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These BBQ Chicken Sliders have juicy, saucy chicken, tangy pickles and crunchy cabbage wedged between delicious sliders. Ready in 30 minutes and the perfect meal!
Table of Contents
Why Make BBQ Chicken Sliders
Sliders are always insanely good, if I am at a party or gathering, you bet I am piling my plate with a few sliders. They are filling and always loaded with flavor, like my Chicken Bacon Ranch Sliders.
These BBQ Chicken Sliders are bursting with juicy, saucy shredded chicken. They come together in about 20 minutes and they make for a great appetizer or meal. The recipe is SO easy, I am confident anyone can through these together to impress the family or guests. Another fail proof recipe is my Cream Cheese Corn Dip, it makes a great appetizer alongside these sliders.
Ingredients Needed
Cooked Shredded Chicken. Make your own or you can use rotisserie. I also have a Dutch Oven Pulled Chicken recipe if you’d like!
BBQ Sauce. Use a high quality bbq you love, or you can make your own from scratch.
Spicy Pickles. The pickles really add a lot of tangy yummy flavors, I use Dave’s Killer pickles but any pickle you love will work great.
Slider Rolls. I use King Hawaiian slider rolls, the sweet rolls offer a wonderful flavor. You can use any slider roll of choice.
All other ingredients and measurements can be found in the recipe card towards the bottom of this post.
Recipe Variations & Substitutions
To make this recipe dairy free, use a plant based butter to brush the rolls with and be sure to find sliders that do not have dairy in them!
Shredded Chicken. You can also use shredded beef or shredded pork in place of the chicken.
Red Cabbage. This add crunch and color to the recipe, you can omit or use green cabbage if desired.
Mayonnaise. Adding a drizzle of mayo or kewpie mayo to the rolls before adding the cabbage makes a great creamy addition.
Steps To Make This Recipe
Step One. Preheat the oven to 350º. Meanwhile, add the shredded chicken to a medium sized mixing bowl. Add in bbq sauce and mix well to ensure chicken is covered.
Step Two. Cut the rolls in half so that you have one sheet of bottom rolls and one sheet of top rolls. *I find it’s easiest to cut this way if you take the rolls out of the package and let them sit on the counter to “dry” out for a few minutes. It makes it much easier to slice!
Step Three. Place the bottom of the rolls in a 9×9 or similar sized baking dish. *option to drizzle a little mayo/kewpie mayonnaise over the buns for a creamier flavor. Add chopped cabbage to the bottom of the rolls, pile on the saucy chicken in an even layer.
Step Four. Add the chopped pickles and any additional toppings (like pickled onions, cilantro and more). Place the top of the rolls over the built sliders.
Step Five. Brush the rolls with melted butter and sprinkle with Parmesan. Cover the rolls tightly with foil, place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the top of the sliders get a little crispy and browned.
Step Six. Pull the sliders out, let them cool for a few minutes. Use a sharp knife to gently cut them up and enjoy! Garnish with a little chopped cilantro for color and serve!
Recipe FAQs
They are great on their own or you can serve a few appetizers with them. I find that sliders should be a main appetizer and then have some dips or lighter appetizers to pair with them. Read my “Recipe Pairings” section for specifics!
No, you can use shredded beef or shredded pork in place of the chicken for this Recipe.
Recipe Tips
Add Mayonnaise To The Rolls. This adds a great creamy flavor and texture I love! But this is totally optional.
Don’t Overcook The Sliders. Make sure you check the sliders often while they are baking and try not to overcook them, the rolls will get dried out and flaky.
Make Your Own Pickled Onions. Easily make your own pickled onions for extra texture and color on these sliders.
Pickled Onions:
- 1 medium red onion, very thinly sliced
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup distilled white vinegar
- ¼ cup apple cider
- 1 ½ tablespoons maple syrup ½ teaspoons salt
Pack the onions in a jar that has a lid. Simmer all other ingredients together for about 5 minutes, let it cool for 3 minutes, pour over the onions in the jar, seal the jar and let the onions sit for an hour or up to 24 hour.
Recipe Pairings
BBQ Chicken Sliders pair great with salads like my Chickpea and Kale Salad or Kale and Lentil Salad. You can also serve it with my Avocado Corn Salad, Tahini Herb Dressing & Dip or dunk them in my Pesto Dressing (yum!).
Other Chicken Recipes To Try
If you loved this recipe let me know! Also, follow me on Instagram & Pinterest for even more fun recipes to make you feel good from the inside out. Thanks for being here.
BBQ Chicken Sliders
Equipment
- 9×9 baking dish
- mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 12 hawaiian sliders, *see notes
- 3 cups shredded chicken, cooked, *see notes
- ⅓-1 cup barbecue sauce , start with 1/3 C use more as needed
- 1½ cup purple cabbage, chopped
- ¼ cup spicy pickles, chopped, *see notes
- 1 Tbsp butter, melted
- 1 Tbsp Parmesan, grated , *for garnish on rolls
- 1 Tbsp fresh cilantro, finely chopped , *for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350º. Meanwhile, add the shredded chicken to a medium sized mixing bowl. Add in bbq sauce and mix well to ensure chicken is covered.
- Cut the rolls in half so that you have one sheet of bottom rolls and one sheet of top rolls. *I find it's easiest to cut this way if you take the rolls out of the package and let them sit on the counter to "dry" out for a few minutes. It makes it much easier to slice!
- Place the bottom of the rolls in a 9×9 or similar sized baking dish. *option to drizzle a little mayo/kewpie mayonnaise over the buns for a creamier flavor. Add chopped cabbage to the bottom of the rolls, pile on the saucy chicken in an even layer.
- Add the chopped pickles and any additional toppings (like pickled onions, cilantro and more). Place the top of the rolls over the built sliders.
- Brush the rolls with melted butter and sprinkle with Parmesan. Cover the rolls tightly with foil, place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the top of the sliders get a little crispy and browned.
- Pull the sliders out, let them cool for a few minutes. Use a sharp knife to gently cut them up and enjoy! Garnish with a little chopped cilantro for color and serve!
Notes
- 1 medium red onion, very thinly sliced
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup distilled white vinegar
- ¼ cup apple cider
- 1 ½ tablespoons maple syrup ½ teaspoons salt
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
THESE WERE EPIC! I added the mayo like you suggested and everyone loves them!
Thank you! I am so thrilled to hear this.
Really good sliders, thank you
Awe I really appreciate that! Thanks for letting me know.
These were excellent, really great, easy recipe to follow. Thank you.
These were great! I will be making them again
Made for a party this weekend and they did NOT disappoint. They were gone the minute I brought them out of the oven. I wish I doubled the recipe. Thank you Bailey
Yay! Really happy you all enjoyed it, thanks for the feedback. Happy cooking!