I Tried 4 Store-Bought Chicken Burgers & The Best Is Flavor-Packed
Picture a burger, and you're probably envisioning a juicy, beefy masterpiece served on a fluffy sesame roll with lettuce, tomato, and ketchup (or maybe you're more of a mustard person). Of course, you can make burgers out of more than just beef, and if you're looking for a leaner or lighter patty that's not made with red meat, a chicken burger might be just what you're craving.
While turkey burgers tend to be more common than chicken patties, there are several easy-to-find fresh or frozen chicken burgers in grocery stores. These patties come preshaped and seasoned. All you have to do is toss them into a skillet or oven until they're browned and cooked all the way through.
Options for types of store-bought chicken burgers vary. Some are made with additional ingredients such as vegetables, spices, and herbs that add an extra kick of flavor to what can sometimes be bland white meat. Others are as simple as possible and want to be dressed up with your favorite condiments and accouterments.
Most people serve chicken burgers like a typical burger on a bun with classic add-ons such as tomatoes, shredded lettuce, pickles, and maybe a slice of melted cheese. Why not get creative with them? Keep a package of frozen chicken burgers on hand, and you'll always have a healthy protein to add to pretty much any meal. These burgers make a great salad topper, for example. Or you can chop them up and add them to fried rice, pasta, or even a stir-fry. Because chicken is such a great blank canvas for your favorite sauces, seasonings, and flavors, you can get creative with how you serve chicken burgers.
Before you get meal planning, you'll want to be sure to buy the best chicken burger on the market. I personally cooked and taste-tested four of the most popular and easy-to-find chicken burgers from grocery stores in order to find the best-tasting, best-looking product available.
Here's how my chicken burger taste test went, including which brand's poultry patty reigns supreme. I've ranked the burgers in descending order from my least favorite to my top pick.
Bell & Evans Chicken Burgers
These frozen patties from Bell & Evans had the lowest amount of sodium and most protein of any burger I tested. They are also the easiest to find around the country. Unfortunately, they were lacking in the flavor and texture department.
The look: When I removed these frozen burgers from the box, I was disappointed to see that they lacked the golden-brown color and glazed juiciness of the photo on the front of the package. Instead, the uncooked burgers are pale and bland looking out of the box. Even after searing them in a skillet, they barely took on any color and simply didn't look appetizing.
The taste: Unfortunately, the taste didn't make up for the blah looks of these burgers. They're soft, chewy, and not dry (thanks to the eight grams of fat), but they're also quite bland. You'd definitely want to pile on the condiments if you're serving these chicken burgers.
Springer Mountain Farms Fresh Chicken Burgers
Like the Bell & Evans chicken burgers, these burgers from Springer Mountain Farms are uncooked. However, unlike the rest of the frozen patties on this list, they are refrigerated. I was surprised by the 700 milligrams of sodium per serving, which is higher than any of the other patties I sampled.
The look: Because these fresh chicken burgers are made with just white meat chicken and a few dried seasonings, they don't have much going on in the looks department. They're pale and white and turn slightly pink with a tiny bit of browning after they're cooked in a skillet. I also noticed that some white protein leaked out of the burgers while they cooked.
The taste: The burgers taste like, well, chicken. Despite the high sodium content, I didn't find the meat to be overly seasoned. In fact, I'd want to add some extra seasoning to spice the burgers up a bit. As long as you follow the cooking instructions and don't overcook the patties, they stay moist and juicy.
Don Lee Farms Steakhouse Selects Flame Grilled Chicken Patties
These Don Lee Farms burgers are the leanest patties I tried. They're more strongly seasoned than the others and cook up in minutes on the stove, in an air fryer, or in the microwave. This would be a great afterschool snack to keep on hand. It's high in protein, low in fat, and lightning-fast to prepare.
The look: The Don Lee Farms burgers are the smallest and thinnest of the bunch. They have nearly perfect brown grill marks, like they were meticulously painted on the meat, and the packaging says that they're flame-grilled. Inside the patty, the meat is uniformly white.
The taste: These burgers have a short ingredient list, but the few seasonings that have been added are strong. They're slightly sweet, which is probably due to the inclusion of onion and a touch of sugar. The texture is soft and crumbly, not at all dense or tight.
Amylu Three Pepper Chicken Burgers
Bursting with flavor, enticingly browned, and super juicy, these chicken burgers from Amylu are the winners. They're well-balanced with 17 grams of protein per patty and nine grams of fat, which keeps them moist.
The look: These burgers come with grill lines, and they're also darker and more caramelized looking than the others I tried—both straight from the package and after cooking. The addition of red, green, and yellow bell peppers adds texture and little specks of color throughout the burgers, so they look more appetizing than the other plain patties I sampled.
The taste: The pepper mix-ins also improve the flavor of these burgers, which have a subtle kick of spice from crushed red pepper flakes and paprika and sweetness from the bell peppers (not added sugar). These burgers are exceptionally juicy for lean poultry and have a touch of smokiness, likely because they're charbroiled before being frozen.
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