Buffalo Chicken Burgers with Corn Slaw

What is your favorite pub grub?  Hot wings, poppers, maybe burgers?  We happen to be a fan of chicken lips and nachos at our local Tanner's Bar & Grill.  Chicken lips are chicken strips that you can get grilled or fried with a plethora of dipping sauces on the side.  While planning the menu this week, the Bear mentioned that it had been quite sometime since we had visited Tanner's and asked if maybe I could replicate chicken lips.  He also asked if we could maybe have burgers.  This got me thinking.  I thought what if I used ground chicken, added the wing sauce, and stuffed the little buddy with blue cheese.  Thus my Buffalo Chicken Burger was born!

This recipe is a little different from other recipes I researched.  Many recipes attempted adding carrots and celery into the burger.  I was not really very keen on grilling celery, so the celery and carrots have been deconstructed and added to the Corn Slaw.  This recipe also uses corn meal as a binder for the burger.  I know it sounds a little unusual; however, it added a nice crust to the outside of the burger.

Buffalo Chicken Burgers


1 pound ground chicken
1/4 cup egg substitute
4 tablespoons corn meal
2 tablespoons buffalo wing sauce + more for topping your burger
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
4 oz. blue cheese, crumbled
4 tablespoons of your favorite light blue cheese dressing
4 hamburger buns
Lettuce, tomatoes, onions, if you choose to use for garnish

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the ground chicken, egg substitute, corn meal, 2 tablespoons wing sauce, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.  Cover and chill for 20-30 minutes so the corn meal has time to bind the meat together.  The mixture will be very sticky.

Meanwhile, heat your grill.  Line a plate with foil and spray the foil with non-stick cooking spray.  Take the chicken mixture out of the refrigerator.  Before you begin to form your patties, you can spray your hands with non-stick spray or wet them with water as the chicken mixture is very sticky.  Begin to form a patty with the chicken.  Place 1 tablespoon of the blue cheese in the center of the patty, then top the patty with more of the chicken mixture.  Make sure the sides of the patty are sealed and that there is no cheese leaking through any cracks in the patty.  Repeat with the remaining chicken mixture.  Spray the patties with non-stick cooking spray on top.  Take out to the grill and grill on top of the foil for 5 minutes, then flip and cook 5 minutes more or until the temperature of the center of one of the patties reads 165 degrees with a cooking thermometer.  Remove from the grill and let the burgers cool for 5 minutes so the cheese does not burn the roof of your mouth.  Place on buns and top with more wing sauce, blue cheese dressing, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, or any of your favorite burger toppings.

Corn Slaw
inspired by Cabbage and Corn Slaw, Bon Appetite 2007


1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup fat free or light sour cream
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 bag angel hair slaw
2 cups thawed frozen corn
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
4 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

In a small bowl, whisk together the orange juice, sour cream, vinegar, olive oil, sugar, salt, and pepper.  Set aside.  In another large mixing bowl, add all of the vegetables.  Pour the dressing mixture over the vegetables and toss until all of the salad is coated with the dressing.  You can serve immediately, or store the vegetables and dressing separately in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve.

By the way, I was recently researching recipe attribution.  I've been a little hesitant lately to post my menus and grocery list for fear of my content getting ripped off before it's been made.  I understand these are all just ideas and food is intended to be shared.  I also understand that with all of the food blogs out there it is difficult for anything to be all your own.  I started out in as a journalism major in college.  Plagiarism is one of the biggest crimes an individual can commit.  It is okay to "adapt" and be "inspired" by recipes, but you need to quote and acknowledge your sources.  I know I have often been in fear of calling a recipe my own by mistake.  To understand more about this topic, check out the Food Blog Alliance.  You can also Google for free plagiarism checkers if you are ever feeling a little leery about your content.