm, our family is asking when dinner will be ready, and we have NOTHING planned.

That's when frozen turkey burgers are a lifesaver! If you have a box of frozen burgers in your freezer, their is no need to order a pizza or feed your family cereal. A frozen turkey burger can go straight from the freezer, into the air fryer, and be ready to eat in under 15 minutes.

Some of my other favorite "in case of emergency" frozen proteins include frozen salmon filets, frozen meatballs, frozen sausage links and frozen ham steaks.

Air Fryer Frozen Turkey Burgers pair well with Alexia Sweet Potato Fries or my quick and easy White Bean Salad.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Kitchen equipment needed
• Step-by-step instructions
• Variations
• Special diets
• Storage & reheating
• Top tips
• 📖 Recipe
• More air fryer recipes
• Food safety

Ingredients

• Frozen turkey burger patties - Typically frozen turkey burgers come as thin, preformed patties. They are only about ½ inch thick, making them very quick cooking. Pictured above are the Bubba Frozen Turkey Burgers. Other excellent brands of frozen turkey burgers include Applegate Organics, Jennie-O, Shelton's Poultry and Trader Joe's.
• Salt & pepper - Adding a pinch of each salt and pepper will give the turkey burgers a little extra flavor.
• Optional toppings - Extra toppings for air fryer frozen turkey burgers include tomato, onion, lettuce, avocado, ketchup, mustard, mayo, cheese and a delicious brioche bun or sesame seed buns.

Kitchen equipment needed

• Air fryer - This is obvious since this is an air fryer recipe. Here is the air fryer that I currently use. So far I love it! We have a big family so I knew I needed a bigger unit (6 quarts). It's easy to clean and is doing it's job!
• Silicone tongs - You'll need a good pair of tongs to flip the turkey burgers. A silicone tong is ideal for an air fryer so that you do not scratch the non-stick coating.
• Cutting board and chopping knife - You'll only need these if you intend on adding extra toppings that need to be chopped up.

Step-by-step instructions

Step 1: Place the frozen turkey burgers in the bottom of your air fryer basket. If you are concerned with the burgers sticking then you can lightly spray them with cooking oil before placing them into the basket.

Place the turkey burgers in an even layer. Do not stack them. Depending on the size of your air fryer, the size of your turkey burgers, and the quantity you need cooked, you may have to cook your burgers in a couple of batches.

Step 2: Air fry the frozen turkey burgers for 13 minutes at 370°F. Flip once halfway through cooking, at minute 6 or 7. Add a pinch of salt and pepper to both sides before flipping.

Step 3: Remove your turkey burger from the air fryer and check the internal temperature using a digital meat thermometer. The internal temperature should be 165°F or higher.

If you want to melt some cheese on your turkey burger, simply turn the air fryer off, place a thin slice of cheese onto the top of the cooked turkey burger and return the burger to the air fryer. Let the burger sit in the warm air fryer for 1-2 minutes to melt the cheese.

Hint: Flip your frozen turkey burgers with a silicone spatula. Silicone will not scratch the nonstick coating on the air fryer basket.

Variations

There so many delicious ways to serve an air fryer frozen turkey burger!

• Classic - Classic burger toppings would include lettuce, tomato and onion on a hamburger roll.
• Deluxe - A deluxe burger is usually topped with bacon and extra cheese!
• Mediterranean style - If you want Mediterranean flavors then top your burger with feta cheese, red onion and roasted red peppers.
• Spicy - Do you like some heat!? Top your frozen turkey burger with pepper jack cheese, jalapeno peppers and a sriracha mayo!
• Lettuce wrapped - Keep the carbs low when serving your turkey burger and skip the bun. Instead, wrap your turkey burger in large lettuce leaves. You could also serve it over salad greens.

Special diets

Air fryer turkey burgers can be adapted to fit into a number of different diet preferences! First, you'll want to check the ingredients on the box of turkey burgers that you are using. Take note of any added ingredients that might not fit into your special dietary needs.

As long as your frozen burgers do not have any added ingredients that don't work for you, then a frozen air fryer turkey burger can easily fit into a low carb, gluten free, keto or whole30 diet!

Storage & reheating

Store cooked turkey burgers in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

Reheat a cooked turkey burger in the microwave for 1 minute at a time, until desired warmth is reached. Do not reheat with your toppings on the burger, except for cheese.

Top tips

• Salt and pepper, or any seasonings for that matter, will not stick well to a frozen burger. Add your seasonings halfway through cooking. At that point, the burger will have started to soften up which will allow the seasonings to stick better.
• Some air fryers require preheating. Preheat your air fryer for 3 minutes at the same temperature that you will be cooking your food at. So for this recipe it would be 3 minutes at 370°F.
• If you are cooking an extra thick frozen turkey patties then you will most likely need to add some cooking time to this recipe.
• This recipe is for a basket style air fryer. This recipe has not been tested with a tray style air fryer.

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📖 Recipe

More air fryer recipes

Check out some of my other popular air fryer recipes!

• Air Fryer Chicken Cutlets
• Air Fryer Turkey Tenderloin
• Air Fryer Frozen Salmon
• Air Fryer Pizza Rolls

Food safety

• Cook poultry to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
• Wash hands after touching raw meat.
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods of time.

See more guidelines at USDA.gov.