Moist Grilled Chicken Burgers

Super moist grilled chicken burgers can be yours with these easy to follow instructions. Don't serve your friends and family hockey pucks anymore.

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• The Panade
• Tips
• Burger Recipes
• Instructions
• 📖 Recipe

Introduction and My Rating

I always see that ground chicken breast at the store and have planned to do this for a long time. The main problem with ground chicken is the same as with skinless boneless chicken breasts. There is almost no fat, and we all know what that can do. Cooked wrong and you have a dry tasteless disk. We shall call this the hockey puck syndrome.

So my usual research was complete and my conclusion. Confusion. I had "simple" as the label on a recipe with 13 yes 13 ingredients. That celebrity chief will remain anonymous. But after reading 20 plus recipes, there was one reasonably consistent theme. They mostly used a panade.

So armed with this knowledge, it was time for some cooking for two. I would season my chicken burger like I would a chicken breast. That meant mayonnaise, salt, pepper, and garlic. For the salt, pepper, and garlic I used my everyday seasoning of 7:2:2. For the panade, I would use common bread crumbs and add some mayo to the burger and depend on the moisture in the meat. Too much liquid would not do here.

My Rating

A nice solid 4. That's good for an everyday meal. Very moist with the panade. This is just a basic starting point for variations. A little heavy on the mayo.

The Panade

A panade is something like breadcrumbs (think starch) that can coat the ground meat particles with starch and keep moisture in. Generally, a panade will be breadcrumbs or something similar then moisture is added to that to make a paste that is then mixed with the ground meat.

Milk is often used like in meatloaf. But I chose mayo for this recipe.

If you want to know more about panades check out Panade: The Secret to Keeping Ground Meat Tender at JessicaGavin.com.

Tips

I went with ⅓ pound "burgers". That made a nice ½ inch thick burger. Thinner will be more likely to fall apart and dry out.

This is chicken and will take flavor very well. I see a southwest version, Italian version, etc.

While I cook this on high grill temperature, as long as you cook to a final internal temperature, you can use a lower temperature (like 450°). I will just take longer.

I used cheese flavored bread crumbs but use what you like.

Burger Recipes

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Healthy Low Fat Burgers

Smokehouse Burger on a Gas Grill

Instructions

Preheat grill on high.

Mix ground chicken with bread crumbs, 7:2:2 and a liquid. Use ⅓ pound of meat per burger and two tablespoons bread crumbs and one tablespoon of mayonnaise or milk plus ½ teaspoon of 7:2:2. If you don't have 7:2:2 then ¼ teaspoon kosher salt and ⅛ teaspoon pepper and granulated garlic powder.

Form into ½ inch thick burgers and add a slight "dimple" in the center. This helps prevent the puffing up you sometimes get with grilling a burger.

Clean and oil grill on the preheated grill. Grill over high heat for 4 minutes on the first side and 3-4 minutes on the second side until an internal temperature of 165°. This is ground meat PLEASE use a thermometer.

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📖 Recipe

Moist Grilled Chicken Burgers

From Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan

How to grill a moist ground chicken breast burger. Super moist... don't serve your friends and family hockey pucks anymore.

4.43 from 21 votes

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Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 8 mins

Total Time 18 mins

Servings #/Adjust if desired 2

Ingredients

US CustomaryConvert to Metric

• ▢ ⅔ pound ground chicken breast
• ▢ 4 tablespoons bread crumbs
• ▢ 2 tablespoon mayonnaise - or milk
• ▢ 1 teaspoon 7:2:2 seasoning

Instructions

 

• Preheat grill on high.
• Mix ground chicken with bread crumbs, 7:2:2, and mayo or milk. Use ⅓ pound of meat per burger and two tablespoons bread crumbs and one tablespoon of mayonnaise or milk plus ½ teaspoon of 7:2:2. If you don't have 7:2:2 then ¼ teaspoon kosher salt and ⅛ teaspoon pepper and granulated garlic powder.
• Form into ½ inch thick burgers and add a slight "dimple" in the center. This helps prevent the puffing up you sometimes get with grilling a burger.
• Grill over high heat for 4 minutes on the first side and 3-4 minutes on the second side until internal temperature of 165. This is ground meat PLEASE use a thermometer.

Recipe Notes

Pro Tips

1. Adjust to the number of chicken burgers you want.
2. I suggest bread crumbs. Use the flavor you have. You can also use other starches like crackers.
3. I like the mayo here but use milk if you prefer.
4. Ground chicken needs to cook to 165° for safety but do not overcook or they will dry.
5. The ⅓ pound size helps keep things moist.
6. The dimple in the middle of the burger needs to be there to prevent it from puffing up and becoming harder to get to correct temperature.
7. This recipe will work with a wide variety of grill temperatures. Just be sure to cook to the right final internal temperature.
8. Chicken burgers are more "tender" than beef. So handle with care or they may fall apart.

Have More Questions?Make it Perfect First Time and Every Time. Don't miss out, check the full post above. Almost every recipe includes easy step by step photo instructions so you can visualize yourself cooking this recipe along with helpful tips and options.

TO ADJUST THE RECIPE SIZE:You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.

Nutrition

Calories : 329 kcalCarbohydrates : 16 gProtein : 29 gFat : 16 gSaturated Fat : 4 gPolyunsaturated Fat : 1 gMonounsaturated Fat : 1 gCholesterol : 132 mgSodium : 537 mgPotassium : 830 mgFiber : 1 gSugar : 2 gCalcium : 46 mgIron : 2 mg

Serving size is my estimate of a normal size unless stated otherwise. The number of servings per recipe is stated above. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.

Course :Main Course

Cuisine :American

Originally Published May 7, 2015.  Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos and a table of contents to help navigation.

We'd love one.