Summer rocks. It stays light longer. Daily routines are more relaxed. I’m able to spend more time with the kids after work without having to worry about what time they go to bed. We are more active as a family in the Summer, and since so many types of fresh produce is in season, we find ourselves eating healthier without even trying. My husband eats very little red meat, and in the pursuit to add more excitement to the ground chicken in our meal plans, I created these scrumptious Pesto and Sun Dried Tomato Ground Chicken Burgers.
Tyson all natural ground chicken is so versatile. It allows you to add layers of flavor that may normally be dulled when using ground beef. My family loves Italian food. I just love garlic. By using Italian themed flavors I created a chicken burger everyone can enjoy.
I start these burgers by placing the ground chicken in a large bowl. You want to make sure you have enough room to thoroughly combine all the ingredients. I always try and work with a large bowl since my personal pet peeve is when DH makes a huge mess in the kitchen by mixing in too small of a bowl.
Making these burgers is similar to making a meatloaf. You want to have enough binding ingredients so the burgers don’t fall apart. The combination of breadcrumbs and pesto provide sufficient firmness to the burger. I also prefer using the sun dried tomato paste versus actual diced sun dried tomatoes. I never seem to be able to dice the sun dried tomatoes small enough for a good texture.
Once you have all the ingredients in the bowl together, work to combine them, but don’t over mix. We don’t want tough burgers. Form patties with the ground chicken mixture, and place on foil covered baking sheet or plate. I do this so I can easily remove the foil and toss it in the trash and save on dishes later.
Once you have all the burgers ready, head to the grill! Since my husband tends to eat more than one burger, I didn’t think one 16 ounce package of ground chicken was enough for our family, so I doubled the recipe. I made six burgers and a mini burger loaf to bake in the oven for another meal. I tend to spend a lot of our household budget on food to feed him. You can see a pretty full cart here in my latest G+ album shopping for our Labor Day picnic.
When I originally made this recipe, it contained both grated parmesan and shredded mozzarella cheese in the mixture. Hindsight being 20/20, I have decided to omit the shredded cheese. It caused the burgers to be less firm than I wanted when they were cooking and more of the cheese ended up in the grill grates than in the burgers. Next time I will probably stuff the cheese inside the burger similar to my Cheddar Cheese Stuffed Bacon Burgers. That way the cheese stays in the burger where it tastes best.
I topped the burgers with a little bit more shredded mozzarella cheese and served them with tri-color crash hot potatoes and salad. So sad my purple potatoes are so dark in the pictures. They really are very pretty, and the kids think purple potatoes are fun to eat!
These burgers were full of flavor and a hit with the whole family. The only minor letdown I had was how to top the burger. I felt it needed some type of condiment to add that little something extra every burger needs. I tried a little creamy Caesar dressing, and it was ok, just not what I was looking for to complete the flavor profile. I’ll be making these ground chicken burgers again, so I know I have time to experiment and get the topping perfect for next time.
What would you use as a topping for this burger to call it complete?
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- 16 oz Tyson All Natural ground chicken
- ¼ C pesto
- ½ C Italian flavored bread crumbs
- ¼ C grated parmesan cheese
- 2 tsp of Weber Roasted garlic and herb blend
- 1 tsp of garlic powder
- ½ tube of sun dried tomato paste
- Shredded Mozzarella chese for topping burgers
- 4 hamburger buns
- Heat grill to medium-high heat
- In a large bowl, combine ground chicken and all other ingredients. Mix thoroughly
- Divide ground beef into 4 equal portions, more if you want smaller burgers.
- Form each portion of the ground chicken mixture into a rough patty
- Cook on the grill 10-12 minutes each side, until cooked through
- Remove burgers from grill and let rest 2-3 minutes
- Place burger patties in buns, top with shredded mozzarella cheese
- Serve and enjoy!
[…] Summer rocks. It stays light longer. Daily routines are more relaxed. I’m able to spend more time with the kids after work without having to worry about what time they go to bed. We are more active as a family in the Summer, and since so many types of …read more […]
I like the sundried tomato paste! I’ve only seen regular tomato paste so I will have to look for it.
It was so much easier. I am definitely going to keep it in stock for future recipe projects. Loved it!
I have never used ground chicken but this looks really good.
The burgers were new for me as well. A chef friend gave me a tip to put the burgers in the freezer for a few hours to firm up before grilling. This would help alleviate the soft texture of the ground chicken from sinking a little around the grill grates. I will def do that next time. They were really good. 🙂