These pub-style crispy breaded chicken burgers deliver huge taste with just a few ingredients. BEST of all, you can make a whole whack of them and freeze 'em for when you're craving a greasy spoon type dinner without all the grease.
I'm not sure where my obsession with copying diner recipes came from but it's true; my life is and always has been ruled by copying and perfecting good, bad food.
Things like french fries, pizza and hamburgers. I'm still on a quest for the perfect good, bad onion rings. Not fancified high end restaurant style ones ... I want to be able to make them the way a greasy spoon does. You know. Like frozen onion rings.
Say what you want about crappy food, but the truth is, if it didn't taste good it wouldn't be so popular. The problem with crappy food is ... it's crappy. And usually frozen, overloaded with salt and filled with ingredients like Xantham Gum (which isn't necessarily bad for you in small quantities but it can make you tooty.) Sadly, I'm pretty sure it's those weird ingredients that are key to successfully copying many diner foods.
Years ago I used to buy "Jane's Pub Style Chicken Burgers". The kind of salt loaded, crispy frozen chicken burger that you'd get at one of the grimier establishments in town. The sort of establishment that you have to ask for a key to the washroom.
Those are the chicken burgers I used as my model for a healthier but just as delicious homemade version.
The actual Jane's chicken burgers include ingredients one would normally never think to put in a chicken burger. Like whey protein powder. That seemed like a weird ingredient to put in a chicken burger.
How good is this chicken burger? At the end of the meal you're gonna start looking over your shoulder to get a refill on your fountain pop.
Homemade Chicken Burgers
Just like with hamburgers you're going to have better luck if you add binders - in this case it's an egg and some breadcrumbs.
Whenever you're making any type of burgers (chicken, turkey, beef) mix your ingredients together gently. It helps retain the texture of the meat so they don't end up mushy.
I almost always make my burgers too big, so I use a ⅓rd cup to measure out the meat. It also helps to start to get it formed into a patty. Shove it in the measuring cup then plop it out into your hand.
Set the burgers in the fridge to firm up if you need to before breading them with flour, egg and breadcrumbs (in that order.)
Dip your chicken burger into the flour, egg and then breadcrumbs. Push the burger into the breadcrumbs to make sure they're good and stuck. And don't forget the edges of the burgers!
I'm using store bought breadcrumbs here but if you want to go all out you can make homemade seasoned breadcrumbs.
Then you panfry them in 4 tablespoons of oil or as much as you need to create a layer of oil on the whole bottom of the pan. You're pan frying, so don't be skimpy. Skimpy is for bathing suits.
Cook the chicken burgers on medium/low heat for around 4 minutes on each side.
Check to make sure they aren't burning because they brown up quickly.
I always use a meat thermometer to check the temperature. I had a close call a little while ago with cooking chicken. I came very close to not overcooking it. Almost unheard of for me to not overcook chicken.
Ground chicken must be cooked to 165°F.
Now eat it. You're done. You made a diner style chicken burger - with less fat, salt and weird ingredients.
TO FREEZE:
- Cook the chicken burgers then freeze them. When you want some, let them thaw and flash heat in a 450°F oven for 2 minutes on each side.
2. OR you can freeze the burgers uncooked right after the breading stage by laying them on a waxed paper lined plate until frozen solid. Transfer them to a freezer bag or storage dish once frozen.
Homemade Chicken Burgers
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1 egg
- ½ cup seasoned breadcrumbs
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 6 hamburger buns
Breading Ingredients
- ⅛ cup flour
- 1 beaten egg just add a little water or milk if you think 1 egg doesn't look like it's going to be enough
- ½ cup seasoned breadcrumbs
- 4 tablespoon vegetable oil Use whatever neutral cooking oil you like.
Instructions
- Mix chicken, egg, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder together.
- Mix in bread crumbs.
- Form into patties using ⅓rd cup as measuring tool.
- Coat with flour, egg then breadcrumbs.
- Panfry in 4 Tablespoons of cooking oil for 4 minutes on each side or until they reach an internal temperature of 165°F
Notes
Nutrition
Now. Who needs a key to the bathroom?
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Debra Rowe
Just tried this recipe for the first time...they were delicious!! I will definitely make them again! I hate frying because of the mess but these were well worth the mess. The only thing I did a little different was add a bit of Parmesan cheese to the bread crumbs,both in and for the breading... YUM!
Samantha
This recipe is fantastic! I am just starting to experiment with cooking and I had no idea where to start when my boyfriend made a special request for chicken patties. Your recipe was so easy to follow, the pictures were extremely helpful! The patties came out delicious and my boyfriend is already asking when ill be making these again. I was wondering if I could bake these in the oven?
Karen
Hi Samantha - Great good luck with your newfound cooking endeavour. If you were to bake these you probably wouldn't get the result you were looking for. It's the pan frying that gets them crispy. If you're starting to cook you should look at my most recent post and try to win one of 4 Ashley English Pie cookbooks I'm giving away. ~ karen!
