Chicken Patties – & what I don’t like..
I love being able to recycle food into new dishes – mainly because I hate to waste food when I could provide one more delicious meal from it, and also because that is the way of my ancestors. Today I’m going to show you how to take leftover chicken and turn it into these delicious chicken patties. This is perfect if you have fried chicken (take off skin and shred it up!), rotisserie chicken, or even leftover chicken fingers. If you’ve had these before, though, you’ll know why a lot of people cook chicken just to be able to make them!
I guess these are kind of like Salmon patties. I could tell you better if I’d ever eaten a salmon patty but I generally avoid eating things that swim. Better folks might call these croquettes – but mine are just patties. Good, honest chicken has no need to put on airs and airs have no place in my kitchen. Now onto my rambling for the day….
I love writing Southern Plate. I love cooking for people, and I love getting to know all of you through the website and different events and things that I go to where you are kind enough to come see me. I love shopping for groceries and I love spending time in my kitchen. I love being able to put meals on a table with my family sitting around it and I dearly love knowing that you trust me enough to bring my recipes into your home and onto your tables.
In fact, I pretty much love every aspect of Southern plate, with one exception. I don’t love food photography. Not in the least. We might oughta keep this between ourselves, though. Entire industries are devoted to people just luh-huh-huv taking photos of food on a plate. I have friends who make their living at it (and produce amazing work), magazines and television networks rely on it, some people get so excited they stay awake at night just thinking about it. I think they’re amazing folks. I respect and admire all of them.
Me though? I’d just as soon eat it as to play with it. I seriously doubt I could manage to care less about taking a photograph of food and I’m pretty sure I’m not supposed to publicly admit that because so many folks do take such pleasure in it. But hey, admiring someone doesn’t meant we have to emulate them. Good thing, too, because if that was the case I’d have to go work for a mission in Calcutta or move to Prague and write depressing poetry about the mysteries and loneliness of life.
I do a little better now than I used to because I have a nicer camera. But I tell myself every now and then that I should go back to my earlier posts, back when I was using a camera I had dropped into chocolate cake batter (that was a fun post), and re-take the photographs in order to update them.
Then I answer myself by saying that those pictures help preserve the evolution of Southern Plate and let people see how far I’ve come in my little unintentional photographic oddesy. Like most folks, I’m 100% on board with historical preservation when it means avoiding something I really don’t want to do anyway.
I do enjoy the photographs after the fact, especially when I’ve fussed with them and gotten them so pretty that my mother or a friend will call and tell me I’ve done a good job. But I can’t help but fall back on that voice in my head that drowns out all the others, the little practical side of me who rolls her eyes whenever I work on drizzling syrup just right or trying to position a strawberry so it doesn’t have a shadow and says “Look, you cooked it to eat, not to build a shrine to it.” By the time I’m supposed to be putting food on a plate to make it pretty my attention span is lost and I really just wanna call the kids into supper.
I did hang in there with these pictures but by the end you’ll see I was hungry and these amazing chicken patties were getting the best of me…
So now you know my secret.
Well, one of them anyway.
I hate food photography.
There are more but they’re not nearly as interesting.
You’ll need: Shredded Chicken*, Milk, Saltine crackers, poultry seasoning, onion, 2 eggs, salt, and pepper.
*GREATEST HINT EVER ON SHREDDING CHICKEN!
Take hot cooked chicken, with no bones, and place in the bowl of your stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, turn it on low for a minute, then turn it up to medium or so for another minute. The result? Perfectly shredded chicken! That is how I shredded the chicken pictured here!
Place Saltines in a large ziplock bag and roll over them really good with a rolling pin.
This is just one of many ways to crush them. I usually get them started being crushed in the sleeve.
Do you have some clever way of doing this? Food processor perhaps? Get the kids involved? Run over them with your car?
Toss the ziplock bag onto the floor in a room full of flamenco dancers? Use them to line the floor of an elephant performance ring? Share your suggestions below!
Chop up your onion really well.
In a small bowl, combine eggs, seasonings, and milk.
Oh! I got to meet Dolly Parton last Friday! Seriously!
If you look to the right, you’ll see a play button and you can click that to hear all about where I was and what I was doing on this week’s Southern Fried Radio Show 
Mix them up really well with a fork.
In a separate bowl place your chicken, cracker crumbs, and onion.
