The Red-Hot Chicken Burger is a crispy, cookout-ready recipe that will have your friends and family coming to your house every holiday! The origin of these burgers always gets a laugh, but I think it’s a beautiful example of The Gracious Gourmet’s beginnings. My goal was to turn all of my simple, go-to meals into fully fleshed-out recipes without losing that original, homemade appeal. Our products are what make it so easy!
This particular story goes years back to before I married my husband, Natan. His housekeeper Alba, a wonderful woman who worked for us both until his passing, can be credited for this recipe’s inspiration. Alba prepared a quirky little meal we called “Chicken Balls.” Chicken Balls used ground chicken flavored with, well, whatever she pleased! The mixture was shaped into balls and baked — quick, easy and to-the-point! All in all, a great snack that could be personalized with many ingredients. I set to work expanding the recipe and making it my own — experimenting with flavors, toppings and shapes.
As The Gracious Gourmet became an established company, I had plenty of jams, jellies and tapenades to experiment with and add to our favorite meals. I’ve found that while a savory topping does pair nicely with meat (see: our Balsamic Onion Turkey Burgers made with Balsamic Caramelized Onion Spread), there’s something to be said for a well-matched sweet and spicy combo. Slowly, the balls morphed into crisp, tender patties with a red pepper spice, and just a hint of sweetness. The Spicy Red Pepper Jelly will flavor the ground chicken as well as can be spread over the cooked patties.
Thus, the Red-Hot Chicken Burger was born. Easy to enjoy for any summer meal, this spiced-to-taste dinner is an especially good fit for a cookout. Whether you’re cooking casual or treating guests to gourmet grilling, this burger can be dressed up or down. And if you want a matching appetizer, you could always skip the bun and mold the chicken into little balls — for old time’s sake.
You can call these burgers whatever you like. Our friends and family know them by many names: Red-Hot Chicken Burger, Pepper Jelly Chicken Burger, Red Pepper Chicken Burger or Spicy Chicken Burger. The recipe can also be adapted to include ground turkey or pork.
Red-hot chicken burgers
ingredients
- 1 pound ground turkey or chicken (7% fat)
- 1/3 cup SPICY RED PEPPER JELLY
- (reserve more jelly to spread on cooked burgers)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 4 ciabatta rolls or hamburger buns, sliced
instructions
- Gently combine ground turkey, SPICY RED PEPPER JELLY, salt and pepper.
- Form mixture into 4 patties.
- Grill or broil 3 to 4 minutes per side, turning once. Serve in rolls.
Makes 4 servings.