31 Ground Chicken Recipes for Simple, Flavorful Meals
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These easy ground chicken recipes will quickly transform the pound of meat in your fridge into something flavorful and satisfying. Ground chicken can make herby meatballs, juicy dumplings, crispy lumpia, and hearty (healthy-ish) double-stacked burgers. The lean ground meat is also a perfect canvas for fragrant spice—perhaps from an unexpected source.
Below you’ll find our favorite ways to use ground chicken (ground breast meat and dark meat chicken mince) in tonight’s meal, whether you’re craving a mountain of pasta, a steaming bowl of soup, or chicken chili with all the fixings.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell1/30Freeform Chicken Meatballs With Carrots and Yogurt Sauce
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich2/30Double-Stack Mushroom and Chicken Cheeseburgers
We'd happily eat these double-stacked burgers any day. The secret to truly juicy, delicious chicken burgers? Make the patties with a mix of mushrooms and ground chicken for great texture and deep, earthy flavor. This is one of those dinner recipes you'll crave over and over.
Baxter Miller3/30Sloppy Joe Shirred Eggs With Spinach
Of course, most ground turkey recipes can also be made with ground chicken. If you have the option, go with dark meat poultry for this Sloppy-Joe-inspired sauce, which uses carrots and deeply caramelized onions for balanced sweetness. Eggs and garlicky spinach turn it into a meal, while a bit of Parmesan cheese completes the dish. Want to get ahead of the game? Make your onions in advance and freeze them.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Pearl Jones4/30West Indies Shepherd’s Pie
Looking for ground chicken recipes that taste like pure comfort food? Start with Brigid Washington’s take on shepherd's pie, which subs in ground chicken for the classic lamb and boosts the flavor with Angostura bitters, ginger, habanero chile, and fresh lime. The mashed potato topping, though? That stays.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Lillian Chou5/30Pan-Fried Chicken and Cabbage Dumplings
Hand-chopped chicken breast makes the juiciest dumpling filling, but you can substitute ground chicken breast or thigh meat. Fresh ginger, chopped scallions, sesame oil, and a tablespoon of chicken bouillon powder add lots of pizzazz. To crisp up enough for the whole family, you’ll need at least 20 circular wrappers.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne6/30Chicken Meatballs With Whipped Tahini and Arugula
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson8/30Herby Chicken Kofta Meatballs
This big batch of meatballs is inspired by kofta, the flavor-packed ground meat patties popular throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Stash them in your freezer so you always have the building blocks of a great low-carb meal.
Photo by Dan Perez9/30Broiled Eggplant Salad With Sumac Chicken and Pine Nuts
This eggplant salad from The Arabesque Table by Reem Kassis is topped with cumin- and black-pepper-scented ground chicken and sprinkled with tangy sumac.
11/30Chicken Zucchini Burgers
When you combine minced chicken with shredded veggies and a tangy Greek yogurt sauce, you get a remarkably juicy, hefty burger. A little hummus in the pita is a great addition.
Photo by Louise Hagger13/30Lumpia Ayam Sayur
We have a few essential tips for making these chicken and garlic spring rolls. First, consider doubling the batch—extras can be frozen before frying, so you can have a crispy snack on demand. Second, Let the filling cool completely before rolling the spring rolls; any warmth will make the dough difficult to handle.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton14/30Chicken Meatballs With Molokhieh, Garlic, and Cilantro
Molokhieh is often found at Middle Eastern grocery stores, but a blend of spinach and okra works well if you can't find the distinctively silky leafy greens. Just don't skip the crispy garlic topping.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, food styling by Judy Kim, prop styling by Nicole Louie17/30Ragù Paprikash
Food editor Kendra Vaculin reimagined the building blocks of traditional chicken paprikash in a ragu enriched with sour cream for tang and vibrancy and a serious scoop of Hungarian paprika for its warm but mild peppery flavor and vibrant color.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, food styling by Pearl Jones, prop styling by Marina Bevilacqua18/30Chicken-Bacon Smash Burgers
Photo by Alex Lau, Food Styling by Susie Theodorou19/30Sheet-Pan Chicken Meatballs and Charred Broccoli
This Japanese-inspired sheet-pan dinner, perfect for an easy weeknight meal, features a luscious, tangy sauce that’s drizzled all over the entire bowl. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top for a final flourish and serve with rice, quinoa, or cauliflower rice.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Thu Buser, Prop Styling by Sean Dooley20/30Cajun Chicken Gravy and Biscuits
If you are a fan of both biscuits and gravy and the foods of Southern Louisiana, you’ve met your match. Check the Cajun spice blend you use for salt and adjust your seasoning accordingly.
Photograph by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Mieko Takahashi21/30Basil Chicken Stir-Fry
Vigorously stirring the ground chicken with baking soda and water before cooking has a two-fold effect: The soda helps the meat brown and hold onto its juiciness while the water gives it a bouncier texture. After cooking, you’ll dash on a sauce of sambal oelek whisked with oyster sauce, fish sauce, and a bit of sugar for a savory-spicy flavor explosion.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Pearl Jones, Prop Styling by Beth Pakradooni23/30Laotian-Style Chicken and Rice Salad
A cousin of larb, this minced meat salad is based on Laotian naem khao. The main difference lies in the ratio of rice to meat. While the rice is traditionally deep fried, here it’s stir-fried into crispety, crunchety bits that get interspersed throughout the salad.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Spencer Richards, Prop Styling by Marina Bevilacqua24/30Cozy and Quick White Chicken Chili
Photo by Emma Fishman, food styling by Susie Theodorou, prop styling by Elizabeth Jaime25/30Chicken Seekh Kebabs
Often enjoyed as a roadside treat in Mumbai, these quick-cooking kebabs are very easy to make, but their flavor relies on distinctive Amul cheese (available at Indian grocers and online). If you’re willing to compromise, you can use cheddar. Either way, serve with mint chutney and flatbread.
Photo by Alex Lau, Prop Styling by Sophie Strangio, Food Styling by Susie Theodorou27/30Chicken and Rice Meatballs With Hummus
Making gluten-free meatballs is as easy as adding cooled cooked rice instead of bread to ground meat. Serve with a swoop of easy, creamy hummus and a simple, refreshing salad of thinly sliced onion, dill pickles, cucumbers, loads of parsley, and fresh lemon.
Photograph by Maria Be, food styling by Thu Buser, prop styling by Marina Bevilacqua28/30Spiced Chicken Burgers
Inspired by chicken tikka kebabs, these burger patties are enriched with cheese and get heat from green chiles and spice from ginger and garam masala. That cheese helps form a crust on the burgers’ surface, which chef Chintan Pandya calls the best part, for sure.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Ali Nardi29/30Chanko Nabe
A robust soup brimming with mixed vegetables and tons of protein in a rich broth, this one-pot stew is hearty without being heavy—it's a perfect winter meal.
Photograph by Emma Fishman, food styling by Micah Morton, prop styling by Dayna Seman30/30Crispy Chicken With Za’atar-Olive Rice
The big takeaway with this company-worthy ground chicken dinner is this: don’t break up the meat too much when frying. Big juicy golden-brown chunks make this one-pan meal super satisfying.