Stir that up well.
Pour in your liquid ingredients
(That dark stuff is the poultry seasoning floating on the top. I know it’s kinda ugly and I apologize. I started to put a soft focus on it or photo shop it to make it look better but then I thought “Get a grip, It’s poultry seasoning.“)
Stir that up really well.
Now cover this with a towel and let it sit for about five minutes.
Don’t you just love flour sack towels? That’s what people used in the old days, literally the sacks that flour came in, repurposed into towels. They were also repurposed into a lot of clothing, specifically undies and bloomers. Little girls would be outside playing and the wind would blow their dresses a bit and you’d see what brand of flour their Mama’s used
Form into patties with your hands, pressing together really well as you form them.
I make big old patties for sandwiches and usually end up with about five but you can easily make smaller ones and get seven or eight.
Now put about a tablespoon or so of oil in a skillet, heat it on medium heat for a minute or two, and pop those puppies in there.
Cook until browned on both sides, flipping once (or twice if you need to, ain’t nobody gonna judge here)
I needed a better pic so I took my skillet with the finished chicken patties out to the sunroom.
They did a good job posing, didn’t they? They were probably thinking “If we’re really still, maybe she’ll hurry up and get us out of this hot skillet!”
So at this point, It was closing in on afternoon when I as taking this shot, which means the sun was in a great position to cast shadows on the plate – which is exactly what you don’t want…..
But I don’t always want to cook supper at two o clock in the afternoon and reheat it when we’re ready to eat. Today, I was being a rebel and cooked supper when I wanted — with no regard to the lighting. As a result, this is the best photo. ~sighs~
Now I have remorse. but I whenever I feel guilty at the time – my stomach overrides it.
Here is another shot with shadows and obvious signs of me wanting to eat more than I wanted a good photo. Maybe I’ll make up for it by including a casserole in this year’s family Christmas picture or something…
Those are sweet and sour green beans by the way. Green beans with bacon and some other delicious seasonings. Click here for that recipe. I make a huge batch of them about once a month and then freeze them in quart sized zipper seal bags to heat up whenever we need a quick side. They microwave well and you can’t ever tell they weren’t freshly made. Good stuff right there.
As are these chicken patties. Goodness gracious are they ever good!
This is what it looks like inside. Incredibly tender and flavorful. These also freeze very well! You can cook and then freeze or freeze and then cook.
Life and recipes are far more versatile than we realize .
Put a big smile on, bring your best attitude, and dive in head first!
Ingredients
- 2 cups chopped cooked chicken
- 1 sleeve saltine crackers
- 3/4 cup milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 small onion, finely chopped onion
- 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning (can use less if you like)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp pepper
Instructions
- In a large bowl, stir together chicken and cracker crumbs. In a separate bowl, whisk together all other ingredients. Pour wet mixture into bowl with chicken and stir until well combined. Cover with dish towel and allow to sit for five minutes. Form into 5-7 patties. Can freeze at this time and cook them later.
- To cook: Place about 2 tablespoons oil in large skillet and heat over medium high heat for a few minutes. Reduce heat to medium and add patties. Cook until well browned on both sides, flipping once. To cook from frozen, follow same instructions but allow longer cooking time. Remove from heat once hot through.
- Serve on their own or on buns, mayo (if you like it), lettuce, and fresh tomato.
Print This Recipe
“It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Submitted by Angela Lewis. Submit your quote by clicking here.
Now tell me, what is the most creative and/or elaborate way you can think of to crush saltine crackers?
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Posted by Christy Jordan
on Mar 27 2012. Filed under Freezes Well, Main Course, Misc, Quick&Easy.
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Ha! There are no “better folks!” I’m perfectly fine eating chicken patties, too, just so you know. Also, that close up photo of the finished sandwich REALLY makes me want to eat one, so I’d say your photography is right up to scratch. Thanks for a great post.
The chicken patties look great-think I will give this recipe a try and I make something very similar with ham. Same method but would use a dab of dry mustard in place of poultry seasoning. Something to keep in mind to use leftover Easter ham. I have been with Southern plate a long time and I do recall the camera “incident”.
Are there any specific Pyrex patterns you are looking for? I have seen so many at area Antique Malls.
It’s great to see these good recipes with chicken, Christy.
