Looking for some lighter ideas for your overworked ground beef recipes? Ground chicken is the leanest ground meat there is, often having less of the fatty bits and more of the good stuff, the meat!
Not only is it the healthier option but it’s also super versatile, suiting a wide range of dishes from all over the world.
Ground chicken is also cheap to buy, quick to cook, and takes flavor in its stride to become so dang juicy and delicious. In this article, we are going to showcase a varied selection of 10/10 recipes that champion the almighty ground chicken.
There’s something in here for everyone, from ultra-healthy lunch ideas to fully-fledged family meals and everything in-between. So sit back, relax, and come get acquainted with your new favorite ingredient.
1. Chicken Lettuce Wraps With Peanut Sauce
Ground chicken is the ideal candidate to load up a lettuce wrap because, let’s face it, if you’re eating lettuce wraps, you’re looking to be healthy.
Shitake mushroom, julienned carrot, ginger, garlic, and green onions are mixed through the chicken with hoisin for an Asian-inspired wrap. Drizzle the homemade peanut sauce over each wrap and proceed to munch away, happy.
2. No-Bun Bruschetta Burgers
Ditch the bun and step into the light of these no-bun bruschetta burgers. With essential Italian flavors, these burgers are packing fresh basil, melted mozzarella, parmesan, balsamic vinegar, and baby spinach, which is as fresh and as fabulous as it sounds.
The chicken pattie is the star of this low-carb show though. Sandwiched between two juicy tomato halves, this is a keto-friendly meal idea that will turn heads and fill stomachs.
3. Chicken Burgers
If you’re not ready to give up your bun (us neither), then this classic chicken burger is coming for you. Although they pail in popularity when compared to beef burgers, for non-red meat eaters, chicken burgers are heaven-sent.
This recipe leads you through how to make a tangy mustard-infused burger sauce, and the homemade chicken patties themselves.
It then suggests you pick up some burger cheese and fresh salady bits like tomato, red onion, and butterhead lettuce, and sandwich it all between a toasted sesame bun, and we suggest you listen.
4. Baked Chicken Nachos
Loaded chicken nachos baked in the oven and served with lime wedges and avocado chunks is your new mid-week dinner saver. Save this recipe for those nights when you’re getting home from work late and need a quick-fix meal to feed the family, it will deliver.
Fill your casserole pan with spiced ground chicken, pinto beans, sweet corn, red pepper, and tortilla chips. Free pour a generous helping of Mexican “Cotija” cheese over the whole delicious creation – 10 minutes in the oven and bingo, your family is fed.
5. Thai Basil Chicken
If you’ve never had the pleasure of using Thai basil in your cooking, now is your chance. This recipe uses fresh Thai basil leaves, Thai bird’s eye chilis, oyster and fish sauce, and sugar, to create a fiery Thai-inspired stir fry.
This dish is quick to put together, quicker to cook, and will have you sitting down to a sublime Thai feast in under 25 minutes flat.
6. Italian Wedding Soup
Italian wedding soup is a health-focused hearty meal that marries meat and greens (hence the name), to offer a filling slurper, without the cream.
Too many soups are loaded with heavy cream, but not this one, it’s a lean, mean, hunger-crushing machine. Be sure to include a small pasta like Acini de Pepe for authenticity’s sake.
Usher in soup season the Italian way, with this veg-heavy, chicken-loaded soup that leaves no hunger to chance.
7. BBQ Chicken Sloppy Joes
Ground chicken, sautéed onions, and green bell peppers coated in a blend of barbeque and tomato sauces, and served extra sloppy in hamburger buns? Yep, that’ll do just fine.
The infamous sloppy joe is a school cafeteria classic that can be called upon to feed hungry people, quickly. Cook up a big batch of these chicken sloppys come game day and watch them fly straight off the pile, with zero chance of returning.
8. Chicken Potstickers
Chicken potstickers are the kind of home-run appetizer that no guest will turn down, it just doesn’t happen. Get their appetites fired up with these shallow fried, dumpling-wrapped ground chicken and veggie bite-sized delights.
Coated in sesame seeds, and served with hoisin sauce, these chicken potstickers are box-ticking, people-pleasing, certified-delicious appetizers, to say the least.
9. Cheesy Chicken Meatball Rolls
Keeping with the appetizer theme, we’ve got a stack of baked cheesy chicken meatball rolls to really send your guest’s appetites into a tizzy.
Make no mistake, at 30 minutes of prep time, these aren’t the quickest appetizers to make, but their cheese is certainly worth the squeeze.
Hollowed out dinner rolls coated in parmesan/ garlic butter, loaded with marinara and chicken meatballs, and topped with mozzarella cheese. Once baked, they’ll be ready to be pulled apart, devoured, and become your new go-to game day appetizer, it’s that simple.
10. French Onion Chicken Meatballs
Turning the classic appetizer “French onion soup” into a legitimate main with chicken meatballs is as genius as it sounds.
