Chicken Rissoles With Hidden Vegetables

Plump and juicy, these Chicken Rissoles (or chicken patties) come with hidden vegetables like grated zucchini, carrot and sun-dried tomatoes that add extra flavour, moisture and nutrients. A must-try if you’re looking for ground chicken mince recipes!

About This Chicken Rissoles Recipe

These veggie-loaded, healthy, and tasty chicken rissoles are great as a main protein dish for dinner, in a lunchbox, as a grab-n-go snack or even on your breakfast plate. 

If you’re not familiar with the name rissoles, they are essentially like meat patties or squashed meatballs – a definite favourite in Australian kitchens. 

These patties are made with ground chicken (chicken mince), grated garlic and onion (these two add a lot of flavour and moisture to the mixture), plus grated zucchini, carrots and chopped sun-dried tomatoes. A great way to sneak extra vegetables into a meaty dish that even the kids will love!

Dietary Swaps

I use an egg as a binder and gluten-free breadcrumbs to bulk up the mixture and give the rissoles extra fluffiness. 

These chicken mince rissoles can be made without the egg. For the best rissoles result, I do recommend using breadcrumbs (I often buy gluten-free ones), but if you must avoid bread, you can use some almond meal and tapioca/cassava flour. 

Tips For Making Good Chicken Rissoles

These tips are applicable to most other rissoles:

• Don’t squeeze the juice out of the grated veggies. As well as using grated zucchini and carrots, I like grating the onion and garlic – all of these grated veggies add extra juiciness and flavour to the rissoles. In addition, grating the onions helps to avoid noticeable and often undercooked onion bits in the patties, which I know some kids don’t like. 
• Ground chicken mince often feels wetter than beef mince. Crumbs soak up the excess liquid while still leaving the rissoles moist. But, add too many breadcrumbs and you might end up with dry patties. 
• A tip I’ve picked up from Recipe Tin Eats is to press a little indent in the patties, with your finger or a spoon, and this will stop the rissoles from puffing up, which often gives you the urge to press them flat. Don’t press down on the rissoles while they are cooking as this will squeeze the juices out. We want to keep all those juices in!  
• Don’t overcook the patties as that can also dry them out! 

How To Make Rissoles With Chicken Mince

Here is what you will need to make chicken rissoles with hidden veggies.

Chicken mince – also known as ground chicken meat. If you can’t find pre-ground chicken meat, ask your butcher to grind it up for you.

Vegetables – grated zucchini, carrot, onion and garlic (don’t squeeze or discard the juices!). Plus, chopped sun-dried tomatoes for extra flavour. I used sun-dried tomatoes in oil but I rinse them briefly first.

Other ingredients – egg and breadcrumbs; I used gluten-free breadcrumbs in this particular recipe but you can add regular or Panko crumbs. Plus, some salt and pepper and olive oil for cooking.

Making The Rissoles

Step 1. Grate the vegetables, onion and garlic and don’t squeeze out the juice.

Step 2. In a large bowl, combine chicken mince (ground chicken) with the vegetables, onion, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, salt and pepper and an egg. Mix through to incorporate.

Step 3. Add the breadcrumbs and stir through. The breadcrumbs will absorb a lot of the excess liquid.

Step 4. Sprinkle a flat tray or a cutting board with some breadcrumbs. Scoop up about 2-3 tablespoons of the mixture (close to 1/4 cup) and form a thick, round pattie. Place on a flat tray sprinkled with extra breadcrumbs. Repeat with the remaining mixture – you should make 11-13 patties. Indent the middle of the patties slightly using your fingers or the back of the spoon (see tips above and the photos). This will stop the patties from puffing up when cooking.

Step 5. Sprinkle the top of the made rissoles lightly with extra breadcrumbs.

Step 6. Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet or frying pan over medium heat. Add the patties without overcrowding the pan too much. Cook for 3.5-4 minutes, then flip and cook for 2 minutes on the other side.
Step 7. Transfer the plate and rest for a few minutes, allowing all the juices to flow and settle through the patties.

Baked Chicken Rissoles

Spray a baking tray with some oil but don’t line it with parchment paper as they don’t brown as well. Place rissoles on the tray, spray the top as well, and bake at 200C/390F (standard) or 180C/350F (fan/convection) for 20 minutes; flip and bake for 5 minutes on the other side until golden.

Air Fryer Chicken Rissoles

Spray the rissoles and air fryer basket with a little oil. Cook at 200C / 392 F for 10 minutes or until golden and cooked through. You will most likely have to do these in two batches as you want to keep the patties in one layer.

What To Serve With Rissoles

As with most other rissoles, these chicken ones will go well with the following sides:

• Mashed potatoes – that’s a classic pairing! You can whip up a quick gravy using butter, flour and chicken stock or make a simple creamy mushroom sauce. Otherwise, a little mustard or ketchup will work really well as a condiment.
• Rice or quinoa – I love squeezing a dollop of sweet chilli sauce over rissoles when serving them with rice or quinoa. 
• Roasted vegetables, sweet potatoes or spuds. 
• A salad, especially with a creamy coleslaw-type salad! In fact, I will often cut up the leftover rissoles and stir through a quick salad for a lunch meal. 
• Pasta noodles (especially mac’n’cheese) but also with tomato pasta. 
• You can also use chicken rissoles in wraps or sandwiches or turn them into chicken burgers or sliders. 
• Condiments – as I mentioned above, these chicken mince rissoles go well with ketchup, mustard, BBQ sauce, sweet chilli sauce, quick gravy or mushroom sauce. 

More Recipes With Chicken Mince