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Tandoori Chicken Burger

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Although you can make this tandoori chicken burger from scratch, it is also an excellent way to use up leftover tandoori chicken.

If you have been following my blog for a while, you’ll know I have a lot of different tandoori chicken recipes. From tandoori chicken legs to tandoori chicken tikka and even air fryer tandoori chicken. All of these will work well in thid tandoori chicken burger. 

Tandoori chicken burger

About this recipe.

When you cook as much tandoori chicken as I do, you end up having a lot of leftover tandoori chicken. Often I give it away to friends and family but every now and then, I make one of these tandoori chicken burgers. 

This is an excellent recipe for using up leftover tandoori chicken. Which recipe you use for the tandoori chicken doesn’t really matter but you might like to try one of these… tandoori chicken legs, chicken tikka, sheet pan chicken tikka, air fryer whole chicken, air fryer chicken legs, and/or air fryer chicken tikka.

Once you have your chicken cooked, you are ready to get started.

What if you don’t have any leftover chicken?

I’ve got you covered there too. Just whip up some of this stovetop chicken tikka and you’re ready to go. Although it is best if you take some time to marinate the chicken first, you don’t have too. There are plenty of other delicious flavours in this tandoori chicken burger!

Once you have your chicken cooked, just shred it by hand and carry on with the recipe. 

Do you need to follow this recipe exactly?

No. It’s not that kind of recipe. I’m a big fan of tandoori chicken burgers and I make them the way I like them.

That means I always add a bit of heat in the form of chillies and even homemade sambal oelek which really gives the burger a nice spicy kick.

Go ahead and add what you want to your tandoori chicken burger. The only essential ingredients are the tandoori chicken and the cheese which helps keep it all together but even the cheese could be left out if you don’t want it. 

How do you fry the onions for the topping?

To make the fried onions you see in the photos below, you just need to fry either roughly chopped or sliced onions over a medium heat in butter or ghee.

The whole process takes about 10 minutes. Take them off the heat when they turn a golden brown and are nicely caramelized. 

In this case, the onions were leftover from this tandoori chicken recipe where I used them as a bed for the chicken before serving. 

How long can you store tandoori chicken in the fridge?

Whichever chicken recipe you decide to make for this tandoori chicken burger, you can keep it, covered in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.

Then just take it out, gather the toppings you want and go to town with it. 

Do you have to use American cheese slices?

As I mentioned above, nothing is in stone here. If you want to use another cheese, go for it. Personally, when I make burgers I almost always use American cheese slices. That’s right… the plastic cheese most people say they hate.

I don’t hate it so I use it. The cheese you use is up to you. 

Step by step photographs.

Ingredients for the recipe.

Get all your ingredients together before you start cooking. This time I set out enough for two burgers.

Toasting the buns for the burger.

To start, toast the buns over a medium heat with butter until golden brown. Set aside.

Heating two mounds of shredded chicken on a tawa over medium heat.

To make your first burger, take a couple of mounds of shredded chicken and place them on a lightly greased pan over a medium heat. Top with fried onions if you like.

Topping the tandoori chicken mounds with American cheese slices.

Top each mound of chicken with American cheese slices.

Covering the chicken mounds with a burger dome. You can do this with a pan lid too.

Cover the chicken and cheese mounds with a burger dome or a pan lid. This will help heat them through and melt the cheese.

Making the burger sauce.

To make the burger sauce as I do, whisk the mayonnaise, tandoori masala paste, coriander and lime juice together.

Topping the bottom bun with the burger sauce and the top bun with sambal oelek.

Slather the bottom bun with the smooth burger sauce. If you like it spicy, apply sambal oelek to the top bun.

Adding the top bun to one of the chicken and cheese mounds.

When the cheese is melted and the chicken is almost heated through, top one of the mounds with the top bun and cover again to steam and soften. Turn off the heat.

Adding lettuce and pickled chillies to the bottom bun.

Add lettuce and pickled jalapeño to the bottom bun.

Adding one of the mounds of chicken and cheese to the bottom bun.

Carefully transfer one of the mounds of chicken and cheese to the bottom bun.

Topping the burger with the other mound of cheese and chicken with the top bun.

Then add the remaining chicken and cheese mound along with the soft, steamed bun.

Tandoori chicken burger served on a serving plate.

This is a messy one but it’s also amazing!

Tandoori chicken burger

Just look at that!

Eating the tandoori chicken burger. Side view of the burger.

Enjoy!

 

Yield: 2

Tandoori Chicken Burger

Tandoori chicken burger

The perfect way to use up leftover tandoori chicken! This recipe is so good. Follow my instructions exactly for my favourite version or change it to your liking.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4 burger buns, sliced down the middle
  • 1 tbps butter or ghee
  • 320g shredded tandoori chicken
  • 1 -2 tbsp sambal oelek
  • 8 American cheese slices
  • FOR THE SAUCE
  • 3 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 1 tbsp tandoori masala paste
  • Juice of one lime
  • 2 tbsp coriander (cilantro), finely chopped
  • TO GARNISH
  • Shredded lettuce (as much as you like)
  • 10 pickled jalapeño slices
  • Fried onions (see instructions above)

Instructions

  1. Heat a pan over a medium heat and add the butter. Toast the buns for a few minutes until golden brown. Set aside.
  2. Now to make the first tandoori chicken burger, divide all the shredded chicken into four equal mounds. Add two to the pan. If using fried onions, add the onions on top of the shredded chicken mounds.
  3. Cover it all with a burger dome or the lid to your pan. This will help heat the chicken and melt the cheese which will take about 3 to 5 minutes.
  4. Meanwhile, whisk the sauce ingredients together. Spoon a generous amount over the bottom bun. If you want a spicy kick, add sambal oelek to the top bun.
  5. Add a good handful of shredded lettuce and a few pickled jalapeño slices to the bottom bun. Place the top bun on top of one of the chicken and cheese mounds. Cover again and let the bun steam and soften for a minute or so.
  6. Transfer the chicken mound without the bun to the bottom bun. Then carefully lift the mound with the bun with a spatula and place it on top. Repeat to build the next burger.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

2

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 1077Total Fat: 63gSaturated Fat: 25gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 33gCholesterol: 212mgSodium: 4276mgCarbohydrates: 77gFiber: 9gSugar: 21gProtein: 51g

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