How to make Colm O'Gorman's crispy chicken burgers with barbecue sauce

"This is the kind of food that air fryers were invented for."

You will need two hands to eat this beautiful burger – it is gloriously messy and delicious. 

Golden panko-coated chicken fillets, layered with red cheddar cheese and lots of my luscious homemade barbecue sauce, served on a bed of fresh, crisp slaw in a brioche bun.

This is the kind of food that air fryers were invented for. Air fryers do not work with wet batters, but they cook anything coated with breadcrumbs brilliantly, so this is both delicious and much healthier than deep fried chicken fillets. 

If you do not have an air fryer, you can use an oven to cook the chicken instead. I share the method for that below.

You will find panko breadcrumbs in most supermarkets, but I always source mine in one kilo bags from an Asian supermarket as they cost a lot less. 

You will also find red pepper flakes in most Asian supermarkets, but if you cannot source any, you can leave them out or use some chilli flakes instead.

Crispy chicken burgers with barbecue sauce

recipe by:Colm O'Gorman

This is the kind of food that air fryers were invented for. Air fryers do not work with wet batters, but they cook anything coated with breadcrumbs brilliantly.

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 30 mins

Total Time

 45 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• Crispy chicken fillets:

• 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs

• Juice of half a lime

• ½ tsp ground ginger

• ½ tsp garlic salt

• 1 large egg

• 75g plain flour

• 100g panko dried breadcrumbs

• ½ tsp ground cumin

• ½ tsp onion powder

• 1 tsp red pepper flakes

• Olive oil spray

• Barbecue sauce:

• 2 cloves of garlic

• 125ml apple cider vinegar

• 175ml tomato ketchup

• 2 tbsp tomato purée

• 75g muscovado sugar

• 2 tsp smoked paprika

• 1 tsp ground black pepper

• 1 tsp flaky sea salt

• 1 tsp onion salt

• 1 tsp mustard powder

• 250ml water

• Slaw:

• ¼ white cabbage

• 1 large carrot

• 1 green chilli

• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• Juice of half a lime

• 1 tsp runny honey

• Pinch flaky sea salt

• To serve:

• 4 burger buns

• Sliced red cheddar

• Little gem lettuce

• 1 small red onion

Method

1. Open out the chicken thighs and remove any excess fat from the meat. Use a sharp knife to scrape any fat away, cutting away any larger pieces if necessary. Cut each thigh in half widthways to create eight roughly evenly sized pieces. Pop them into a bowl along with the juice of half a lime and half a teaspoon each of ground ginger and garlic salt. Stir to coat the chicken and let it marinade for at least 15 minutes.

2. While the chicken is marinating, make the barbecue sauce. Peel and finely grate the garlic. Pop it into a saucepan along with all the other ingredients. Heat over a high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves, then reduce to a simmer. Cook for about 20 minutes until it reduces to a thick sauce, about the same consistency as a ketchup. Keep an eye on the pot and stir it regularly to avoid the sugar in the sauce burning. When it is done, set aside to cool.

3. Coat the chicken. Crack the egg into a bowl and whisk it lightly. Put the flour into a wide bowl, a pasta bowl is perfect, and combine the panko breadcrumbs, cumin, onion powder, and red pepper flakes in another. Line the three bowls up on your countertop, with a plate at the end.

4. Working one piece at a time, toss the chicken first in the flour, coating it well and shaking off any excess. Next, dip the chicken in the egg, again coating it thoroughly. Finally toss it in the breadcrumbs, gently pressing in the breadcrumbs to ensure the chicken is evenly coated. Place the breaded chicken pieces on the plate as you go. When they are all prepared, spray each on both sides with a little olive oil. You only need a little oil, a few sprays on each side per piece of chicken will do it.

5. Pop the chicken into the basket of your air fryer, arranging them in a single layer, taking care not to crowd the basket so that they cook evenly. You can cook in batches if your air fryer is not large enough to cook the lot at once. Air fry at 190 Celsius for eight minutes, then turn the heat up to 220 Celsius and cook for another four to five minutes until the chicken is crisp and golden all over. If you have air fried in batches for the first eight minutes, you can do the final air fry in one basket. Just turn the chicken once halfway through the final fry to make sure it cooks crisply and evenly.

6. You can also cook the chicken in an oven if you do not have an air fryer. Preheat the oven to 200 Celsius and place the chicken on a nonstick oven tray. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes, turning once halfway through, until the chicken is golden and crisp. If you have a probe meat thermometer, use that to check the internal temperature of the chicken. Once it reaches 74 Celsius, it is done.

7. While the chicken is cooking, make the slaw. Wash and peel the carrot. Grate it using the coarsest face of a box grater. Finely shred the cabbage. Wash the chilli, remove the stalk, pith and seeds, cut it in half lengthways and finely slice it. Toss the cabbage, carrot and chilli together with the lime juice, olive oil, honey and salt. Wash a few leaves of little gem lettuce, about eight leaves is plenty. Peel and very thinly slice the red onion.

8. Lightly toast the buns. Arrange a few leaves of lettuce on the base of each bun. Pile on some slaw, and place one piece of chicken on top. Spoon on some of the barbecue sauce and add a slice of red cheddar. Layer another piece of chicken and more cheese on next, before spooning on more barbecue sauce. Finish with lots of thinly-sliced red onion and the lid of the burger bun.

9. Serve with more barbecue sauce and chips or a salad on the side.