Making fresh tasty food at home shouldn’t be a cumbersome job, these Chicken Steak Burgers are so simple and quick to make! I originally devised this recipe for my fussy daughter’s packed lunch and I also wanted to come up with something for us as a family that would be an alternative to fast food for days when I had very little time to cook or just couldn’t be bothered, let’s face it we all have days like that. This recipe was the result and is ideal for making ahead of time and freezing till you want to cook. I initially trialled this recipe using chicken breasts, in this recipe however I’m using boneless chicken thighs which I recently discovered at my local butchers; the advantage is that they are cheaper than chicken breasts and I prefer them as they are more tender and juicy! My children all adore chicken especially when it’s in the form of a Chicken Steak Burger. Serve these steaks in burger buns or cut them up into strips and serve with salsa, sour cream and salad in wraps, the choices are limitless and only bound by your imagination.

If you are not able to buy boneless chicken thighs you may use chicken breasts, the results will be just as tasty; I alternate between breasts and thighs when using this recipe so please use whatever is readily available. I hate wasting good food so use fresh breadcrumbs as a way of using up the ends of my bread loaves, I haven’t ever tested this recipe using shop bought breadcrumbs, so not entirely sure how that would work. I am using a seasoning made by a company known as Dunns River and is called Chicken Seasoning, I have checked and this is available from most major supermarkets in the UK. Visitors to the website from abroad, you can use similar chicken seasoning products that are available in your own countries but may need to adjust the quantities depending on how salty your seasoning is – always make the breadcrumb coating and test a sample first before making an entire batch! The method of coating the chicken pieces in milk and then the breadcrumbs ONLY WORKS if you plan on cooking these steak burgers in the oven or in an air fryer. If you wanted to fry these steaks you would have to dip the chicken in flour first, then in beaten egg and finally in the breadcrumb coating. No processed meat in sight and cooked in the oven/air fryer, so is as healthy as can be, what are you waiting for? Cook these Chicken Steak Burgers today!

Makes approximately 18 – 22 steaks

 You will need:

1 kg boneless chicken thighs washed and drained
3 cups of fresh breadcrumbs (about two thick end slices of bread blitzed)
1/4 cup Dunns River Chicken Seasoning
milk as needed

Method:

Start by washing your chicken thighs if you have not already done so, then proceed to remove any excess fat.

The chicken thighs I purchased were very large, I cut them into 3 pieces. When deciding on how large you want your chicken steak pieces to be bear in mind they do shrink slightly once cooked.

In a large shallow dish/bowl add 3 cups of fresh breadcrumbs and 1/4 cup of chicken seasoning. Mix the breadcrumbs and seasoning together.

Pour some milk into a small bowl, you only need a little so pour as much as you need and try not to waste. Dip the chicken pieces into the milk and then into the breadcrumb mixture, press the breadcrumbs on using your hands to make them stick. As mentioned above, using this method (dipping in milk and then breadcrumbs) to coat the chicken is fine as we will be baking these steaks in the oven. If however you are planning on frying these steaks, you will need to dip them in flour, then (beaten) egg and lastly the breadcrumb mixture, otherwise the coating will come off in the hot oil.

Remove the breaded chicken steaks using tongs and place them on a flexible chopping board or tray that fits in your freezer. Finish coating all the chicken pieces in the same manner until complete. Place the tray in your freezer to harden, once the chicken pieces are hard put them into freezer bags.

When you want to cook the steaks place them on an oven tray or in the air fryer with a light drizzling of oil, I cook my steaks at a temperature of 180 degrees for approximately 20 – 25 minutes in my air fryer, this is equivalent to gas mark 4 on a standard oven. I have found the chicken steaks that are VERY large sometimes have difficulty cooking all the way through, I overcome this by zapping them in the microwave for about 1 minute on high.

Once the steaks are cooked and ready to serve you want to layer your burger, there is no specific right or wrong way but here’s how I layer mine. I’m using Brioche rolls and a selection of fillings; lettuce, gherkins, tomatoes, burger sauce and cheese slices.

I like to place my lettuce beneath the steak to stop the bottom of my bun getting soggy from any moisture released from the steaks. Place the steak on top with a squirt of your chosen sauce….

….add sliced gherkins, followed by sliced tomatoes and cheese slices on top. If you like your cheese to be grilled, place the cheese slices on the top half of the burger bun and grill for a couple of minutes until melted. Place the top of the burger bun back on top and voila, your Chicken Steak Burger is ready to devour!

Bon Appetit!

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