Chicken Feta Burgers with Spinach
These irresistible Greek-inspired chicken feta burgers have feta crumbles and green olive tapenade mixed right into the patty for a juicy, flavorful sandwich. Extra feta and sautéed spinach on top take these sandwiches to the next level! This memorable sandwich is easy enough for a simple weeknight dinner and impressive enough for company!
Like my favorite sandwich recipes, burgers aren’t something I like to keep boring. My favorite gourmet turkey burger leaves people daydreaming about it for years. They just have so much potential, not only in the toppings and sauces you add but also in what the burgers are made of and flavorings mixed into the patty itself.
While beef and turkey are fairly common bases for burger patties, ground chicken is an underappreciated and surprisingly unique ingredient to use. Exceptionally tender with a buttery texture, ground chicken makes a burger that melts in your mouth.
This recipe is an extension of a burger I used to have as a kid; frozen chicken burger patties from Costco and a liberal coating of black and green olive tapenade on the bun. Clearly they made an impression because here I am still making and improving them thirty years later.
This time, I add green olive tapenade and crumbled feta right into the patties themselves for irresistible flavor throughout, topped with melty slices (yes, slices!) of feta, juicy sautéed spinach, and extra tapenade for a burger you won’t forget.
Ingredients
VIDEO: How to make chicken feta burgers
How to make chicken feta burgers
For full ingredients, quantities, and instructions, refer to the recipe card below.
Make the tapenade. Add all tapenade ingredients to a food processor and pulse until it's finely chopped throughout (image 1-2).
Prepare the chicken burger patties. Mix tapenade and crumbled feta into the ground chicken (images 3-4). The mixture may be sticky. You can add breadcrumbs if you'd like, but a bit sticky is okay. It'll work out when it cooks.
Divide into four even patties, just slightly larger than your buns to allow for shrinkage while cooking, and separate with parchment paper (image 5). The higher the fat content, the more the burgers will shrink.
Toast the buns, cook the burgers, and sauté the spinach. Spread the buns with butter and lightly toast them in the pan (images 6-8).
Cook the burgers for 5 minutes per side, adding sliced feta in the last couple minutes and covering the pan to help the cheese melt (images 9-10).
After removing the burgers, add spinach and sauté until wilted and bright green (images 11-12).
Assemble the burgers. Spread olive tapenade on the bottom bun and mayo on the top bun. Add a burger patty and a pile of wilted spinach (images 13-15).
What to serve with chicken burgers
A Mediterranean-inspired burger goes great with Greek-inspired sides — think pasta salads or cucumber salads. Here are some ideas!
More sandwich recipes you'll love
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Chicken Feta Burgers with Spinach
Print RecipeIngredients
For the green olive tapenade
- 5 oz Spanish olives pitted, no pimentos
- 5 oz Castelvetrano olives pitted
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 2 teaspoons capers
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
For the chicken burgers
- 1.5 lbs ground chicken lean
- 8 oz. feta cheese in a block, not crumbled
- ½ cup green olive tapenade divided, see above
- 5 oz. spinach
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 5 tablespoons butter softened
- 4 whole wheat hamburger buns
- mayonnaise
- kosher salt
Instructions
- Make the olive tapenade. Add Spanish and Castelvetrano olives, olive oil, lemon juice, capers, garlic, and red pepper flakes to a mini food processor. Pulse until finely chopped, scraping down the sides when necessary. Taste and add additional red pepper flakes if desired. You can keep it finely chopped or pulse further for more of a paste, if you want.5 oz Spanish olives, 5 oz Castelvetrano olives, 1-2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, 2 teaspoons capers, 1 clove garlic, 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Prepare the chicken burger patties. Add the ground chicken and 1/4 cup of olive tapenade into a medium bowl. Cut off ¼ of the block of feta and crumble into the bowl as well (about 1/2 cup crumbled, or 2 oz. by weight). Mix with a wooden spoon until evenly distributed. Depending on your specific chicken, the mixture may be sticky - you may add some breadcrumbs to soak up some moisture if desired, but don't worry if it's still sticky. It'll all work out when it cooks. Just use parchment paper to hold the patties in the meantime.Divide burger mixture into four equal parts and shape into burger patties slightly larger than the buns to allow for shrinkage during cooking. Use parchment paper between patties to keep them from sticking to each other.1.5 lbs ground chicken, 8 oz. feta cheese, ½ cup green olive tapenade
- Toast the buns. Preheat a skillet (I used cast iron) over medium heat. Butter the buns and toast them cut side down in the skillet until golden brown. Set the buns aside.4 whole wheat hamburger buns, 5 tablespoons butter
- Cook the burgers. Add 1 tablespoon of butter to the preheated pan and cook the chicken feta burgers for 5 minutes per side, or until internal temperature reaches 165℉. You can just the parchment paper to transfer the uncooked patties to the pan, and peel it off after placing the patty in the pan (see video if necessary).Slice remaining feta cheese into thin slices and add two slices to each burger in the last couple minutes of cooking. Cover the pan with a lid to help the cheese melt. Remove the burgers to a plate.5 tablespoons butter, 8 oz. feta cheese
- Sauté the spinach. Drizzle pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and add spinach and a pinch of salt. Sauté until just wilted but still bright green, about 1-2 minutes.5 oz. spinach, 1 tablespoon olive oil, kosher salt
- Assemble the burgers. Spread each bottom bun with 1 tablespoon of olive tapenade and each top bun with mayo. Add chicken burger with feta cheese to each bun and divide the spinach between the burgers.mayonnaise
- Enjoy! Serve burgers with cucumber tomato salad, Greek pasta salad, or your favorite sandwich side.
