Wednesday, May 02, 2012

Greek Chicken Burgers with Tzatziki

A friend of mine recently recommended this Weight Watchers recipe for Greek Chicken Burgers with Tzatziki. I've renamed it because I left out the jalapeno (which makes it spicy) and used chicken instead of turkey.


I also subbed parsley for the cilantro because I've found that when I buy cilantro most of it goes to waste because I can't use it in other recipes the way I can with parsley. Use whichever herb you prefer. I ground my own chicken (directions below) since I usually have frozen chicken in the freezer and it takes almost no effort to make my own ground chicken at home. I also swapped the tzatziki recipe for the one I use for the Chicken Gyros.


Since the burgers are rather wet and sticky once they're formed, I wrapped each individually in wax paper and froze them for a few hours so they'd be easier to handle. You don't want them frozen solid, so make sure to only freeze them for 3 hours max and take them out at least an hour before you're going to cook them so they have a chance to thaw slightly.

I served the burgers in pocketless pita with sliced cucumber, tomato and red onion. Delicious!

Greek Chicken Burgers with Tzatziki
Modified from Weight Watchers

1 pound ground turkey breast or ground chicken*
1 zucchini, coarsely shredded on the large holes of a box grater
2 tablespoons onion, finely grated
2 tablespoons cilantro or parsley, finely chopped
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cucumber
12 ounces plain Greek yogurt
2 cloves garlic, grated
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
Splash of olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
Squirt of fresh lemon juice
Pita, for serving
Sliced tomato, for serving
Sliced cucumber, for serving
Sliced red onion, for serving

Combine the turkey, zucchini, onion, cilantro/parsley, oregano, salt and pepper in a bowl until well mixed. Shape into 4 patties. Wrap each patty individually in waxed paper and put in the freezer for up to 3 hours. Allow to thaw slightly before cooking.

Heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a large nonstick skillet (or cast iron) over medium-high heat. Add the burgers and cook until golden and cooked through, about 12 minutes, turning the burgers halfway through and adding the remaining 1 teaspoon oil to the pan after turning them.

To make the tzatziki sauce, peel and seed the cucumber. Shred the cucumber and then squeeze in a towel to get rid of as much excess moisture as possible. Mix together the yogurt, shredded cucumber, garlic, vinegar and lemon juice. Salt to taste. Refrigerate overnight, if possible, or at least 30 minutes for the flavors to meld.

Serve the chicken burgers in pita with sliced tomato, cucumber and red onion, with a dollop of tzatziki.

* To make your own ground chicken, chop partially frozen chicken breasts into small pieces and put in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse until coarsely chopped.
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14 comments:

  1. Looks delicious. I of course would probably double the jalapeno :)

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    1. Ha! You'd like these. They reminded me of the zucchini burgers you made for one of the swaps.

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  2. Wow, these look great! I've had great luck with WW recipes and I think I'll add these to a future meal plan!

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    1. Since I made modifications I don't know what the points are (and I don't do WW so I don't even understand how the points work), so check that out if you're on it.

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  3. These look amazing!!! Those pitas look divine. Hopefully I can find them in my market!!!

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    1. We had a tough time finding pocketless pita but now that we have I love it.

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  4. Yum...looks so good!! This makes me want to go get a gyro at lunch since I'm not at home to make one of these for myself!!

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  5. I have been making all kinds of sandwiches and entrees with tzatziki-it's so easy to make and yummy too. Your chicken burgers looks so good!

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  6. Made these tonight and they were great! Love how the zucchini makes the patties moist. And the tzatziki, well, what's not to love about that!

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    1. So glad you liked these! Anything with tzatziki is ok in my book.

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  7. The recipe calls for 2tsp of oil. In the directions it says to add 1/2 teaspoon and then the remaining 1/2 teaspoon. That only amounts to 1 whole teaspon of oil. Am I missing something?

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    Replies
    1. Sorry about that. I doubled the original recipe but forgot to double the instructions. I fixed it.

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