BBQ Pulled Pork Sliders
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Finger foods rule game days, tailgates, and cookouts, and these loaded BBQ pulled pork sliders are no exception.
We love sliders that are piled high with toppings and so saucy that you can’t possibly eat them neatly. So this slider recipe uses a whole pound of pulled pork to make 12 sliders that are bursting at the seams with flavor. And to make them extra special, we’ve put together our favorite flavor combination for BBQ pulled pork with Hawaiian rolls, garlic aioli, cheddar cheese, and caramelized onions.
We often turn to these sliders for a fun game day dinner, or when we’re bringing an app to a party or cookout. And they never disappoint.
What This Recipe Entails
Any sliders on Hawaiian rolls are pretty much irresistible. But load them up with our slow cooker pulled pork, caramelized onions, creamy garlic aioli, and gooey cheddar cheese, and they become impossible to stop eating!
- Ready in: 1 hour if making caramelized onions, about 15 minutes if using leftover or store-bought caramelized onions.
- Makes: 12 sliders. Dinner for 4 people or appetizers for 6 to 12 people.
- Great for: Game day parties or cookouts.
- Flavor profile: Sweet and tangy. Bold BBQ.
- Why we love it: These sliders make for a fun dinner for us on game days. They’re also great for bringing to parties to share with a crowd.
Ingredients
- King’s Hawaiian Rolls – King’s Hawaiian Rolls are the gold standard for a reason.
- Sliced cheddar cheese – You can use any kind of cheddar cheese you like on these sliders – mild, sharp, extra sharp, you name it. All types of cheddar taste delicious with pulled pork. That being said, sharp or extra sharp cheddar is our personal favorite for a bolder flavor.
- Caramelized onions – Make some fresh caramelized onions for these sliders – that way, all the butter and oil and flavors left in the pan after caramelizing the onions get infused into the pulled pork when you heat it up. Alternatively though, you can use store-bought or leftover caramelized onions to make this recipe easier and quicker.
- Pulled pork – Make pulled pork in the slow cooker ahead of time for easy re-heating, or use your favorite store-bought option.
- Barbecue sauce – Sweet Baby Ray’s is our go-to store bought BBQ sauce. But everyone has their favorites, so use yours.
- Garlic aioli – We highly recommend Stonewall Kitchen’s roasted garlic aioli. If you’re feeling a little extra or simply love making everything from scratch like us, try out our homemade roasted garlic aioli recipe that we make with our spanish fried cauliflower.
How To Make BBQ Pulled Pork Sliders
Once you have your ingredients, including the prepared pulled pork, these game day sliders come together in just a few easy steps.
- Make caramelized onions – Caramelize the onions in a large frying pan until they’re a rich brown (check out our tips on how to caramelize onions here if you haven’t made them before!).
- Prep the rolls – Slice the Hawaiian rolls in half horizontally, leaving the rolls attached to one another. Separate the top half from the bottom half, placing both halves cut side up on a large baking sheet.
- Add the cheese – Lay the cheese slices over the top half of the rolls in an even layer. You should be able to use about 4 to 6 standard slices to cover 12 Hawaiian rolls.
- Bake the rolls – Bake until they’re lightly toasted and the cheese is melty.
- Heat up the pulled pork – Add the pulled pork in with the onions and heat until warmed through. Then, remove from heat and stir in the barbecue sauce.
- Assemble – Spread a thin layer of garlic aioli over the bottom half of the toasted rolls. Top with the pulled pork and onion mixture, then close the sliders and serve hot.
Serving Suggestions
If you’re looking for ideas for you game day feast and what to serve with sliders, here are just a few of our favorite game day recipes:
- Buffalo chicken dip bites
- Spinach artichoke dip phyllo cups
- 3 ingredient onion rings
- Beer cheese nachos
- Bacon cheese loaded tater tots
You can also serve them as part of a slider spread, offering a variety of sliders for your game day guests to choose from! Try our Italian meatball sliders, buffalo chicken sliders, and vegetarian black bean southwest sliders.
These savory barbecue pulled pork sliders are the perfect shareable appetizer for any game day party. Serve them with some other football Sunday snacks like wings, buffalo chicken dip, and a veggie platter for a game day spread worthy of its own touchdown dance.
Try our game day BBQ pulled pork sliders recipe to make every Sunday feel like Super Bowl Sunday and don’t forget to rate, comment, and share below!
FAQs
Expert Tips
Love this recipe? You may enjoy these slider recipes, too:
- Teriyaki Pulled Pork Pull Apart Sliders
- Italian Meatball Sliders
- Buffalo Chicken Sliders
- Chicken Parmesan Sliders
Tell us what you think!
We hope you enjoy this recipe! When you try it out, please leave a review and a star rating in the comments below. Happy cooking! – Nicole and Alex
BBQ Pulled Pork Sliders
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Ingredients
- 1 cup caramelized onions about 1 small onion
- 12 rolls King's Hawaiian Rolls
- 4 to 5 slices cheddar cheese
- 1 pound pulled pork
- ½ cup barbecue sauce
- 2 tablespoons garlic aioli
Instructions
- First, caramelize the onions in a large frying pan. Heat the oil and butter over medium-low heat until melted, then add the sliced onion to the pan and stir to coat. Cook until the onions become translucent, stirring occasionally, about 5 to 7 minutes. Then, add the salt and sugar to help start the caramelization process.Once the onions begin to look dry, add about a quarter cup of water to the pan. Cook until the water has evaporated and the onions are dry again, stirring occasionally but not too frequently. Continue this process, cooking the onions over medium-low heat and adding some water to the pan whenever they look like they might start burning, until the onions are brown and smell sweet – this will take about 30 to 45 minutes.
- When the onions are almost done cooking, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Slice the Hawaiian rolls in half horizontally, so they stay attached but the tops are separated from the bottoms. Place both halves cut side up on a large baking sheet.
- Lay the cheese over the top half of the rolls in a single layer. Bake until the cheese is melted and the rolls are lightly toasted, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- When the onions are done cooking, add the pulled pork to the frying pan (leave the onions in the pan!). Cook over medium-low heat until the pork is warmed through and lightly crisped, about 5 minutes. Then, remove from heat and stir in the barbecue sauce.
- Next, spread the garlic aioli over the bottom half of the toasted rolls. Top with the pulled pork and onion mixture, then close the sliders and serve hot.
Notes
Nutrition
If you have any questions regarding the information presented in this post, please refer to our Nutrition Disclaimer here.
These are a must have at our football parties!