Let me explain the origin of The Kackle Burger. So many towns have that one great place to grab lunch or dinner. It's locally owned. It's been around for decades. The food is consistently awesome. The waitstaff knows you - they gossip with you. The floors smell weird, but you don't care. You can get drunk in the middle of the day and play Keno if you feel like it. It's got... character. There was a place such as this in my town. My favorite thing I ever ordered was The Kackle Burger. It was a chicken cutlet with bacon and cheese served on lightly toasted French bread.
It's Easy to Make a Kackle Burger - and everyone will love you for it!
The Kackle Burger is a chicken cutlet sandwich and making chicken cutlets is one of the easiest things in the world to do. And the French bread? No problem. You can buy those freshly baked French bread loaves in the bakery section of your local grocery store. The ingredients are affordable, and the process is simple. Plus, I have a great video (above) that you can follow along with!
Prior to my favorite local restaurant tragically selling to new owners (who ultimately ran it into the ground), I would treat myself to a Kackle Burger from time to time. On some very rare occasions, in the dead of winter, I might change it up and order their French Onion Soup because it was insanely delicious. But mostly, I ordered the true love of my life: The Kackle Burger.
They did not use frozen chicken cutlets from a bag that came from a giant freezer. These were made in-house. Real chicken cutlets made in a restaurant kitchen and fried in hot oil. It was everything to me. I should mention my all-time favorite sandwich combo is chicken, bacon and cheese: a culinary trifecta in my opinion.
For this chicken cutlet sandwich The Toppings are all about you
You might consider this next statement controversial. I don't like mayonnaise. And I don't like iceberg lettuce. The Kackle Burger came with lettuce, tomato and mayo. I always skipped that. You CAN add these things to your particular sandwich, of course. I choose not to do that. The joy of chicken, bacon, cheese and good bread is enough for me. The original sandwich was made with Jack cheese, but cheddar or Swiss would work great too if you prefer that. It's pretty flexible - use the toppings you love!
I hope you give this one a try - it's really delicious! Also, if you don't need to make six sandwiches you can use the rest of the cutlets to make Crispy Chicken Parmesan! If you're looking for other awesome sandwich recipes you should check out my Grilled Chicken Sandwich with Romesco, Dill Havarti & Arugula or my Crispy Pork Schnitzel w/Pickled Red Onions & Savory Caper Spread.
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The Kackle Burger: Chicken Cutlet with Bacon and Cheese
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 sandwiches 1x
Description
The best sandwich from an old favorite spot the kackle burger, a chicken cutlet with bacon and cheese, is a crowd-pleasing gourmet!
Ingredients
- 3 boneless chicken breasts
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 8 ounce bag of shredded Jack cheese
- 12 strips of cooked bacon
- 2 long loaves of French bread
- Canola oil for frying
The dredging station:
- 1 ½ cups flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 cups of plain bread crumbs (see note #1)
- 5 eggs, beaten
Optional Toppings:
- Sliced tomatoes
- Sliced onion
- Lettuce
- Mayonnaise
Instructions
- Don’t forget to watch my video with all the step-by-step instructions.
- At the beginning of the process or even the day before – cook all the bacon and set aside on a plate. If it needs to be warmed, I throw the plate in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds until warmed.
- If you are using the optional toppings, allow time to slice the tomatoes, onions and lettuce.
- Trim the fat from around the edges of the boneless breast of chicken.
- Cut the chicken breasts in half lengthwise so that the three boneless chicken breasts make six cutlets.
- One by one, cover the chicken breast with plastic wrap and pound it down to about ¼” thickness. You can use a mallet, cast iron skillet or regular pan to flatten the chicken. The chicken may stick to the cutting board – have a spatula ready to transfer the chicken off the cutting board. My video shows this well.
- After all the chicken has been pounded and thinned, lightly salt and pepper both side of the chicken. This should take approximately ½ teaspoon of salt and ¼ teaspoon of pepper.
- Set up your dredging station. Add breadcrumbs to a wide bowl or plate. Beat the eggs in a smaller bowl and transfer to a larger, wider bowl. Put flour in a bowl and add the salt and garlic powder. Mix together with a fork.
- Start heating the canola oil in a pan right before you start breading the chicken. Heat should be medium. You should fill the pan with about a ¼” of canola oil (or vegetable oil). This is a shallow fry so we are not submerging the chicken in oil. We’ll fry a few minutes on each side.
- With each piece of chicken, dip it in the egg covering both sides > then the flour covering both sides > then BACK IN THE EGG covering both sides again > the FINAL stop is the breadcrumbs – be sure to coat well. Put all the breaded cutlets on a plate or sheet pan.
- Flick a little egg into your pan and, generally, if it starts sizzling the oil is ready to go. I cooked the cutlets in two batches. Place the cutlets in the oil carefully and fry for about 3-4 minutes until they are golden brown. Then carefully turn the cutlets and fry on the other side for 3-4 minutes. Transfer the cooked cutlets onto a paper towel lined plate or sheet pan.
- Once all the cutlets are cooked, remove the paper towel from the sheet pan and spread the cheese onto each cutlet. You can turn on your broiler in the oven to melt the cheese or just heat the oven to 350. It only takes a couple of minutes to melt the cheese.
- While the cheese is melting you can also toast the French bread in the oven at the same time or use your toaster oven. Cut the bread in the appropriate sizes for the chicken cutlets.
- Assemble sandwiches. Add cutlets with melted cheese and two slices of bacon per sandwich. Add any additional toppings if you like (lettuce, tomato, mayo, etc). Serve with chips or fries! Enjoy!
Notes
- I really love plain Progresso breadcrumbs and highly recommend giving them a try if you haven’t. This isn’t sponsored and I’m not being paid to say that. I simply LOVE Progresso breadcrumbs. Excellent quality.
- If you want to use a different cheese, go for it. Cheddar or Swiss would work well too.
- If you don’t end up making six sandwiches – you can easily use the extra cutlets for a chicken parmesan dinner as well. This is what I did. I froze a couple of the kackle burgers and I made chicken parmesan for dinner the next night!
- Should there be any remaining French bread, I cut it and freeze it to make French bread pizzas another time.
Richard Breckinridge
Was the place in question in Massachusetts by chance?
Stacey
Yes. 🙂