These chicken satay burgers take the flavors of the classic grilled chicken dish and put them in burger form! A delicious mix that is great for preparing ahead, too.
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I don't know about your family, but we have a few favorites that reappear each winter, and others that we start having again more and more as the weather gets better. For us, staple summer meals include chicken satay with peanut sauce, sosaties and Mexican street corn salad is always a popular side.
We do have burgers now and then, though not as much as other grilled favorites. I think part of it is the boys are not the hugest fans, on the whole, and I like to make them a bit more interesting if I can too.
As I was gearing up for this year's Burger Month, I knew I wanted to try something a bit more interesting. After adapting another summer favorite lamb kofte into my lamb kofte burger last year, I figured I'd try another favorite, too. So, enter this burger take on satay!
I'll be honest, when I went to make these I couldn't actually find ground chicken so these are actually made with turkey. But you can use either and it will work well, as would pork.
The burger components
These burgers have four main components:
- Seasoned burgers, which you load up with all the delicious spices etc like lemongrass, ginger, brown sugar and soy that you'd typically marinade the chicken with.
- A punchy peanut sauce - here I've drawn more on the lime peanut sauce I served with my Thai basil pork meatballs as it both good for spreading and has more varied flavors. Both are good when adding in everything else here.
- A crunchy, tangy slaw - I've gone for a kind of cross between the typical Thai cucumber salad/relish served with satay and Vietnamese quick pickles. It's easy and tasty.
- Burger buns - choose whatever you like here, I'd say. I made my own relatively plain, soft white rolls but brioche-style or whatever else you prefer is all good.
One of the nice thing about these burgers is that while you do have a couple things to do, everything can be prepared ahead. Then, when you are ready to serve, all you do is cook the burgers, put everything together and enjoy.
The burgers will benefit from a bit of time to rest and for the flavors to mingle. The slaw will take on more flavors with a little rest. However, you don't want to make it more than a couple of hours ahead, I'd say, or the cilantro may look a little tired.
You can cook the burgers on the grill, if you can, or else in a skillet, grill pan if not. Then as the burgers are almost cooked, spread the top half of the buns with the sauce. Make a layer of the slaw on the bottom half, add the cooked burger and enjoy.
These chicken satay burgers are a fun change from your typical burger with plenty of flavor going. The crunchy slaw and gooey sauce are the perfect pairing for the burger as well. Definitely worth adding to your grilling list!
Try these other creative burgers:
- Maple turkey burgers with apple and bacon
- Asparagus parmesan burger with parmesan crisps
- Spinach feta salmon burger
- Lamb burgers with feta sauce and minted tomato salsa
- Aussie burger (can't take credit for the creativity here, but it's one amazing stack!)
- Plus get more summer recipes with grilling ideas, salads and more in the archives.
See some of my favorite cooking tools and ingredients in the Caroline's Cooking Amazon store.
Chicken satay burgers
Ingredients
For the burgers
- 1 lb ground chicken 450g, or you can use turkey or pork
- ½ tablespoon lemongrass minced
- ½ tablespoon soy sauce
- ½ tablespoon brown sugar
- ½ tablespoon fish sauce
- ½ tablespoon ginger minced/grated
- ½ tablespoon lime juice
- 1 clove garlic crushed/grated
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric (optional)
- 1 dash cayenne pepper or more to taste (optional)
For the peanut sauce
- 2 ½ tablespoon peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon garlic crushed/grated
- ½ teaspoon lemongrass
For slaw
- ½ carrot
- ½ Persian cucumber (or other small cucumber)
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon cilantro coriander, roughly chopped
To serve
- 4 burger buns
Instructions
- Mix together the chicken and the rest of the ingredients for the burgers. I'd suggest using your hands to ensure the various ingredients are well distributed. Divide the mixture into four burgers, roll them into a ball and flatten slightly. Place in a dish/on a plate and cover then refrigerate for around 20 minutes while you prepare the rest, or longer if possible.
- Mix together the sauce ingredients and set aside until needed (covered if longer than around 20 minutes).
- Cut the carrot and cucumber into very thin slices around 2-3 in/5-7cm in length (julienne). Put the carrot pieces in a bowl and sprinkle over the salt and sugar. Rub them into the carrot so that the carrots become a little softer and liquid comes from them. Add the cucumber, lime juice, vinegar and cilantro and set aside until needed (refrigerate if longer than around 20 minutes).
- When ready to serve, preheat the grill or a skillet/grill pan and cook the burgers for around 15mins, turning once or more if needed, until cooked through. As they are cooking, toast the burger buns then split and put some slaw on the bottom of each and sauce on the top. Place burger on slaw side, top with sauce-covered bun top and serve.
Nutrition
Remember to pin for later!
This epic burger is part of a sizzling month-long event hosted by Girl Carnivore, but all opinions are my own! Disclaimer: Thank you to #BurgerMonth Sponsors: Cabot, Anvil & Hammer, New York Beef Council, Red Duck Foods, and Spoonabilities for providing prizes for this epic event. All opinions are my own. The #BurgerMonth giveaway is now closed but was open to U.S. residents, age 18 & up. All winning entries are verified. By entering you give the right to use your name and likeness.
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Danielle Wolter
Now this is the kind of burger i like! It sounds incredible - so many great flavors.Loving that peanut sauce.
Caroline's Cooking
Thanks - the peanut sauce here has such a great flavor.