Chicken Burgers with Roasted Red Pepper Pesto

One of my closest friends has been so supportive of my blogging. When I first started, she encouraged me to take the leap and make my blog public on Facebook, which has helped me gain an audience. She listens to all my exciting, or not so exciting blog news, and responds with nearly as much enthusiasm as I have about the news. Even better, she sends me delicious recipes that she thinks I would like so that I can share them here with all of you! She made these for dinner one evening and her family loved them, so she shared the recipe with me. I was excited because I have always been a chicken burger fan, but have found that they dry out so easily and are not very moist. I was hoping that this recipe would be “the one” to keep and use as my go to burger recipe.

I made them last night amongst chaos in my kitchen. My husband was running late, my toddler was throwing a massive tantrum because I wouldn’t let her eat an uncooked raw burger in a bun, and my dog was barking like a mad man at the neighbors. I hastily threw these on and then tried to calm everyone down. I returned a few minutes later to a perfectly golden brown burger ready to be flipped!

As for the topping, the recipe called for a homemade pesto with a pureed tomato in it, which I thought was an interesting idea. Of course I forgot to buy a tomato at the store, so I used a roasted red pepper instead. I don’t know about where you live, but here in the North, fresh basil is outrageously priced right now. It would have cost me 10 dollars just to make the pesto, so I grabbed a 4 dollar container of pesto from the store. I know, I know…I am all about homemade, but at times, it is just not going to happen!

After they were done cooking, I was so eager to taste them and see how they had turned out since I had not given them my full attention. And after one bite, I knew that they would absolutely be my new chicken burger recipe! The chicken was so moist on the inside, but well seared and golden brown on the outside. So thank you Carrie, not only for the recipe, but for your support and friendship! I hope you try these Chicken Burgers with Roasted Pepper Pesto for your next dinner!

Please check out Carrie’s website. She is an absolutely wonderful baker and has a great business going!

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Chicken Burgers with Roasted Red Pepper Pesto

Ingredients

• For the Burger:
• 1 lb. lean ground chicken I used 92/8
• 5 whole wheat burger buns toasted, 1 cut into small pieces
• 4 tbsp. milk or water
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 2 tbsp. olive oil if using a grill pan, use to oil the pan
• 4 oz. sliced mozzarella optional
• For the Pesto:
• 4 tbsp. store bought pesto
• 1 jarred roasted red pepper
• 1 tbsp. Parmesan cheese if your pesto is too runny

Instructions

1. Preheat your grill to medium heat. (These could also be done inside on a grill pan)
2. In a large mixing bowl, put your cut up bun, and then pour either the water or milk over it. Mix to combine. When the bread has soaked up all the excess liquid, it is ready.
3.  When ready, add the ground chicken, salt, garlic powder, and pepper. Mix well with your hands to combine. Form mixture into 4 3/4 inch thick patties. ( I actually decided to make mine smaller and got six from this. I am sharing the cook time for the recipe as written for 4 burgers. If you make yours smaller, please decrease cooking time)
4. For the pesto, in a blender or food processor, combine the pesto and the red pepper. If mixture is runny, add Parmesan cheese to thicken.
5. Place burger patties onto your grill. Cook until no longer pink, about 7 minutes per side. ( Remember to decrease your cooking time to about 5 minutes per side if you make your patties smaller) For the last minute of cook time, add your cheese on top of your burger if you are using it, and put your buns on the grates, then close the grill to melt the cheese
6. Place your burger on the toasted bun and top with pesto. Serve immediately and enjoy!