Buffalo Chicken Burgers with Chile Sauce & Tangy Slaw

Favorite Chicken Recipes Cookbook

These burgers are a mainstay around our house! When we were putting together or Favorite Chicken Recipes Cookbook a few years ago, I made this recipe one Sunday afternoon, and forgot to tell my husband the name of it...He bit into his burger, and  said, "These taste like buffalo wings!" I told him this must be a well-named recipe, because they are actually called buffalo chicken burgers! Adapted from a prize-winning recipe in Healthy Cooking, we could tell right away that our SCD version was a winner to us, too!  

The sauce is on the spicy side, so if you or your family is a fan of spicy food this one is for you. My boys don't love spicy food, so I serve these with BBQ sauce or honey for them​. Sometimes I like to add a few slices of cheddar cheese, cubed, to the meat mixture. The cheese drips down onto the pan and caramelizes, offering a tasty crunchy bit now and then. YUM.

These are so classic and delicious that I always make a double batch and either serve it again that week or freeze the extra patties for a night when I need a break. 

The Tangy Sauce adds a lot to the recipe with its blue cheese flavor and crunchy texture. 

So, without further ado, the recipes!


Buffalo Chicken Burgers
Serves 4

 Ingredients:
• 2 Tbs. chopped red bell pepper
• 4 Tbs. thinly sliced green onions, divided
• 1 Tbs. unsweetened apple sauce
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. crushed garlic
• ¼ tsp. pepper
• 1 lb. ground chicken (no additives)
• lettuce leaves for wrapping
• (Hamburger buns for non-SCDers)

Instructions:
In a large bowl, combine the bell pepper, 2 Tbs. green onions, applesauce, salt,
garlic, and pepper. Crumble chicken over mixture and mix well. Shape into four
burgers. Broil 6 inches from the heat for 5-7 minutes on each side or until a meat
thermometer reads 165 degrees and juices run clear., basting occasionally with
some of the Chile Sauce. Serve wrapped in lettuce leaves; top each patty with 2
Tbs. Tangy Slaw, some Chile Sauce, and a sprinkle of remaining green onions.
Alternatively, cook the patties in an oiled pan on the stove top, flipping several
times until fully cooked and browned. Wrap in lettuce and serve with Chile Sauce
and Tangy Slaw on the side.

Chile Sauce

Ingredients:
• ½ cup legal tomato juice (we use Campbell's original)
• 1 tsp. each; honey, vinegar; liquid hot pepper sauce (we use Tabasco
original)
• ¼ tsp. each; cloves and cinnamon
• 1 Tbs. real butter

Instructions:
In a small saucepan, combine sauce ingredients, bring to a boil;simmer until
reduced by half. Use Chile Sauce to baste meat patties and save a little to top each
patty.
​
Tangy Slaw

Ingredients:
• ¼ c. each; thinly sliced celery and shredded apple
• 2 Tbs. homemade SCD yogurt
• 2 tsp. each; crumbled blue cheese and finely chopped walnuts
​
Instructions:
Combine celery, apple, yogurt, blue cheese, and walnuts. Set aside until it's time
to top the burgers.

Here are the printables! 
Buffalo Chicken Burgers
Chile Sauce & Tangy Slaw

A few tips:

• I like to mix the burger ingredients in a gallon-sized Ziplock bag. It makes the whole raw meat clean-up so much easier! Snip a small hole in a bottom corner and squeeze the meat mixture into your pan. Smooth and flatten out with the back of a spoon. 
• I found my additive-free ground chicken at Sprout's. They also sometimes have additive-free ground turkey. 
• If you have young 'uns in the house, you could make the patties smaller and stretch it out to make more burgers.

I hope you love these burgers as much as our family does! 

Erin

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