Chicken Cheeseburger Salad (and other delicious things to do with ground chicken)

/ More Time at the Table

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One of my favorite blog dinner recipes of the past several years has to be my Chicken-Mushroom Bolognese. With the full flavor of a big meaty bolognese but without the red meat beef factor or long cooking time, it hits all the right notes for a fab weeknight meal but also makes happy cooked-ahead dinner party fare. For a reason I can’t now remember (and perhaps I should rework this but haven’t yet), the recipe calls for an odd amount of meat — 1 1/4 pounds. Occasionally I’m able to buy just that amount but I often end up buying two pounds of ground chicken and using the extra for sausage or burgers or tacos. Last week, I split the difference and used 1 1/2 pounds in the sauce, leaving 1/2 pound for ____? Best sous and husband Dave voted burgers but not in buns — he wondered if we couldn’t toss up a salad? I like nothing better than a kitchen challenge and while I seasoned the meat and grilled the patties right away (ground chicken doesn’t keep well but cooked ground chicken lasts 3-4 days in the fridge), I didn’t make the salad until the next night. Chicken Cheeseburger Salad is now definitely on the Pete and repeat list. Roll your eyes now; that’s definitely an old dad joke!

Chicken-Mushroom Bolognese

Ground turkey is certainly sold in greater amounts and is usually cheaper than ground chicken (think of all the turkey breast deli meat and you’ll figure out where all that ground turkey comes from) and while I buy it regularly (see my Slow Cooker Hold My Beer Chili made with turkey below or try with ground chicken)…

Slow Cooker Hold my Beer Chili

…I’ll admit I’ve become really fond of ground chicken and some chicken sausage (usually the fresh varieties) over the last few years. No need to get into a nutritional discussion as we’re all equipped with google and, besides, a nutritionist I’m not. I do make a true effort to eat less red meat for a variety of reasons–health, ecological, scheduling, and financial- but I just plain old like ground chicken. If it’s not been on your grocery list, you might want to branch out and give it a try in one of your recipes or with one of my favorites:

Tequila White Chicken Chili: a simple, inexpensive, tasty, and fast chili made with ground instead of shredded chicken. You might find yourself cooking this more often than your old school version.

Chicken Sausage on Polenta makes fun use of the now easily available fresh chicken Italian sausage. The Trader Joe variety is 110 calories per large link. It’s a steal, calorie wise, and isn’t dear! I like to make a quick sauce on the stove but you can sub your favorite jarred sauce. If you’re not a polenta fan, use some whole wheat pasta.

Green Chile Chicken Cheeseburgers could be a tasty substitute for run of the mill beef burgers but are actually their own yummy sandwich you can enjoy summers on the grill or come game time fall or winter. I use canned mild green chiles though they can be left out or you might use jarred pimentos or chopped roasted peppers in their place. You could make these burgers to use for today’s salad–or see other options in the recipe.

Chicken Meatloaf Marinara is my Italian-style chicken version of the blog favorite, (Pepper Jack Stuffed) Southwestern Turkey Meatloaf. Flavored with marinara sauce and stuffed with mozzarella, this meatloaf is lovely fresh, even better sliced and grilled the next day (think crispy cheese), and makes better sandwiches than any almost chicken I can think of. It is, as you might imagine, a bit pizza-ish. Did I say it freezes well? Thaw overnight in fridge, place in a greased Pyrex casserole, cover with foil, and heat at 350F for 20-30 min. or heat in a stovetop grill pan. This, too, makes a hearty, healthy, protein-rich salad.

Allrecipes recipe for grilled chicken burgers

Natasha’s Chicken Burgers Recipe on Allrecipes

Trader Joe’s Italian Chicken Sausage has my vote in the chicken sausage category.

I don’t make ground meat tacos often since my kids left home but ground chicken is perfect for them or for the quintessential 70’s taco salad. If you use the fresh chicken Italian sausage (at left) or just season up the basic grind, it makes a healthier egg casserole than one made with traditional pork sausage. Extra meat is handily tucked into a morning omelet or stirred into pasta sauce for fast meals and increased protein intake. That’s right; there are 25 g protein in 4 ounces of ground chicken–maybe 1/4 – 1/3 of your recommended daily protein requirement, depending on your weight.

