Easy Cheeseburger Sliders for a Crowd

This easy recipe is the best way to make a big batch of Cheeseburger Sliders for a crowd. Bake 1 large patty in a 9 x 13 inch pan, top with cheese and cut into 24 sliders. These mini beef sliders served on soft rolls with pickles, ketchup and mustard are perfect for quick dinners, snacks or your next party.

Recipe Review

A Quick Look at This Recipe

• Recipe Name: Sliders for a Crowd
• Ready In: 10 minutes prep, 15 minutes cook time
• Serves: 24 mini sliders
• Calories: 158 per serving
• Main Ingredients: Ground beef, chopped onion, plain breadcrumbs, eggs, seasonings, American cheese, pickles, slider rolls
• Difficulty: Easy

Either on the grill in our backyard or at a restaurant, burgers are a family favorite. We grill all year long along the Jersey shore. Our Weber grill works overtime making burger recipes. My smash burgers with melty cheese, these beefy burgers with tomato relish and smoky monterey jack turkey burgers are always hits.

When I'm looking for an easy way to feed a large crowd or just have lots of burgers on hand for quick meals or the perfect snack, this cheeseburger slider recipe is the one I make. These mini burgers were a favorite of my personal chef clients for 20 years.

The recipe uses an ingenious method for making 24 mini burgers at once. Form a large patty in a baking dish and bake it. Top it with cheese and cut the patty into small slider sized burgers. Pop each hamburger slider on a bun and serve. It's easy peasy!

Why You'll Love This Hamburger Sliders Recipe

• Easy to make ~ Make quick work of preparing sliders with this recipe. Make and bake 1 large burger patty. Top with sliced cheese. Cut into 24 mini slider burgers and serve on mini soft rolls.
• Plenty for all ~ This recipe makes enough sliders for a crowd. The easy recipe makes 2 dozen mini burgers. There's enough to go around for all.
• Party perfect ~ The mini sandwiches are ideal for your next party as everyone loves burgers. The 3 bite cheeseburgers are great for a cocktail party, backyard barbecue, bridal shower, game day spread for a Super Bowl party and movie nights at home. Round out the spread with my Corn Dip and Mac and Cheese Bites.
• Make ahead ~ Prepare the burgers in advance. Then reheat when you're ready to serve them. Use either the microwave or oven. See my Storage and Reheating directions below.

Ingredients & Substitutions

Gather some fresh and pantry ingredients for this recipe. If substitute ingredient options can be made to the recipe, they're listed. Scroll to the recipe card for full quantities of the ingredients.

• Onion: Use a yellow or Vidalia onion. It adds moisture and depth of flavor to the sliders.
• Ground beef: I like an 85/15 blend of ground meat for this recipe. Ground turkey or chicken are also options.
• Plain dried bread crumbs
• Large eggs
• Worcestershire sauce, kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
• American cheese slices: A classic! But you can substitute mozzarella, Swiss, Monterey jack, pepper jack or cheddar cheese.
• Dill pickle chips: Bread and butter pickle chips are tasty too.
• Mini slider rolls: These are smaller than regular slider rolls. They're called dinner rolls or party rolls. They're about 2-inch square rolls. I like these Kings Hawaiian Savory Butter Rolls that come in a 24 pack. You can also buy larger slider sized buns and make 12 sliders with this recipe.
• Ketchup and mustard

How to Make My Cheeseburger Sliders Recipe

Cheeseburger Sliders have all the deliciousness of full size burgers, but in a mini version. This time saving recipe skips the forming of individual burgers and the time spent grilling. This is a brief overview of the recipe. Scroll to the recipe card for full instructions and a step by step video.

1. Spread finely chopped onions in a 9x13 inch baking pan.

2. In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, eggs, bread crumbs, kosher salt, black pepper, and Worcestershire sauce.

3. Evenly press the seasoned ground beef mixture into the pan.

4. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes. If the patty "cracks" while cooking, press it back together. No need to worry. The cheese will hold it together.