My mom used to make some good meals after we had a large
roaster, and I enjoyed making them when our kids were home.
Love your website, mailings and all~
Blessings,
Diane
Thank you Christy! for this great recipe!
These look awesome!! What kind of bun are those on, it looks delicious!! Thanks for all your great recipes, and funny stories!
I’ll be trying these this week. I LOVE LOVE the vintage kitchen towel. I want it! :p
Best way to crush a saltine? Give the crackers to my 20 month old daughter and let her tap dance on the bag!
them patties ain’t nothing but the truth,thank you sooo much just bought a bunch of canned chicken and these patties will put them to good use..:)H
we add a bit of chicken broth and heat it all up. hot shredded chicken sandwiches, or as my kids call them chicken smoothy sandwiches. great way to use up leftovers.
The pictures BTW are just edible!!
Yumm!!!! Looks great,will make next time
I have left over chicken,I’m like you, I recycle
My food too!! Thanks,Christy!!!!
Hi, just got home from surgery but had to review your posts before I headed for rest
I see a few lovely recipes I will making for Easter.
I hope you feel better soon Tina!!!
Oh, Christy, I hate photographing food, too! I actually threw in the towel on the photography aspect of food blogging and now only take a picture if the food is at least kinda sorta pretty. The recipe is more important to me, anyway. And this is the second time this week I’ve heard about that awesome method for shredding chicken, I’d never heard it before then! So clever.
Oh goodness, you have to try shredding it that way, it is so easy and comes out perfect every time!!
Looks like the way my mama makes salmon patties and here in Concord, NC we say it Sallllmon, not samon!
Ha, ha! I live in Mint Hill, NC, and was thinking the same thing!
These look delicious. Do you think this method for shredding chicken would work for other kinds of meat as well? I will give it a try but hope one of you will stop me if you know it will be a disaster.
I LOVE Salmon Patties! BUT…if I can make Chicken patties the same way and have twice as much of a good thing…WHY NOT? Thanks for a yummy looking recipe!
I hope you like them Pam!!
Christie I was surprised you had organic milk in a half gallon. I am guessing it was on sale. Ha Ha. I will be making these next time I have left over chicken. Thanks
Christy, your photos are look nice to me – I never would have guessed you didn’t enjoy taking them! The chicken patties look good and I’ll definitely try it!
Kathy, that is so sweet of you to say!! Hope you have a wonderful day!!
Okay, these are on the menu tonight. I’m sure they’ll be great, but seriously–where has this chicken shredding tip been for the last several years of my life?! This is officially my new favorite kitchen tip! And my husband loves salmon patties (they have to be served with creamed peas, apparently), but I, too, “avoid eating things that swim.”
I have asked the same thing Joanna!! I hope you enjoy the chicken patties!!
We did enjoy the chicken patties–even the just-turned-five-year-old who often can’t be bothered to eat (too busy, you know). We also talked about how you could change up the seasoning for some different flavors. We go through periods where we eat quite a bit of chicken, so I’m always on the lookout for different things to do with it!
If Thanksgiving were a sandwich this would be it. So delicious, and easy!
Ohhh my goodness! I made these tonight and both hubby and dd said its a keeper! I didn’t have a fresh onion or poultry seasoning; I used some onion powder and garlic powder with salt & pepper…..will have to make more to keep on hand for quick sandwiches!!!
I am so glad to hear they were a hit Sharon!!!
I have a recipe that calls for crushed pretzels, I put those in a ziploc bag and put on the floor and crush with my feet, much faster than trying to use a rolling pin. The ones that don’t crush enough you have to put a little more weight on those til they get crushed well enough, works for soda crackers and graham crackers too.
I made for dinner tonight and it was Delish!!!!! So easy……………..
Christy these look so tasty. I cannot wait to make them. I am always on the hunt for a new chicken dish to try. The suggestion for shredding the chicken is awesome. Thanks for the wonderful recipe.
Made these last night, they are so good I ate 2 for breakfast this morning. My 3 year old helped me make the patties, we used an ice cream scoop to make them all the same size.
I am so glad to hear that you liked them Pattie and I love that you had your little one in the kitchen helping and making memories!!!
