Parmesan and Herb-Crumbed Chicken Burgers

SERVES 4

PREP TIME 10 minutes

COOK TIME 12 minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 4 pieces cooked Parmesan and herb‑crumbed chicken (see below)
• 4 burger buns, halved
• butter
• 1 avocado, mashed
• ¼ red onion, very thinly sliced
• 2 tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 2 cups mixed lettuce leaves, washed and dried
• reserved Yoghurt sauce (see cookbook)

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Place the chicken pieces onto a baking tray and heat in the oven for 12 minutes (see note).
3. Arrange burger buns on another baking tray. Spread cut sides with butter and place into the oven for 5 minutes.
4. To assemble the burgers, spread the avocado over the bottom halves of the burger buns. Top with chicken, onion, tomato and lettuce. Spread yoghurt sauce on the inside of the top halves of the burger buns and place on top of the burgers. Serve immediately.

NOTES

• Power‑pair prep – reheat your crumbed chicken to an internal temperature of 75°C (for food safety), using the following timings as a guide.
  • Cooked and frozen crumbed chicken:
    Oven: 20 minutes at 180°C
    Air‑fryer: 10 minutes at 180°C
  • Cooked and refrigerated crumbed chicken:
    Oven: 12 minutes at 180°C
    Air‑fryer: 7 minutes at 180°C
• Dairy‑free option – when making the crumbed chicken, omit the parmesan. Use a dairy‑free natural or Greek yoghurt (I like to use an unsweetened, natural coconut yoghurt). Use dairy‑free butter instead of regular butter.
• Gluten‑free option – use gluten‑free buns or make a deconstructed burger without the buns.
• Fussy eaters – leave out the red onions, or serve the burger deconstructed.

Parmesan and Herb-Crumbed Chicken

Everyone needs a crumbed chicken recipe in their repertoire. While it may take a little time to put together, crumbed chicken can be used in so many ways. This recipe makes enough to serve dinner to a family of four for two nights. Follow the power pair recipes or cook half the crumbed chicken for dinner and freeze the remaining half for an easy night later down the track when you don’t have much time.

SERVES 8

PREP TIME 35 minutes

COOK TIME 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 4 chicken breast fillets (about 1 kg),halved horizontally
• 1/3 cup (50 g) cornflour
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup (75 g) panko breadcrumbs
• 1/3 cup (25 g) finely grated parmesan
• small handful flat‑leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon sea salt flakes
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• extra virgin olive oil spray

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Lightly grease two large baking trays with olive oil and set aside.
2. Place 2–3 pieces of chicken between two sheets of baking paper. Use a meat mallet or rolling pin to pound the pieces so that they are evenly about 5 mm thick. Transfer to a plate and repeat with the remaining chicken.
3. Place the cornflour into a wide shallow bowl. Crack the eggs into a second wide shallow bowl and whisk to combine. Combine the breadcrumbs, parmesan, parsley, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, thyme and some freshly ground black pepper in a third wide shallow bowl.
4. Take one of the chicken pieces and dip into the cornflour. Coat evenly and shake off the excess. Dip into the egg and then into the bread crumb mixture. Turn to coat evenly and gently press the breadcrumbs onto the chicken. Place onto the prepared baking tray. Repeat to crumb the remaining chicken. Be sure to leave some space between each piece of chicken on the baking trays.
5. Spray the crumbed chicken lightly all over with the olive oil spray. Bake for 10 minutes. Swap the top tray to the middle and the middle tray to the top so that the breasts cook evenly. Cook for another10 minutes or until golden brown.

NOTES

• Power‑pair prep – if making as part of the power pair, serve half the chicken alongside the Slaw with yoghurt sauce (see cookbook), reserving half the yoghurt sauce. Save the remaining half of the sauce and chicken for the Parmesan and herb‑crumbed chicken burgers – you can store the cooked crumbed chicken in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days and reheat as per the instructions in the recipe.
• Alternative method – if you’d prefer this fried, heat ¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Cook in batches of two for 2–3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown and cooked through. If they are cooking too quickly, turn the heat down to medium‑low. For thicker breasts you will need to fry for longer. Top up the olive oil in the pan between batches if necessary.
• Dairy‑free option – don’t add the parmesan to the crumb mixture.
• Gluten‑free option – use gluten‑free breadcrumbs instead of panko breadcrumbs.
• Fussy eaters – serve the crumbed chicken with some ‘safe’ vegetables like carrot sticks, cucumber sticks, sliced tomatoes, sliced avocado or peas, alongside a small amount of the slaw for your child to try.
• Storage – raw, crumbed chicken breasts can be stored in the freezer for up to 6 months. Place in large freezer bags or in a large freezer‑safe container with sheets of baking paper in between the layers of crumbed fillets. Thaw completely in the fridge before cooking – they will take around 6 hours to thaw and you can do this up to 24 hours before cooking.