Mac n Cheese Stuffed Burger

This one is naughty! So naughty and so good that you won’t believe that something this sinfully delicious can be created with very basic pantry and fridge staples. The basic ingredients are chicken mince and Mac n cheese. The flavourings, spices, herbs and sauces you can mix n match from whatever is available or what you prefer.

The basic idea stemmed from necessity. My daughters wanted their favourite weekend meal, chicken lasagna. The problem was that it’s nearly end of the month and I’m out of many basic ingredients. I had neither lasagna pasta strips, nor enough tomatoes and cheese to make the recipe. Still I promised them I would come up with something that had these basic flavours.

After rummaging for a while in the kitchen cabinets, fridge and freezer, I found chicken mince, macaroni, little bit of cheese and enough fresh vegetables to make burgers that had all the creamy, cheesy, gooey yumminess of Mac n cheese mingled with the juiciness meatiness of a big fat burger.

Thankfully, the kids found the idea so exciting that they asked me to make more of those as soon as they finished. Looks like we shall be indulging in these devilish delights quite often over the weekends. Minus the burger buns, the patties in themselves are complete lunch served with a salad.

This recipe makes four burgers but if you are super hungry or feeling super greedy, you can make two double decker burgers for a weekend brunch and then snooze for the rest of the day 😀

1/2 kg chicken mince
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons gram flour/besan
1/4 cup, chopped parsley/coriander
Salt to taste
Oil for shallow frying
3-4 cup uncooked macaroni
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon plain flour
4-5 tablespoons milk
1/2 cup cheddar/mozzarella cheese
4 round burger buns
1 tomato, sliced
1 onion, sliced and caramelised
4 salad leaves
Mustard sauce
BBQ sauce
Pickled jalapeños (optional)

Boil macaroni in salted water till done. Strain.

Add butter and flour to a sauce pan. Cook for a minute. Remove from heat. Add milk and whisk to make a thick sauce.

Season with salt and red chilli flakes. Add cheese and macaroni. Cook on low heat for 2-3 minutes till the cheese begins to melt. We want a very thick sauce completely coating the macaroni, not a liquid sauce at all because that would be difficult to stuff in the patties. Remove from heat, set aside.

Add garlic powder, cumin powder, red chilli powder, black pepper, salt, gram flour and coriander leaves to chicken mince. Pound in a mortar and pestle to mix or whiz in a food processor briefly.

Divide the dough like mince mix into four equal portions.

Spread out one portion on the palm of your hand. Place two tablespoonful of Mac n cheese in the centre. Bring the edges together to completely encase Mac n cheese inside the mince mix. This will make one fat burger patty.

Repeat with the rest of the ingredients to make 4 burger patties in total.

Lightly grease a griddle or nonstick frying pan. Cook the patties on medium high heat first on both sides for a minute to seal them.

Reduce heat to medium low and cook covered till done (5-7 minutes). Remove from heat, keep warm.

To assemble: Toast burger buns. Place caramelised onions on the bottom part of the buns, layer with salad leaves, tomato slices, pickled jalapeños.

Top with Mac n Cheese stuffed burger patties. Drizzle your favourite sauces. Mustard, BBQ, Tomato Ketchup and Sriracha go well with these flavours.

Cover with the top part of the bun. Cut in two halves. Serve warm with your favourite sides.

Serves 4