Help needed ... calories in a turkey burger?

  • I need some help figuring out how many calories are in a turkey burger, specifically one from Gazebo Burger if anyone's familiar with that chain. I've looked on Daily Plate and a couple other sites but found anything from 250 calories to 500 calories for a turkey burger.

    Here's what I ate:
    1/2 lb turkey patty
    1/2 a whole wheat hamburger bun
    1 slice swiss cheese
    mushroom pieces on top

    Any ideas? I like having lunch here with a girlfriend every couple of weeks and have always ordered the turkey burger instead of a regular hamburger thinking it was a better choice, but now that I'm counting calories, I need to know how many are in this so I can record it properly.

    Thanks!
  • It's really dependent on what type of turkey you ate. I've seen very fatty ground turkey and almost fat free. Does the company specify? I'd be surprised if a restaurant is using very lean turkey- but pleasantly surprised! I'd just go with a high estimate to be on the safe side.
  • This is from the Ruby Tuesday web site about their turkey burgers:

    Bella Turkey Burger
    Sautéed baby portabella mushrooms and melted Swiss cheese.

    Bella Turkey Burger .................................... 1065 calories
    65 grams of fat
    56 grams of carbs
    6 grams of fiber

    I was horrified when I came back from a company lunch, and had to add this to FitDay.

    Sue
  • 97% lean ground turkey is 160 calories per 4oz, 99% lean is 140 cals per 4oz I looked at that places website, they don't look like the type of place that would use lean, as it costs more. just the meat alone if it were 97% lean would be 320 calories, the cheese if it was 1oz would be about 110 calories, the roll is probably not a small roll if an 8oz burger fit on it, I would guess 200+ just for the roll, and then add the mushrooms and condiments and the fact that it was likely fried on a grill with all of the other greasy stuff and thats a hefty burger. I would guess that it was well over 500 calories easily.

    As Ever
    Me
  • A turkey burger can have just as many calories, if not more, than a regular burger. I'd be dubious of restaurant turkey burgers in regards to calories. A better option may be a boca burger (veggie burger), those generally only have 100 calories for the patty.
  • The only turkey burger I order is from a local restaurant that does a ground turkey BREAST burger, on a whole wheat bun. Otherwise, you end up with ground turkey that includes the meat and the skin, which ups the fat and calorie content considerably.

    I'd count it as similar to the Ruby Tuesdays version, maybe knock off 150 cals or so because you only ate half the bun.
  • Well crud ... here I was thinking it was a good choice. I'll change the information I have for it in my tracker and know better next time.
  • Quote: 97% lean ground turkey is 160 calories per 4oz, 99% lean is 140 cals per 4oz I looked at that places website, they don't look like the type of place that would use lean, as it costs more. just the meat alone if it were 97% lean would be 320 calories, the cheese if it was 1oz would be about 110 calories, the roll is probably not a small roll if an 8oz burger fit on it, I would guess 200+ just for the roll, and then add the mushrooms and condiments and the fact that it was likely fried on a grill with all of the other greasy stuff and thats a hefty burger. I would guess that it was well over 500 calories easily.

    As Ever
    Me
    Is that 4oz before it's cooked or 4oz after?
  • I have a package of lean ground turkey defrosting on my counters, to make turkey burgers for supper tonight....the package says 150 calories per 1/2 cup. I would suspect that's per 1/2 cup uncooked, but honestly I don't know. I figure I'm safer in assuming it's prior to cooking.
  • I would recommend the Jenny-O Turkey burgers
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories 160
    Calories from Fat 72
    Total Fat 8.0g
    Saturated Fat 2.0g
    Cholesterol 70mg
    Sodium 80mg

    It would probably be better than risking not knowing how they cook your food at a restaurant, maybe invite your friend over to your place ?
  • I looked at their menu, and with it being a 'signature', I'm sure that its not really low cal. In fact, it only says 'reduced fat', that can mean almost anything, but the MAIN thing it means is that they aren't wanting to put a percentage on it, like 97% lean.

    Also, you said you had mushrooms on it. I am sure they were sauteed the same way the onions are, so they had quite a few calories too.

    They do have black bean burgers I notice.

    If I were on the spot and ordering there, you could ask about the chicken salad. Honestly, I would probably just get a little green side salad and order some french fries.

    It's not 'good' but the fries are always my treat at those places, and if you got an order and a mini salad it would hover around 500 cals.
  • You should try Bison burgers! They sit very lightly in your belly! They are EXTRA lean and taste very good too!