Chili Chicken Burger Bowls with Avocado Pesto
Chili Chicken Burger Bowls are everything you love about burgers but served as a bowl. The chicken burger patties are super easy to make and so flavorful. They are grilled or cooked in a pan then served on a bed of lettuce with sweet potato fries and some delicious avocado pesto. You will LOVE them!
Raise your hand if you like bunless burgers are much as I do!
I've always felt like a bit of a weirdo when I tell people I prefer to eat burgers without the bun. I assume most servers roll their eyes at me behind my back and assume I'm trying to cut carbs. But it's not true!
Hamburger buns are helpful for keeping all the burger ingredients together, but they also ‘water down' the burger and get in the way of all the good stuff. Do you feel the same?
These Chili Chicken Burger Bowls are all the good things. There's no need to water them down with a silly bun.
Why you want to eat these Chili Chicken Burger Bowls for dinner tonight:
- These chicken burgers are so flavorful that you might just mistake them for a meat burger. I'm not joking. The first time I made them we were blown away by how flavorful they are.
- They're super easy to make. If you can mix together some ground chicken, onion, parsley, chili powder, salt, and pepper then you can make these.
- You can cook the chili chicken burgers on your BBQ or in a pan on your stovetop. Your choice!
- If you are like me and love a good bunless chicken burger, make the recipe as it is. If there's someone at the table who loves a traditional burger (like my handsome man), buy them a bun for their chili chicken burger. This is a recipe that can keep everyone happy really easily.
If you love chicken burgers, also try our spinach feta chicken burgers!
I know that raw chicken isn't usually something you want to look very closely at, but I thought these burgers looked good even before they were cooked. What do you think?
Of course, they look even better once they come off the grill.
Just try not to take a bite! ā
Three tricks to making juicy chicken burgers
Burgers aren't difficult to make but making a really good burger isn't as easy as it sounds. The problem is that almost all the recipes you find online call for mixing all sorts of unnecessary things into the ground meat. The two that irk me the most are eggs and breadcrumbs.
I know that those two things have been mixed into burgers for as long as burgers have been around. But I'm begging you, please stop putting them in! They're totally unnecessary and only make the burgers tough.
I've been toying with sharing my beef burger recipe with you, but it's so simple that it doesn't seem right to share it. Ground beef (always regular, NEVER lean) + salt + pepper. They're the best burgers ever.
So trick #1 is to never ever ever add eggs or breadcrumbs to your burgers.
And the make the best ground chicken burgers list continues …
Trick #2 – Use a gentle hand when you're forming the patties. Don't try to muscle them together. Just gently form the patties and let your BBQ do the job of getting them to hold together.
When meat cooks, the proteins bind together. This is why you don't need eggs or breadcrumbs to hold burger patties together. When they are not cooked, they feel very delicate. Once you cook the meat, the proteins bind the patties together.
Trick #3 – Don't overcook your burgers. You want your chicken burgers to be 165 degrees Fahrenheit and no more. 165 is the sweet spot for fully cooked and safe to eat chicken that is still tender and juicy.
We're always so afraid of undercooked chicken that we tend to go WAY overboard and cook it until it's barely edible. I always use a meat thermometer so that I know the burgers are both safe to eat and not overcooked.
Putting together your Chili Chicken Burger Bowls
So now that you've got the most delicious chili chicken burger patty staring at you in the face, we need to put it all together. There's a lot of leeway here and really no wrong way to serve these. Here's how I like them best:
ā” With loads of avocado pesto. This is really just a basic pesto sauce that swaps the parmesan cheese for avocado. It changes it into a mashup between guacamole and pesto. Sounds a bit strange, but it's so good. Even my 2-year-old daughter kept asking for, “More ‘cado sauce, peeze.”
ā” With all the Cajun Sweet Potato Fries. I love these easy to make fries and it's a bonus that they're so healthy. If you want to add them to your chili chicken burger bowls, pop them into the oven first then start making the burgers.
ā” With a big bed of lettuce. I don't get fancy here and make a big salad. All I do is put a few handfuls of salad greens in the bottom of the bowl. When you top them with the chili chicken burger, avocado pesto, and some sweet potato fries, the heat and oil from those three things are enough to soften the greens just enough to make them very salad-like.
ā” With a sprinkling of cherry tomatoes, pine nuts, and avocado. Technically these extra toppings aren't necessary but they do add even more textures and flavors to an already delicious bowl. If you have them on hand, go for it!
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Chili Chicken Burger Bowls with Avocado Pesto
If you love this recipe as much as we do, let us know with a 5-star rating!
