Quick Garlic Chicken Burgers

Chicken burgers get a bad rap. There’s an episode of the television show Parks and Recreation where two characters have a contest to see which is better: chicken burgers or beef burgers? The character cooking chicken burgers makes beautiful, elaborate gourmet chicken patties. The other character simply forms some ground beef into patties and cooks it with almost no effort. And, of course, the judges all choose beef burgers as the contest winners.

Poor chicken burgers, it’s not their fault that they’re not beef! I think the blame lies in expecting chicken burgers to taste like beef burgers in the first place, rather than considering them their own delicious thing. So I think of chicken burgers as chicken sandwiches, deserving of their own special place in my culinary heart. After all, it can be tough to add extra flavor to a beef burger while chicken burgers are ready and willing to take you to a hundred different (and exciting!) versions of flavor town.

That’s why I love this recipe for Quick Garlic Chicken Burgers. They have incredible garlicky flavor with lots of umami notes from the Worcestershire sauce. We often eat them on a bun like a traditional burger, but sometimes I just serve them as a simple protein beside some veggies or as a topper to a rice bowl. I have even split them in to and packed them into pita bread before. They’re very versatile and they cook up fast.

For me, the key to these burgers is the flour dusting. Depending on how moist the chicken is, it sometimes turns into a bit of a flour sludge, but however it looks, it creates a crispy finish on the first cooked side that helps build the wonderfully golden-brown caramelized flavor that we expect from pan-fried meat. Usually, I dust the other side of the patties once I have them in the skillet cooking on the first side, but this can be messy and is by no means required — a flour dusting on just one side is more than enough to give these burgers delicious flavor.

Quick Garlic Chicken Burgers

3 from 39 votes

Recipe by Add Recipes Course: Dinner

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

14

minutes

Cooking time

10

minutes

Garlic flavor infuses these quick & easy chicken burgers.

Ingredients

• 1 lb 1 Ground chicken

• 1/3 cup 1/3 Breadcrumbs, plain

• 2 tablespoons 2 Vegetable or canola oil

• 2 tablespoons 2 Mayonnaise

• 1 tablespoon 1 All-purpose flour

• 1 tablespoon 1 Worcestershire sauce

• 2 teaspoons 2 Garlic powder

• 1/2 teaspoon 1/2 Salt

• Black pepper to taste

Directions

• In large mixing bowl, combine ground chicken, breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper to taste. Mixture will be sticky.
• Moisten hands with water and divide mixture by hand into four evenly sized patties no more than half an inch thick. Place patties on flat surface like a plate.
• Using small mesh strainer, lightly dust one side of patties with all-purpose flour.
• Heat vegetable or canola oil in large skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Once oil is heated, add chicken patties flour side down (consider using tongs to transfer patties from plate to skillet, in order to avoid scraping off flour).
• Cook patties 3-4 minutes per side until cooked through or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165° F (74° C). Serve immediately in your preferred style.

Notes

• Recommend against using ground chicken breast as burgers may be dry. Ground chicken with a mix of white and dark meat is recommended.
• Italian, panko, or other flavored breadcrumbs may be used to substitute for plain breadcrumbs. Flavor and texture may slightly change.
• Traditional mayonnaise is recommended rather than mayonnaise-like dressing as sugar content may be higher which will affect results. To substitute for mayonnaise, try 1 raw egg and 1 teaspoon+ mustard.
• Flour dusting should be very light. Flour may moisten on chicken; this is expected and should not affect results.
• Optional: dust the other side of the patties with flour while they are in the skillet with the flour side down.

Mayonnaise is an important component of this recipe. It takes the place of a raw egg and works as a binder while also adding both moisture and flavor. That’s why I prefer it to a raw egg for chicken burgers. Sometimes a whipped condiment that is similar to mayonnaise and is often labeled to as “salad dressing” is referred to as mayonnaise, but they aren’t the same and the salad dressing is not a good substitute for mayo in this recipe as it contains a lot of sugar and affects both the flavor and the sear on the burgers. If you need a mayo substitute in this recipe, I would suggest one raw egg and a teaspoon (or more) of mustard.