Hairy Bikers Chicken Burgers Recipe

For these Hairy Bikers chicken burgers, thighs are chopped small by hand with onion, oregano and tarragon. With no figure in Chicken & Egg, my sums say about 415 calories a burger, and a batch of 4 takes 40 minutes after chilling.

Nothing binds these but the chicken itself, because there’s no egg, breadcrumb or grated veg in the mix. Yet their note still asks for “some of the chicken fat” to go in, because it keeps the burgers “nice and juicy”.

About 20 minutes in my freezer firms the thighs enough to dice cleanly, which matters when 500g of chicken is going under a knife. Once they’re firm, I find the dice gets fine enough for the squeeze test without the meat turning to paste.

Hairy Bikers Chicken Burgers Recipe

Author: Alex Saidani Cooking Method:Frying Cuisine:British Courses:Main Course

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 25 minutesCook time: 13 minutesRest time: 2 minutesTotal time: 40 minutesServings:4 servingsCalories:415 kcal Best Season:Summer

Description

Part-frozen thighs go under a sharp knife until the pieces cling together, then get seasoned and pressed into four thick rounds. After about 10 minutes on a medium-hot griddle and a short rest, they’re served in lightly toasted buns with mustard and tarragon mayo.

Ingredients

For the burgers

• 500g boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1 small onion, very finely chopped
• a few sprigs of tarragon, finely chopped (optional)
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp salt and some black pepper
• olive oil, for brushing

To serve

• 4 burger buns, cut in half
• 1 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp mustard
• lettuce leaves
• 1 large tomato, sliced

Instructions

1. Chill the thighs: Make sure the chicken thighs are well chilled, or even partly frozen, so they’re much easier to chop.
2. Dice by hand: With a very sharp knife, dice the chicken as finely as you can, keeping any fat that’s attached. Then squeeze a little in your hand, since it should clump into a ball easily once it’s fine enough.
3. Season and shape: Tip the chicken into a bowl with the onion, some of the tarragon, if using, and the oregano. Add the salt and pepper, mix well, then shape into 4 burgers about 2cm thick.
4. Sear the first side: Heat a large griddle or frying pan until medium hot, then brush the burgers with a little oil and lay them in, spaced well apart. Leave them for 4 minutes without moving, then lift with a metal spatula, giving them a little longer if they stick.
5. Cook them through: Turn them and cook for 4 minutes more, then flip again and give each side another minute, until no pink remains. Before they come off, I check the middle reaches 70°C and holds it for 2 minutes.
6. Rest and toast: Rest the burgers for a couple of minutes while you toast the cut sides of the buns very lightly.
7. Mix the mayo and build: Whisk the mayonnaise with the mustard and stir in the rest of the tarragon, if using. Spread it on one side of each bun, then add the burgers, lettuce and tomato.

FAQs

Can I use chicken mince or breast instead?

Coarsely minced thighs from a butcher are fine, since that’s their own suggestion if you’d rather not chop. But I’d steer clear of breast-only mince, because breast is much leaner than thigh and these rely on that fat.

A mix of thigh and breast suits their chicken meatloaf from the same book, but that loaf is bound with breadcrumbs, cream and egg whites. So for these burgers I keep to thighs, fat and all.

How do I make chicken burgers healthier?

Each bun is about 150 of those 415 calories, so it’s the easiest thing to drop, since the patty is just chicken, onion and herbs. Swap it for a big lettuce leaf, the way the beef patties in Make It Easy are wrapped.

For a burger from their diet books, the Mediterranean burgers stretch lean steak mince with grated courgette and still come in a ciabatta.

Is there a Hairy Bikers chicken katsu burger?

Breast takes over in the Everyday Winners katsu burgers, with 2 large ones split into 4 thin escalopes and crumbed in flour, egg and panko. With lime, mustard powder and soy in it, a spoonful of their curried mayo dresses a quick salted slaw.

Their fried chicken soaks overnight in buttermilk, whereas brining is optional here. For extra-tender escalopes, they suggest about 30 minutes in 20g of salt dissolved in 200ml of water.

What about prawn katsu burgers?

Half the prawns are blitzed to a paste and half roughly chopped for these, in a recipe from Asian Adventure. After at least an hour’s chill they’re dipped in egg white and panko, then deep-fried at 170°C.

One batch gives 4 large burgers or 16 sliders, and they describe the aurora sauce on top as a Japanese version of Marie Rose.

Can I make the mayo from scratch?

Two egg yolks, 1 tsp mustard and 250ml of sunflower or groundnut oil make the homemade mayonnaise in the basics of Chicken & Egg. Whisk the oil in a few drops at a time, and if it turns greasy or too thick, add a few drops of warm water.

Mash 2 garlic cloves with a little salt into the yolks first and it becomes their garlic mayonnaise, which I’d happily spread on these. Either way it makes far more than a tablespoon, so I keep the rest covered in the fridge for a couple of days.