Greek Chicken Burgers

Yesterday I was searching for a quick & healthy recipe to try and came across this one (also from Southern Living) for "Greek Turkey Burgers". Being a lover of all things greek/mediterranean, I decided I'd try it out but change it up to ground chicken, which I prefer to ground turkey. I find it's just as easy to use, very inexpensive, slightly lower in calories and typically turns out more flavorful and juicy. Most groceries now carry ground chicken, you can find it right near the ground turkey in the meat section.

These burgers turned out really yummy - satisfying and flavorful, but not heavy. I would definitely make again and thought it could also work great as meatballs or made into a low carb meal with a salad in lieu of the bun.

I ran through the store on the way home- the ingredints list was short & I was on a mission, so I was in and out in no time. (also the trip cost less than $15!) I thought the buns may be a little carb heavy (we had just worked out!), so I was thinking I would try with pita, but then came across these whole grain "Sandwich Thins" which I had been wanting to try anyway.

First, I opted to use our mini-food processor to chop the ingredients in the burgers rather than finely chop by hand. This little baby is a God send. :) In addition to the red onion, I added about 10 medium black olives a little garlic and half a fresh jalepeno for some kick (I'm my mother's child).

In a big bowl, I added a generous portion of crumbled feta cheese (my favorite), lemon zest, salt & pepper.

I added the chopped veggies and the ground chicken. This is where your hands must get dirty. I've tried using a spoon or fork in the past, but nothing mixes the chicken burgers together better than your own two hands. I kind of like digging in, BUT if you are meat averse, a friend of mine shared a little kitchen trick. If you don't want to get your hands dirty but don't have gloves handy, use two ziploc bags or plastic bags on your hands and dig in.
Now it's burger time!

I used a grill plan because I know chicken burgers can be much more sticky (much less fat/grease), so I thought they would be much easier to flip in the pan. If you don't care about grill marks, these could also be made in a non stick saute pan just fine. I oiled the grill and got to forming the patties. This mix made 4 medium sized patties - I was in shock because I somehow always mess up and make 3 large & one teeny tiny baby one, but I got it right this time. :)

I got the four patties workin on the grill pan and got to work on the toppings and cucumber-yogurt sauce (tzatziki in Greek, mast-o-khiar in Persian!). Sie is Persian and since we've been married, he's really introduced me to lots of new foods, but my hands down favorite: cucumber-yogurt! This recipe was very simple (grated cucumber, chopped mint, salt and thick greek yogurt)- the flavors turned out well, but I have to be honest and say if possible - just go store bought! They now sell tzatziki near the hummus in the prepared food section or pick up a tub from any mediterranean store. It's not that the flavors weren't good - we really enjoyed it with the burgers. There's just something about how the ingredients have blended together longer and the yogurt is usually much thicker (the trick is to drain the cucumbers), that's hard to mimic at home. That's my 2 cents!

After about 5-7 minutes, I flipped the chicken patties once, they had gotten nice and golden brown with good grill marks. While cooking, I try not to mess with them too much or press down so they stay nice and juicy. On to toppings; I thinly sliced cucumber, red onion and tomato and got out a little arugula lettuce (any lettuce will do, I just love arugula). You could add in any toppings you like- red bell peppers, pepperoncini, green onions - would all work really well.

Once the chicken burgers were nice and browned on both sides (about 7 minutes on either side)- I turned off the heat, let sit for about a minute while I got things ready (and to let the meat settle). The easiest way to tell they are ready is by pressing down with your spatula: if the juices run clear - you're good to go. The patties should also feel nice and firm when you press down - unlike ground beef, you don't want any medium-rare chicken burgers!

To assemble, in order, I layered chicken, a generous helping of cucumber yogurt, tomatoes, onion, cucumber & arugula.

The final product:

In the end, these were some of the most flavorful chicken burgers I've made (has to be all that feta!!!) and the lemon zest really brought out all the flavors as well. The entire meal took less than 45 minutes and was delicious and easy!

Bonus: based on the Southern Living nutritional count, these had less than 300 calories per burger! We saved quite a few calories by switching to sandwich thins (only 100 calories) instead of traditional buns.

Hope you enjoy :)