Recipe: Oven Baked Sliders

Popping in quickly today to share a fun new recipe that I tried out last night.

We had our neighbors over for dinner last night and Payton really wanted to have cheeseburgers. If it had been a weekend, we could have easily accommodated his request, but because it was a weeknight, our grill master wouldn't be home from work early enough to grill up all those burgers (9 people total). So I wanted to come up with another option that still fit the "cheeseburger" request, but that could be made ahead of time and baked inside. Oven baked cheeseburger sliders it was!

I searched the web for a good recipe (and there are many) and kind of combined a lot of their suggestions and made my own. I was able to make them in advance and then pop them in the oven when we were ready to eat, which is perfect for any type of party or dinner.

Here are the easy steps:

1. Take 2 packages of  12 dinner rolls and cut them in half to make mini hamburger buns.

The label on these even says "Makes great buns for sliders."

2. I combined 1 lb. ground beef with 1 lb. ground chuck and added a 1 tsp. garlic salt, 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce and 1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs. Mix gently with hands until combined (do not over-mix or it will make the patties tough).

3. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and then pat down the meat mixture to fill the entire tray.

I then sprinkled the entire thing with coarse sea salt and pepper, because I'm a firm believer that meat needs lots of seasoning, but you can skip this step if you're watching your sodium intake.

4. Bake the meat at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

5. While meat is baking, place the "bottoms" of your dinner rolls on a foiled-lined baking sheet (I needed two baking sheets because I made 23 sliders). Then cut up your cheese and set aside (I prefer thick-cut block cheddar cheese, but you can use whatever your family prefers).

6. When your meat is done, remove from the oven and let rest. The meat will pull away from the sides of the tray while cooking. Very carefully, hold the meat against the pan with a spatula and drain the tray of excess grease.

7. Using a pizza cutter, slice your meat into equal-sized squares to fit your mini buns.

8. Top your bun bottoms with a slice of the meat.

9. Then add your cheese and the bun "tops."

10. Cover entire tray with foil and let rest. If you are serving it within the hour, you can let it rest at room temperature. If you are serving it much later that day, refrigerate your trays and remove 30 minutes before baking.

 11. Bake at 350 degrees (with foil on) for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Serve with a super-healthy side dish like crinkle-cut french fries (har, har) and some carrot sticks, and voila! Oven Baked Cheeseburger Sliders!