Caprese Stuffed Chicken Burger with Fresh Mozzarella and Balsamic Glaze

Fresh Mozzarella is my second favorite food, and Caprese salad is something that I crave all the time. We just got a new burger press for making stuffed burgers and I knew I wanted to make a Caprese stuffed chicken burger!

The burger press is easy to use and it just makes sense for making regular burger patties and stuffed burgers like my caprese stuffed chicken. I usually shy away from making hamburgers at all, because I can’t stand getting my hands that messy.

This burger press takes a lot of the hamburger-making mess away and the larger side of the press makes for perfectly round, perfectly sized hamburger patties. The smaller side of the press creates a pocket for anything you want to stuff inside your burger.

For my Caprese stuffed chicken recipe I used ground chicken breasts and stuffed them with fresh mozzarella cheese and basil. You can see above that the burger press makes a flat ground chicken burger patty and nice ridges on the side to hold the fillings in. More ground chicken went on top and the wider side of the press sealed the burger together.

One tip for lean meats like ground white chicken, turkey or extra-lean beef–use nonstick cooking spray all surfaces of the burger press that will come into contact with the meat.

Because of the low fat content, the burger won’t easily slide out of the press without giving it a slippery surface. The first burger was a challenge, but the rest that I made worked perfectly after spraying the burger press. 

Caprese Stuffed Chicken Burger with Fresh Mozzarella and Balsamic Reduction Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 pound fresh ground chicken
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped and separated
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 8 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced and divided into 3 equal portions
• 8-10 fresh basil leaves, chopped into ribbons
• 1-3 fresh tomatoes, chopped (I used 2 roma tomatoes)
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 3 ciabatta rolls or rustic dinner rolls, split.
• Homemade Balsamic vinegar reduction (or a Balsamic glaze like Blaze).
• Nonstick cooking spray

Instructions:

1. Mix the chopped tomatoes, olive oil, half the basil and one clove of garlic. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
2. Mix the ground chicken, poultry seasoning and one clove of garlic in a bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Divide the chicken mixture into 3 equal portions. Break off 1/3 of each of those parts. The 2/3 size will be the bottom of the burger. The 1/3 will be the top.
4. Spray a stuffed burger press with nonstick cooking spray.
5. Put a 2/3 portion of the chicken into the bottom of the burger press and press down with the wide end to make a circle patty.
6. Flip the burger press over and use the stuffed burger side to make a nice pocket for the filling.
7. Place 1/3 of the fresh mozzarella and a pinch of basil ribbons to the pocket in the chicken patty.
8. Put the remaining 1/3 portion of chicken on top of the filling and press with the wide end of the burger press to make a perfectly-formed stuffed burger.
9. Slide the burger out of the burger press and grill on a cast iron grill on medium/medium low for 8-10 minutes on each side until the burger reads with an internal temp of at least 165 degrees.
10. Place the burger on the bottom of a roll. Drizzle with balsamic glaze and top with 1/3 of the tomato mixture. Add the top of the roll and serve.