Spice Up Chicken Burgers By Adding Dijon To Your Panade

A homemade chicken burger comes together best when the ground poultry is combined with a panade. In case you don't know, a panade is a mixture of bread or breadcrumbs combined with dairy like mayonnaise or milk, and spices that pass on flavor and moisture to the meat. It also acts as a thickener to hold the patties together. A panade can be quite plain with basic ingredients, but why not add some extra condiments to kick things up a notch? For example, a bit of Dijon mustard will spice up your chicken burgers with a delicious tanginess.

Dijon mustard has a pungent kick and a touch of acidity that will add a mildly spiced finish to your chicken burgers. The condiment also helps the burgers stay moist with the rest of the panade, so the patties don't dry out in the pan. It's the secret ingredient in Tasting Table's garlic chicken burger recipe from recipe developer Jennine Rye. In the recipe, Rye combines Dijon mustard with breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, garlic powder, onion powder, and oregano. "It definitely works best as a flavor carrier in the cooked meat," she says.

You're probably already aware that Dijon mustard packs a kick, so it won't take very much to infuse the chicken burgers with flavor. In Tasting Table's recipe, Rye only uses 1 teaspoon of Dijon in the panade and ½ teaspoon in the garlic mayonnaise. Some other recipes use up to a tablespoon of Dijon, about three times the amount in our recipe. That's a good culinary decision so long as you aren't sensitive to heat or planning to use an overly-spiced sauce on top of the burgers. But you can really use a panade infused with Dijon mustard in any chicken burger recipe.

The mustard is incorporated into the panade with the other ingredients mentioned above, then combined with the ground chicken, salt, and black pepper. If you want the burgers to have more umami, swap the garlic powder with a bulb of roasted garlic. Since we're talking about spice, add a touch of cayenne pepper, chili powder, or paprika to take the heat to another level. All burgers are best with a few toppings; keep it simple with lettuce, tomato, and pickles or lean into the spice with pickled jalapeños or sliced cherry peppers. Increase the heat further with condiments like more Dijon mustard, chipotle mayo, or spicy ketchup instead of the garlic mayo in our recipe. It's all about how much spice you can handle in these moist, flavorful homemade chicken burgers.