BLT Ranch Chicken Burgers with Sweet Potato Bun

By Unknown March 18, 2017

Today’s guest post is offered up by Dana Monsees, founder of Real Food with Dana. Thanks to Dana for sharing this incredible recipe.

There are a ton of burgers out there in the paleo/gluten-free world. They’ve become a staple order at restaurants, where even if there aren’t many other options, you can always get a burger, no bun, on a salad. Or lettuce-wrapped, if you’re lucky.

This one is different. Prepare to have your tastebuds BLOWN (that’s a good thing) by this recipe—they won’t even know what to expect with the insane combination of your old favorites: a BLT, a burger, and sweet potato fries with ranch dressing, all made Primal-style, come together.

But back to these epic burgers. Don’t get me wrong, I love burgers on salads, lettuce-wrapped burgers, burgers on cauliflower rice, and all our favorite gluten-free burger staple ways. But sometimes, you just want to get in there with your hands (primal-style, if you will), pick the burger up, and have the delicious toppings almost ooze out of it while you go in there for that first, epic bite (and each one after that, because it’s so freaking tasty you can’t wait to go back for more).

Ranch Seasoning Sure, you could totally go to the store and buy whatever gluten-free bun you find, because if you haven’t noticed, there are a LOT of those things these days. But we can do so much better than that. And by better, I mean more nutrient-dense, less chemical junk fillers and weird grains you can barely pronounce, and a whole lot tastier than those store-bought versions.

Enter: sweet potato buns. Solid enough that you can pick up that burger in all its delicious glory and that it won’t fall apart on you, but easy and delicious enough that you could make these every night, no sweat. And it’s totally like you’re combining sweet potato fries ON a burger, which might be the best thing ever.

So that delicious satisfaction of picking up that hunk of juicy burger, with all your favorite toppings, a sauce that runs down your hands (and face if you’re not careful!) while all the flavors mix together, that makes you close your eyes because you can’t believe this is real life it’s so freaking amazing?

THAT is exactly what you get with this burger.

BLT Ranch Chicken Burgers with Sweet Potato Buns

Ingredients

For the burgers:

1 lb ground chicken
2 Tbsp homemade ranch seasoning (recipe below)
1 Tbsp Chipotle-Lime Mayo OR 1 egg, whisked (for binding)
1 Tbsp avocado oil

For the ranch seasoning:

1 Tbsp dried minced onion*
2 tsp dried parsley
2 tsp dried chives
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried dill
1 tsp sea salt
½ tsp mustard powder
½ tsp ground black pepper

For the sweet potato buns:

2 large white or orange sweet potatoes, peeled
1 tsp melted coconut oil or avocado oil

For serving:

1-2 slices of thick cut bacon per burger
Baby spinach
Sliced tomato
Sliced red onion (if you don’t like raw onions, try caramelizing or roasting them first!)
Primal Kitchen® Ranch Dressing

Directions

First, make the sweet potato buns. Cut a large white sweet potato into about ¾ inch thick slices—start at the middle and work your way out. Reserve any pieces that are too thin on the ends for making another recipe.

Brush both sides of each sweet potato slice with avocado oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Pop in a 400º F preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, until easily pierced with a fork, then set aside until ready to serve.

Burger with Ranch

Meanwhile, prepare the ranch seasoning: combine all the ingredients in a small bowl, then use to prepare the burgers. Combine the ground chicken with 2 Tbsp ranch seasoning and 1 Tbsp Chipotle-Lime Mayo (or 1 egg, whisked) with your hands. Form into 4 equal sized burger patties.

Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium heat with 1 Tbsp avocado oil. When hot, add the burgers, pressing them down slightly with your hands so they’re not too thick.

Cook for about 4 minutes per side, until cooked through to your liking.
Make your burgers stacks! Start with 1 slice sweet potato bun, and layer with a burger, sliced tomato, red onion, bacon, baby spinach, and Primal Kitchen® Ranch Dressing. Top with another sweet potato bun, and devour!

Dana Monsees is the fun-sized founder of Real Food with Dana, a nutrition and lifestyle blog designed to help you thrive with real food and a paleo lifestyle, one delicious meal at a time! Because life’s too short to eat boring, tasteless food. Dana’s personal health journey as an athlete with celiac disease, disordered eating, thyroid problems and adrenal fatigue sparked her passion for helping others through nutrition. Dana currently works as a Health & Nutrition Coach, Swim Coach, and is a soon-to-be Nutritionist. Come hang out at http://ift.tt/1YIBGz5 or on Instagram @realfoodwithdana!