This dish is a silky, meaty experience that leans on gruyére cheese, fresh parsley, fresh thyme sprigs, and a naughty amount of butter to be tasty. Throw the recipe rulebook out the window and give this delicious creation a run, it deserves you, and you deserve it.
11. Chicken Meatloaf
Come for the loaf, but stay for the glaze! This chicken meatloaf is putting the ease back into mealtime, as well as making look all gorgeous and stuff.
The glistening ketchup, Worcestershire, and sugar glaze looks as if it’s been brought down from food heaven, just for you to try it. Just 10 minutes to prepare, this ground chicken recipe is bringing meatloaf back to the mainstream (not the singer, just the loaf).
12. Slow-Cooker Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
Slow cookers make everything better, and these buffalo chicken meatballs are raring to go. We know, spiced and sticky buffalo sauce is synonymous with wings, but why not flip the trend and take a chance on some chicken meatballs instead?
After just two hours in a low-heat slow cooker, these lustrous little balls will come out shining in the light, ready to be dunked into a pungent blue cheese dipping sauce.
13. Mini Chicken Parm Sliders
These adorable mini sliders are perfect for feeding people who are on the go. Any celebration where guests are standing and mingling, shove a mini chicken parm slider in their hand and they won’t be disappointed.
This recipe makes a dozen sliders to get the ball rolling, but if that sounds like child’s play, then up the ante to whatever you think will suffice.
With the perfect combination of bread, cheese, sauce, and chicken, you could make 50 of these puppies, and still, the crowd will be scouting around for more.
14. Chicken Empanadas
Empanadas are popular snacks in European countries like Spain, and Portugal, and across much of Latin America. Keeping things authentic, the recipe puts paprika, and cumin together with capers, and green olives to offer a good old-fashioned flavor kick.
To reduce the risk of your empanadas drying out, it’s best to seek out ground chicken that’s predominantly thigh, not breast.
If you don’t fancy making the dough from scratch, you could always sub in some shop-bought shortcrust to get a similar (although not quite as authentic) result.
15. Easy Chicken Cottage Pie
Where’s the wise guy who said cottage pie can only be cooked with beef? Because this recipe wants to have a word with him. This is a contemporary take on a classic pie that is both easier to make and healthier to eat.
By swapping out beef for chicken, this cottage is automatically less fatty, which I’m sure a lot of people will appreciate. It also has a seductively smooth sweet potato mash that is packing more nutrition than your regular run-of-the-mill mash.
Ditch the traditions, and give this righteous recipe a try, you won’t be disappointed.
16. Butter Chicken Meatballs
There’s a reason why butter chicken is such a popular Indian dish both here in America, and across the world, and that reason is comfort.
Unlike a lot of Indian food that’s spiced to the nines, butter chicken is a creamy, and mild experience to taste. Don’t think that means it’s not big on the flavor front though, with cumin, turmeric, garam masala, paprika, and ground coriander all playing their part to make this dish delicious.
17. Avocado Burger With Chipotle Yogurt Sauce
We’re guessing you’ve had a burger with slices of avocado in it, there’s nothing new to report there. But, have you ever tried a burger with a pattie that’s rocking avocado chunks mixed through it? Yeh, us either. The chicken patties are a spicy bunch, flavored with chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, fresh cilantro, and garlic.
Smother the avo-infused patties with homemade chipotle yogurt sauce, and fill each bun with whatever you believe a burger to be – you’ve locked into a winning formula with this recipe.
18. Chicken Parmesan Lasagna
When in the family environment, it’s no secret, some meals are just more well-received than others. And this chicken parmesan lasagna will be accepted with open arms by the entire family.
Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, the writing is on the wall with this one, and it reads “instant classic in the making”.
Lasagna is another dish that’s typically all about the beef, but doesn’t it feel great to buck the beef-dominated trend and mix it up a little with chicken? We sure think so.
19. Chicken Burrito Bowls
Black beans, pico de gallo, crispy corn, brown rice, spiced ground chicken, fresh cilantro, lime wedges, and a creamy chipotle sauce? Yeh, you could say these burrito bowls bang.
They’re ideal as a light, Mexican-inspired meal, that skips on the tortillas but brings the heat. Make up a stacked batch and that’s your lunches for the week sorted. Or, serve them as a healthy dinner for the family, either way, this is fresh and inspiring food at its best.
20. Chicken Fajita Stuffed Peppers
Bell peppers are delicious at the best of times, but when you stuff them with a Tex-Mex style chicken fajita mix, well they just take you to a completely different place.
The filling features a desirable lineup of beans, corn, onion, tomato, and green chilies, doused in a Mexican hot sauce like Tapatio or Cholula if so desired. Monterey Jack cheese has been called upon to give each of the stuffed peppers a crispy topping to entice and delight.
21. Firecracker Chicken Meatballs
You’ve caught us, that’s it, the jig is up – turning ground chicken into chicken meatballs may just be our favorite thing to do, and this firecracker recipe may just be our favorite to make. But, can you really blame us?
