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These ground chicken burgers are juicy, moist, and flavorful! No more dry chicken, and you can have these burgers on the table in half an hour.
You may also like these Easy Ground Turkey Burgers or Chicken Patties next.
Why you’ll love it
Ground chicken doesn’t always conjure up mouthwatering images, but this chicken burger is moist! I don’t like that word, but when you think of chicken burgers, “moist” doesn’t always come to mind. Cardboard does. As long as you don’t overcook this burger, it’ll be fantastic.
These homemade chicken burgers are really easy to make, juicy, and absolutely delicious. I whipped up a simple but flavorful mayo-based burger sauce to complement these burgers that has a hint of smoky flavor. They’ll be a favorite all summer long!
What you’ll need
- Ground chicken – the star of these burgers. Make sure to adequately season with salt & pepper.
- Mayo – for moisture to ensure they don’t dry out
- Lemon juice – a touch of acidity and brightness
- Italian breadcrumbs – to bind everything together and add herb flavor
- Oregano and chives – to boost the flavor and impart a freshness
- Garlic – more savory goodness. Easily mince it with a garlic press.
- Sauce – the optional sauce has mayo, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, and smoked paprika
Helpful tips
- Don’t overhandle the meat. You don’t want the ground chicken patties resembling hockey pucks.
- Make a little depression with your thumb in the center of each burger so that they cook evenly.
- Make sure you oil the grill before it’s up to temperature so they don’t stick. Slide the burgers onto the grill using a metal spatula.
How to make ground chicken burgers
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
In a medium bowl, combine the burger sauce ingredients. Oil and preheat the grill. Add the burger patty ingredients to a prep bowl, and mix using your hands. Don’t overwork the mixture.
Form each patty, and place them on wax paper. Press your thumb into the middle of each to make a depression. Grill until cooked to 165F. Toast the buns if desired. Assemble the burgers, and enjoy!
How long do you grill chicken burgers?
- It depends on the grill and the thickness of the burger patties, but with our gas BBQ we grilled them for 5 minutes on one side and 4 minutes on the other side (lid down).
- When an instant read meat thermometer registers 165F in the middle, they’re safe to eat. The meat thermometer helps ensure that you don’t overcook them! Dry burgers are no fun.
Substitutions and variations
- Don’t have a BBQ? You could also use a grill pan or frying pan to make these.
- Feel free to change up the fresh herbs depending on what’s in your garden.
- If you want a little heat in the burger sauce, add a little bit of sriracha for a kick.
What to serve with chicken burgers
- As always, you can top these with your preferred toppings. These burgers can be pretty healthy depending on how you top them. I like the suggested burger sauce, sliced tomato, avocado, Quick Pickled Red Onions, and butter lettuce, but the possibilities are endless!
- Don’t forget the southern Sweet Tea on the side!
- They would also be delicious served with a refreshing side salad like my Creamy Cucumber Salad, this Best Coleslaw, Jalapeno Slaw, or spring mix with my Simple Homemade Honey Mustard Dressing.
Leftovers and storage
- Store leftover cooked patties in the fridge for 3-4 days in the fridge in an airtight container.
- These ground chicken burgers can be frozen for up to 3 months.
If you made this ground chicken burger recipe, please leave a star rating and review below! You can also tag me on Instagram with any of your S&L creations.
The Best Ground Chicken Burgers
Ingredients
Burger sauce:
- 1 cup mayo
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- Salt & pepper to taste
Burgers:
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 2 tablespoons mayo
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1/2 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
- 1 large clove garlic minced
- Salt & pepper to taste
For serving:
- Hamburger buns, butter leaf lettuce, tomato, avocado, red onion, etc. optional, to taste
Instructions
- Stir the burger sauce ingredients together in a medium bowl. Taste and adjust as needed.
- Oil and preheat your grill to medium-high heat.
- In a medium-to-large bowl, add the burger ingredients. Using your hands, gently mix everything together, taking care to not over handle the mixture.
- Form burger patties one by one and place them on a sheet of wax paper. You should be able to make six average-size burger patties or four larger ones. Using your thumb, create a depression in the center of each patty so they cook evenly.
