Sweet and Savoury Chicken Burgers

I love making homemade burgers. For years I have made them with ground chicken or turkey or beef mixed with an egg and oats and a few spices and/or BBQ sauce. However, Clay is sensitive to eggs and Rhett doesn’t tolerate oats well so I had to get more creative. I tried bread crumbs but kept searching for a way to make the burgers more nutrient dense. I developed the recipe below and it meets my nutritional goals and deliciousness goals at the same time. This is a mom-approved AND kid-approved burger 🙂 Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

2 pounds ground chicken/turkey

1 sweet potato

1 red pepper

1 large red onion

1-2 Tbsp grapeseed or avocado oil

1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1/3 cup coconut milk

Instructions

1. Peel and dice the sweet potato and place in a baking pan. Add in chopped onion and red pepper. Drizzle oil and balsamic vinegar over top and cover with foil. Bake at 375 degrees for 45-50 minutes (until all veggies are soft).
2. In a blender or food processor combine the veggies with about 1/3 cup coconut milk (or less if you don’t need that much liquid for your blender).
3. Scoop 3/4-1 cup of this liquid and combine with the 2 pounds of ground chicken. I do this by hand with gloves on.
4. Using 1/3 or 1/2 cup measure, scoop the mixture out and shape into burger patties on a piece of foil. BBQ burgers until they are cooked through and clear juices flow. Aim for internal temp of at least 170. We find they take about 15 minutes on one side and then 10-15 on the other but it depends on the heat level of your BBQ.
5. Serve on a whole grain bun with guacamole or avocado and swiss cheese or for a lighter supper, just put the burger patty on top of a salad!

NOTES

1. Steps 1 and 2 can be done at any time that you will have the oven on in the 24-48 hours prior making the burgers.
2. The extra roasted veggie mixture can be frozen and used for another burger batch OR makes an amazing soup with a little more coconut milk or veggie broth added. I like to add black beans into it too.
3. This recipe can also be used to make chicken meat balls to add to your favourite rice or pasta. Just bake the meatballs at 425 degrees for about 25-30 minutes depending on their size. Ensure juices run clear and there is an internal temp. of minimum 170 degrees.

Until next time…stay healthy!