How to Make Chef John's Chicken Parm Burgers

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Join Chef John in the kitchen as he guides you through the delectable process of crafting Chicken Parm Burgers. Learn the secrets to creating juicy, flavorful patties, topped with gooey cheese and savory marinara. Elevate your burger game with this mouthwatering twist on a classic Italian favorite.

Transcript

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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