Ground Chicken

These chicken burgers are grilled and finished with gooey Muenster, stacked, and topped with shredded lettuce, sweet pickles, and curry mustard.

This shepherd’s pie uses ground chicken and leans toward warming flavors, incorporating bright bursts of the tropics—ginger, habanero chile, lime—as well as aromatic Angostura bitters.

These chicken and mushroom spring rolls are spiced with the sweet and salty flavors of kecap manis, the syrupy soy sauce for which Indonesia is famous.

This zesty dish sits between a stew and a soup and is flavored with garlic, cumin, chile flakes, and tons of fresh herbs. Serve it with rice or crusty bread for a hearty, comforting dinner.

Who needs beef? When you combine chicken with shredded veggies and a tangy Greek yogurt sauce, you get a burger as thick and juicy as any other.

The meatballs are tender and juicy, and once covered in a nice cozy blanket of tomato sauce and melted mozzarella, they’re pretty hard to resist.

Truly comforting, simple, and pure chicken stock is a breeze to make in an electric pressure cooker.

Swap in any kind of ground meat and any kind of vegetable for this saucy, clean-out-your-pantry rice noodle stir-fry.

Shaping meatballs into perfect spheres is too fussy for a weeknight meal. Instead, drop dollops of spiced ground chicken onto a sheet pan and roast with carrots until both are golden brown.

Make a big batch of these spicy herbed meatballs and stash them in your freezer. That way, you’ll always have the building blocks for an easy weeknight dinner on hand.

These flavor-packed meatballs are delicious whether poached, grilled, or baked.

Another great twist on classic bolognese, this simple dish is one of my family favorites. The secret is the crispy leaves of fresh oregano, which give the saucy base and silky pasta extra punch.

Nigella seeds can be hard to find; look for them in Indian or Middle Eastern markets, or find them easily online at www.worldspice.com.

These skewered meatballs are a quintessential Japanese bar food, a great drinking snack that can be turned into a larger meal with rice. Flavored with plenty of garlic and ginger and brushed with a sweet-and-savory soy glaze, these meatballs are a great defense of ground chicken, which can be bland if not seasoned well.

These lettuce wraps put a fresh, modern spin on a favorite Asian appetizer. Spiced with chili sauce, ginger, and garlic, this dish will leave you craving more!

Hot, hearty and, yes, sloppy. This flavorful favorite is a meal in a bun. Serve it up and watch your family run to the dinner table.

Pickled veggies give this burger low-cal crunch and sweet-and-sour zing.

Mom's Russian "Hamburgers" Kotleti for lunch, kotleti for dinner, kotleti of beef, of pork, of fish, of chicken—even kotleti of minced carrots or beets. The entire USSR pretty much lived on these cheap, delicious fried patties, and when comrades didn't make them from scratch, they bought them at stores. Back in Moscow, Mom and I harbored a secret passion for the proletarian, six-kopek variety produced by the meat-processing plant named after Stalin's food supply commissar, Anastas Mikoyan. Inspired by his 1936 trip to America, Mikoyan wanted to copy Yankee burgers in Russia, but somehow the bun got lost in the shuffle and the country got hooked on mass-produced kotleti instead. Deliciously greasy, petite, and with a heavy industrial breading that fried up to a wicked crunch, Mikoyan factory patties could be scarfed down by the dozen. Wild with nostalgia, Mom and I tried a million times to recreate them at home, but no luck: some manufactured treats just can't be duplicated. So we always reverted back to Mom's (far more noble) homemade version. Every ex-Soviet cook has a special trick for making juicy, savory patties. Some add crushed ice, others tuck in pats of butter or mix in a whipped egg white. My mother likes her kotleti Odessa-style (garlicky!), and adds mayo as binding instead of the usual egg, with delightful results. The same formula works with ground turkey or chicken or fish. Buckwheat kasha makes a nostalgic Russian accompaniment. Ditto thin potato batons slowly pan-fried with onions in lots of butter or oil. I love cold kotleti for lunch the next day, with some dense dark bread, hot mustard, and a good crunchy dill pickle.

Epicurious member Neel N. Patel of Chicago was inspired to make this when a friend asked for lettuce wraps for a party. The resulting marriage of cuisines incorporates Asian aromatics and Indian spices and a Mexican staple in a fragrant dish with garam masala, cumin, coriander, garlic, and ginger. If spicy is how you like to roll, include some of the jalapeño seeds. And while romaine lettuce leaves are sturdy and flavorful, butterhead varieties such as Boston or Bibb are more pliable and lend a more tender bite.

Ground, toasted rice adds crunch and a slight nuttiness to this salad. Thai basil, available at gourmet and farmers’ markets, has a licorice flavor, but you can use regular basil instead.

Packed with jerk flavor and just the right amount of spice to keep you wanting more, these balls pair perfectly with sweet Mango Raisin Chutney (page 68). If you want to take the heat up a notch, add a pinch of cayenne pepper. Serve them over some fluffy white rice with Honey-Roasted Carrots with Prunes, Walnuts, and Mint (page 89). All that’s left is to put on some Bob Marley and chill out with some friends and a cold Red Stripe.

These are the sleeper hit at the shop and star in our Chicken Parm slider. Guests are always surprised by the moistness and rich taste of these balls, and the secret is ground thigh meat. Chicken thighs are packed with flavor and are a better choice than the usual dry breast meat. Try these balls with Spinach-Basil Pesto (page 58) or Parmesan Cream Sauce (page 60). You can substitute ground turkey if you can’t find ground chicken.