These Nashville Hot chicken burgers pair lean ground chicken with a blend of dried peppers and spices to create juicy, flavorful burgers you’d never expect to be healthy. They are super easy to make and can be on the table in about 20 minutes.
Unlike traditional hot chicken that’s breaded and fried, these burgers barely have any carbs, leaving you plenty of room for a real bun and your favorite sides. But we’ll get to that in a minute.
How to Make Nashville Hot Ground Chicken Burgers
If you’ve made my chicken breakfast sausage or biscuits and sausage gravy, these spicy chicken burgers are very similar. All you need to do is mix a blend of spices together, season a pound of ground chicken, form burger patties, and cook a few minutes per side in a tablespoon of olive oil.
This creates a crisp, flavorful outer layer with a juicy and tender center.
Ingredients for Nashville Hot Seasoning
- cayenne pepper
- chili powder
- smoked paprika
- garlic powder
- black pepper
- crushed red pepper flakes
There’s plenty of wiggle room with this blend. These burgers are definitely on the spicy side, but they’re not unbearable like some Nashville hot chicken recipes.
If you are sensitive to spice and want to give these chicken burgers a go, you might cut the amount of cayenne pepper in half and omit the crushed red pepper flakes. And since the acidity from the pickles will help balance the heat, reduce the spices if you plan to omit pickles.
Note: In case you want something a bit more mild, check out my honey chipotle crispy chicken sandwiches.
Other Important Recipe Notes
You’re welcome to use another meat like ground turkey if that’s all you have on hand. The recipe calls for 97% lean ground chicken so if you use a fattier cut of meat, you might be able to reduce the amount of olive oil they’re cooked in. But I’d highly encourage using a small amount to let the magic happen with the spices.
I mention this in the recipe card below, but I used a 12-inch cast iron skillet. You can see in the recipe photos that the chicken burgers took up most of the pan.
If you use a smaller pan, you probably won’t be able to smash them as flat and will have thicker burgers. In that case, be sure to give the chicken burgers a bit more time to cook through.
The only other notes I’d add would be to let the chicken burgers rest after cooking and avoid cutting into them if possible. This will keep the burgers super juicy and prevent any drying out. And as always, don’t overcook them!
What to Serve with Your Spicy Chicken Burgers
Since each chicken burger has just 290 calories, you might have room for some extra fixin’s. My first thought for a great pairing would be the pickle slaw from my hot honey chicken burger bowls.
Need more ideas? Here’s a handful of my favorites:
- Garlic Parmesan Air Fryer Carrot Fries
- Wingstop Fries or Cajun Fries
- Ranch Potato Wedges
- Air Fryer Green Beans
- Crinkle Cut Fries
- Air Fryer Smashed Potatoes
Okay, you should be ready to roll. If you have a recipe question I missed, drop a comment at the bottom of this post. Hope you enjoy!
Nashville Hot Chicken Burgers
Ingredients
- 1 pound Ground Chicken, 97/3
- 1 Tablespoon 16g Olive Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Cayenne Pepper*
- 1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- 1 teaspoon Chili Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
For the Sauce
- 2 Tablespoons 30g Hot Sauce
- 2 Tablespoons 30g Water
- 1 Tablespoon 12g Dark Brown Sugar**
Buns and Toppings
- 4 Potato Rolls, or your choice of buns
- 12 Dill Pickle Slices
Instructions
- Lightly toast your buns in a skillet and set aside. Mix the sauce ingredients together and set aside.
- Mix the dry spices together in a small bowl. Season both sides of the ground chicken with the spice blend before dividing into 4 pieces, weighing about 4 oz each. Gently work the spices into the chicken while forming burger patties slightly larger than your buns.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat before adding the olive oil. Cast iron or stainless steel pans are ideal for searing the burgers. (Important: Turn the ventilation on high as the spices will create strong aromas and a bit of smoke as they bloom in the oil. Don't stand directly over the pan.)
- Once the oil is hot, add the chicken burgers to the skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes until nicely browned. Flip and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes until both sides are browned.
- Pour the sauce in the skillet around the burgers. As it thickens, flip the burgers, coating them in the sauce. Continue cooking until the burgers reach an internal temperature of 165ºF.
- Serve on the toasted buns with pickles. Optional: Top with a drizzle of your favorite chili oil or chili crisp.
This recipe is so good and easy. I’m a wimp with spicy so I didn’t use the red pepper flakes and I used about 1/3 of the cayenne pepper it and was the perfect spiciness for me.
These were delicious! I did add extra ranch seasoning and paprika on top for extra spice
I’m making these again tonight! I add a bit more red pepper chili flakes because I am a spice fiend. It is important to start on a medium heat as stated in the instructions because my first time making these, I did not. The spices on the patty burned pretty badly which in my case was overwhelming because I thought I was going to burn my whole apartment complex down 😂 if you follow the instructions-they are hard to mess up. And always delicious.
These are next level good! Some would dare say better than Popeyes! So easy and a much healthier option. I love having these with coleslaw!!!
Go make these. Now. The recipe is perfect as is. These do have a fair amount of heat, but the pickles really help (I was doubtful of the pickles but they really help the whole flavor). I served these with coleslaw and roasted broccoli.
I made these on the grill and wasn’t a huge fan. I think I lost some of the seasoning or maybe I’m just not a ground chicken fan. I wonder what it would be like with ground turkey instead.
PICKY BOYFRIEND APPROVED ✔️ I actually followed the directions to the tee and really wouldn’t change anything. I didn’t use all the sauce at the end but it was still good. I added mayo to mine to cool it down, and used sweet Hawaiian buns.
Made these the other day for my picky brother and he was obsessed. I ended up subbing turkey for chicken since it was cheaper (couldn’t really tell) and I doubled the amount of spices and made extra sauce with the leftovers after coating the turkey patties (which I’m glad I did because my brother put it on his sandwich and on everything else he ate for the next couple days!) I made this with the protein coleslaw (Mason’s recipe of course) and ended up putting it on my sandwich and it was amazing!
I cut the cayenne in half and also cut the brown sugar, and they were STILL delicious! I am for sure making this again. A dab of mayo on the bun along with pickles, a huge romaine lettuce leaf and tomato.. tasted better than a fast food spicy chicken sandwich- and without the stomachache. 😃
We loved these…they definitely have the Mason kick I love, so if you don’t like spice, you’ll want to cut back or add something like a Greek yogurt based ranch to dip in to help cut the heat. My 10 year old even loved them as is, though! 😊