Greek Chicken Patties With Lemony Parboiled Rice

Tender, juicy, and absolutely delicious! These Greek Chicken Patties are baked in the oven and served with light and fragrant lemony rice.

If you like healthy and light chicken dishes you'll definitely love this one. And if you are working out then this food is more than ideal to fuel your muscles.

Baked Patties is one of the foods we really enjoy eating in Greece. Like Mpiftekia which are beef patties with potatoes and it's another delicious family meal.

Mpiftekia (which means patties in Greek) is an easy-to-make food that its leftovers can be turned easily into a sandwich or even a burger. So you almost never need to throw away any of this dish. And if you have kids in the house you'll be finding this really handy.

How To Make Chicken Patties

When making Mpiftekia (Patties) these are the basic ingredients you need: ground meat, onion, garlic, parsley (or mint), eggs, olive oil, and ground breadcrumbs (or water-soaked stale bread). Breadcrumbs are there to soak up the moisture and keep it inside the meat, resulting in a tender and juicy patty.

In some recipes, usually old-fashioned ones, leftover stale bread that has been soaked in water is used instead of breadcrumbs. This also keeps the patties nice and tender throughout baking.

In this recipe, we are using the breadcrumbs option. When using the breadcrumbs you also need to add a little bit of water as well. Otherwise, the breadcrumbs will absorb all of the moisture of the meat, resulting in a dry pattie.

And here's where you need to trust your cooking judgment. As to how much water you should add. In this recipe, I'm giving you an exact amount of both water and breadcrumbs to use. Though it may need a little bit less, or a little bit more water. So you will have to start kneading the ground meat mixture, helping the breadcrumbs absorb the water slowly, and judge for yourself on this point whether you need to add more water to it or not.

Ideally, you should end up with a ground meat mixture that's shapeable yet still sticky. Because it's ground chicken meat it won't be as firm as ground beef.

Do I Really Need To Add Breadcrumbs?

Yes and no! Breadcrumbs are necessary when you bake patties. It's the best way to keep them moist but also helps to keep the meat together. On the other hand, when your cooking method is pan-frying or grilling, you needn't add breadcrumbs to the mixture. As these two methods won't dry up the meat. In this recipe though, you shouldn't skip them as the patties get baked in the oven therefore we need those breadcrumbs to keep the patties nice and juicy on the inside.

Adding some extra moisture...

To make these Chicken Patties even juicier and more flavorful the onion, garlic, and leek are added cooked into the ground chicken mixture. So instead of just adding the onion straight into the mixture you first sautee it on a pan together with olive oil, garlic, and some chopped leek as well (which goes amazing with chicken). This way you introduce a gorgeous natural sweetness and extra moisture inside the patties.

Can I Add Potatoes Instead Of Rice?

Surely, first, you will need to use a bigger pan. Then simply peel and cut the potatoes into bite-sized pieces and place them all around the patties. Adjust also the water this recipe calls for to add in the pan. It should be enough to cover the ingredients in the pan by half. In order for the potatoes to bake properly as well.

And One Last Thing, Don't Overbake

Chicken patties can get overcooked easily, resulting in not being as tender and juicy. Therefore, you need to add the oven to a high temperature and cook them just until they get the desired color on both sides. Cooking them in a roasting kind of way. The oven's temperature should be as high as 230°C / 446°F. If you have a very strong oven you may take it down a notch to 220°C  428°F.

The cooking time should be no more than 20 minutes on each side more or less. Also, the moisture in the pan needs to be just enough for the patties to not stick to the bottom of the pan. Also not adding too much water in the pan, helps the patties get color quickly without needing to wait too long and get overbaked. So the water should be just enough to cover the bottom of the pan but no more. When it's time to flip the patties you may add another splash of water to the pan until they get a nice color on the other side as well.

SERVE WITH ⬇

I served these Chicken Patties with this creamy Cucumber And Mint Salad and some Pita Bread. But you can also serve them together with Htipiti (roasted red pepper and whipped feta dip), or Tzatziki, or some creamy Greek Yogurt Coleslaw.

