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These crack chicken sliders are great for parties and equally perfect for weeknight dinners! They are easily made in the oven with Hawaiian rolls, chicken, bacon, cheese, and ranch dressing. Top the sliders with melted, seasoned butter, and bake until hot and delicious!
Table of Contents
- What is crack chicken made of?
- Ingredients
- How to Make Crack Chicken Sliders on Hawaiian Rolls
- How to keep the Crack Chicken Sandwiches Warm
- What to Serve with Chicken and Bacon Sliders
- Preparation and Storage Tips
- Recipe Variations
- Tips for the Best Crack Chicken Sliders Recipe
- Crack Chicken Sliders Recipe
This isn’t just your average chicken bacon ranch sandwich recipe! Instead, these hot “crack” chicken sliders are positively addicting, thanks to a sweet, salty, and savory combination of Hawaiian rolls, chicken, bacon, cheese, Ranch dressing, and seasoned butter. They’re an easy, crowd-pleasing option that always disappears fast.
What is crack chicken made of?
I’ve seen a variety of “crack chicken” recipes across the internet over the years, and I have no idea where it actually originated. The name of this recipe suggests that the meat is so delicious that it’s as addicting as crack…but we obviously know that’s not literally true!
While there are different versions of the dish with the same name, most of the recipes include slow cooked chicken breasts or chicken thighs that are combined with ranch seasoning (ranch dressing mix), cream cheese (or other cheese), and bacon. Today, I’ve taken those same flavors to create my own version of chicken sliders on hawaiian rolls! They’re party-friendly (no utensils required), and can be prepared in advance for convenient hosting.
Ingredients
This is just a quick overview of the ingredients that you’ll need for our favorite chicken bacon sliders. As always, specific measurements and step-by-step cooking instructions are included in the printable recipe box at the bottom of the post.
- Mayonnaise: for flavor and moisture on the sandwiches. Duke’s brand is our top pick!
- King’s Hawaiian sweet rolls: these sweet little slider buns pair nicely with the savory filling.
- Chicken: I use thinly sliced deli chicken for ease, but you can sub with shredded chicken from a store-bought rotisserie chicken or shredded chicken that you cook in the Crock Pot or boil at home.
- Cheese: just about any variety will work, so pick your favorite. Good options include cheddar, Swiss, or provolone. I use squares of sliced cheese, but a sprinkling of shredded cheddar cheese is fine as well.
- Bacon: cooked until crispy! This adds great salty, smoky flavor to balance the sweetness in the rolls and butter sauce.
- Ranch salad dressing: a classic ingredient in crack chicken recipes.
- Dill pickle chips: these are optional, but recommended. The acidic pickles add a nice, bright touch to the otherwise rich dish.
- Salted butter, light brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and onion powder: the melted butter sauce soaks into the rolls, giving the sliders tons of flavor and helping them brown and crisp in the oven.
- Poppy seeds and/or sesame seeds: an optional garnish for a little touch of flavor and texture.
How to Make Crack Chicken Sliders on Hawaiian Rolls
These easy sliders can be assembled in advance with minimal prep time, making them ideal for busy weeknight dinners or party hosting. The detailed directions are included in the recipe card below, but here’s the quick overview:
- Assemble the sandwiches with mayo, chicken, cheese, bacon, Ranch, and pickles.
- Arrange them in a greased baking dish.
- Stir together the melted butter sauce.
- Pour the melted butter sauce over the sandwiches. Sprinkle with poppy seeds and sesame seeds, if desired.
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the cover and bake for 3-5 more minutes.
- Serve warm, while the cheese is melty, ooey, and gooey!
How to keep the Crack Chicken Sandwiches Warm
If you want to keep the sliders warm at a party or football tailgate, keep them covered with foil to trap the heat and moisture. You can also wrap them individually in foil, place them in a crockpot, and keep on the “warm” setting for a few hours.
What to Serve with Chicken and Bacon Sliders
For a regular weeknight dinner, pair the sliders with a simple green salad, wedge salad, potato salad, coleslaw, macaroni salad, baked potato wedges, dill roasted potatoes, or potato chips.
If you’re serving the sandwiches as a part of a larger appetizer spread for a party or tailgate, here are some more options that go well with crack chicken:
- Hummus and pita chips
- 4-Ingredient Cream Cheese Apple Dip with apple and pear slices
- Homemade Nachos
- Pimento Cheese and crackers
- Deviled Eggs
- Italian Pinwheels
- Cream Cheese and Pepper Jelly Dip
- 5-Minute Corn Dip
- New Orleans-Style BBQ Shrimp or Shrimp Cocktail
- Onion Dip with potato chips
- Refrigerator Dill Pickles
- Easy Stromboli Crescent Braid
- Homemade Soft Pretzels
- Candied Bacon
- Shrimp Dip
- Crispy Virginia Fried Oysters
Preparation and Storage Tips
- Make Ahead: Assemble the sliders up to 24 hours in advance (but don’t add the butter sauce), cover, and keep refrigerated. When ready to bake, allow the sliders to sit on the counter and come to room temperature for at least 30 minutes before they go in the oven. Pour the melted butter sauce over the top of the sliders up to 4 hours before you bake them.