Michelle
I have been looking for a good chicken patty recipe all day. And one that had easy to follow directions. You have just ended my search! These look amazing and I can't wait to get cooking! Do you think it is possible to freeze either the uncooked patties or the cooked version? I live by my self and do not need 6 at one time!
Karen
Hi Michelle! You're gonna love them. They're delicious! If I do say so myself. No problem with freezing them. I cook them all and then freeze the leftovers. I think I mention in the post how to reheat them. ~ karen!
Michelle
Opps you did mention that! I read Now eat it and saw the amazing photo, it made me stopped reading! Thanks!
Michelle
Karen -- I made these tonight with ground turkey. They were *so* good. The whole family thinks I'm a rock star (which you are too!)...
Thanks!!!
Karen
Michelle - Thanks! I'm glad you like em! Yeah, I have to admit I'm pretty proud of this one. :) ~ karen
Jake
I am SOO going to make these!!!
Chiropractor Naperville
nothing wrong with copying recipes from restaurants... thanks for doing the hard part and sharing with us :)
Renee
Hamburgers are my husband's absolute favorite food. I thought I would give this a try so we could have a break from hamburgers without too much of a difference. When my husband came home he was grumpy when he found out I had made chicken burgers. He was mumbling about how sad he was about not having a regular hamburger, and when I cooked the burgers he mumbled how they didn't look very good. Then he tried one. He smiled. He liked it! Then he asked me save the recipe and to make this again. Thanks for giving me an alternative to a regular burger!
Karen
Renee - LOL. I was worried that story wasn't going to have a happy ending. Glad he/you liked them. My mother was suspicious about them too until she ate one. :) ~ karen
Ann Marie
Karen, these are the BEST!!! Didn't have onion or garlic powder so I fried up the real thing and mashed it into the mixture, yummy. Thanks for sharing this great recipe!!
martha
Made these tonight. Big hit!! I did let them settle in the fridge for about 30 minutes before I breaded them. Followed recipe exactly. Already passed it on to my friends. Thanks again for another great creation! :)
Karen
Thanks Martha. I'm glad you liked them! I must admit, I'm pretty proud of myself for these, LOL. ~ karen
Sarah
Oh my yummy yumness...these are SO good. I made them last night following your recipe. I even made the breadcrumbs, which wound up a little lumpier than I had hoped (bread didn't sit long enough)but still turned out great. I gobbled one up last night (hubby ate two!) and I brought one for lunch today. Holy. Bejeezus.
Karen
Sarah - I know!!! I was stunned when they worked out so well the first shot, LOL. And the fact that they freeze perfectly is the mayo on the bun! Oh. And thank you. :) ~ karen
Kasia
Huh.
I have never,
ever,
heard of breaded chicken burgers.
Ever.
Until now.
Huh.
kelliblue
SO GLAD i noshed on something before reading this post because i may have required a new monitor after seeing this, i was so hungry...YUMMO!!! Seriously going to try these...they look good enough to eat! :)
Gayla T
Don't be afraid of Xtham Gum. Anyone with a Celiac recipe book has learned to use it. It's a food grade glue used to hold food together that normally would want to fall apart... like the breading falling off onion rings. You have been eating it all your little old life. Your chicken patties are inspirational! I'm going to make them for these picky little eaters who hang out at my house. You really went the extra mile on these. Great tut!
Moe
Looks so yummy Karen. I made chicken burgers years ago and hated them.. but then they had carrots, green pepper, onions and who remembers what else in them. These sound like my kind of chicken burger. I chuckled out loud when I read that you use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to make your burgers. I do the exact same thing for my hamburgers. lol Another trick I have is to poke a small baby finger size hole in the middle of the burger.. beef or chicken. As it cooks instead of the burger humping up and getting thick in the middle, the hole closes so your burger cooks more evenly. Every time we go somewhere that I bring burgers, everyone knows which ones are Moe's because of the hole. :o)
Karen
Moe - Good tip! I'll give it a shot. ~ karen!
Shauna
Yum. It's almost lunch time here in SoCal and these sound delicious. I'll put this on the menu rotation for sure.
Jan Preston
OK they look good but, THE only thing I can think of is---YOUR POOR CHICKENS, how can you eat chicken???!!! (oh, yea, chickens eat chicken, they eat anything)
Barbie
yummmmm! Wanna make this right now!
Carole McGinnis
I love it when you have recipes - they are always wonderful. I just made your quinoa salad - so delicous and healthy. Keep them coming - great post, as usual. ;-)
Angie S
This looks great, and is something my daughter would love to make for us!
I really, REALLY like the picture of the oil in the pan - specifically - the reflection of the bricks in the oil. Neato.
Sherri
I so appreciate it when you give us your recipes in printable form. I know it's more work for you, but it saves me lots of time and scrolling. Now I have to go back to the top and look at your pics again after reading all these posts about your photography skills. Have a good one!