Gluten-Free Crispy Chicken Burger – a hard-to-find fast food meal

This is one dish I struggle to find gluten-free in many restaurants or takeaway places. Between the burger bun and the chicken coating, it seems to be too difficult to find this as a gluten-free option.

If you are like me and miss enjoying a decent fried chicken burger every now and then, then you are going to love this recipe. The chicken is so crispy and packed with flavour, while the chicken meat remains moist and tender.

You can choose to make this chicken burger either mild or extra-spicy using my easy homemade gluten-free hot sauce. If you preparing these burgers for children, perhaps leave out the hot sauce altogether.

 

Gluten-Free Burger Buns

I often make most gluten-free food from scratch, but on this occasion, I buy gluten-free burger buns out of convenience.  Whenever I come across gluten-free burger buns, I buy them in bulk and freeze most of them to be used for sandwiches, beef burgers, bacon “butties” or fish finger buns. They defrost quickly in a warm oven or the air-fryer.

Planning ahead and coming soon, I am still testing a good gluten-free burger bun recipe for those who would like to bake homemade buns. 

An adobe photo of a gluten-free crispy chicken burger
two gluten-free crispy chicken burgers with some coleslaw in a striped cup behind them

Gluten-Free Crispy Chicken Burger

by Sandra - Fun Without Gluten
Nothing beats an indulgent crispy spicy chicken burger! This is a hard-to-find fast food meal, but you can bring it to your kitchen by following this recipe to make this popular burger.
The chicken is crumbed with a spicy buttermilk mixture and cornflour, fried briefly and crisped up in the oven with a hot sauce glaze.
A sour cream sauce is added to the burger buns, together with classic condiments of shredded lettuce and pickles.
4.80 from 5 votes
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 24 minutes
Chicken Marinating Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 54 minutes
Course Kids' Meals, Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 5 burgers

Ingredients
  

CHICKEN BURGER

  • 5 chicken thigh fillets, skin removed
  • 5 store-bought gluten-free burger buns (I used Weizen-Frei, an Austrian brand)
  • ¼ lettuce head, shredded finely
  • 4 medium sweet pickles, sliced lengthways
  • 6 fresh chives stems, snipped finely
  • sunflower or vegetable oil, for frying

Chicken Marinade

  • ½ tbsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp white pepper
  • 2 tbsp store-bought or homemade hot sauce
  • ½ tbsp lime juice
  • 2 tbsp fresh parsley leaves, chopped finely
  • 2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, chopped finely

Crumbing the Chicken

    Bowl #1

    • 150-200 g cornflour Known as cornflour in the UK and corn or maize starch in the USA
    • ½ tbsp cayenne pepper
    • ½ tsp salt
    • ½ tsp white pepper

    Bowl #2

    HOT SAUCE GLAZE

    SOUR CREAM SAUCE

    Instructions
     

    CHICKEN BURGER

      Chicken Marinade

      • Prepare the marinade by mixing all the listed ingredients in a medium glass or ceramic bowl. Add the chicken thigh fillets to the marinade. Cover and chill for at least one hour. Overnight is ideal.
        Prepare the marinade by mixing all the listed ingredients in a medium glass bowl. Adding the chicken thigh fillets to the marinade.

      Crumbing the Chicken

      • Mix the crumbing ingredients for bowls #1 & #2. Set them aside.
        Mixing the crumbing bowls for the chicken burgers
      • For each chicken, drain the excess marinade off the chicken.
        For each chicken, draining the excess marinade off the chicken
      • Transfer it to bowl #1 of cornflour mixture, patting it and turning it often.
        Transferring it to the bowl #1 of cornflour mixture, patting it and turning it often.
      • Lift the chicken to bowl #2 of the buttermilk mixture and submerge it entirely in the liquid, then drain any excess liquid by holding it over the bowl with tongs.
      • Return the chicken to bowl #1 of the cornflour mixture and repeat patting it and turning the chicken in the mixture. This extra cornflour coating is what gives the chicken its special crunchiness.
        Returning the chicken to bowl #1 of the cornflour mixture

      HOT SAUCE GLAZE

      • Heat all the hot sauce and butter in a small pan, mixing occasionally. Once the butter has melted, keep the sauce warm over a low heat until all the chicken has been fried.

      Frying & Baking the Chicken

      • Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.
      • Heat a large heavy-bottom frying pan over medium-high heat. Pour 5 cm of sunflower or vegetable oil into the pan.
      • Once all the chicken pieces have been crumbed, place them in the preheated pan and fry for 6 to 8 minutes on each side, or until crispy and golden. Do this in several batches so not to overcrowd the pan. The chicken will fry better if it has room in the pan.
        Frying the chicken burger fillets
      • When all the chicken pieces are golden and fried on both sides after 12 to 16 minutes, remove the chicken and allow them to drain on crumpled baking paper. Paper towels will make the chicken soggy.
      • Transfer the fried chicken to a baking tray and brush the tops with the hot sauce glaze.
        Brushing the chicken pieces with the hot glaze
      • Bake in the oven for 8 minutes, turning over halfway and brushing with more glaze.
        Baked in the oven for 8 minutes, turning over halfway and brushing with more glaze.

      SOUR CREAM SAUCE

      • Mix all the sour cream sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. Set aside.

      Serving

      • Split the burger buns and heat them up in the oven for a few minutes.
      • Spread the sour cream sauce on the bottom bun.
      • Add the shredded lettuce, followed by the crispy chicken
      • Top with more sour cream sauce, sliced pickles and fresh chives.
      • Place the top bun over the assembled chicken burger and serve immediately.
        Assembling the crispy chicken burger with all the condiments.

      Notes

      • Keeps for 2 days
      • Unbreaded chicken fillets can be frozen in the marinade sauce
      • Reheat any leftover chicken burgers in a moderate oven for 10 minutes. Cover with foil and then remove the foil to crisp up during the last few minutes of reheating
       
      SIDES
      Serve with coleslaw, fries and/or corn-on-the-cob.
       
      Keyword gluten-free american, gluten-free chicken burgers, gluten-free fakeaway, gluten-free fast food
      Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
      Please mention @fun_without_gluten or tag #funwithoutgluten!

      To make these chicken burgers “kid-friendly”, simply leave out the hot sauce, cayenne pepper & paprika ingredients. Skip the “glazing” step.

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