Buffalo Chicken Burgers

Whoa. It has been a week.

I’m ready for storm season to be over. We’re inundated with flooding and tornado warnings. It’s been intense these last few days. I got called into work Saturday night around 7, and didn’t go home until 9 the next morning.

I can’t complain too much. There are people who lost everything, and their lives, in a bizarre night tornado in El Reno Saturday night. El Reno is only about 30 minutes west of OKC, and is included in our metropolitan statistical area. I’ve been there dozens of times.

It’s heartbreaking to know tornadoes can cause so much devastation in just the span of 4 minutes (how long the tornado was actually on the ground). It’s been at least 5-6 years since our last deadly tornado, and this one seemingly came out of nowhere.

I slept so much yesterday. As soon as I got home, I hit the sheets. I woke up yesterday afternoon, cooked some meals for the week, took another nap, then went back to bed. This past week has been exhausting.

Since I’ve been putting in the long hours, I find myself gravitating to comfort foods. Nothing is more comforting to me right now than buffalo wings. If you ever find me at Wing Stop or Buffalo Wild Wings, you’ll spot me with dozens of buffalo wings. I love the stuff.

I’m not so sure how to make my own wings, what with the frying and all that. Because of that, I make riffs on buffalo wings: Buffalo chicken stuffed peppers, Buffalo chicken salad, Buffalo potato salad, etc.

This sandwich plays along with all of that. It’s got ground chicken, tons of buffalo sauce, ranch, and blue cheese. I even added shredded carrot and green onion to the patty mixture. You could add celery, too, but celery is my least favorite food on the planet.

This burger is exactly what I needed. Comforting. Spicy. Savory.

I figure comfort foods are what the entire population of Oklahoma needs right now. Make sure to keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We definitely need it.

Step-By-Step Instructions

In a large bowl, combine chicken, carrots, celery seed, buffalo sauce, ranch and green onions. If mixture is too dry, add more buffalo sauce.

Shape mixture into 6-8 patties. Heat oil over medium high heat in a large skillet.

Cook patties until browned on each side, about 4-5 minutes per side, until internal temperature reaches at least 170 degrees.

Serve burgers on buns or butter lettuce leaves with buffalo & ranch sauce drizzled on top. Top with blue cheese crumbles.