- Cook the burger patties until their internal temperature is at least 165F. Cooking time really depends on your grill and the thickness of the patties. Mine generally take 5 minutes on the first side and 4 minutes on the second side (gas BBQ).
- Once the burgers are cooked, you can toast the buns on the grill for about 30 seconds if desired.
- Assemble burgers by spreading the sauce onto each bun and adding the burger patties and toppings.
Notes
- See more tips & tricks within the blog post.
- Chicken is safe to eat when it’s reached an internal temperature of 165F. Use an instant read thermometer to test for doneness. Overcooked chicken burgers will be dry.
- You can also find this recipe in chapter 7 of the Salt & Lavender: Everyday Essentials cookbook.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Absolutely love this recipe. It’s moist and delicious. The only way that I make my chicken burgers now. Love love
I’m thrilled to hear it, Colette! 😀 Thanks for your review!
Hi Natasha,
Oh my goodness! If I could give this 10 stars I would! For background, ground chicken = cardboard for me. I know it’s very healthy, which I’m trying so hard to eat. I’ve found a lot of ground turkey recipes that are tasty, but never ground chicken. This was amazing!
I used Hellman’s olive oil mayo dressing to make it slightly healthier. I went for the sauce even though I tend to avoid mayo in general, but was intrigued by the ingredients. We all loved it! Next time will add a little more of the smoked paprika, as we are all fans. The sauce amount works well if I double the burger ingredients.
I panicked slightly when I realized we had to no Italian breadcrumbs which we always usually do, but thankfully found some panko. Added Italian seasoning and all was good.
Added fresh tomatoes from neighbor’s garden, onion, lettuce & spinach. Son added hummus. Everyone loved the lemon flavor.
Will definitely be making again and again, and will be sharing with my family. What a lovely recipe surprise! Thank you!
I’m thrilled you guys loved this one, Angela!! 😀 Thanks for your review!
I’m back already – if I could give this *20* stars I would!!!
Made this 10 days ago for the first time. We all loved it (see above). I love so many of your yummy recipes and have added them to my regular rotation. This is the first one I had to make again so soon after making it the first time!
And an additional bonus was I had leftover sauce from the first time and went out of state to visit my mother for a week. Family used the leftover sauce on grilled fish and raved it was equally delicious on that as well, so I had to add the sauce recipe separately from this recipe to be available to all. Well done!
Again – I appreciate you so much for sharing your cooking creativity with all of us! ❤
I appreciate it, Angela! 😀 I love that the sauce is a hit on fish too!
I made these and froze them for quick meals for the week. Could I cook them from frozen, or would you recommend defrosting before cooking? Excited to try!
I think you could cook them from frozen. Just be sure to ensure they’re cooked thru properly as they’ll take a little longer. 🙂
Made these tonight in my cast iron skillet. I prepped the patties in the morning, before work. They cooked up quick and easy and we’re so good!
The burger sauce sounded amazing, but to boost the nutrition value, I opted to top the burgers with some fresh made guacamole instead. It paired very nicely. Thanks a million for the healthy, delicious, easy to make recipe.
I’m so happy it worked to make them ahead! 🙂
These are really good and the sauce is amazing. In fact next time I will skip the bun and just dip it in the sauce.
Thank you so much!! 😀 Glad you enjoyed them!
Made these as written but in frying pan due to rain and they were excellent! Even picky beef burger-loving hubby was raving! Thank you for this great recipe, I never would have thought of including lemon juice.
That’s so nice to hear!! 😀
Delicious and juicy! I didn’t have a lemon so I left the lemon juice out. I will make sure I have one on hand before I make this again.
Awesome to hear, Lesley!! 🙂
I was kind of iffy about this recipe because ground chicken is weird looking. But…..these were amazing. Loved them. Thank you for posting.
You’re very welcome!!
Wonderful recipe,well appreciate
You’re very welcome!
Hello, when do u add the burger sauce?
Step 8. I’ll update the recipe to be more clear (I called it “mayo” when I meant the burger sauce).
Wow! Thank u so much! I’m making them this weekend!
Enjoy!! 🙂
Delicious! I’ve tried several recipes for ground turkey, first time using ground chicken.
Great flavor and moist, nothing like meatloaf texture as one comment said. This will definitely be the recipe I will use from now on.
I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Pam! Thanks for your review! 😀