Recipe

Greek Chicken Patties With Lemony Parboiled Rice

These healthy chicken patties are juicy and tender baked in the oven and served with a real fragrant lemon rice!

5 from 4 votes

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Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Greek

Keyword: Chicken, healthy, lemon, Oven baked

Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour

Servings: 5 people

Calories: 905kcal

Ingredients

For The Patties:

• 1 small stick of leek finely chopped
• 1 small red onion finely chopped
• 3 large garlic cloves finely chopped
• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 kilogram (2.2 pound) ground chicken meat
• 120 grams (1 cup) breadcrumbs
• ½ lemon zested
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 + ½ teaspoon ground coriander
• 3 tablespoons Greek yogurt
• 2 small eggs (about 45 grams each)
• ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 teaspoons thyme

For The Pan:

• 2 tablespoons mustard powder
• ½ tablespoon sweet red pepper
• ⅓ tablespoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 8 tablespoons olive oil

For The Lemony Rice:

• 2 cups long grain parboiled rice
• 2 bay leaves
• ½ red onion minced
• 4 large garlic cloves minced
• 1 + ½ tablespoons dried oregano
• ⅓ cup lemon juice fresh
• ½ lemon zested

Instructions

For The Patties:

• Add the ground chicken meat to a large mixing bowl.
• Heat the olive oil in a non-stick pan over high heat.
• Add the leek, onion, and garlic and cook until softened. Turn the heat off and transfer the contents of the pan to the bowl with the ground meat. Scrape the pan with a wooden spoon from all of the olive oil.
• Add all of the remaining ingredients for the patties to the bowl as well. Season with salt and pepper. Start to mix everything with your hands.
• Add ½ cup water to the mixture gradually. If you find the ground meat getting too loose don't add all of the water. You should have a shapeable ground meat mixture that feels soft and a bit sticky. Mix very well for a few minutes. As the more you mix the better the breadcrumbs absorb the water. 5 minutes should be enough.
• Once you are done with mixing, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge while you boil the rice.
• Cook the rice according to its package instructions. Add the 2 bay leaves inside its boiling water for extra flavor. Once cooked transfer rice to a strainer and let it sit and drain.
• Preheat oven to 230°C / 446°F. If your oven is too strong preheat to 220°C  428°F.
• In a small mixing bowl whisk together all of the ingredients for the pan. Add ⅔ cup water and whisk again to combine.
• Pour this mixture in a 10 x 15 inch (27 x 39 cm) pan. It should be enough to cover the whole bottom of the pan. If you're using a slightly bigger pan add a little bit more water to cover the pans bottom surface.
• Remove the bowl with the ground meat from the fridge. Divide mixture into 10 parts. Roll each one into a ball and then pat it to flatten it into a patty. Place patties in the pan and bake for about 20 minutes.
• Flip the patties. By now most water should have drained from the pan. Add plenty of water to cover the bottom of the pan again. Bake for another 20-25 minutes until the patties get deep golden all over on top. Remove pan from oven and cover to keep warm while you finish off the rice.

For The Lemony Rice:

• In a large non-stick pan heat a generous splash of olive oil over high heat.
• Add the onion and garlic and cook until softened and golden in color.
• Drop heat to medium. Add the rice, lemon juice, lemon zest, and dried oregano. Stir well with a wooden spoon.
• This step is optional but adds extra flavor to the rice. Scrape some of the paste that has formed at the bottom of the pan you baked the meatballs in, and add it to the rice. Stir well.
• Cook rice for 2-3 minutes overall in the pan and then remove from heat and serve together with the patties.
• I served mine with Pita bread and this speedy Cucumber and Mint Yogurt Salad.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 905kcal | Carbohydrates: 87g | Protein: 48g | Fat: 40g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 23g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 229mg | Sodium: 330mg | Potassium: 1401mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 471IU | Vitamin C: 19mg | Calcium: 188mg | Iron: 6mg

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