00:00 Hello, this is Chef John from FoodWishes.com with the Chicken Parm Burger!
00:08 That's right, my new favorite burger is Chicken Parm!
00:12 And my new favorite Chicken Parm is a burger!
00:14 And if you try this easy to make, absolutely delicious, beautiful bun, I think you will fully understand why that is.
00:22 And to get started, what we'll do first is cut up some chicken.
00:25 That I'm really hoping is going to be boneless, skinless chicken thighs.
00:28 Alright, breast will work, but just not quite as well.
00:32 And what we'll do is cut across that thinnest part, and then divide that piece into two.
00:37 And then we'll divide the remaining piece in half, and do the same thing.
00:41 And no, I'm not trimming any of that visible fat off.
00:44 Okay, no matter what kind of burger we're going to make, a little bit of extra fat is our friend.
00:49 But either way, we're going to have to cut up three or four thighs, since we're going to need 12 ounces altogether.
00:55 Which once cut, we will transfer into our food processor.
00:58 And you don't have to cut the chicken first, but it always grinds more uniformly if you do.
01:04 And then to that we will add some grated mozzarella.
01:07 And we want to use the firm, low moisture version, not that nice fresh wet stuff.
01:12 And then after our cheese, we will add some salt, as well as some freshly ground black pepper.
01:18 We will also do a little touch of granulated garlic, plus a pinch of dried oregano.
01:24 Followed by a few tablespoons of panko breadcrumbs, or any kind of plain dried breadcrumb.
01:30 And then we'll finish up with a drizzle of olive oil.
01:33 Alright, not too much, maybe like a tablespoon.
01:36 And then last but not least, a small but very important addition of a prepared marinara sauce.
01:42 Alright, dealer's choice, homemade, store-bought, you decide.
01:47 And that's it, we'll pop on the lid, and we will pulse this on and off until it starts to come together.
01:53 And as usual, don't be afraid to stop a few times and scrape down the sides.
01:57 And once it all comes together into a ball, and starts spinning around like this,
02:01 and our mixture is finally ground, we will stop and transfer that into a bowl.
02:07 Where you're going to get a much better look at the desired texture.
02:10 Okay, we can see some very, very small chunks of cheese and chicken,
02:13 but basically this should resemble the texture of some ground beef.
02:17 And thanks to that tomato sauce, this kind of sort of looks like ground beef.
02:21 Which means above and beyond the great flavor and texture,
02:24 this is going to be a lot better looking than your average chicken burger,
02:27 which often have a gray, unappealing color.
02:30 And then what I like to do once that's been transferred in and pressed down,
02:34 is cover it and pop it in the fridge until it's nicely chilled.
02:38 And that's because the colder ground meat is, the easier it is to work with.
02:42 So if you don't have time, don't worry about it.
02:44 But personally, I do like to chill this a little bit before I form the patties.
02:48 And to do that, we'll take one fourth of our mixture and transfer it onto a piece of plastic.
02:53 And then we will dampen our hands and form this into a nice even patty.
02:57 And in case you didn't know, by wetting your hands first,
03:00 that will prevent the meat from sticking to your skin.
03:03 As anyone that's rolled up a lot of meatballs will tell you.
03:06 Oh yeah, we have a t-shirt that says damp hands make smooth balls.
03:10 And it is so true.
03:12 But anyway, we'll form four patties and wrap them in plastic.
03:16 And then once again, I'm going to transfer this into the fridge until I'm ready to pan fry.
03:21 But if you want, you can use them right away.
03:23 And then before we make our burgers, if we want, we can upgrade our buns
03:28 by spreading them with some garlic butter and then toasting them in a hot oven.
03:32 And I'll tell you how to do that in the written recipe.
03:35 But it's simply butter, garlic and parsley with a pinch of salt.
03:38 And this is definitely an optional step.
03:41 Okay, if you just like your friends and family, regular hamburger buns are fine.
03:45 But if you love your friends and family, I encourage you to go with this garlic bread bun upgrade.
03:51 And that's it. Once spread, we'll pop those into a 400 degree oven for about 7 to 10 minutes.
03:56 Or until they're nicely toasted and the edges get a little bit golden brown.
04:01 And this beautiful bun is now ready for a chicken parm burger.
04:05 So what we'll do is pull our meat out of the fridge and we'll unwrap it.
04:10 And then we'll use the plastic to help press this out
04:13 until it's nice and even and just slightly bigger than the size of our bun.
