Cheddar-Stuffed Ground Chicken Patty Recipe

While many fast food and store-bought chicken sandwiches come with a cheesy topping, developer Tess Le Moing had a different inspiration for her Juicy Lucy-style inside-out chicken patties. As she tells us, one of her favorite meals as a kid was homemade burritos made with frozen chicken burgers. " I thought it would be cool to make a homemade version," she says, explaining that moving the cheese to the middle of the patty makes for "a fun surprise."

While the tangy cheddar in these patties helps offset the richness of the mayonnaise, a different cheese such as spicy pepper jack, smoky gouda, or Swiss could also work well in this recipe. Make sure it comes in a block, though, since it takes nice thick cubes to make the melty, gooey centers.

Scratch-made chicken patties taste so much better than the store-bought kind, but of course, they're a bit more time-consuming. You can always save time by preparing them a day in advance or making a double batch so there'll be plenty of extras for freezing.

These patties are made with ground chicken seasoned with garlic powder, onion powder, and salt and held together with egg and mayonnaise. The patties are then wrapped around chunks of cheddar before being dipped in flour and panko breadcrumbs. (Regular breadcrumbs may be substituted if necessary, though the coating may be less crunchy.) As the final step, the patties are fried in peanut oil.

In a mixing bowl, combine ground chicken, 1 beaten egg, panko, mayonnaise, onion powder, garlic powder, and salt.

Meanwhile, set up a dredging station in three separate shallow bowls: One with the flour, one with the remaining egg (beaten with 1 tablespoon water), and one with the remaining panko.

Divide the chicken mixture into 6 equal portions.

Wet your hands and encase each piece of cheese with one portion of chicken mixture to form a patty.

Dredge each patty in the flour, then dip in the egg, and then coat in the breadcrumbs.

Heat the peanut oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat until it shimmers.

Add the patties to the pan, working in batches, and brown on each side, about 1 minute per side.

Transfer the chicken patties to a paper towel-lined plate.

Let cool and serve.

These chicken patties would make a great base for chicken sandwiches — add some lettuce and tomato, try them topped with bacon and sauteed mushrooms, or go southwestern-style with guacamole and salsa. No need to add extra cheese, though, since there's plenty of that inside. If you're going the sandwich route, fries or chips would be a classic side, as would a bowl of tomato soup (it pairs nicely with both chicken and cheese). You could also wrap the patties in flour tortillas to make burritos, in which case refried beans, chips with queso, or homemade pico de gallo would all make excellent accompaniments.

If you enjoy chicken nuggets and tenders, try serving these patties with your favorite dips like ranch dressing, Buffalo sauce, or honey mustard. They could also make for a hearty, country-style entree topped with white or brown gravy and accompanied by cheesy loaded mashed potatoes (here's a recipe you can make in your Instant Pot).

If you would prefer not to fry these patties, you can bake them in the oven. Before you dip them in breadcrumbs, though, mix the panko with a tablespoon or two of oil to help the coating brown. If that's too much oil for you, you can just give them a light spritz of cooking spray instead. Preheat the oven to 400 F, then cook the patties for 20 to 25 minutes until they turn golden brown.

You can also use an air fryer for cooking. In this case, set it to 375 F and cook the patties for 10 to 12 minutes, flipping them halfway through. You may need to bake them in batches since they should be spread out in a single layer rather than piled on top of each other to fit in the basket.

If you freeze any leftover patties, it's best to reheat them in the oven (10 to 15 minutes at 350 F) since using a microwave might make the breading soggy. You could also reheat them by frying them in oil for two to four more minutes. In either case, there's no need to thaw the patties first.