Chicken burgers are way down on my list of things I’ll gladly eat. Most of them end up being really bland and dry because it’s a super lean meat and not exactly known for it’s flavor! To be honest, I’ll take a great veggie burger (or even a decent one) over most chicken burgers. They just kind of suck.
Okay. So let’s fix them. For starters, you need to add some fat to them. Good burgers have 15-20% fat in them. Get out of my backyard with that lean business. Ground chicken has no fat in it so I like to add some back in. That means BUTTER. It truly makes a huge difference in the final burger.
Second, FLAVOR. Chicken is bland. This version is not though thanks to diced onions, garlic, and an almost dare-worthy amount of sriracha sauce. The finished burger doesn’t end up being overly spicy though. It has a little heat, but lots of savory goodness from the chili sauce. You could call it a sriracha chicken burger, but Rooster chicken burger is more fun!
Rooster Chicken Burgers
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons minced onion
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons sriracha
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup breadcrumbs, for coating
- Olive oil, for cooking
Burger Fixing:
- Hamburger buns
- Avocado
- Red onion
- Spinach
- Tomato
- Extra Sriracha
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, stir together ground chicken, softened butter, garlic, onions, sriracha, salt and pepper. Form mixture into 4 even patties.
- Coat patties with breadcrumbs so their is a nice crust on each burger.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, heat a few tablespoons of olive oil. Cook patties for 5-6 minutes per side until they are cooked through completely. If you have a meat thermometer, they should reach 170 degrees F. in the center of the burgers.
- Remove burger and serve on toasted buns with avocado, extra sriracha, spinach, red onion, and tomato.
Nutrition
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Rooster Chicken Burgers
Here’s all you need to know about this burger mixture. Mince your onion and garlic finely so there aren’t any huge chunks. Use soft butter so it blends in easily with the meat. Oh, and go heavy on the sriracha. Like, BOOM.
Mix it all together and the mixture will be a crazy color. This will not be light in the flavor department.
Form your mixture into four even sized patties. Notice how mine have flecks of butter throughout? That will obviously melt and keep the burgers juicy while they are cooking!
Final step not pictured: Dust the burgers in breadcrumbs to give them a nice crust. This will help them from sticking to the skillet while cooking also. Just a slight coating of breadcrumbs on both sides of the burgers does the trick.
Cooking the Burgers
You can do skillet or grill for these. Either way you want a medium heat. They need to cook for 5-6 minutes per side and obviously medium-rare chicken burgers are NOT a thing. That’s one of the reasons they so frequently end up being dry. You just have to cook them into submission.
The finished burgers should register 170 degrees F. in the center of the burger and have a nice crust on both sides.
I did a little taste test before I completely finished making my burgers. I just wanted to make sure the burger itself was good. It sure was! Surprisingly juicy for a chicken burger!
Pile sriracha chicken burgers on some toasted buns with avocado, fresh spinach, tomato, red onion, and an extra squirt of sriracha. YES PLEASE!
Let it be known: You can save chicken burgers this summer!
Matthew Curry
Not to be ridiculous, but if we used the same fixings and some thin breast cutlets on a good roll, would it not taste the same? How long would you marinate the cutlets in the rooster sauce in this scenario? I guess I’m asking if there is anything to be gained from using ground chicken and making chicken burgers vs. a rooster chicken sandwich. No offense meant.
Nick
Hey Matt! It would have similar flavors, but a different texture. The ground chicken has a more “burger” feel to it. Kind of the difference between a beef burger and a roast beef sandwich. You can make similar flavor profiles with them but the texture is different. Just depends on what you are in the mood for, but yes. You’re right. You could absolutely marinate some cutlets and grill them or something (wouldn’t need to marinate for long and I would maybe add some soy sauce and citrus – lime – for 30 min or so). Would be great!
christine davis
This would be good with chicken cutlets, turkey cutlets, ground turkey. I’m with ya on the heat! I did put the oven on last night for brussel sprouts because it was a cool evening. Other than that, my calphalon stove top grill pan is the love of my life. I grill up everything on there! even my veggies. Our meals change in the summer to become much simpler. Protein and veggies. Grilled. Boom. Done. It’s just the two of us so I don’t even want to fire up the big outside grill. Thanks for this recipe and I’m def making it next week!