04:18 And then once that's been accomplished, we will apply impressive breadcrumbs into both sides,
04:23 which is going to help give this a nice crispy crust
04:26 and also make it feel and taste more like a piece of chicken parm.
04:29 And I really do prefer the larger, sharper panko breadcrumbs for this.
04:33 Although the regular fine crumbs will still work.
04:36 The only breadcrumbs I would avoid are the ones that have the Italian seasoning,
04:40 which personally I find way too strong and overpowering.
04:43 So I recommend something plain, but you do what you want to do.
04:47 Oh, and by the way, for demonstration purposes and to make the filming a little easier,
04:51 I'm just going to make one here.
04:53 And in case it matters, I have tested this
04:56 and they're totally fine to make the day before and then cook the next day.
05:00 And then speaking of cooking, once our patty is prepped, we will head to the stove
05:05 where we're going to pan fry that over medium heat and a good amount of olive oil
05:09 for about three or four minutes per side.
05:12 And unlike a beef burger, we're not going to worry about catching this at medium or medium rare.
05:17 All right, all we need to do is cook this through.
05:20 And if you're checking with a thermometer, you want to check to make sure it's up to 150 internal temp.
05:25 And once we've cooked that first side for about three or four minutes
05:28 and we formed a nice crispy crust, we'll go ahead and flip that over
05:32 and we'll let that second side cook for about a minute
05:35 before we finish the top with a couple spoons of hot marinara sauce,
05:39 which we want to have on hand since we're going to dress our bun with some of that as well.
05:44 And once our sauce has been applied almost but not quite to the edge,
05:48 we will top that with a couple tablespoons of grated mozzarella
05:52 that obviously we've grated ourselves because it only takes a few seconds
05:57 and it's so much better than the pre-grated stuff.
06:00 And that's it. We'll go ahead and pop on the cover and cook that for a couple more minutes
06:04 or until it's safely cooked through, at which point our mozzarella should be melted
06:09 or at least close since by the time we pull that off the heat
06:13 and we dress the bottom of our garlic bread bun with some more marinara
06:17 and we place that burger on top, it should be perfectly melted and gorgeous.
06:22 And then because chicken parm is never, ever not served with Italian parsley,
06:26 we will sprinkle some over the top.
06:28 And that's it. Our chicken parm burger is ready to enjoy.
06:32 So let me go ahead and grab a knife and cut this in half so we can do a proper reveal.
06:38 And no, I'm not serving this with burger fixings like lettuce, tomato, onions and pickles.
06:42 All right, if you want to, go ahead.
06:44 I mean, you are after all the server of your chicken parm burger,
06:48 but none of that stuff would make this any better.
06:50 So why would we put it?
06:52 But anyway, here we go. Check it out.
06:55 Oh yeah, that is just about perfect.
06:58 As in the perfect appearance and the perfect ratio of meat and cheese and sauce and bread.
07:03 And that, my friends, tastes every bit as amazing as it looks.
07:07 Right, our burger is crispy and crusty on the outside, yet very tender and moist on the inside.
07:13 And when you factor in that hot marinara sauce and that melty cheese,
07:18 plus the extra textural element from that garlic bread bun,
07:21 this is just an absolutely outstanding burger on every level.
07:25 Or is it a sandwich? I don't know. Feel free to argue in the comments below.
07:30 And I went full-size burger portion here,
07:33 but you can definitely make twice as many patties and serve them as sliders,
07:37 which for something like a Super Bowl party would be a very, very memorable thing to serve.
07:43 Oh yes, people will be talking about those way longer than they're talking about the game.
07:48 And normally while eating something like this, I would completely ignore that prop Caesar salad.
07:53 But I do want to set a good example for the kids, so I will take a couple bites.
07:58 And kidding aside, if we're going to enjoy things like this,
08:01 we really should put some salad or veggies on the side.
08:04 And the reason is a very simple one.
08:07 Right, the longer we live, the more chicken parm burgers we get to eat.
08:11 But no matter what you serve with this, if you're a fan of burgers and/or chicken parm,
08:16 I promise you this is going to be one of your new favorite things to eat.
08:19 Which is why I really do hope you give this a try soon.
08:24 So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts,
08:27 a printable written recipe and much more info as usual.
08:31 And as always, enjoy.
08:37 [Piano music playing]
08:43 [Music fades]
08:46 [Silence]
08:49 [Silence]
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