Bacon Ranch Barbecue Chicken Burgers

Okay…. so apparently I’ve been a little obsessed with burgers lately.  Perhaps it’s because I’m being hopeful that spring weather will soon be upon us – we got snow yesterday… April 2nd… and I’m feeling a little depressed about it.  The weather forecast, however, does look promising and I don’t see any below zero degrees Celsius in the next week.  Pray that the weather network isn’t lying, and that the temperature will warm up, bring rain, and get rid of the six-foot snowbanks that encompass every street in the city.  To me, burgers are something that you eat in the summer, you barbecue them on your patio, or at camp, the sun beaming down on you – seriously, I’m getting sick of this snow, maybe if I keep cooking summer foods mother nature will get the hint and bring me some double digit temperatures.

So the recipe I’m going to share today is great because not only does it taste fantastic, but it’s also relatively healthy, like most of my recipes.  Burgers are typically a little higher in calories, since they usually are accompanied by a bun, some sauces, and in my burgers, cheese and turkey bacon, but trust in me when I say that this is well worth it.  Each burger patty will run you just over 300 calories – the rest depends on what toppings you would like to add.  For this burger I added a slice of turkey bacon to top my ground chicken patty, as well as a slice of mozzarella, some fat free ranch salad dressing, a few lines of Sriracha (because I love me some spice) and a few slices of red onion.  I served it, of course, on a whole wheat Ezekial bun and ate it with a cucumber and tomato Greek style salad.

For the patties I combined ground chicken, bread crumbs, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and some PC Chicken Barbecue Sauce – but you can use any sauce.   I mashed all the ingredients together with my hands, and then formed the mix into four 4 oz patties.  I cooked the burgers in a skillet, covered, for about 6 minutes on each side, then topped them with bacon and cheese, re-covered, and then cooked for an additional 30 seconds (or until the cheese has melted).  I pretty well cook all my burgers the same way – in a skillet, as I am not allowed to have a barbecue, and for about 12 minutes.  I then topped the burgers with Kraft’s Fat Free Ranch Dressing – I love this stuff because it’s creamy and thick and doesn’t really taste like fat free.  If you’re looking for a taste that’s closer to the full fat dressing, you can always go for the Calorie-Wise Ranch Dressing from Kraft – it pretty well tastes exactly like the full fat version.  I of course, made it spicy, and couldn’t resist adding a little Sriracha Sauce.  I developed this recipe by working off this one from JuliesEatsandTreats.com.

makes four 4 oz. burgers

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground chicken
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1 tbsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tbsp barbecue sauce
• 4 slices of bacon
• 4 slices of cheese (I used Mozzarella)
• 4 tbsp ranch dressing (about 1 tbsp per burger)
• Sriracha Sauce (if you like it spicy)
• Other garnishes of your choice – tomatoes, onion, spinach, etc.
• 4 Burger Buns

Cooking Directions

1. In a medium bowl, combine ground chicken, bread crumbs, spices and barbecue sauce.  Mix until all ingredients are well combined.
2. Divide the chicken mixture into four and make four equally sized patties (they should be about 4 oz. each)
3. Place in a skillet and cook covered on medium heat for six minutes.  Covering helps your burger get an even cook.  Flip and repeat.
4. Add bacon slices and cheese to each burger patty, cover, and cook for an additional 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until the cheese has melted.
5. Remove burger patties from heat, serve on a bun and top each burger with ranch dressing, Sriracha, and you favourite burger garnishes.
6. Eat it!

I promise that you will LOVE this burger.  It’s got a great taste and I LOVE adding the spicy Sriracha to give it a kick.  I promise I will make something else other than burgers at some point – they’re just so easy and versatile – meaning that they’re great for a weeknight dinner.  For more burger ideas please see my Burger Lover board on Pinterest.  Happy Cooking!!