While I recommend making chicken burgers from scratch –easy–rather than buying them (do read the ingredients as well as reviews of any pre-made patties you’re buying), you’ll have a big healthy, fast dinner when you try this:

Print Recipe

Chicken Cheeseburger Salad

While there’s little like a well-made chicken cheeseburger, a salad made from leftovers (or cooked just for this) will make you wish you grilled them more often. Get the burger buzz without the bun! Buy chicken burgers, cook them and add some cheese; make my green chile chicken cheese burgers; or use the easy recipe in the COOK’S NOTES. I leave off ketchup intentionally, though I’ll close my eyes if you add a little with the yellow mustard at the end.
Serves 2

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar-can sub apple cider vinegar
  • Minced garlic clove
  • Generous pinch each: salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon-style or whole grain mustard
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 6 cups mixed salad greens, your choice
  • 1/4 cup each: or more to taste: sliced red onion; chopped hamburger dill pickle slices or pepperoncini; sliced carrot; and sliced celery
  • Large ripe tomato, diced
  • Large ripe avocado- peeled, pitted, and diced
  • 2 chicken cheeseburgers-cut into 1-inch pieces
  • Yellow mustard for garnish

Instructions

  • In a large bowl, stir together the red wine vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper. Let sit for several minutes to dissolve salt. Whisk in first the mustard and then the olive oil until emulsified (creamy) to make the vinaigrette.
  • On top of the vinaigrette, add the greens, vegetables, and chopped chicken cheeseburgers. Toss well. Taste and adjust seasoning and add more salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, or vinegar as needed. Taste again. Drizzle with yellow mustard and serve immediately. Not suitable for leftovers.

Notes

COOK’S NOTES: To make 2 easy chicken burgers, use your very clean hands or a wooden spoon to mix together well: ½ pound ground chicken; ½ teaspoon salt; ¼ teaspoon each: pepper, thyme, and sage; and a pinch of ground cayenne. Divide evenly into two and pat into two patties. Cook in a greased skillet or stovetop grill for about 4 minutes on each side (add a piece or two of your choice of cheese after flipping) or until instant read thermometer reads 165 F or above. There should be no pink remaining in the burger. Let rest for two minutes before cutting into 1-inch pieces for salad.
Copyright Alyce Morgan, 2025. All rights reserved.

TIP: Of course you can make this with leftover (beef) cheeseburgers. It’s just that I only eat about one a year and that’s in the summer when Dave makes them on the gas grill.

LIFE GOES ON:

It’s colder than a ______________here in Colorado and last night we hunkered down enjoying our fire, a movie, and a steak salad. I make a steak salad a couple of times per month on Sunday nights (from Friday night leftovers) and they’re usually fairly similar: boiled eggs, croutons, lots of veggies, sometimes sliced and fried baked potatoes , blue cheese,— and you get the idea. Last night, I instead made the recipe from the interesting ONCE UPON A CHEF cookbook by Jennifer Segal (2018/Chronicle) just for fun. It’s simple and tasty and includes an unusual and yummy vinaigrette made from toasted walnuts and apples. If I do it again, I think I’ll make it with chicken or leftover sliced pork and bacon! tossed in–instead of beef. If you’ve never visited Jennifer’s (a trained chef turned food blogger/author) blog, it’s good reading.

Tonight, we’re off television news and social media and instead celebrating MLK day by reading material on his life and on character-building in general. We may begin bingeing one of our favorite series, “West Wing.” We have the whole thing on dvd, of course. I would make fried chicken with mac and cheese (two of MLK’s favorites) but we’re going to have lows of perhaps -15 F (plus windchill) and I, like many others, am serving HOT SOUP AND HOT BREAD! We buy a couple of baguettes at a time from our favorite local bakery, Nightingale, but when they’re on their one-month post-holiday, well-deserved vacation, we enjoy the wheat baguette from Marigold Cafe and Bakery– one of our longtime favorite restaurants in Colorado Springs. We slice the baguettes and package them in foil –3 pieces each– then pop a package in a 350F oven for 15 min while our soup heats. Very hot soup and very hot bread = winter happiness. When you begin to eat a bowl of hot soup, it should be hot enough to burn your mouth! (“Jesus, that’s hot!”) That way, it’s still warm by the end of dinner. Tip: Warm your bowls.

Thanks for stopping by to see what’s going on in my kitchen. I’m as interested to share what I do with leftovers or small ingredients as I am to share big recipes destined for dinner parties or holidays–because making use of everything is a fine and real goal for all cooks. And, we have to eat well and healthily every day. There’s that, isn’t there?

Stay warm and spend more time at the table; it’ll do ya good in the days to come,

Alyce

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