For meat eaters looking for something a little lighter, ground turkey or chicken make great substitutes for a beef patty. The lighter flavors also mean you can doctor up the grind to create some interesting tastes. Chopped Contigo® Jalapeños will add both color and heat while tarragon can give a deep licorice flavor to your patty.

Grinding your own meat also means you can really infuse flavors that you can’t quite do with a simple grilled chicken breast. A pesto chicken sandwich often sounds good until you realize the pesto coating has rubbed off on just about everything else, leaving the chicken breast a little sad and tasteless. Mixing Roma® pesto into ground chicken solves that problem and leaves you with much more taste on the plate than a simple brushed on pesto could ever hope to achieve. Also, don't forget our Roma Sundried Tomato & Garlic and Roma Southwest Chipotle pestos can easily change the flavor profile with one simple product.

Traditional flavors like Worcestershire sauce are welcome additions to ground fowl. As are Asian sauces like soy, teriyaki, or even our Village Garden® Empress Sesame Ginger Dressing. Some more exotic additions can work also well. Fish sauce, a Thai favorite, might not sound like it would work, but adding it, some garlic chili paste, then a little cilantro to your ground meat will make for a burger worthy of the jungle highlands of Chang Mai, especially if you replace the lettuce topping with large basil leaves.

Cook your patties over medium high heat, you want them to cook through without burning or drying out. The lean nature can cause the patty to fall to pieces. A binding agent, like egg whites, will help prevent that from happening. And don’t forget to salt.There is little more in life more disappointing than an under seasoned piece of ground bird.

Once you're finished, don't forget some aioli or dressing to finish the flavors. Piancone® Roasted Garlic Parmesan dressing tops off a variety of flavors. Want something more pungent? Try Piancone Gorgonzola Dressing or Old World Parmesan Romano Peppercorn.