Jalapeno Cheddar Burger with Turkey Bacon and Spicy Ranch Sauce

Anyone who knows me understands that I absolutely love spicy food.  I include jalapenos, red pepper flakes, chili peppers, cayenne pepper or any type of spice that will increase the heat of whatever I’m eating every chance I get.  And yes, I use Franks Red, and I literally do put that sh*t on everything.  Last year, after months and months of downing veggie burgers every chance I got, I re-discovered my love for real, 100% beef burgers.  As a child I was a simple burger girl, meaning I wanted a bun, a burger patty, and lots of ketchup. But as I’m growing so is my palette, and the plain old ketchup burger just isn’t working for me anymore.  I love jalapenos on my burgers, especially with cheese.  It cuts the spice so it’s not too overpowering but your burger still has a bite.  So, thanks to my almost preservative free household, I realized the other day that I’d likely have to start making my own burger patties.  I haven’t done this before successfully. I want to make a burger, and when people eat it, they’re like “Wow Kelsey, you rock my freaking socks off.”  I sat and pondered and thought, what do I love on a burger?  And then I thought, how can I keep it real? So the answer to my first question: cheese, bacon, some sort of tasty sauce, spicy jalapenos, onions.  And to my second: homemade patties, grass fed beef, turkey bacon, homemade sauce.  And so my beef burger making adventure began…

The first thing I did was go on an intense search for the perfect recipe (not really, I literally googled “Jalapeno burgers” and then switched it up a bit to make it my own.  I added onion, jalapeno, cayenne pepper, Worcestershire sauce, rice bread crumbs (I’m sure any bread crumbs will do) and 1 egg to my 1 lb of beef.  I made seven 4.5 oz burgers.  They were gone in 3 days. My boyfriend loved them so much he had seconds both Friday and Saturday.  I had the last one for lunch on Sunday.  They are, quite frankly, burgers that make you go “Wow, Kelsey, you rock my freaking socks off.” If I do say so myself.  I glazed the burgers with my guy’s favourite barbecue sauce.

I fried the burgers in a skillet. I longed for a barbecue over the weekend, but unfortunately that would violate the building code in my apartment complex, so I settled on my stove and plan on bringing these babies to camp this winter in hopes that we can see the barbecue before next spring.  I served the burgers with a side of sweet potato fries,  I coated the fries with cornstarch before drizzling with olive oil and my favourite spices, as this helps crisp them up.

For the sweet potato fries….

 1 sweet potato per person
2 tsp cornstarch per large sweet potato
1 tbsp olive oil per large potato
Your favourite seasonings: I use cinnamon and cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes
Cut the sweet potatoes into thin fry like shapes.  Coat in cornstarch.  Toss in olive oil and then season.  Line a baking sheet with foil.  Try to separate the fries from each other, if they are too close together they will not crisp up, only steam.  Check out Sally’s Baking Addiction – that’s where I nabbed the cornstarch trick!

For the spicy ranch sauce…

 1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon minced seeded jalapeño
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

I got this recipe here.  It made ALOT of spicy ranch dressing (and this is the recipe already halved!) I plan on halving this recipe once more next time I make it, and reducing the amount of lime juice in the sauce.  Otherwise, it was fantastic and added a lot of taste to the burger.

While the burgers were cooking I fried up some turkey bacon.  I used one strip per burger.  I am a HUGE fan of turkey bacon.  I love chewy bacon, not crispy bacon, or fatty bacon, but chewy bacon, which is why I died and went to heaven when I found turkey bacon.  It’s pretty well always chewy and has virtually no fat.

For the jalapeño burgers…

 1 lb. of extra lean ground beef
1/4 large onion, diced
2 jalapenos, seeded and diced
1/4 cup fresh parsley
2 tbps. Worschestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 cup rice bread crumbs (or any bread crumbs)
1 egg

Cooking Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together.  Using your hands is likely the easiest.  I diced the onion and jalapenos in my food processor.

2. Form the beef mixture into 4.5 oz patties. Next time I might make 5 oz. patties.  The patties shrunk quite a bit. Glaze with your fave BBQ sauce, or make your own!

3.  If using a skillet, cook covered on each side for 5 to 6 minutes.  Remove from heat, drain grease from the skillet, and then place back in skillet.  Place a slice of cheese on each burger patty  and continue to cook (covered) until cheese is melted.  Top with cooked bacon.

4. Garnish the burger with your favourite toppings and then covered with the spicy ranch sauce.  Serve on a whole wheat bun.

No doesn’t that just look like the best burger you ever saw?  I serve my sweet potato fries with spicy ketchup (i.e., ketchup mixed with hot sauce…yummy). I am very happy with my first burger making experience!  Happy Baking!