5. Top with slices of American cheese. Pop the pan back in the oven for 1-2 minutes to melt the cheese.

6. Remove the pan from the oven. Dab off any grease. Cut the large patty into 24 separate sliders. Serve on mini slider rolls with dill pickle chips, ketchup and mustard.

Why Bake One Large Patty Instead of Individual Sliders

Instead of shaping and cooking individual burger sliders, my recipe bakes one large cheeseburger patty that's sliced into 24 sliders. It's a method I used when I was a personal chef. It's an easy way to feed a crowd because the faster and the sliders are always juicy.

Here's why I love this method:

• Less prep work: Shape one large patty instead of 24 mini burgers.
• Juicier burgers: The large patty stays juicer when baking.
• Even cooking: Every slider is cooked to the same doneness.
• Easy to serve: Slice into equal sized portions in minutes.
• Perfect for parties: Feed a crowd without standing over the grill flipping burgers.
• Better meat-to-bun ratio: Each slider is uniform in size.

Personal Chef Tips for Burger Sliders

• 85/15 ground beef: Ground beef with a blend of 85 percent meat and 15 percent fat produces juicy sliders without an excess of grease after cooking.
• One large patty: Making one large patty in a 9 x 13 inch pan and cutting it into sliders is easier than making individual sliders. Be sure to press the ground beef mixture all the way to the edge of the baking dish. The large patty shrinks when cooking.
• Blot the excess grease: As the large patty bakes, it will release grease. To prevent soggy sliders, dab off any grease on top of the baked slider patty with a paper towel before topping with the cheese.
• Prep in advance: Make the sliders ahead of time. You're not stuck in the kitchen when guests arrive and they make great quick snacks or meals. Store the sliders in an airtight container or large resealable bag in the refrigerator. Then reheat in the microwave or oven. Follow the directions below.

Variations

Try one or more of these slider variations.

• Barbecue Sliders: Top the sliders with bread and butter pickle chips, cole slaw and barbecue sauce. If you love barbecue, try my Barbecue Pork Tenderloin Sliders.
• Blue Cheese and Mushroom Sliders: Skip the American cheese. Add crumbled blue cheese and sautéed mushrooms.
• Pizza Sliders: Skip the American cheese. Top the sliders with warm marinara sauce, mozzarella and basil.
• Double Cheese Sliders: Use 2 kinds of cheese for extra melty good sliders. Try a combination of American, Swiss, cheddar, Gouda or Havarti.

Storage and Reheating

Storage

Store the assembled cheeseburger sliders in an airtight container, resealable plastic bag or wrapped in foil in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Or freeze for up to 1 month.

Reheating

From the refrigerator, heat 2 sliders at a time. Wrap in a paper towel and microwave on 60 percent power at 30 second intervals. To reheat more sliders at once, wrap in foil and and heat in a 350 degree F oven for 10-15 minutes. If frozen, thaw before reheating in the microwave or oven.

Frequently Asked Questions About Sliders

As my recipe makes one large patty that's cut into smaller slider sized burgers, a beef ratio of 85/15 works the best. The patty will shrink a bit as it cooks. This ratio also has enough fat to make the sliders juicy and delicious.

YES! The recipe easily doubles. Either use 2 (9x13 inch) baking pans or 1 (18x12) baking sheet. Follow the other directions as written in the recipe.

No. My recipe is designed to make one large patty that is cut into individual sliders after it's cooked. Cooking the sliders on the rolls would require a different method, cooking time and ingredient amounts.

What to Serve with Burgers

Start off by offering a wide array of toppings for the sliders. Ketchup, mustard, lettuce, tomato slices and crispy bacon let everyone create their own mini burger masterpiece.

For side dishes, my baked crispy oven fries or sweet potato fries, thick slices of icy cold watermelon, this super crunchy apple fennel cole slaw, and these easy soft sugar cookies and our family favorite chocolate cherry cake made with a cake mix round out the perfect menu. For a backyard barbecue, and my deviled eggs with pickles and sweet corn salad with bacon.