Sheet Pan Sliders Recipe

Sliders might seem like a trendy bar food, but they've been around in fast food form for over a century courtesy of burger chain White Castle. While making a large quantity of sliders at home might be a pain, the great thing about this sheet pan version is that, as recipe developer Michelle McGlinn tells us, "you can make 24 of them all at once, without having to flip tiny patties or cut toppings to size."

McGlinn describes this recipe as similar "to a Sloppy Joe in that the beef is crumbled and browned and served as such on the patties," but she says these mini cheeseburgers taste just like the standard kind. In her opinion, "the best part is the onion layer, which is a softened, sweet layer of thinly sliced onion that gives the sliders a mouth-watering aroma and delicious buttery flavor." She also likes the fact that essentially baking one giant burger and then pulling it apart into individual servings is not only convenient but also fun. As for a serving size, she tells us to "plan on serving four sliders per person," which is more or less equivalent to one standard burger. As the Hawaiian rolls that make up the mega-bun do come in smaller packages, you can easily make a smaller portion if you're not looking to feed a giant crowd.

These sliders start with ground beef, of course, and also include onions sautéed in butter. The buns are made from Hawaiian rolls, and McGlinn offers the following shopping tip: "These are often not found in the standard bread aisle of grocery stores, but rather, near the bakery or in specialty bread sections." She also likes to top the buns with extra butter and a sprinkling of sesame seeds.

As for the cheese used in these cheeseburgers, McGlinn is using American, but if you're not a fan of this cheese product, she says "you could easily swap [it] for cheddar, Swiss, pepper jack, or monterey jack." In fact, she suggests a fun southwestern variant on these burgers made with pepper jack, avocados, and jalapeños, so you may want to pick up any or all of these as long as you're in the grocery store.

Set the oven to preheat to 350 F. Melt a couple tablespoons of the butter in a pan over medium-low heat and add the onions. Cook these for about 10 minutes until they are very soft. They won't be caramelized into that sweet jammy consistency, but McGlinn uses a Vidalia onion, which she says is "just a little bit sweeter" than your standard yellow allium. She does say, though, that a yellow onion would also taste good, as would other types of sweet onions. White and red onions, with their strong, pungent flavor, may not be the ideal choice here.

When the onions are done, remove them from the pan and crumble in the beef. Cook it until it is browned. Stir as you cook to break up the lumps, then add some salt and pepper.

Take the Hawaiian rolls out of the package, then cut them horizontally through the middle. If they remain stuck together — as they should — you'll wind up with on big top bun and one big bottom one. McGlinn has another tip here: "It is easiest to slice half the rolls, rotate the buns, then slice through the other half." Put the big bottom bun (stop giggling) on a sheet pan.

Spread the onions on top of the bun, then add the beef. Top the beef with the cheese, then cover the whole thing with the top bun layer.

As a final touch before the big burger sheet goes into the oven, melt the last bit of butter and brush it over the bun. Sprinkle the top with sesame seeds, then stick the pan in the oven and cook until the buns turn brown and the cheese melts. Once the pan comes out of the oven, that super-slider can be pulled apart into 24 mini ones — or let your guests do this as they eat.

If you'd like to top these sliders with something more than just the standard ketchup, McGlinn notes that the special sauces offered by fast-food chains including Shake Shack and McDonald's are usually a blend of mayonnaise, ketchup, pickle relish, and vinegar. Her preference, however, is to "just slather on some mayo; that's my favorite burger sauce." If you want to add lettuce and tomato, McGlinn suggests doing so after you've cooked the burgers so the vegetables don't wilt.