Build-Your-Own Sliders: A Great Meal for a Crowd

One of the challenges of having guests over is preparing meals that everyone will enjoy. One thing I like to do is to prepare options where each individual gets to customize his or her meal. I’ve done this in the past with French bread pizzas and with omelets. Recently, when my parents visited us, I did it with sliders.

As most of you likely know, sliders are miniature hamburgers. Given this, why make build-your-own sliders instead of build-your-own hamburgers? I decided on the former because most adults will eat a couple (or perhaps a few) sliders, but they will typically only eat a single hamburger. Having sliders means each guest can build a couple of different sliders. Guests don’t have to choose between cheeseburgers and burgers topped with guacamole, pico de gallo, and pepper jack cheese. They can have both! If they are still hungry, then they can have burgers topped with bacon and BBQ sauce.

You need slider patties, slider buns, and toppings to make build-your-own sliders. For the patties, you can form your own out of ground meat (beef, turkey, etc.) or you can buy ready-to-cook patties that come from the store refrigerated or frozen. If you will have vegetarians or vegans present, then you can include plant-based patties. Many grocery stores sell slider buns, so you should be able to grab some of these. If you can’t find them, then you can slice dinner rolls in half and use these for buns. Now, for the toppings—let the fun begin!

Traditional burger toppings

• American cheese
• Avocado or guacamole
• BBQ sauce
• Cheddar cheese
• Colby-Jack cheese
• Fried eggs
• Grilled mushrooms
• Hot sauce
• Jalapenos
• Ketchup
• Lettuce
• Mayo
• Monterey Jack cheese
• Mustard
• Onion
• Pepper Jack cheese
• Relish
• Pickles
• Pico de gallo or salsa
• Steak sauce
• Tomato

Nontraditional burger toppings

• Artichokes
• Baked beans
• Blue cheese
• Cheese curds
• Chili
• Coleslaw
• Cucumber
• Feta cheese
• Fried onions
• Goat cheese
• Gorgonzola cheese
• Green chilies
• Hoisin sauce
• Honey mustard
• Marinara sauce
• Mozzarella cheese
• Olives
• Parmesan cheese
• Pepperoni
• Pesto
• Roasted red pepper
• Shredded carrot
• Spinach leaves
• Swiss cheese

This isn’t an exhaustive list, of course, but it contains plenty of ideas to get you started! Once you set out your sliders, buns, and toppings, family members and guests can assemble their sliders. They can use as many or as few toppings as they’d like.

We served our sliders with vegetable sticks and French fries, so the entire meal could be eaten without silverware. This means cleanup was easy. Everyone walked away full and having enjoyed their customized sliders.

Would sliders work for your next get together? What unique toppings would you include for guests to use?

Shared at the following:

Encouraging Hearts and Home, Over the Moon, and Busy Monday.