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I can’t believe it – we only have one more week to go before the new school year begins! (I know for many of you living in other parts of the country – school already started weeks ago!)
It’s only a matter of time before the week is filled with all sorts work, school and after school activities – so easy and delicious meals like today’s Chicken Cakes will come very much in handy! They are made in advance, then chilled before cooking, so these delicious Chicken Cakes are perfect for those nights when you don’t have a lot of time to get dinner on the table.
Our Chicken Cakes are made in a similar style to a crab cake. We placed a mix of chicken breasts and thighs into the bowl of a food processor and processed the meat into small chunks. Then a mix of mayonnaise, eggs, cracker crumbs and lots of herbs and seasonings gives great flavor to the chicken mixture.
I will note that as my husband Jack developed this recipe, he tried a few different techniques to ensure that the recipe would result in the most flavorful and juicy Chicken Cakes. He found that the best method was to cook half the chicken mixture, then cool it before mixing with the rest of the uncooked chicken mixture. At that point, the mixture is formed into patties and chilled again before finally frying and serving. We found that this method was the best to avoid having outer edges over-cooked while the inner chicken was still undercooked.
This Chicken Cakes recipe makes a fairly big batch – so you’ll have enough to pack for lunch the next day, or for a dinner of leftovers. You could even freeze some of these Chicken Cakes to enjoy at a later date if you’d like.
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Chicken Cakes
We included both red pepper flakes and Tabasco sauce in the recipe which gives a gentle heat to the Chicken Cakes. If you don’t like the little bit of heat that these two add, feel free to eliminate one or both.
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup small diced red, yellow or orange bell pepper, but not green
- 1 cup small dice onions
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning such as Bells
- 2 tablespoons fresh garlic, minced fine
- ½ cup crushed Ritz crackers
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup fresh Italian flat leaf parsley chopped fine
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4 shakes Tabasco sauce (optional)
- ½ cup seasoned bread crumbs
- 2 whole eggs, beaten
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons oil for frying, divided
- 2 tablespoons butter for frying, divided
Instructions
- Place breast meat and thigh meat in a food processor and process until the meat is ground down to about pea sized pieces. Try not to over process. Divide the mixture in half.
- In a large sauté pan, melt butter and over medium heat, sauté peppers, onions, pepper flakes and poultry seasoning for four minutes. Add garlic and cook for one more minute.
- Add half of the ground chicken meat and stir and cook until cooked through, about three minutes. Set aside to cool completely.
- In a large bowl place crackers, mayonnaise, parsley, salt, pepper Tabasco, bread crumbs, eggs and mustard. Mix to combine.
- Add raw chicken and cooled mixture from sauté pan and mix.
- Form the mixture into 18 balls and press to a disc shape and place on a tray lined with parchment paper. Place in the refrigerator to firm up for at least 30 minutes
- Heat a large flat griddle pan over medium heat and add half the oil and half the butter. Once melted, place half the chicken cakes into the pan. Fry for about 3-4 minutes per side. Since we are dealing with raw chicken, I inserted a probe thermometer into the side of one of the cooked cakes to make sure it was at least 160 degrees F before removing to a platter. Repeat for second batch, cover loosely and let sit for five minutes to set up. As the cooked patties sit, there will be carry over heat which will bring these up to the safe temperature of 165 degrees F, as recommended by the USDA. This goes for all poultry.
- Alternatively, if you have two griddle pans or a large griddle you can cook all at once.
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Looks very yummy.
Thanks Cynthia! Hope you’ll give the recipe a try!
really loved this recipe as did my company. question, if I wanted to freeze would it be best before or after grilling?
Hi – I’d suggest freezing them in patties before the final cooking step.
Would you be able to use ground ham? Instead of getting hams back when we process a hog we get ground ham. Hard finding good recipes.
Hi Sherry – I’ve never cooked with ground ham! Assuming it’s similar to ground pork and uncooked, I think it would work! Please let us know how it comes out!
Could you cook the patties the final time on a charcoal grill?
Hi Sandy – Because it is so lean, we find that ground chicken sticks quite a bit to a charcoal or gas grill. You can try it – and definitely oil your grill grates if you do – but I think you’ll see the best results in a skillet.
I make “fake” crab cakes with leftover or rotisserie chicken ( juicier than leftover)
Lemon zest , juice & old Bay are key. But this recipe shines . I can’t wait to make them
Jay
Thanks Jay! Your version sounds delicious!
This is very good but I made several changes that made it much easier and faster. First of all, I used white breast meat that was fully cooked and flaked. I added all the other ingredients and stirred together. Formed into patties and fried in small amount of butter until golden. It wasn’t necessary to precook the peppers and onions because these chicken patties were delicious.
Thanks for sharing Jan!
I made these for dinner tonight, but used ground chicken because that is what I had. Also left out the bell peppers (I am picky and don’t like them). They were delicious! My family loved them! Frozen and half of them already shaped and will bring them out another night for a super fast dinner.
So glad you all enjoyed the recipe Erin!
Do you serve these with any kind of sauce?
Hi Amy – They are delicious plain, with barbecue sauce, or you could serve it with a dollop of mayonnaise (there are some delicious flavored mayonnaise options) or even tartar sauce. Enjoy!
I have just mixed the mixture together and it is to wet. Can I add more bread crumbs and where did I go wrong tks
Hi Linda – Without being in your kitchen it’s difficult to tell where you went wrong – but yes, feel free to add more bread crumbs. Hope that helps!
Love see good food too fix on line, Thanks looking forward to seeing more
Thank you Kathy – we’re glad you found us! Hope you enjoy the recipes!