Grilled Chicken Burger

You won’t believe the flavor when you sink your teeth into this grilled chicken burger layered with smoky gouda cheese, creamy avocado, fresh tomato, and the perfect poppyseed bun. Until you try it, it’s hard to imagine ground chicken making a great burger. Trust on this one, it works.

🍽️ Why This Works

Flavorful Ingredients. The gouda cheese adds a major flavor profile to these delicious ground chicken burgers.

Good for you. Lean white meat is great choice when you need to watch out for fatty foods or red meat consumption.

Fast on the Grill. Just thirty minutes in the fridge and then 10-12 minutes on the grill and your burgers are ready to go. Mix them up, and then get your sides ready while the burgers chill and grill. These are easy and convenient for a busy weeknight, especially if you make up the patties the day before and refrigerate.

🐔 Ingredients

📝 Ingredient Notes

Ground Chicken – You can usually find this in your local supermarket. Another great option is to ask the meat department to make it for you. If not, you can make your own using a meat grinder or meat grinder attachment for your stand mixer. In a pinch, you can substitute ground turkey in this recipe.

Onion – Diced onion is mixed right into the meat to amp up that flavor.

Egg – Any ground burger needs an egg in the mix to hold it together. It acts like glue and works as a binder for everything in your meat mixture.

Gouda Cheese – Shredded smoky gouda cheese adds so much flavor to this rather bland meat.

Salt and Pepper – Seasoning is essential for a burger when the meat itself doesn’t carry substantial flavor.

Garlic Powder – The perfect addition to your chicken burger’s flavor profile. You can used jarred minced garlic if you want, or use garlic salt and leave out the actual salt. You can also use freshly minced garlic.

Pro Tip: Pick up a jar of Kinder’s Garlic, Salt, and Pepper seasoning blend from your grocery store’s spice section. It’s the perfect mix of these three spices and works as a great seasoning for so many different grilled meats. You can use it on burgers, salmon, steak, stir fry, chicken, and really just about any meat you can think of to grill.

Grilled Chicken Burger Toppings

• Onions. Pick your favorite. Check out our list of the best onions for burgers.
• Pickles. Sweet pickle slices add a nice tangy sweetness to your burger.
• Lettuce. Read this post to choose the best lettuce for your burger.
• Cheese Slices. Sliced gouda is on point since gouda is what you mixed into the burger meat. If you cannot find that option, use smoked provolone or Havarti instead.
• Sauces. BBQ sauce would be lovely. Any of your favorite sauces could work.
• Avocado. Mashed avocado or guacamole is beautiful with a grilled chicken burger.

⏲️ Equipment and Tools

Mixing Bowl. A set of mixing bowls is a kitchen essential even for those of us who prefer to cook most things on the grill or in the smoker!

Grill. We love the the Big Green Egg. However, any grill work the same for this recipe. Remember to put out your charcoal grill at the end of the night!

Grilling Spatula. A grilling essential is something sturdy and large enough to get your meat off the grill with a handle long enough you can stay away from fire in case of flare-ups.

🔥 Instructions

Step One: Heat up the grill to direct medium high heat. While it gets hot you can gently mix the meat for the patties.

Step Two: Combine the ingredients and gently mix all of the ingredients by hand, make sure to not overmix or it will become tough.

Step Three: Divide into quarters. This recipe makes four grilled chicken burgers but it can be doubled or tripled for a crowd.

Step Four: Pour a little bit of olive oil in your hand and form the burgers. Place the burgers in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to set up. Remove the burgers from the refrigerator about 10 minutes before getting ready to place on the grill. 

Step Five: Place the chicken burgers on the grill and cook for 10-12 minutes, flipping them half way through. Cook until the internal temperature is 165° F. Add cheese for the last twenty seconds or so.

Step Six: Serve your grilled chicken burgers on buns with all your family’s favorite toppings.

❗ Recipe Tips and Tricks

Make sure to wash your hands each time you finish handling the raw chicken in this recipe. Chicken has a high presence of bacteria which you can inadvertently spread all over the kitchen.

Do not overcook these burgers. They will dry out super fast and chicken does not have enough natural fat to compensate for dryness.

When it comes to flavor, grilled chicken burgers are like the perfect blank palette for the flavor profile of your choice. Add any of your favorite combinations of flavors with fantastic results. BBQ and pineapple. Bacon and avocado with cheddar. Gorgonzola with sliced apples or pears. Change it up every time you make them!

The type of bread you choose can have a huge impact on the overall flavor profile of your burger. Pick up sourdough rolls, Hawaiian Sweet Roll Buns, or poppy seed buns for three completely different burgers just by changing the bread.

A properly pre-heated grill helps prevent these from sticking. Set the temperature to medium heat and wait at least ten minutes before you add the burgers.

Make sure your burgers have a few minutes to rest off the grill to give the juices time to settle. They won’t need as much time as beef, so five minutes or so is good.

🧑‍🍳 Storage and Reheating

Keep cooked burgers in your refrigerator for two to three days. Reheat them in a skillet with a little bit of butter. You can also carefully reheat them in the microwave or even throw them on the grill to heat through if you don’t want a mess in the kitchen. Make sure your reheated burgers get to a temperature of 165ºF during the cooking process to avoid bacteria growth and illness.

Refrigerate raw burger patties for two days and grill as needed. Freeze unused raw burger patties for up to three months in an airtight container and grill as needed. You will need to add a couple of minutes extra for the burger to cook.

Meal Prep

Making up burger patties to freeze is a great time saver during the busy school year or a hectic time at work. Simply mix up a double or triple recipe of the meat mixture, form burger patties, and then spread them out on a sheet pan to freeze. Once they are mostly frozen, you can combine them in a large airtight container or freezer-quality zipper bag and keep them frozen for up to three months. Cook your burger in the skillet or on the grill from frozen for a quick lunch, snack or dinner.

If you need to make a very quick meal on the run two days from now, you can also prepare these patties, put them in the refrigerator in an airtight container, and have them ready to go on the day of. Just pull them from the fridge and put them straight on the grill for a 10-12 minute dinner solution.

Additions and Substitutions

If you don’t appreciate gouda cheese, consider substituting with a crumbled gorgonzola, crumbled feta, or goat cheese. You could even use cream cheese mixed with herbs.

Mix a half cup of any of the following into your burger patties mixture. Shredded apples, shredded zucchini, shredded potatoes, very finely chopped dates or dried cranberries. Make sure to squeeze out any moisture from your mix-ins before putting into the mixing bowl.

Serving Suggestions

Serve these delicious grilled chicken burgers with Grilled Baby Potatoes with Garlic, Amazing Smoked Potato Salad, or Grilled Peach and Arugula Salad. You can also use any of these ideas for what to serve with a burger.

❓ Recipe FAQ

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