Buffalo Chicken Smash Burger

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I've been enjoying smash burgers lately, and something occurred to me. I don't recall seeing smash burgers made from ground chicken. It sounded good, so I decided to give the idea a whirl on Saturday while our favorite college teams played basketball. 

Buffalo chicken smash burgers are spicy and fun gameday food.

They were slightly crispy, spicy, and absolutely delicious; we both loved them. If tomatoes were in season, I would definitely add a slice but hothouse tomatoes in the Winter just make my taste buds sad. I almost added some bacon but thought it might overpower the flavor of the chicken. I'll make them this same way again, no doubt. 

Tips for Working with Ground Chicken

Raw ground chicken isn't as easy to work with as its beef counterpart. Here are a few tips to make the process go more smoothly.

• Ground chicken is extremely tender, almost mushy. Keep it quite cold until the last minute.
• Wash your hands with cold water before handling the chicken.
• Ground chicken tries to stick to anything that it touches, so I spray my burger press and deli sheets with spray oil (Pam, etc.). 
• Ground chicken is bland, so don't be shy with the seasonings.

Here's what we did.

Buffalo Chicken Smash Burgers

By www.nibblemethis.com

Published 12/14/2020

Ingredients

• 24 ounces ground chicken
• 1/4 cup high-temperature cooking oil (canola, avocado, peanut) 
• 1 teaspoon coarse Kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup Franks RedHot® Sauce
• 4 slices Swiss cheese
• 4 hamburger buns
• 1/2 cup ranch dressing
• 2 leaves green leaf lettuce

Instructions

1. Preheat a flat-top griddle or large skillet over high heat.
2. Make the Buffalo sauce. Place butter and Franks RedHot® in a small saucepot over medium heat. Use 1/4 cup of the hot sauce for medium-level spiciness and half a cup for hot. Whisk occasionally until the butter is melted and combined.
3. Make the seasoning. Mix the salt, pepper, and celery seed together and finely grind.
4. Toast the buns on the griddle and remove from heat.
5. Grill the burgers. Weigh the ground chicken into 6-ounce portions. Spread oil on the hot griddle and use a griddle press to smash each portion into a 4-5 inch circle. Cook for 4 minutes.
6. Season the tops of the burgers with about half of the seasoning mix and flip them. Immediately season with the remaining mix. Drizzle 1-2 tablespoons of the Buffalo sauce over the burgers and cook for 2 minutes. Drizzle more sauce if desired, top each patty with a slice of Swiss cheese, and cook until the burgers reach an internal temperature of 165°f, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
7. Build the burgers with bun, lettuce, burger patty, a drizzle of ranch and more Buffalo sauce, and the bun's top.

Yield: 6 fajitas

Prep Time: 00 hrs. 15 mins.

Cook time: 00 hrs. 20 mins.

Total time:35 mins.

Tags: burger, griddle, chicken 

I always toast my buns first, before the griddle gets greasy and dirty. My sister gave me this Finex pot 3 years ago, but I just now discovered how perfect it is for a saucepot on the griddle because it fits neatly in the corner. That is a convenient place to keep sauce warm and handy for basting onto your food.

I went with a completely basic Buffalo sauce, 1:1 butter to Franks for medium. Sometimes I'll add celery seed, Worcestershire sauce, granulated garlic, etc. If you have a favorite Buffalo sauce recipe, by all means, use that.

I was using my 17" table-top Blackstone griddle for this cook.  I also have the big 4 burner version, but I just don't have room for it.  So I use the little one much more often.

Golden brown equals flavor town.

I like to put the sauce on as soon as I flip the burgers, so it has time to cook onto the burger patties.

Swiss cheese, please! You could also top them with some blue cheese crumbles instead. Whatever floats your boat.

These Buffalo Chicken Smash Burgers are the MVP of Gameday!

Alexis and I talked about other flavors that would work well for chicken smash burgers. You could use an Asian seasoning, teriyaki sauce, and grilled pineapple for a delicious spin. I think using some Thunderbird Chicken Scratch seasoning with Whitebird Sauce would be fantastic as well. I will also be giving those a try!

Looking for ideas for Christmas gifts for grillers?   
Check out my two books: The Kamado Smoker and Grill Cookbook and The Offset Smoker Cookbook.