Oh man, these were good. We will be making them again.
Chicken Burgers:
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1/4 cup cooked spinach, packed
- 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1.5 tbsp diced onion
- 1.5 tsp Greek seasoning
- A few dashes salt and pepper
Remove rings- you don’t want raw chicken bits in them. Mix all burger ingredients with your hands, making sure the spinach is spread evenly through the mixture. Quarter the mixture and form 4 burger patties. They will feel softer and might not hold together as well as beef burgers do, but they will once they’re cooked.
Heat 2-3 swirls of olive oil (about 1 tbsp) in a large skillet over medium-high heat on the stove. Add all 4 burger patties and cook for 3 minutes undisturbed. Flip the burgers over, cover the pan and cook for 2 minutes. This steams the burgers somewhat to retain moisture and ensure the middles get cooked through. Remove cover after 2 minutes, flip the burgers back over and finish cooking for 2 additional minutes uncovered. They should be done, but I usually cut into one to make sure they’re not pink inside. Remember, it’s not beef. They MUST cook fully, but don’t worry! They should still be juicy.
Of course, you can cook them on the grill too but I am not the griller in the house, so lmk how that goes if you do it!
Dill Mayo:
- 4 tbsp mayonnaise
- 2 tsp minced fresh dill
- 2 squeezes lemon juice (about 1 tsp)- do this to taste and consistency that you want
- A few dashes salt and pepper
Mix all ingredients together with a small whisk or a spoon and it’s ready! This should be enough for 4 burgers.
I used the mayo on both buns and enjoyed this burger as pictured with a large tomato slice! It would also be good with sliced cucumber.
A few tips to maximize the goodness:
- I used frozen chopped spinach that I cooked in the microwave according to package directions. I had a bunch left over that I’ll use in an omelet or something (make a plan so you don’t waste it)! You could also cook fresh spinach, just remember for 1/4 cup cooked you’ll need at least 1.5 cups raw.
- Make sure to squeeze as much water out of the spinach as you can, or else the burgers will be too wet.
- After you measure out how much spinach you’re using, finely chop it on a cutting board before adding to the burger mix. This way you get no (well, less) stringy spinach in your teeth!
- If the meat itself is very wet, you can squeeze some liquid out over the sink (just remember to wash hands well and don’t drip raw chicken juice everywhere). Ground chicken tends to have more moisture than other meats.
- After you measure out the feta, finely chop it. Even when I buy crumbled, it sometimes has large chunks.
- If you don’t have fresh dill, you can use dried- just remember dried is more potent so you can use 2/3 tsp and I would recommend letting it sit after making it so it can rehydrate. (dried herbs tend to be 1/3 of the volume of fresh, hence 2/3 dried dill. You likely don’t have a 2/3 tsp spoon so use the 1/2 tsp and then use the 1/4 tsp but don’t fill it all the way.
- I didn’t have greek yogurt, but you could absolutely use that instead of mayo for the spread, and you could even mince up some cucumber and garlic to throw in for a homemade tzatziki sauce if you’re feeling fancy.