Ground Chicken Burgers

Leaner than ground beef, packed with plenty of flavor and clucking for your favorite burger toppings, these ground chicken burgers are a welcome addition to your family’s regular meal lineup. They take all of 20 minutes from initial prep to serving time. Chicken burgers can be a hasty weeknight dinner, but are also tasty enough to serve at large summer BBQs or weekend gatherings.

Once you have tried this chicken burger recipe as-is, feel free (and encouraged) to put your own spin on it. You can spice things up, add some heat and of course try all sorts of different toppings. Also, don’t forget to try these burgers on various breads, from brioche buns to rye toast to classic buns.

Ground Chicken Burger Ingredients

• Ground chicken: You can’t make ground chicken burgers without ground chicken. In this case, we’re making four quarter-pound patties with one pound of meat.
• Dry bread crumbs: The bread crumbs add a bit of flavor and also help to keep the burgers in shape.
• Dried minced onion: The dried onion brings a whole lot of flavor to these savory burgers.
• Garlic powder: A little garlic powder goes a long way, so measure carefully and don’t overdo it — unless you love garlic, in which case go for it.
• Salt: Just a half teaspoon of salt helps the other ingredients shine.
• Pepper: The pepper adds a hint of heat and a lovely spice.
• Hamburger buns: Choose your favorite buns, from whole wheat to brioche to homemade.
• Optional toppings: You can’t go wrong with sliced tomatoes, lettuce leaves, sliced avocado, sliced red onion, mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard.

Directions

Step 1: Form the patties

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In a large bowl, combine the bread crumbs, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper, stirring to mix them. Then, add the chicken, and mix lightly but thoroughly, combining all the ingredients by hand but without squeezing the meat tightly. Shape the seasoned ground chicken into four 1/2-inch patties.

Step 2: Fry the chicken burgers

Christine Ma for Taste of Home

In a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray or drizzled with oil, cook the patties over medium heat until an instant-read thermometer shows they have reached 165°F. This should take about five to seven minutes of cooking on each side. Serve the burgers on buns with toppings as desired.

Christine Ma for Taste of Home

Ground Chicken Burger Variations

• Spice it up: These burgers are delicious with some added heat. Add red pepper flakes and chopped jalapeño peppers as you form them in the bowl, or even drizzle in some hot sauce before cooking. You can also make hot sauce a topping.
• Try it with turkey: This exact same recipe can be made using ground turkey instead of ground chicken. The taste will be great — and even more like beef — and the steps won’t differ at all.
• Make it a wrap: These ground chicken burgers are great when served in a wrap. Prepare and cook them exactly as laid out here, chop the cooked patties into smaller pieces and toss them into a wrap. You can vary the toppings as you’d like.

How to Store Ground Chicken Burgers

These chicken burgers will store well in the fridge for up to three days after they have been cooked. Use an airtight wrap or place them in an airtight container to help preserve them properly.

Can you freeze cooked chicken burgers?

Yes. You can safely freeze cooked ground chicken burgers for up to three months. Make sure they are sealed in an airtight bag or wrap, and plan to thaw the burgers in the fridge before reheating them in a skillet or on a grill.

Ground Chicken Burger Tips

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Do you have to cook these burgers to 165º?

Yes. As with all chicken dishes, these burgers must be cooked until their internal temperature reaches 165° for food safety. In fact, it’s all the more important that ground chicken be thoroughly cooked and checked than whole pieces of chicken, so use that food thermometer.

Are these chicken burgers healthy?

They are very healthy and only have around 300 calories and 23 grams of protein per serving. The 11 grams of fat don’t sound too bad when there are only three grams of saturated fat.

How do you keep ground chicken burgers from falling apart?

The simplest way to create more cohesive ground chicken burgers is to add some chill time. After forming the patties put them on a plate and let them rest in the fridge for 15 to 20 minutes before cooking them. You can also add egg whites into the mix as you form the patties to help bind them.