Buffalo Chicken Sliders

Burgers are amazing, but mini burgers are just so damn cute and fun.  Sliders.  Are they named that because they can slide down your throat one by one and before you know it you've eaten 5 of them?  No?  Of course that's not happened to me.  


So here we have mini delicious goodness in the form of buffalo chicken burgers.  Hot sauce. Freshly ground chicken. Tiny buns. Served with tots.  Oh yeah baby.


I've spoke in the past about grinding my own meat. Ever since getting the attachment for my kitchenaid, I've been hooked. I LOVE grinding my own meat. Asides from the enjoyment I get of shoving partly frozen chunks of meat into a machine and watching it pump out the other side, it really does taste better. And I'm not even kidding a little bit.  There is a noticeable difference in the quality and flavor of freshly ground meat.  And I just buy the packaged chicken breast at the store. I can't even imagine if it were a fresh bird.  Oh man...that would be awesome.  


Feel free to send your fresh meat my way.


No. Wait.  Don't.  That just sounds wrong.  So, so wrong.


Moving along...back to the sandwiches... Always partially freeze your meat before grinding, cut it into appropriate size pieces for your machine, and throw it in the freezer for 10-15 minutes while you prep the other ingredients.  In this case, I threw the garlic cloves and celery right into my grinder for it to do the chopping for me...it worked perfect, and any pieces that got stuck in the machine would be soon forced out by all the chicken I was going to pump into it.  I didn't even need to dirty a cutting board for this meal! Sweet!


I added more hot sauce then the recipe calls for, and I still didn't think it was enough.  I love hot foods, so add however much you might prefer.  The 1/4 cup that the recipe calls for shouldn't be too hot for those sensitive to spice.


I will be making these again.  They would be great to bring to a party or BBQ.  With a tray full of tots of course.


Buffalo Chicken Sliders
Printable Recipe
by What's Cooking Chicago, Adapted from Rachael Ray

• 2 lbs ground chicken
• 1 tbsp poultry seasoning
• 1 tbsp grill seasoning, such as McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 4 scallions, finely chopped
• 1 celery rib from the heart, with greens, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 1/4 cup hot sauce, such as Frank's Red Hot
• slider buns
• preferred slider toppings

1. Combine all the ingredients except the buns in a large bowl. Form 10-12 large meatballs and transfer them to a plate. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours.
2. Heat up a grill or large skillet with oil. Place a few meatballs on the grill/skillet and flatten down to 3/4 inch thick. Cook for 5-7 minutes on each side.
3. Place on bun bottoms, top with preferred toppings and top with other bun half.