- How to Freeze: Once the sandwiches are assembled with the butter sauce, you can wrap the dish tightly and keep it in the freezer for up to 3 months. You can then bake them directly from the freezer! You’ll just need to add about 10-15 minutes to the total baking time. Make sure that you use a freezer-to-oven-safe dish.
- How to Store Leftovers: Leftover sliders will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat individual sandwiches in the microwave just until warmed through. Alternatively, reheat a larger pan of sliders (covered) in a 350°F oven until warmed through.
Recipe Variations
- Shredded chicken sliders: instead of deli chicken, try shredded rotisserie chicken or shredded Crockpot chicken. You can also stuff the sliders with this crack chicken recipe that you bake in a casserole dish.
- Fried chicken sliders: use little pieces of fried chicken in the sandwiches instead of the deli meat. Store-bought chicken nuggets would work well, or you could fry your own chicken at home!
- Deli chicken sliders are delicious, but deli turkey, ham, or roast beef would all work well, too!
- Buffalo crack chicken sliders: use “buffalo style” deli chicken, and drizzle the sandwiches with buffalo wing sauce at the same time that you add the Ranch dressing.
- Make the sandwiches spicy by adding crushed red pepper flakes to the filling, or by whisking cayenne into the seasoned butter mixture.
- We like the sweet King’s Hawaiian slider rolls, but you can use any small slider buns that you prefer.
- The poppy seeds and/or sesame seeds are optional, so leave them off if you like. You can sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese on top too.
Tips for the Best Crack Chicken Sliders Recipe
- Instead of filling each individual roll with the meat, you can leave the buns attached and just slice through them horizontally. Then you can layer the filling ingredients on top.
- If you want to be able to lift all of the sliders out of the pan so that you can transfer them to a serving board, line your baking dish with parchment paper. Let some of the parchment hang over the edges of the pan (like handles), and then just lift out the entire tray of sandwiches when they’re done baking. Your guests can pull them apart, or you can cut through them with a knife.
- For even more flavor, add some herbs to the butter mixture. For instance, dried parsley, basil, chives, or oregano would be delicious. You can also garnish the finished sliders with sliced green onions or chopped fresh parsley.
More Slider Recipes to Try
Hanky Panky Sliders
1 hour hr 50 minutes mins
Ham and Cheese Sliders
30 minutes mins
Kentucky Hot Brown Sliders
3 hours hrs 50 minutes mins
Crack Chicken Sliders
Ingredients
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 1 (12 ounce) pkg. King’s Hawaiian sweet rolls, halved horizontally
- 12 thin slices deli chicken
- 3 slices Swiss cheese, Provolone cheese, or cheddar cheese, cut into fourths
- 6 slices cooked bacon, halved horizontally
- ¼ cup Ranch salad dressing
- 12 dill pickle chips (optional)
- ½ cup (1 stick) salted butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- Optional garnish: poppy seeds and sesame seeds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Spread about 1 teaspoon of mayonnaise onto the bottom half of each roll, and top each with 1 slice of chicken, 1 piece of cheese, and 1 piece of bacon. Drizzle each with about 1 teaspoon of Ranch dressing, top with 1 pickle chip, and add the top half of the roll.
- Arrange the sliders tightly in a greased 12 x 8-inch or 11 x 7-inch baking dish.
- In a small bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together warm melted butter, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and onion powder. Drizzle the sauce onto the rolls, sprinkle with poppy seeds and sesame seeds (if desired), and cover with foil.
- Bake until the cheese is melted, about 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until the tops are lightly browned, about 3-5 more minutes. Serve warm.
Notes
- Instead of filling each individual roll with the meat, you can leave the buns attached and just slice through them horizontally. Then you can layer the filling ingredients on top.
- If you want to be able to lift all of the sliders out of the pan so that you can transfer them to a serving board, line your baking dish with parchment paper. Let some of the parchment hang over the edges of the pan (like handles), and then just lift out the entire tray of sandwiches when they’re done baking. Your guests can pull them apart, or you can cut through them with a knife.
- For even more flavor, add some herbs to the butter mixture. For instance, dried parsley, basil, chives, or oregano would be delicious. You can also garnish the finished sliders with sliced green onions or chopped fresh parsley.
Can you omit the Mayo? If not, anything to sub for it?
Hi, Gina! Of course! Feel free to omit the mayo and use any other sandwich dressing that you like. Mustard would be fine, or just use extra Ranch dressing. Hope you enjoy!
These are delicious!! Definitely will be made again and again!
Thank you, Diane! We’re so glad you enjoyed them.