Look at this absolutely gorgeous chicken burger guys. Not only was it an umami bomb, it was amazingly juicy!!!

As any burger aficionado would know, a dry burger patty is one of the greatest nemesis of awesome burgers. How did I dodge the dry-burger bullet? Read on!

Holy fowl, look at those glistening meats!

It all started when I was stuck with about 100g of chicken thigh meat. For that minuscule amount of meat, the only thing I could think of cooking was pad ka prow (Thai basil chicken), but I didn’t have any basil leaves.

As I was cracking my head about what to cook, suddenly a friend WhatsAppEd me to ask if I wanted to group-buy Wagyu burger patties … ahhh, burgers!!

From reading many articles, I knew that moistness and flavour are essential to a good burger burger patty. Seasonings can be tweaked easily but moistness can be tricky to achieve.

Using thigh meat (which has more fat than breast and therefore is more moist) solved half the problem.

How to boost the moistness further? I decided to add cured meats. I had some leftover smoked duck and chicken luncheon meat which had been sitting in my freezer forever. Yes, they are not your typical ingredients in a chicken burger, but …

…the cured meats contribute tons of flavour – and even more importantly, fat, which adds moisture to the chicken burger.

I amplified the flavour further by adding a dollop of mayo and a bit of mustard. Finally, to bind everything together, I threw in some old breadcrumbs that I’d forgotten about in the chiller.

I’ve not made that many burgers in my lifetime, so I wasn’t 100% confident if my theories would work out in real life. But they did.

Not bad for something that was essentially constructed from leftovers hehe 🙂

Juicy Chicken Burger

Meet the best burger of your life, extremely juicy and packed with flavour - thanks to one simple trick!
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 1 hr
Course Main Course
Cuisine Western
Servings 2

Equipment

  • non-stick saucepan, mixing bowl

Ingredients
  

  • 100 g chicken thigh meat
  • 50 g cured meat e.g. sausage, luncheon meat, smoked duck etc
  • 1/2 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 1 tsp mustard
  • 1 tbsp breadcrumbs
  • cooking oil

Instructions
 

  • In a food processor, blend together chicken meat with cured meats.
  • Add breadcrumbs, mayonnaise and mustard. The cured meats will provide enough salt, so no need to add any additional seasons. Moreover, if you're going to top it with a cheese slice, that will provide additional saltiness.
  • Shape into two patties. Poke a hole in the middle of each patty as this will help keep the shape flat during frying.
  • Lightly oil a saucepan. Fry patties on both sides until golden brown.

To serve

  • As you flip over the patty to the other side, place a slice of cheese on top and cover with a lid. Let it steam until cheese melts.
  • I made a simple sauce with gochujang. mayonnaise and grated tomato, an idea inspired by a salad dressing made by Jacques Pepin.
  • Assemble with toasted burger buns and fresh vegetables of your choice, and dig in!
Keyword burger

Love fast Western dishes? Try my yummy veggie pizza!