Extra Saucy. Extra Cheesy. Insanely Easy to Make.
Barbeque Chicken Sliders that come together in less than 30 minutes, make a perfect party appetizer, fun lunch or summertime patio dinner.
Super saucy shredded cooked chicken is piled onto sweet Hawaiian rolls and topped with an obscene amount of gooey, melty cheese, punchy red onions, herby cilantro (totally optional for my cilantro haters), spicy jalapeños (fresh or pickled) and topped with gloriously tasty garlic butter.
These delicious little handfuls are my summertime patio party take on barbecue chicken pizza which is one of my faves (as you can see in my version of an Air Fried Tortilla Pizza) but these little guys take away all the work of dealing with pizza dough which sometimes I just don’t have the energy to do in the summer. What’s easier than just slicing open a package of buttery soft store bought buns?
Barbeque Chicken Sliders… with no BBQ in site.
I have to get creative in my recipe creation of anything BBQ and that’s because I am not trusted with that particular appliance in my house. My husband is the grill master and I have proven myself untrustworthy – and most likely to melt the siding – whenever I touch it so I’m not allowed. At least not unsupervised. And even under supervision the side eye is very, very strong.
So, I make these in the oven, but you can totally use your outdoor grill as an oven and cook them outside without having to turn on the oven. Just heat the range to 400 and place these on a side with indirect heat.
Scroll past the recipe if you’re looking for tips, substitutions, questions, etc. and details on how to make this recipe, but if you want to get straight to it, here’s my recipe-ish…
Barbeque Chicken Sliders
Ingredients
- Hawaiian Rolls 1 package of 12 rolls
- 3 cups cooked chicken shredded
- 1/2 cup BBQ sauce
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese shredded
- 1/4 red onion sliced thinly
- 1 jalapeño thinly sliced (optional)*
- 1/4 cup cilantro chopped (optional)
- 2 Tbsp butter melted
- 1 clove garlic minced
Instructions
- In a bowl combine the shredded chicken and the BBQ sauce. Mix well so the chicken is completely coated.
- Keep the rolls intact in their slab and slice in half horizontally. Place the bottom half of the rolls on a baking sheet.
- Evenly spread the chicken on the bottom half of the rolls.
- Sprinkle over the red onion, cilantro and jalapeño.
- Place the top half of the buns back on top.
- Mix the melted butter with the garlic in a small bowl. Brush the garlic butter all over the top of the buns.
- Cover the sliders with foil.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.
- Remove the foil and continue to bake another 10
Notes
Barbeque Chicken Sliders Recipe ingredients, tips, substitutions:
Buns – Hawaiian sweet rolls are readily available these days and they make putting these sliders together and absolute breeze.
Chicken – you can use any cooked shredded chicken, you can use a store bought rotisserie chicken or cook your own (I like to poach chicken breasts ahead of time).
BBQ Sauce – go ahead and make your own if you’re super ambitious, but you can easily use your favourite store bought barbecue sauce… there are some pretty yummy ones out there.
Red Onion – the bite of the onion is the perfect complement to the sweetness of the sauce, so unless you’re highly opposed to onions I strongly recommend keeping them. I think red onions have the best flavour.
Jalapeños – fresh or pickled. Dealer’s choice here. Fresh jalapeños give a fiery heat that I love, but the sour briny flavour of pickled jalapeños is really delicious too.
Melted Butter – melted garlic butter is the crowning glory that tops these delicious little bites.
Barbeque Chicken Sliders Recipe Variations:
Spicy Version – use fresh jalapeños, pepper jack cheese and add stir some hot sauce into the bbq sauce.
Buffalo Blue Cheese Version – sub buffalo sauce in place of the barbecue sauce and add 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese into the other cheese.
Pineapple Version – add a big handful of chopped pineapple in with the chicken.
Barbeque Chicken Sliders recipe, how to make it…
The hardest part of this whole recipe is cooking the chicken. BUT WAIT. You don’t even have to cook the chicken if you don’t want to. Yes, you can cook and shred your own chicken, and you can even do this ahead of time. And yes, I usually do cook my own, but I can honestly say I can’t think of a better time to buy a grocery store rotisserie chicken than now, to make these.
Once you have your shredded chicken all ready to go you just have to mix it up with your barbecue sauce… your choice again here… homemade or store bought… ambitious or lazy. I know which way I’m going.
Place your Hawaiian rolls on a baking sheet and slice the whole slab in half, horizontally, leaving the buns intact. Remove the top and set it aside.
Take your saucy chicken and spread it evenly all over the rolls. Top the chicken evenly with all the cheese, the red onion, the cilantro (if using) and the jalapeños (if using).
Place the top of the rolls back on and brush the tops all over with garlic butter.
Cover the rolls with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Uncover them and bake for another 10 minutes.
Let them sit for 5 minutes or so before serving or you will burn the bejeepers out of your hands. Trust me.
looking for some more easy and delicious chicken recipes? try these…
- Grilled Chicken Nuggets
- Crispy Chicken Sandwich
- Cast Iron Chicken Parmesan
- Bourbon Honey Chicken
- Soy Garlic Chicken Wings
- Garlic Chicken Parmesan Pasta
- Buffalo Chicken Thighs
If you like this Barbeque Chicken Sliders Recipe let me know what you think in the comments below and please find and follow me on Social Media!