Chicken meatballs are so dang good at soaking up and retaining saucy flavors, and these fiery little balls do just that. Hot sauce, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, and red pepper flakes were sent to the trenches to give this firecracker sauce its tangy kick, and do you think they won? Of course they did.
22. Asian Ground Chicken Noodles
Simple ingredients, one pan, 20 minutes, you could be tucking into these chicken noodles tonight if you play your cards right.
Ramen noodles with chicken, chopped peanuts, mushrooms, bell peppers, and green onions is the kind of Chinese-American dish that no man, woman, or child can deny.
If you are making dinner for the kids, best go light on the sriracha to reduce the risk of them overheating and running for the milk.
23. Ground Chicken Tacos
If taco night is calling and you’re looking for a fresh taco recipe to mix things up and throw your family off a little, these ground chicken tacos are a very good shout. It’s another one-pan wonder meal that requires just 30 minutes of your time and a handful of easily sourced ingredients.
Ground chicken, radish, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, and corn are seasoned with taco seasoning and smoked paprika to offer a mildly spiced taco. Easy and pleasing, these chicken tacos are a big taco night hit in the making.
24. Korean Chicken Rice Bowls
If you’ve got the sauces at the ready, this Korean chicken rice bowl can be whipped up in a mere 15 minutes. That’s right, you read correctly, this is a 15-minute meal that leans on gochujang for its incredible taste.
A secret weapon of Korean cooking, Gochujang is a savory, sweet, and spicy red chili paste, that, your kitchen should already be stocking. Honey, soy, and sesame oil make up the rest of this spicy chicken and rice bowl’s sauce.
25. Greek Chicken Burgers
Mix up your weekly burger routine with this fabulous Greek chicken burger recipe. Stuff toasted pita pockets with mint-infused chicken patties, crumbly feta cheese, and a fabulous minty fresh yogurt dressing.
These Greek-inspired ingredients scream summertime outdoor dining and would become something pretty special if you managed to grill the patties. But frying them on a skillet works just fine too.
26. Rigatoni with Chicken And Broccoli Bolognese
Chicken and broccoli bolognese a top of rigatoni is a luscious dinner idea indeed. With no cream or sauce to speak of, this recipe has intentionally decided to keep things nice and light, which is a breath of fresh air in our books.
No need to worry about its taste either, with tarragon, flat-leaf parsley, chives, lemon zest, white wine, chicken broth, and red pepper flakes giving this dish a powerful flavor to remember.
27. Jerk Chicken And Mango Lettuce Cups
Lettuce cups are growing in popularity amongst health-conscious eaters as more and more people are purposefully choosing to skip on the carbs.
These Jerk chicken and mango lettuce cups are packed full of flavor, taste fresh as anything, and will have you feeling the heat of the tropical Caribbean. A 20-minute recipe that is putting the crunch back into lunch.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Ground Chicken Good For Your Diet?
Containing less fat and cholesterol than ground beef means that, yes, ground chicken is good meat to eat on a diet. It is also versatile, a solid source of protein, and super easy to prepare, which all bode well with dieting.
Is Ground Chicken Just Chicken?
Ground chicken that you buy ready-ground from the butchers or grocery store is typically ground from both the dark and white meat of the chicken, often with a little skin mixed in.
Sometimes you can request chicken breast to be ground from your local butchers if you so desire. You can also buy whichever whole pieces you like best and blend them into ground chicken yourself at home.
Is Chicken Breast Better Than Ground Chicken?
Chicken breast has the lowest fat content of all chicken parts. So if you’re looking for the leanest chicken to eat then the chicken breast is best. However, having a little more fat content means ground chicken is typically more flavorful than chicken breast.
Ground chicken is also more economical, versatile, and quick to cook. So it really depends on what you’re looking for as both chicken breast and ground chicken have their merits.
Summary
As is evidenced from the varied nature of the recipes above – ground chicken gets along with a whole bunch of meal types.
Quick to cook, easy to form, frugal to buy, and super delicious to eat, you really are missing a trick in the kitchen if you aren’t using ground chicken.
Slide it into a slider, slap it on a burger, turn it into meatballs, slow cook it in your favorite sauce – ground chicken will deliver. We hope this article has inspired you to ditch the beef and try a few new recipes that utilize the underrated ground meat of chicken.
The 27 Best Ground Chicken Recipes
Discover the versatility of ground chicken, with 27 of the best ground chicken recipes found online that are eclectic by design, and delicious by nature.
Ingredients
Directions
- Pick a recipe from the list above
- Click the recipe name and visit the website
- Collect the ingredients and cook the food
- Enjoy – don’t forget to leave a review
Recipe Video
Through this blog I hope to help others learn the basics and more intricate details of cooking. I know from personal experience how frustrating it can be to cook a meal, only to realize you are missing one ingredient from your list. This is why I love to write articles chatting readers through some great substitutes that can be used in an emergency.
I hope you will find this blog useful, and that it will help you to develop your culinary skills, to help you cook up a storm!
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Tuesday 3rd of December 2024
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