Festive Chicken Cakes topped with cilantro garlic mayonnaise are easy to make and just plain fun to eat. What's even more amazing is that they're made with leftover chicken.
It's a cook once, eat twice meal, where the second day is equally as good the first. Use rotisserie chicken, baked lemon pepper chicken or whatever you have on hand.
Top these tasty little chicken patties off with cilantro garlic mayonnaise. And, make a large batch of that too. Because it brightens up whatever it's added to.
Tips for Making Chicken Cakes with Cilantro Garlic Mayo
If you've made crab cakes or black bean cakes, then you'll be right at home making chicken cakes. It's the same process. You simply combine the ingredients, form patties and fry them on the stove-top. Follow these tips so they come out perfectly every time:
Shredding chicken
Shred enough chicken to fill 3 cups. Leftover chicken? Use it! Rotisserie chicken will work too. Otherwise, cook chicken in a pressure cooker or poach it.
To poach boneless, skinless chicken breasts, place 3-4 chicken breasts in a pot and cover with water. Bring water to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for about 10-12 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink. After the chicken cools, shred it with a fork or dice it.
Use two forks or beaters to shred the chicken into small pieces.
Mixing it together
Mix together egg, mayonnaise, seasoned breadcrumbs, diced red onion, chopped basil and minced garlic. Use whole wheat breadcrumbs or gluten-free breadcrumbs if desired.
Next, add shredded chicken to the bowl and mix. Keep stirring until it's well-combined and the ingredients start to stick together.
At first, it might seem like this is not going to happen...it will. Just keep stirring. And, if you absolutely feel like it just isn't sticky enough add a little more mayonnaise.
Shaping into chicken patties
Make patties by compressing about ¼ cup of the mixture into a patty shape. You should end up with 12 patties. We find that smaller patties usually work better!
Or, form the mixture into tablespoon-sized balls for 48 appetizer-sized cakes.
Freezing chicken cakes
You can stop right here and freeze these cakes. Yep. Place them in a pan and cover it. Place them in the freezer and go about your business.
When you are ready to cook the chicken cakes, remove them to the refrigerator and allow them to defrost overnight. You might want to re-compress them, but that's about it.
Cooking chicken patties
To cook the chicken cakes, heat one tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken cakes to the pan and cook for about 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate and allow to cool.
As with all delicate cakes, try to limit how many times you flip the cakes. They should be thoroughly heated through since egg is used. But, the chicken is already cooked.
Cilantro Garlic Mayonnaise for Chicken Cakes
I am absolutely giddy about the mayo for these chicken cakes. Adding garlic and cilantro to mayonnaise gives it a whole new flavor! Use the right type of mayonnaise and the topping is Whole 30 and Paleo compliant.
Please rate this recipe and tag @DinnerMom or #DinnerMom on social media. We love to see what you are cooking up!
Chicken Cakes with Cilantro Garlic Mayo
Ingredients
Chicken Cakes
- 1 egg beaten
- ¼ cup low-fat mayonnaise
- 1 Tablespoon basil chopped 1 teaspoon dried
- 1 teaspoon garlic pressed or minced
- 1 cup seasoned breadcrumbs whole wheat or gluten-free, if desired
- ⅓ cup red onion diced
- 3 cups cooked chicken shredded
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
Cilantro Garlic Mayonnaise
- ½ cup low-fat mayonnaise
- 1 Tablespoon cilantro chopped
- 1 teaspoon garlic pressed or minced
Instructions
Chicken Cakes
- Combine egg, mayonnaise, basil and garlic in a large bowl.
- Stir in breadcrumbs and red onion.
- Add shredded chicken and stir until well-combined. The ingredients should stick together.
- Form patties by compressing about ¼ cup of the chicken mixture.
- Heat olive oil over medium high heat.
- Working in batches, place about 4 patties in the pan and cook for about 3 minutes on each side or until browned.
- Remove chicken cakes to a paper towel-lined plate to cool and serve with Cilantro Garlic Mayo.
Cilantro Garlic Mayo
- Combine ingredients in a small bowl.
Notes
Nutrition
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Renee
I've never thought of chicken cakes. What a brilliant idea! I hope it works with turkey too.
Family Foodie
This idea is brilliant! I love crab cakes and never thought to mix it up and try chicken. I bet that Cilantro Garlic Mayo is the bomb!
Liz
Your chicken cakes look spectacular! And that cilantro garlic mayo would be excellent topping SO many dishes 🙂
Jennifer @ Peanut Butter and Peppers
I have never seen chicken like this! What a great idea and just a beautiful little cake!! I love it!! I have to try this!
