Ground Chicken Burgers

I’ve been craving chicken burgers.  The simple solution would be to stop at the nearest fast food restaurant (there’s one a block away from the castle) and get myself a chicken burger.  I hadn’t gotten around to doing that when I came across ground chicken in the grocery store.  It was ground thigh meat on code.  I picked up a package that was just over a pound.  I would make my very first chicken burgers.Yes, I’m admitting I’ve never made a chicken burger.  I ordered them off of the Schwan truck for a lot of years.  I thought they were the best: breaded and ready to microwave.  I gave that up quite a few years ago and didn’t even crave chicken burgers until now.  TheSchwan’s chicken breast patties were breaded but I can live without breading.  I just wanted some great flavors in my patty. (I’m not paid for this mention)

Add ground chicken to a bowl. Chop onion and add to bowl.

I found a recipe that had interesting seasoning and modified it a little to suit me.  I started with my chicken thigh meat in a bowl.  I chopped some shallots I had that needed to be used and added them to the bowl.  Any onion would do I suppose.  I’d probably have used green onion if I hadn’t had the shallots to get rid of.

Add rest of ingredients and seasonings.

Next I chopped some sweet red bell pepper.  I chopped it finely so it could give little peeps of flavor in the patties.  Chicken has a mild flavor, even thigh meat, so I didn’t want to bury it with my additions.

From there I thought “hey, I have a lot of spinach!”  Really, I thought that.  It also needed to be used before it started getting all mushy and bad.  I chopped a huge handful and it amounted to about a cup afterwards.

I added minced garlic, cumin, sea salt and sage to the bowl.  I used the recipe seasonings but in different proportions.  I didn’t want a great deal of smoked paprika or cumin.  Just suggestions in the finished flavors.

Mix well with a spoon or your fingers.

I worked the bowl of ingredients with my hand, mixing until it was all evenly distributed.

Form mixture into 6 patties.

I further used my hands to form patties.  I ended up with 6 patties.  I layered them between waxed paper and refrigerated them until dinner.

Heat nonstick skillet over medium heat with a drizzle of oil. I added a teaspoon of bacon drippings, which is optional.

At dinner time I heated a large nonstick skillet with a healthy drizzle of oil over medium heat.  I also added a teaspoon of bacon grease from my grease jar in the fridge.  That is totally optional.

Place chicken patties in skillet and fry until browned on first side, about 5 minutes.

I laid the patties out and fried them on one side until they had brown caramelized marks then flipped them and browned the second side.

Flip burgers and brown on second side, 3 or 4 minutes.

I fried all 6 patties, pretty sure that they could easily be microwaved for sandwiches later if we had leftovers.

Garnish with avocado mayo if desired.

I served the chicken patties on buns with a quick mash of avocado, mayo, lime juice, a touch of horseradish and some salt and pepper.  You could also garnish simply with mayo and Dijon mustard.

Serving suggestion: serve on bun with avocado mayo.

Oh my gosh they were good!  The flavors all came together in every tasty bite.  The cumin was maybe the strongest flavor and as I love cumin, that was good with me.  This is recipe is a keeper!

Ground Chicken Burgers

Spinach and Chicken Burgers

• Servings: 6 burgers
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Chicken burgers with flavors added: spinach, onion and sweet bell pepper!

• 1# ground chicken thigh meat
• 1/4 cup onion; finely chopped (I used shallots)
• 1/4 cup sweet red bell pepper; finely chopped
• 1 cup baby spinach; finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon garlic; minced
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon sage
• Oil for frying
• Buns (optional)
• Mayo or other condiments for serving

Mix ground chicken, onion, peppers, spinach and seasonings well in a bowl. It’s best to use your fingers.

Form mixture into 4-6 patties, depending on what size you prefer.

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat with a drizzle of oil. Fry chicken patties on first side until browned. Flip and brown the second side.

Serve on buns with avocado may: mash one avocado with 2 tablespoons mayo, 1/2 teaspoon ground horseradish, 2 teaspoons lime juice and salt and pepper to taste.

Adapted from The Big Man’s World