Italian Meatball Sliders

Coming from an Italian family, meatballs are a staple during holidays and family gatherings. No matter what the occasion, my mom always has a crockpot of meatballs ready to go if there’s going to be a crowd at the house! While I often end up making myself a big meatball sub, there’s something to be said for bite-size meatball sliders you can enjoy all throughout a party.

Our Italian style meatball sliders are tender, saucy, and delicious without being overly messy. Using our homemade slow cooker meatball recipe and King’s Hawaiian Rolls, you can make perfect meatball-to-bun ratio Italian sliders in just a few hours. And since this recipe relies on crockpot meatballs, there are so many ways to prep these sliders ahead of time or serve them DIY-style to your guests.

Italian Meatball Sliders Ingredients

You don’t need many ingredients to make these delicious meatball sliders! Just prepare a batch of our crockpot Italian style meatballs ahead of time, grab a pack of dinner rolls, and the rest of the slider ingredients are probably already in your pantry.

Here’s the full list of ingredients you’ll need:

• Pull apart dinner rolls
• Slow cooker Italian meatballs
• Grated parmesan cheese
• Butter
• Garlic powder
• Oregano

We’re partial to the sweet flavor and fluffy texture of King’s Hawaiian Rolls, but you can use any pull apart dinner rolls for this easy meatball sliders recipe.

If you’re planning on making meatball sliders for a crowd, you’ll love our crockpot recipe for Italian style meatballs (get it here!). It’s easy to scale and can be made ahead of time so that throwing together these sliders before a party is quick and effortless.

How To Make Italian Meatball Sliders

You can make these easy meatball sliders in the oven in about 10 minutes once you have the actual meatballs ready to go! All it takes is 6 simple steps:

1. Make a batch of our slow cooker Italian meatballs. For these sliders, we like to make the meatballs slightly larger – yielding about 12 to 14 meatballs from 1 pound of ground beef, instead of 16. They fit the size of the dinner rolls better this way.
2. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
3. Leaving the dinner rolls intact (don’t separate them), slice them horizontally to separate the tops from the bottoms. Place the bottom half on a baking sheet or in an oven-safe baking dish.
4. Next, add one meatball to each dinner roll, smushing it slightly to help it stay in place. Top the meatballs with extra sauce from the crockpot (only up to about a quarter cup more, or else the rolls will get soggy). Then, sprinkle grated parmesan over the meatballs.
5. Finally, place the top half of the rolls over the meatballs. Brush the tops of the rolls with melted butter and season lightly with garlic powder and oregano.
6. Bake for 5 minutes, just enough to warm the rolls and give them a slight crisp on top. Serve hot!

You don’t have to use our crockpot Italian meatballs – you can use your own favorite meatball recipe, or frozen meatballs if you need an easy alternative. Just make sure you have some extra sauce to pour on top of the meatballs!

Meatball Sliders: Make Ahead Instructions

There are a few ways you can prepare ahead of time to make these meatball sliders as easy as possible. This is super helpful if you’re planning to serve them as a game day appetizer or one of many homemade snacks for a large party.

Option 1: Make the crockpot meatballs earlier in the day, and keep them on warm until it’s time to assemble the sliders. Assemble and bake as per the instructions in the recipe card.

Option 2: Make the crockpot meatballs up to 3 days ahead of time and refrigerate. When you’re ready to assemble the sliders, use the cold meatballs and sauce straight from the fridge. Skip the butter and seasonings on top of the rolls for now, cover the tray with foil, and bake for about 10 to 15 minutes or until the meatballs are warmed through. Then, add the melted butter and seasonings and bake, uncovered, for about 3 to 5 more minutes to toast the tops of the rolls.

Option 3: Make the crockpot meatballs up to 3 months ahead of time and store in the freezer. Defrost 1 to 2 days ahead of time, and follow the steps above for Option 2 to make the sliders.

Build Your Own Meatball Sliders: Recipe Variation

Alternatively, you can provide guests a fun opportunity to build their own meatball sliders (and save yourself some effort) with a big batch of crockpot meatballs and some prepared dinner rolls. Here’s what to do:

1. Make the crockpot Italian meatballs ahead of time and keep it on the warm setting during the party.
2. Before guests arrive, slice the dinner rolls in half horizontally and place in a baking dish. Brush the tops with butter and season with garlic powder and oregano. Then, bake at 325 degrees F for 5 minutes to warm the rolls and lightly toast the tops. Let them cool for a few minutes, then separate them and display on a platter next to the crockpot.
3. Set out a bowl of grated parmesan cheese and let your guests DIY those sliders!

You can even do this with a premade batch of meatballs that was in the freezer or fridge. Simply defrost (if needed) and warm it back up in the slow cooker on low heat before serving.

Meatball Sliders: Serving Suggestions

You can serve these meatball sliders as an appetizer, snack, or even main dish depending on the occasion. We love to make sliders for family parties and football Sundays, but they’re also a great lunch or dinner when we’re looking for something quick and easy!

So, what do you serve with meatball sliders? Here are a few of our favorite appetizers and side dishes that go great with these Italian sliders:

• French fries or waffle fries
• Tater tots
• Onion rings
• Cesar salad
• Carrots with tzatziki or ranch dip
• Buffalo chicken dip
• Agave chili lime chicken wings

Storing & Reheating

If you happen to have leftover meatball sliders, you can store them in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat them in the oven at 325 degrees F in a baking dish covered with foil for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until the meatballs are warmed through.