Tara
I have never had chicken cakes, always fish, but heck why not!! These look fantastic, great idea!!
Heather // girlichef
Okay, these look SO good that I almost can't stand it. I'm starving, and would give just about anything to have one or two of these in front of me right now. They're going on the menu for this week. I just love the chicken/cilantro/garlic combo.
Constance Smith (@FoodieArmyWife)
Oh my goodness, Marjory, these chicken cakes are gorgeous!
Jen @JuanitasCocina
LOVE these! Why have I never had chicken cakes! And that mayo sounds FAB!!!
Cindys Recipes and Writings
These look delicious! Great way to use cooked chicken!
Amy Kim
I love everything about this recipe, right down to the cilantro mayo!
Alice // Hip Foodie Mom
Oh, I love these!! what a great idea in place of crab meat! I'm going to try this with rotisserie chicken shredded up! yummm!!
paula
these sound delicious but what can I replace the mayo with? mayo makes me really sick to my stomach. would greek yogurt work? thanks!
Marjory
Have you ever tried a vegan brand? My daughter is allergic to soy, egg, dairy and peanuts so we use Earth Balance or Vegenaise.
Sarah | Curious Cuisiniere
So neat! My hubs would probably throw one or two of these on a bun, and they'd be gone before you could blink!
Lane @ Supper for a Steal
Chicken cakes, who would have thought. Great for those who don't like crab. You really have my wheels turning now.
Soni
Oh I love your recipe! The mayo with the garlic in the cakes sound delicious and so does your cilantro mayo dip! Cannot wait to try 🙂
Lori @ Foxes Love Lemons
What a GREAT party bite, Marjory! And you can freeze them in advance? So smart!
Norma | Allspice and Nutmeg
Love this. These would be a hit a any potluck.
Susan
Chicken cakes is not something I would normally think of but yours look delicious and so does that cilantro garlic mayo!
Courtney @ Neighborfood
My dinner making always seems to suffer this time of year as well. I totally forget about dinner in between all the wrapping and decorating and cookie baking (we eat a lot of cookies for dinner this time of year!) Happy to have another quick option I can throw together on a weeknight!
Marjory
I'm chuckling over here...We've had cookie sessions that pre-empted dinner too!
Michelle @ A Dish of Daily Life
I am definitely making this. We belong to a chicken CSA and we get a chicken every week. Roast chicken is going to get old awfully fast. But I can roast it and shred it and probably use it for two meals if I make this one. The cilantro garlic mayo sold me! Can't wait to try it it! Pinning right now, and stumbling too!
Marjory
Thanks so much Michelle! I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Jacqueline DiNuoscio
That Cilantro Garlic Mayo sounds wonderful!! I can't wait to try this!
Marjory
We use it on so many things from sandwiches to chicken!
Stephanie Simmons
These are so delicious! I love serving them in lettuce wraps/bowls for a super healthy and filling meal!
Marjory
Great idea serving them on lettuce wraps!
Gay Scherer
Very tastey served over mixed greens. AS good as any nice restaurant.
Marjory
I'm so glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
Carol A Walton
I do not like Cilantro, could I use Basil or something else? They look delicious. Definitely going to make.
Marjory Pilley
You can definitely replace it! Leave it out and just add garlic. Or, add a little pesto instead.
Brenda
What’s a good side dish for these delicious chicken cakes?
Marjory Pilley
So many side dishes complement chicken cakes! I usually add a salad or roasted vegetables (I recently roasted zucchini, red onion and mushrooms in an air fryer to add to this one!) Sweet potato or regular fries. Enjoy!
Jayne
How about using ground chicken?? Would need to cook longer but was wondering if it would work?
Marjory Pilley
I think the flavor profile would be amazing. It would cook quite similar to mango turkey burger or could even be cooked in a cupcake tin like salsa turkey meatloaf muffins.
DeeDee
I used very small pieces of cubed chicken from a rotisserie chicken. I feel the bread crumbs made the batter too dry so I had to add another egg and about 1/4 cup of extra mayo. I also included salt, pepper and a lemon dill spice I grated into the batter. Next time I’ll use ground chicken or grind the chicken in the meat grinder which I feel will make these more chicken flavor then breading because they were just too much like a cake type and tbh I like more meat. So less breading, more meat. That’s me. The flavor was good after I added the extra lemon dill.
Marjory Pilley
Thanks so much for sharing your feedback. Using shredded chicken will usually do the trick too!