Made these yesterday and they were great! I really hate wasting leftovers, but after eating the same thing two or three times I can’t stomach eating it again. We made a turkey and this was perfect for using up the leftovers!! They completely transformed leftover turkey into something new!!! The patties were very tasty and the seasonings would be amenable to tweaking for individual tastes. I made these with homemade hamburger buns and they were even a hit with our picky 4 year old!! Will definitely add these to the keeper rotation!
This looks so yummy. I just showed him the recipe and pic and he told me to save it… it’s a keeper. Thanks Christy
dang gum it!!! I just bought a big ole bag of prefab chicken patties from the warehouse club, never once did it dawn on me to make my own. Got my nieces and nephews coming for a few weeks this summer them kids eat faster and more than termites and they love chicken sandwiches I’m saving this recipe here. Thanks Christy
I know you don’t like taking the photos of each step, but they really can be helpful. Once in awhile I am following a recipe and it just does not look right (that hasn’t happened with your descriptions so far) and I would wish that there was a picture. This usually happens when the recipe calls for folding or placing the food in a specific way. So thanks for taking the time and effort of documenting each recipe.
“Get the kids involved? Run over them with your car?” had me rolling its early here and …yep I know you’re talking about crackers I scrunch them in the bag a good while before I need them.
[...] Made chicken patties for lunch. It was a hit here with 4 out of 4 liking it. I shredded my chicken with the mixer (per Foggy) and then pretty much followed the recipe. I'm not a great at measuring but just added things till it looked right. i did measure the spices. Here's the recipe…says it great for freezing. HTH's Chicken Patties – & what I don’t like.. | Southern Plate [...]
This sounds absolutly wonderful. I wanted to take a little time out from reading your blog and recipes of course the pictures too. For the past week I have been going through your whole blog. Prior to finding your blog I was in a bit of depression. I had lost 3 of my best friends in about a year and a half, and I was really down, I wasn’t taking care of myself or my husband. I was just a lump, or so it seemed. But since finding you, I have snapped out of it, I am cooking again, and I look forward to going out of the house and enjoying life again. Thank you so much for blog and your stories, my favorite to date is the dropping your camera in the cake batter. You are awesome!!
Thanks Sue in Texas
These sound good. I think I will make it with Italian seasoning and the add pasta suace and cheese to make chicken parmesean. Can’t wait to try it.
These sound so great must make them soon. You are great with the camera, love looking at the pictures. Keep up the great work.
Thank you so much Emma, I am by no means a professional photographer but I appreciate your kind words!
Christy, I cant tell you how many times I open my facebook page and find the answer to something I need a new way to fix. This is one of those moments. I can a lot of meat and the other day I was wondering what new thing I could do with chicken breast I have canned up. This will be perfect. After I make these I’m goin to try making them with some canned pork loin I have. Thanks for the inspriation on a daily basis.
What a great idea Peggy!!! I can’t wait to hear how they turn out!
Can you make this with ground chicken? Thanks!
Made these tonight and they were so easy and delicious! They were a big hit with my family! Thank you!
I love your posts. You sound entirely too much like me. Can’t wait to read the next one. Thanks.
What a wonderful idea. This can be used for any leftover, tender, meat.
Thanks.
These sound wonderful!!! I make salmon patties all the time and I can’t believe I never thought of doing it with chicken!!! Love, love, love the tip for shredding the chicken!!! You are so ingenious Christy!!! I just love your site and have been following you for years!!! You are a big ole’ ray of “sunshine” that comes into my life via my computer twice a week!!!! Thanks & best wishes to you!!!
I do this with salmon never thought about doing it with chicken.
judyb
The joy you have in the kitchen definitely comes thru in your posts, and is refreshing to me and I am sure to many others who get weary in the kitchen. You make me want to whistle while I enjoy sharing a homecooked meal with those I love. Thank you.
Also, the pictures are a valuable ingredient to your blog. Words are sometimes limited in the cooking tutorial, pictures make it possible to experience the process. Thanks for adding them.
One question- how well would the chicken patties freeze?
AAAH — the old flour sacks. I remember wearing summer shorts made from the flour sacks. One summer, my mother made matching shorts (with bibs) for my best friend.
thanks for the idea. mom is having trouble chewing so i’m on the lookout for soft foods and this will be perfect once i cook the onion first to soften it and dice the lettuce and tomato fine and serve it as a salad. i/m gonna leave off the bun for her as well but daddy will enjoy them as a sandwich. i’m a short order cook now-a-days.