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Banh Mi Chicken Burger Recipe

Banh Mi Chicken Burger
Difficulty: Easy | Total Time: | Makes: 4 burgers

Turn ho-hum ground chicken into something juicy and exotic by adding bold Asian ingredients and cooking it up on the grill. Topped with pickled carrots, cilantro leaves, crunchy lettuce, and a smear of spicy mayo, these burgers channel the complex textures and flavors of the Vietnamese banh mi sandwich. For extra spice, sprinkle on some thinly sliced jalapeños.

What to buy: Look for chile-garlic paste or sambal oelek in the Asian section of your supermarket. We like the ones made by Huy Fong Foods (with the rooster on the jar).

Purchase ground chicken that is all dark meat or a mixture of white and dark meat for the juiciest possible burger.

Game plan: The pickled carrots and chile mayonnaise can be made up to a day ahead and stored in the refrigerator.

If you’re grilling outside, toast the rolls right on the grill while the cooked patties are resting. If you’re grilling inside using a grill pan, toast your rolls in the oven, because the moisture left in the pan from cooking the burgers will make the rolls soggy.

This recipe was featured as part of our Burger Bonanza!

INGREDIENTS

For the pickled carrots:

  • 1/3 cup distilled white vinegar
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 cup peeled and coarsely shredded carrots (from about 2 medium)

For the chile mayonnaise:

  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 tablespoons chile-garlic paste or sambal oelek

For the burgers:

  • 2 tablespoons fish sauce
  • 2 medium scallions, finely chopped (white and light green parts only)
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
  • 1 tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
  • 1 teaspoon packed finely grated lime zest (from 1 medium lime)
  • 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 1/2 pounds ground chicken (dark meat or a mixture of dark and white meat)
  • Vegetable oil, for oiling the grill

To assemble:

  • 4 Vietnamese or sweet French sandwich rolls, sliced in half horizontally and toasted
  • 2/3 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves
  • 4 romaine lettuce leaves
INSTRUCTIONS
For the pickled carrots:

  1. Place the vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small, nonreactive saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar and salt have dissolved. Remove from heat, add the carrots, and stir to coat in the pickling mixture. Let stand at room temperature until the carrots have softened, at least 30 minutes or overnight in the refrigerator. Drain well and refrigerate in a covered container until ready to use.

For the chile mayonnaise:

  1. Combine the mayonnaise and chile-garlic paste or sambal oelek in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

For the burgers:

  1. Place all of the ingredients except the chicken and oil in a large bowl and stir to combine. Add the ground chicken and mix with your hands until just evenly combined.
  2. Divide the meat mixture into 8 equal portions. Shape each portion into an even 1/2-inch-thick patty, wetting your hands with water as needed if the mixture is sticky. Transfer the patties to a baking sheet and refrigerate while you prepare the grill.
  3. Heat a grill pan or outdoor grill to medium high (about 375°F to 425°F). When the grill is ready, use tongs to rub the grate with several layers of paper towels dipped in vegetable oil.
  4. Using a flat spatula, transfer the reserved patties to the grill, close the grill, and cook undisturbed (do not press down on the patties) until grill marks appear on the bottom, about 3 to 4 minutes. Using a clean spatula, flip the patties, close the grill, and cook until the patties are cooked through and the juices run clear, about 3 to 4 minutes more. Remove to a clean plate and let rest in a warm place or tent loosely with foil for 5 minutes.

To assemble:

  1. Spread about 1 tablespoon of the chile mayonnaise on each top and bottom roll (2 tablespoons per sandwich). Place 2 of the chicken patties side by side on each bottom roll. Divide the cilantro leaves, pickled carrots, and romaine lettuce evenly among the sandwiches and cover with the top rolls. Serve immediately.
    Write a review | 7 Reviews
  • Banh Mi Chicken Burger Recipe
    5

    Love this recipe. I am a huge Banh Mi addict, made easier because my day job is directly across the street from Lee's Sandwiches, the bastion of great inexpensive Banh Mi in the southbay. Lee's is also the purveyor of exactly the right baguettes for these delights (since the Vietnamese gleaned their expertise in baking euro breads directly from the French colonialists, they know how to knock 'em out!) Anyway, here is my "True Confession": I took the lazygirl's way out and used Amy's Chicken Onion burgers directly from Costco. In truth these have a flavor not at all unlike some chicken concoctions I have had at Viet restaurants. And sliced into strips they work quite excellently in this recipe. (For those not in the know, Amys is a high-end producer of sausage and ground chicken products, very well-regarded amongst Muslims and other non-pork eating folks because Amys does not use pork casings on their sausages and also uses high grade and in some instances organic chicken. These chicken/onion burgers have a nice amount of spice.) Definitely worth a try if you don't feel like putting the ground chicken mixture together in the recipe. I agree with another reviewer that thin sliced jalapenos is a good way to add the heat in lieu of sambal oelek or other hot sauces; jalapenos is what you typically will get in a Banh Mi house. Point is, these ground chicken variations are YUM!

  • rebecca_f- Thanks for trying out the burger. We've realized that fish sauce and salt can vary in saltiness across different brands, so we've lowered the salt to a 1/2 teaspoon. Christine, CHOW Test Kitchen

  • whoa wayyyyyy too salty! ew. i would almost say inedible. Definitely leave the salt out!

  • Great looking recipe! Have been hooked on Banh Mi last couple years and always try to make homemade versions. Couple of possible variations: Add grated or julienned Daikon (those giant elongated asian radishes) to carrot pickle if you can find it - most Banh Mi shops make it this way (I keep carrots and daikon in pickling liquid in fridge for up to 2 weeks); instead of premixing, squeeze some Sirracha & Mayo directly on roll & spread/mix; add basil +/or mint leaves with cilantro; add fresh cucumber slices or long wedges (seedless or small persian versions are best or seed regular ones). Caution these are highly addictive sandwiches if you like these flavor combos - good quality, slightly crusty rolls make the sandwich sublime

  • I like to put a little rice wine vinegar in the spicy mayo. It adds a little zip and makes it just a touch smoother.

  • This looks good, but I think I'd add heat with fresh sliced jalapeno instead of sambal oelek

  • Did this tonight, it was great. I followed the recipe exactly as written but next time I think I would omit the extra teaspoon of salt in the burger mixture - the fish sauce was salty enough.

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