Chicken Pesto Burger – Made with ground chicken and store bought fresh Pesto! This easy fresh and healthy burger will quickly become your favorite healthy week night meal!
I love Pesto! It adds such a big flavor to everything it touches. It used to be so hard to find, you had to go to go to a specialty storse for it. Now it is everywhere! Every Tom, Dick and Trader Joes carries it. Some brands are better than others. I like the Costco brand the best so far. Working my way through them all…yum.
When my Mom lived in Seattle, we made pesto every year. We would go to the Pike Place Market in September, when basil was almost out of season and only a buck a bunch. We made buckets of the stuff. It’s one of my favorite cooking memories. I think Mom and I are both buying it these days. It was a ton of work that included bottles of olive oil, pine nuts and parm, but the house smelled like heaven! You can see that recipe here.
How to make Chicken Pesto Burgers!
When cooking these, I used a grill pan in the kitchen. But your outdoor grill would work great as well. (These are a wonky shape because I used a ciabatta roll…you can certainly round them out a bit to fit your buns. The wonky shape fits mine:). Showing only two burgers but this recipe makes four…I had lunch in between shots!
The sauce is plain greek yogurt and a couple tablespoons of pesto. It is my favorite condiment! I slather it on everything…makes me feel all healthy and stuff.
I used a mix of ground white and dark meat. 95% lean. You can use ground breast meat only…but it will be dry. You will need a cup of mayo to lube it up! Same thing goes for ground turkey breast. Dry. And nothing will make it better but a little fat. My suggestion is to stick with the 95 percent lean ground chicken.
TIP: Sometimes ground chicken can be a little on the wet side. You may have to add about 1/3 cup bread crumbs. I included this in the recipe as optional. If you find your patties are not coming together then add some crumbs.
I topped with a little tomato, arugula and a slice of swiss. Spinach would be a great sub for the arugula. I served this open faced but bun or no bun, it’s still got a ton of flavor!
I love healthy burgers, you can see all of my recipes HERE!
My two favorites are Greek Chicken Burgers…
And super easy to make Salmon Burgers with Avocado Salsa!
To fast, fresh burgers with tons of flavor!
Clink!
Kathi
Pesto Chicken Burgers
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds ground chicken 95 percent lean
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup Pesto plus 2 tablespoons for sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 cup bread crumbs Optional. If your chicken is to moist, add crumbs
Instructions
- Heat grill or cast iron skillet to medium high heat. You want this to be hot so you can get a good sear on your burger.
- Combine ground chicken, pesto, salt and pepper.
- Form 4 patties. NOTE: Spray your hands with non-stick spray to make it easier.
- Pour 2 teaspoons olive oil into hot skillet/grill pan. And let heat up for about 1-2 minute or until it just starts to smoke.
- Place burgers into skillet. Wait 3-4 minutes until flipping. Cook an additional 4-5 minutes on other side. Burgers are done when internal temp reaches 165 degrees.
Pesto Yogurt Sauce
- 1/3 cup plain greek yogurt.
- 2 tablespoons pesto.
- 1/4 teaspoon salt.
- Combine all ingredients. Use as condiment for burgers.
Notes
Nutrition
Dmcnabb says
These burgers are easy and delicious – a big hit at my house! I prefer ground chicken but often end up with ground turkey due to the grocery store. The turkey is fine but I don’t use the lean stuff. I go with 90% because turkey is drier than chicken. The sauce is INCREDIBLE and worthy of use elsewhere, say grilled salmon.
Carolyn English says
Hi Kathi, Made the Chicken Pesto Burgers.
They were so delicious. We eat chicken or turkey about 5 / 6 days a week and these chicken burgers really were a nice change.
Thanks for all the great recipes.
Kate says
Every recipe of yours works out so well and is insanely delicious! We had these with red onion and a tomato-basil cheese slice on top. An instant hit! Felt so much healthier than eating a beef burger but much tastier.
Kathi @ LaughingSpatula.com says
Holy cow thank you Kate! I can’t tell you how much it means to get such a nice note! Clink!