Smash Chicken Burger - two juicy patties made from seasoned ground chicken topped with melted cheese, crispy bacon, red onions, and spicy mayo then sandwiched between two buttery crispy buns are the stuff burger dreams are made of!
I know some of you may wonder if it’s possible to get a juicy burger from ground chicken, and the answer is an absolute, yes! It’s lighter than ground beef, and lean meat so it doesn’t produce as much of its own grease, but there are plenty of ways to keep it moist.
I promise, this chicken smash burger recipe is going to become one of your favorite ways to eat a burger and you may never go back to take-out burgers again.
Just like any homemade hamburger recipe, I like to pair it with a side of homemade crispy air fryer french fries.
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Ingredients Needed
For the Chicken Burger Patty
- Ground chicken: This is lean meat that doesn’t have enough fat to keep it moist on its own, so it’s important to remember not to overwork ground chicken as you mix the ingredients together.
- Egg: Binds the patties together so that they don’t fall apart. The egg also helps to keep it nice and moist.
- Breadcrumbs: These also help to bind the meat together to hold its shape. It does absorb moisture, so the breadcrumbs and egg work together to balance each other.
- Bell pepper, green onion, and garlic: Flavorful additions to the meat mixture that add a bit of color as well.
- Seasoning: Smoked paprika, Cajun seasoning, salt & pepper.
- Oil: I use avocado oil, as I do for so many other recipes, but you can use what you’ve got. Olive oil also works well for this.
For the Toppings
- Cheddar cheese: A slice of melted cheddar on top adds a bit of sharpness as well as a bit of added grease. See, there are plenty of ways to keep a chicken burger ultra juicy!
- Cooked bacon: Cooked until desired crispness, and then cut each strip in half to give each burger 4 pieces.
- Buns: Toasted brioche buns are my favorite! They’re soft, buttery, and slightly crisp. You can use your favorite burger buns. I also have a recipe for quick homemade hamburger buns which I highly recommend trying if you’ve got some extra time.
- Mayo & Sriracha: Combined to make a spicy mayo!
- Sliced red onions: Make these as thin or as thick as you’d like!
See the recipe card for the full information on recipe ingredients and quantities.
How to Make a Chicken Burger with Ground Chicken
This ground chicken burger is a complete restaurant-quality meal right at home! Here's how you make it:
Step 1: First, combine the ground chicken, egg, breadcrumbs, and seasoning in a mixing bowl. Mix together using a wooden spoon or by hand until combined, but be careful not to over mix. You don’t want to end up with dry patties!
Step 2: Next, divide the meat mixture into four and roll each portion into a ball.
Step 3: After, heat the avocado oil in a skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the 4 balls to the skillet and use a spatula to smash them down and flatten them.
Step 4: Cook for 4-5 minutes on one side, then flip them over and top each one with a slice of cheese. Cover with the lid and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
Step 5: In the meantime, while the chicken burgers are cooking, drizzle the mayo and sriracha on each side of the bun and use a butter knife to spread it.
Step 6: Now, place 2 cheesy patties on one side of the bun, top with red onions and crispy bacon, then top with the other half of the bun. Repeat with the second burger and enjoy!
Recipe Tips & Variations
This chicken burger recipe is basically perfect as is, in my opinion, but there’s still plenty of room to make it your own!
- If you’re not a double patty kind of person, you can stretch this recipe out and make 4 single burgers instead.
- Skip the cheese if you prefer not to make it a cheeseburger.
- Adjust the seasonings to your liking. You can also make the sriracha mayo more or less spicy if you prefer.
- Swap red onions for caramelized onions. If you’ve had either my caramelized onion arugula burger or caramelized onions burger with shiitake mushrooms, you’ll know how much flavor they add.
- Use different toppings, you can add a slice of tomato. Sliced pickles, or some lettuce.
- Use traditional ketchup instead of the mayo and sriracha if you prefer something a little sweeter and less spicy.
- Pickled red onions are another favorite topping of mine. So much so that I dedicated an entire homemade burger recipe with pickled red onions!
- I love a nice sharp cheddar, but if you would rather use something else, go for it! Havarti, provolone, or Swiss cheese can be substituted.
Recipe FAQs
Smash-style burgers can be made from any type of ground meat. The idea is to place the meat mixture onto a hot surface and use something (either a spatula or a smashed burger press) to flatten it into a thinner patty.
When burgers get cooked, they tend to seize up and end up smaller and thicker. Using a press to smash it down helps to prevent this.
You can! Of course, it would no longer be called a smash chicken burger, you can absolutely make a smash turkey burger or smash beef burger. Use any type of ground meat you like and make this recipe in all kinds of different ways!
If you’re interested in a delicious burger recipe using beyond meat, I suggest you check out my juicy burger beyond meat recipe.
Using a digital thermometer, the internal temperature should read 165 degrees F. If you don’t have one, another way to tell is that the juices should run clear and it will no longer be pink in the middle.
More DELICIOUS Recipes
- Avocado Toast with Egg
- Tik Tok Salmon Bites
- Salmon Avocado Roll
- Cheesy Hot Beef Sandwich Recipe
- Honey Garlic Shrimp
Did you try this recipe? Please leave me a ⭐ review below!
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📖 Recipe
Smash Chicken Burger
Ingredients
Chicken Patty
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup breadcrumbs
- ⅓ cup red bell pepper finely diced
- 2 tablespoons green onion diced
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoon cajun
- 1 teaspoon sea salt or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper or to taste
- 2 cloves garlic finely chopped or minced
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or oil of your choice, more if needed
Chicken Burger
- 4 slices cheddar cheese
- 2 strips bacon cooked and cut in half making 4 pieces
- 2 buns we love using brioche buns, toasted
- mayo
- sriracha
- red onion sliced
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl combine all of the chicken patty ingredients, give it a good mix. Divide the meat mixture into 4 patties, and roll them into a ball.
- Preheat avocado oil in the skillet over medium heat. Add 4 patty balls and smash them with a spatula, cook for 4-5 minutes, flip on the other side.
- Add cheese and cover the skillet with a lid cook for 3-4 minutes.
- While patties are cooking, drizzle mayo and sriracha sauce on the buns and spread it with a butter knife, add 2 cheesy patties, follow by red onion and crispy bacon, cover with the second bun. Repeat with the second burger. Enjoy!
DTronick
We loved this! Deemed a keeper.
Though I admit, since I had to cook the bacon, I used bacon grease instead of avocado oil to cook the chicken...a bit less healthy, but yummy!
Munchkin Time
Omg, I love how you cooked the chicken in bacon oil, best flavor! Thank you DTronick for sharing your awesome feedback for this smash chicken burger!
Nicole Rodrigues
Turned out so yum & it’s so convenient to prepare.
My toddler loved it !! It’s our new go to recipe!
Munchkin Time
Thank you Nicole! I am so happy your toddler loved it! The best compliment!
Barb
Really good flavor. Left off the cheese and srirachi but I really liked them.
Munchkin Time
Thank you Barb! So happy to hear this!
Deb Haggard
Great recipe! I made these as single burgers on the Blackstone and followed the recipe as written. Juicy and delicious! We added pepperjack cheese and slices of red onion. Will definitely make again.
Munchkin Time
So happy to hear this Deb! Thank you for trying and rating this smash chicken burger recipe! It sounds extra delcious with pepper jack cheese and red onion!