Draft: not yet reviewed by a clinician
Use this page to prepare questions for your care team. It does not replace their advice. Your own targets and doses come from your nephrologist, diabetes team and renal dietitian.
Turkey burgers with tangy cabbage slaw¶
A fast-food cheeseburger and fries can carry more than 1,000 mg sodium and 900 mg potassium. These burgers use plain ground turkey with grated onion, garlic powder and paprika, and swap the fries for a cabbage slaw. Low-sodium ketchup has about 3 mg sodium a tablespoon, against about 154 mg for regular.
Serves 4 · 30 minutes · Lower potassium · Lower phosphorus · Dialysis-friendly · Freezes well
Carbohydrate per serving
34 g carbohydrate (about 2 carb choices of 15 g). Most of it is in the bun. For about 55 g, add ½ cup of canned pineapple in juice (20 g) or a small apple (about 21 g).
Per serving¶
| Energy | Carb | Protein | Potassium | Phosphorus | Sodium | Fluid | Fiber |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 415 kcal | 34 g | 27.6 g | 473 mg | 252 mg | 380 mg | none | 3.0 g |
Checked by scripts/build_handbook.py: sodium at most 600 mg per serving; "lower potassium" means at most 600 mg and "lower phosphorus" at most 300 mg per serving. See how recipes are checked.
Ingredients that are not in the app's food list (herbs, spices and a few others) add about 12 mg potassium per serving; they are counted above.
Ingredients¶
| Ingredient | Amount | Grams |
|---|---|---|
| Ground turkey, 93% lean, patty | 4 turkey patties, 3 oz each when cooked (about 1 lb raw 93 % lean ground turkey) | 340 g |
| Onion, raw | ¼ cup grated onion | 40 g |
| Garlic powder | ½ tsp garlic powder | 1.6 g |
| Paprika | ½ tsp paprika | 1.2 g |
| Black pepper, ground | ½ tsp black pepper | 1.2 g |
| Hamburger or hot dog bun | 4 hamburger buns | 176 g |
| Ketchup, low sodium | 4 tbsp low-sodium ketchup | 68 g |
| Lettuce, iceberg | 4 lettuce leaves | 36 g |
| Cabbage, raw | 3 cups finely shredded cabbage | 210 g |
| Carrot, raw | ½ medium carrot, grated | 30 g |
| Mayonnaise | 3 tbsp mayonnaise | 41 g |
| Vinegar, cider | 1 tbsp cider vinegar | 15 g |
| Sugar, granulated | 1 tsp sugar | 4.2 g |
Steps¶
- Make the slaw: mix the mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar and a pinch of pepper, then toss with the cabbage and carrot. Chill while you cook.
- Mix about 1 lb raw ground turkey with the onion, garlic powder, paprika and the rest of the pepper. Shape into 4 thin patties.
- Cook in a lightly oiled pan or on a grill over medium heat for 5–6 minutes a side, until the center reaches 165 °F (74 °C).
- Serve each burger on a bun with lettuce and 1 tablespoon of ketchup, with a quarter of the slaw.
Why it works for kidneys¶
- Plain ground turkey has no added salt. Pre-seasoned patties and turkey sausage often do.
- Skip cheese: one slice of processed American cheese adds about 470 mg sodium and phosphate additives.
- Cabbage is a lower-potassium vegetable, about 119 mg per raw cup.
Make it fit you¶
- Before dialysis: make 5 smaller patties from the same meat (about 2½ oz each) if your protein target is lower.
- Freeze: freeze raw patties between sheets of baking paper; cook from frozen, a few minutes longer, to 165 °F.
- Lettuce wrap: skip the bun to save about 22 g carbohydrate; count the change for insulin.
Log it in the app¶
Log one serving as these foods from the app's food list (grams per serving), or save them once as a meal (Planning and menus):
- Ground turkey, 93% lean, patty: 85 g
- Onion, raw: 10 g
- Hamburger or hot dog bun: 44 g
- Ketchup, low sodium: 17 g
- Lettuce, iceberg: 9.0 g
- Cabbage, raw: 53 g
- Carrot, raw: 7.5 g
- Mayonnaise: 10 g
- Vinegar, cider: 3.7 g
- Sugar, granulated: 1.1 g
Sources¶
- USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy): every ingredient value, through the app's food list and the SR Legacy records listed in
handbook/data/recipes.yml. - Satellite Healthcare: food labels: under 600 mg of sodium per meal; AKF Kidney Kitchen: potassium per meal: 600–700 mg of potassium per meal on a low-potassium diet. The recipes use 600 mg for both as a review line.
- NKF: potassium and your CKD diet: 200 mg or more of potassium in a serving is high; AKF phosphorus food guide: 100 mg or less of phosphorus is low.
- FDA claim definitions: "low sodium" means 140 mg or less per serving.
- FoodSafety.gov: safe minimum internal temperatures: poultry 165 °F (74 °C); fish, and pork steaks, chops and roasts 145 °F (63 °C), pork with a 3-minute rest.
Not yet reviewed by a clinician. Facts and sources last checked 2026-10-06.