Ingredients
Chicken Burger Patties
- 1 lb. ground chicken
- Ā¼ cup each: minced red onion and chopped parsley
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- Ā½ teaspoon black pepper
Avocado Pesto
- Ā½ cup each: basil leaves and parsley, packed
- Ā¼ cup each pine nuts and olive oil
- Juice from Ā½ lemon
- Ā¾ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 large avocado, peeled and pitted
The Burger Bowls
- A few handfuls of lettuce for each bowl
- Cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- A sprinkle of pine nuts, or your favorite nut
- Optional: Cajun Sweet Potato Fries, recipe linked
Instructions
- If you are making the Cajun Sweet Potato Fries, start those first.
- In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the ground chicken, red onion, parsley, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Form into 4 patties and set them on a plate.1 lb. ground chicken, Ā¼ cup each: minced red onion and chopped parsley, 1 tablespoon chili powder, 2 teaspoons sea salt, Ā½ teaspoon black pepper
- Place the basil, parsley, pine nuts, olive oil, lemon juice, and sea salt in your blender and blend on medium speed until mostly smooth. Add the avocado and blend again, adding 2-4 tablespoons of water to thin the pesto if needed.Ā½ cup each: basil leaves and parsley, Ā¼ cup each pine nuts and olive oil, Juice from Ā½ lemon, Ā¾ teaspoon sea salt, 1 large avocado
- Cook the chicken burgers either on your BBQ or in a non-stick pan on your stove on medium-high heat for 12 minutes, flipping halfway through cooking.
- To assemble the bowls, place a few handfuls of greens in each bowl and top with the fries, a burger patty, some avocado pesto, and some cherry tomatoes and pine nuts.A few handfuls of lettuce for each bowl, Cherry tomatoes, A sprinkle of pine nuts
Oh, BABY! This meal is absolutely fantastic! I moved to Germany in 2014 and have yet to see any ground poultry in this country so I had to use beef. However, I learned today that I can order ground poultry from the butcher, but they need one week’s notice. I’ll definitely use ground turkey next time because while the beef was good, its intense flavor seemed to distract from the rest of the meal. I may have had a bad batch of basil or a low-quality olive oil because the avocado pesto was extremely bitter, but I just added a second avocado without increasing the other ingredients and it was WONDERFUL! I’m definitely going to have to try out some of your other recipes as this was my first, and it was so good I practically swallowed my meal whole! =) Additionally, because I love red bell peppers so much, I sauteed one and added it to the salad. So good!
Everything was great! Though, the chicken turned out extraordinarily salty.
I would recommend cutting back to 1/2 teaspoons of sea (or kosher) salt in your chicken burgers.
Thank you for the comment, Gleb!
What kind of chicken did you use? Ā All white meat or all dark meat or a blend? Ā If a blend what percentage of white and dark?Ā
I usually use thigh meat. š
I don’t make the avacado pesto. Do you have the nutritional facts for the pesto?
No only for the whole recipe. If you Google nutritional calculator there are a few available online. š
Dynomite dish! I am trying then ALL! My hubby and I are doing low carb to get his A1C down, s ok he can have surgery on his hands..I have been making your recipes all week, and his sugar went from 400 down to 137! Variety has helped us to stick with our diet plan! Thank you for sharing your awesome recipes!
That makes me so happy to hear! Horray for your health!!
Does the nutrition facts represent just the burger or the whole bowl fries, avocado pesto and all? Thanks, looks great.
*Do not does…
The nutritional info is for the burger and avocado sauce. š
Wow, only the burger and pesto contribute towards 40g of fat and 1,700 mg of sodium? IAny suggestions to reduce fat or sodium content? This recipe sounds so delicious otherwise.
All the sodium comes from the salt. You could reduce it. Or just make sure that you are using a good quality sea salt. And avocado is high in healthy fats. I wouldn’t skip it. Fat is good for you!
I have some ground turkey at home,do you think that will be as good?
Made this tonight and it is SUPER yummy! We did the burgers on the stove top since it’s 22 degrees outside. Any suggestions for leftover avocado pesto? I want to use it all and would love to create an appetizer for dinner tomorrow!
How about as a dip for some fries? Or to dollop on some salmon or chicken breasts. Or as a dip with some veggies?
I noticed the picture of the uncooked chicken burgers shows something (maybe chili powder) sprinkled on top but the recipe doesn’t say anything about it. Do you sprinkle chili powder on before grilling?
I did sprinkle a little chili powder on them, just to pretty them up for the pictures. You can do the same, but it’s not necessary. š
It’s by far the BEST recipe I’ve ever found on Pinterest!! Very FLAVORFUL. I added some of the pesto to the burger with the onion…OUTSTANDING!! I just love it!
That is so great to hear! Hooray!!
These burger bowls are awesome! So healthy but didn’t feel like I was ripping myself off. Thank you for the recipe!
You are so welcome!!
I made these last night and they were amazing. I never knew chicken burgers could taste good if they weren’t fried. Will be making them again and again.
I felt the same way before I had these! Now they’re my favorites!