economie

I tried Martha Stewart’s green-chile chicken burgers. The recipe only called for 6 ingredients but was anything but simple to make.

October 12, 20240
The ingredients included ground chicken, green chiles, cumin, salt, and pepper.

Terri Peters

These patties, which call for cilantro and green chiles, are far from your average cheeseburger. I began by gathering the ingredients, which included ground chicken, cumin, diced green chiles, cilantro, salt, and pepper.

The recipe also called for a beefsteak tomato, sesame buns, sour cream, Dijon mustard, and lettuce for serving.

This combination of ingredients was outside my standard-burger comfort zone. Still, I gathered everything and did the necessary prep work, like draining the canned chiles, slicing the tomato, and chopping the cilantro.

I prepared the burgers exactly as instructed.
Even after an hour in the fridge, the green-chile chicken burgers seemed very wet.

Terri Peters

When I took them out of the fridge, the plate was covered in liquid that had seeped out of the burgers while they chilled. The patties themselves looked crumbly and wet and fell apart when I touched them.

After draining the juices in my sink, I tried refrigerating the patties for another hour in hopes of seeing them firm up. However, even after two hours of chill time, the burgers remained wet and mushy.

Grilling these chicken burgers was not an easy task.
I think some of the burger toppings, like the tomato slices, needed more time on the grill.

Terri Peters

Next, it was time to prepare the toppings. I followed the suggested two-minute grill time for the sliced tomatoes, but unfortunately, they didn’t get the dark, caramelized grill marks I’d have liked.

The heat time for the sesame buns also seemed off to me. The recipe said they’d only need to sit on the grill for about a minute, but this wasn’t enough time to fully heat the bread.

Though the buns got warm and toasty, I think they needed another minute or two on the grill.

The burgers looked beautiful, and one condiment was surprisingly good.
My family didn’t love these burgers, though they looked beautiful.

Terri Peters

I didn’t like many parts of this recipe, from the fall-apart chicken-burger mixture to the under-heated sesame buns. Still, my husband and I sat at the dinner table, puzzling over what we could do differently to improve the recipe.

If I attempted these burgers again, I’d add eggs and breadcrumbs to the ground-chicken mixture to help the patties stay together better.

I’d also add a sharp-cheddar cheese to the mix, which might help balance the acidity of the sour cream, mustard, chiles, and spices.