Red Pepper Feta Chicken Patties with Olives

Juicy and flavorful chicken patties made with feta, roasted red pepper, black olives and fresh herbs. These Mediterranean-style chicken patties cook easily in a skillet or on the grill and are ideal for burgers, bowls, or plates.

I love making these red pepper feta chicken patties for meal prep. They're so easy and versatile. I make a batch on Sunday and then keep them in a container in the fridge, add to meals as the week goes.

The best combo is Mediterranean rice bowl with rice, usually plain basmati but sometimes Mediterranean vegetable pilaf or chickpea and sun dried tomato basmati. They are also great as Greek-Style Chicken Burgers.

And did I say they're easy to make? There's a little bit of chopping involved (especially if you make them using whole chicken thighs) but then it's just shaping and cooking.

These aren't traditionally Greek at all but I made them with Greece in mind and really feel like they are a little taste of Greece.

Ingredients

Chicken: Ground chicken is more convenient but if you have chicken thighs and some time, a coarser grind really gives them a better texture. You can either finely dice or use a meat grinder with the largest grinding plate you have. Bonus is if you cut the meat yourself you'll know it's all juicy thigh instead of unknown. Not to say ground chicken isn't also perfectly good, it is: it makes a smoother patty that's especially well-suited to chicken burgers.

Red onion: Adds sweetness and flavor. Red onion is a bit sharper and ideal for Greek flavor, but you can sub other onions if that's what you have.

Garlic: No Greek-inspired flavor profile would be complete without garlic.

Roasted red pepper: Roasted red pepper is sweet, slightly briny and very wet which brings a nice sweet but tangy flavor as well as moisture. If all you have is fresh red pepper then I suggest you precook it, finely dice and add a squeeze of lemon to balance out the sweetness.

Feta: Adds moisture and a complex briny salty flavor.

Kalamata olives: Adds briny saltiness, savory umami and tang. Kalamata olives are especially good because they are strongly flavored and lower moisture.

Fresh or dried herbs: Fresh herbs are key. You can use any combination of fresh mint, fresh parsley, fresh dill and fresh cilantro (not Greek but it goes). Use any or a mix of all. If you don't have fresh then substitute dry mint and dill at least for maximum flavor boost.

Dry seasonings (oregano, black pepper, salt): Oregano is key to the Greek flavor profile. Salt and pepper round things out.

Instructions

Step 1: Cut & Mix

Everything has to be diced up super fine so the ingredients bind together enough to keep their shape while cooking. The protein in the chicken is sufficient (i.e. no eggs necessary) provided everything is cut very small.

If you're starting with whole chicken thighs, they will also need to be ground or cut very fine - no piece should be larger than a green pea.

The below gives you an idea of the texture of the patty mix using ground chicken versus chicken thighs cut by hand.

Step 3: Shape

Once the mixture is cohesive, you can shape the patties either free-hand or using a ring mold for extra precision.

A ring mold is especially nice with the ground meat mixture for burgers. When making burgers with this mix, I use a 13 cm / 5 inch ring mold to make slightly wider and thinner patties that maintain a good size once cooked (no shrinking into little pucks).

If you're making patties to go with plates or rice bowls then free hand works great.

Step 3: Cook

You can cook the patties either in a skillet or on a grill. If using a skillet, pour a bit of oil in to prevent sticking and get a nice golden tone.

Whether you cook in a skillet or on a grill, cook the patties over medium heat for 4-5 minutes per side, turning once, until well browned and cooked through with internal temperature of 75 °C / 165 °F.

Allow to sit for 5 to seal in juices before cutting.

Serving Suggestions

These chicken patties are great either as burgers (for example Greek-style chicken burgers) or as a component of Mediterranean rice bowls.

For rice bowls they go well with simple basmati, Mediterranean Rice with Chickpeas and Sun Dried Tomatoes or Mediterranean Vegetable Pilaf.

Recipe

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