These healthy Chicken Burgers make a fast and flavorful weeknight dinner. They are a delicious alternative to traditional burgers if you’re trying to cut back on red meat, and they pack 20 grams of protein per serving. I love that it takes just 20 minutes to get them on the table, from start to finish!
How Do You Make Homemade Chicken Patties?
These healthy chicken burgers are as easy to make as a traditional hamburger. You start with ground chicken instead of beef, mix in some seasonings, and form them into patties using your hands. No extra binders required!
Paleo & Keto Chicken Burgers
Some recipes for chicken burgers will call for breadcrumbs or cheese to help with binding, but this recipe is grain-free and dairy-free to make it suitable for a variety of diets. My brother tends to follow a Keto diet, so this recipe is for him! (It’s also Paleo-friendly.)
If you follow food combining rules, you can enjoy this burger as a lettuce wrap with a side of roasted broccoli for a properly combined meal. (In the animal protein category.)
What Goes Well on a Chicken Burger?
Topping-wise, you can serve a chicken burger just like a regular burger. I love topping mine with dijon mustard and veggies like lettuce, sliced tomato, and red onion. You can also top it with special sauce, homemade ketchup, sliced avocado, or even BBQ sauce!
I like to add smoked paprika to this recipe to give the chicken burgers a “smoky” flavor, without having to actually grill them. (Though you can grill them if you want to!)
I also add in some chopped onion because I like the added texture, however if you have picky family members I recommend replacing the chopped onions with onion powder instead. This alternative means less chopping for you, so it’s a win-win when you’re in a hurry.
Like this recipe? You might also enjoy my Instant Pot Chicken Burrito Bowls and my Chicken Vegetable Soup. (Both of which are properly combined.)
How to make Healthy Chicken Burgers ( 1-Minute Video):
Healthy Chicken Burgers (Low-Carb & Paleo)
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken (I prefer organic)
- 1/2 cup finely diced onion (or 1/2 teaspoon onion powder)
- 2 garlic cloves , minced (or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder)
- 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the chicken, onion, garlic, salt, paprika, and several grinds of black pepper. Use a spoon to stir it all together, then divide the mixture into 4 even sections so you can form patties.
- Get your hands wet to make the mixture easier to work with (it doesn't stick to wet hands) and form a burger patty by pressing it between your hands. Repeat with the remaining mixture until you have 4 evenly sized patties that are about 1 inch thick.
- Grease a 12-inch skillet with olive oil, then place it over medium-high heat on the stove. Arrange all 4 chicken burgers on the skillet and let them cook for 5 minutes. Flip the burgers over and cook on the other side for 4 to 5 minutes, or until the burgers reach an internal temperature of 165ºF when checked with a thermometer. (You can also just cut one in half to make sure it's not pink in the middle.)
- Serve the cooked burgers warm, with your favorite toppings. You can use a bun or lettuce wrap! Cooked burgers will keep well in the fridge for up to 3 days in an airtight container, or you can freeze them for up to 3 months.
Video
Nutrition
Chicken Burger Nutrition (per burger patty): Calories: 173, Carbohydrates: 2, Fiber: 1g, Protein: 20g
Recipe Notes:
- You can use ground turkey instead of chicken if that’s easier for you to find.
- If you follow food combining rules, this recipe falls into the animal protein category and can be served on top of a salad or as a lettuce wrap. (This also makes it low-carb and keto friendly!)
If you try this recipe, please leave a comment below letting me know how you like it. And if you make any substitutions, please let me know how that works out for you, too! We can all benefit from hearing about your experience.
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Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite type of burger? We make black bean burgers most often, but Austin told me that these burgers are his current favorite.
I made these for dinner last night after you posted them, and they are the BEST chicken burgers! I love the smoked paprika addition. It gives them a smokey, deeper flavor (almost like beef) without me having to heat up my grill. Definitely adding these to our weekly rotation!
I ran across ground chicken at the grocery this am on sale, of which I’ve never bought but gave it a try. Once home I googled recipes for ground chicken and many recipes came up until I searched “healthy chicken burgers. Yes there were many but after reading your ingredients and comments I gave it a try…. so happy I did!! These are delicious, very moist and stay together. We added lettuce and tomato slice with a dab of mayonnaise and mozzarella cheese to the thin cauliflower bun. Theses burgers will be added to our monthly rotation of lunch or dinner.😀
So, so good! I can’t believe how easy these are to make. We have an egg allergy in our house, and so many burger recipes call for them as a binder. I had no idea you could just leave them out! These burgers are so flavorful and my husband gave them a big thumbs up.
which is the best bun for this burger
If you’re trying to keep it low-carb, I like using a lettuce wrap as the healthiest option, or you can serve it as a more traditional burger with a whole wheat or sprouted wheat bun. (I like Ezekiel brand in the freezer section.)
You shouldn’t be calling this recipe healthy when it has salt in it. That is not heart health
Debbie you can just leave the salt out to make it healthier or use salt substitution…
i’m just commenting on someone that said salt isn’t healthty for you, you need salt to increase your blood pressue and increase the fluid inside of you. Or else, like i was low in salt, i would become dizzy and almost fall. So now i have to take a Sodium pill at night and in the morning… !!! it’s helped me tremendously!
We actually need a certain amount of salt in our diet and even more if we are on the keto diet.
Could you bake these in the oven instead?
Yes, I think that should work just fine! You’ll just want to make sure they reach 165ºF in the center.
Yes I do 8 burgers at a time in the oven at 400F for 30-35 minutes.
Perfect everytime
Made them for dinner tonight on my George Foreman Grill. Delicious!!!!
I like them better than beef !!!!!
I wanna try this recipe, thanks for sharing since I’m looking something a recipe that is low in cholesterol and this perfect for me.
Wow! These were so much juicier and flavorful than I expected. I used a salad wrap and made tahini sauce to go on the burger. A fantastic dinner.
Loved the burgers! Few ingredients and great flavour 👍 ate it with sweet potato hash
Delicious!
I used more onion and garlic than indicated.
Easy and healthy!
Thank you.
was so yummy..my husband is foodie and he loved it too😍will make it again sooner friends too.
Omg SO GOOD!! I didn’t have paprika so used a couple of pinches of chili powder instead. I ground 1 huge chicken breast and it made 3 nice sized burgers. Loved it!!
So good! My husband couldn’t stop saying “this is a really good burger!”. I made them with ground turkey. These will definitely be in my regular rotation!
I made these last night and they came together so quick! I still had time to fry up some mushrooms to go with them 🙂 I used the chopped onions and the garlic powder (instead of fresh to save time). I think next time I’ll add some onion powder as well. I didn’t have smoked paprika so I used regular, it would probably be really good though to add! Thanks! Always love your healthy recipes 🙂
Lovely chicken burguers so tender and yummy with mayonnaise and mustard on top with extra ketchup 😋