Pesto Ham and Cheese Sliders

For any party or Super Bowl recipe ideas, enjoy our cheesy Pesto Ham and Cheese Sliders, made with ham, cheese, caramelized onions, and a delicious poppyseed topping! Between the pesto and a buttery glaze on top of the dinner rolls, they are always a party hit! Serve warm for the holidays or an “anytime” snack.

For any party, or even a weeknight meal – we love these Ham and Cheese Sliders, served hot and cheesy with a giant salad. They have an Italian twist, with pesto, if you love Italian Sliders (hello salami or sopressata). What I also love is that sliders are kid-friendly – even with the caramelized onions!

Pesto Ham and Cheese Sliders

You start with dinner rolls (we love whole wheat dinner rolls), but they can also be made on potato buns, or Hawaiian sweet rolls. We’ve tried all 3 and they are delish! We’re obsessed with these sliders with easy ingredients found at your local grocery store.

Years ago our turkey pesto sliders were one of our most popular recipes, inspired by the Costco turkey sandwich. So good! So this time we changed up the recipe using leftover holiday ham, whole wheat rolls, to create little ham and cheese sandwiches. They turned out amazing!

Why I love this recipe

This is what I’ve found to be true at any party. Sliders are devoured first. Everyone loves a good, moist slider! They’re easy, cheesy and perfect. Some people call them “ham and cheese sliders with brown sugar.” Yes, they are sweet and savory!

• They are warm cheesy little sandwich bites – perfect for any party or a lunch to go!
• Recipe is also a great weeknight meal (or perfect for game day!)
• Even with pesto and onions, they are “kid-friendly!”

Gather these ingredients

• Deli ham: thinly sliced, or leftover holiday ham
• Swiss cheese slices
• Whole wheat dinner rolls (or you can use Hawaiian dinner rolls or potato buns)
• Pesto: use fresh or from a jar
• Butter
• Sweet onion, sliced and sautéed

The buttery sauce on top:

• Butter
• Yellow prepared mustard
• Worcestershire sauce
• Poppy seeds
• Brown sugar

Why use pesto?

If you’ve been a reader on RE for long, you will know that we are huge fans of pesto. We grew our own basil year round for many years, so we have quite a few recipes here with pesto. You can also keep pesto in the freezer (or fridge), so it’s always on hand.  In fact, you could serve these sliders with our Chicken Pesto Pasta Salad or our Orecchiette Pasta Salad–both packed with pesto.

How to make Pesto Ham and Cheese Sliders

1. Make the onions: Heat 2 Tbsp. butter in medium pan. Thinly slice the onion; sauté in the butter, or until clear and cooked.
2. Line the pan(s) with foil.
3. Prepare the rolls: Leaving the (24) rolls attached, horizontally slice the top off; set aside. Place the bottom (attached 24 pieces) rolls in a 9×13 foil-lined baking pan. (You may need to squeeze them into the pan, or use a 9×13 + 8×8 pan:)
4. Make the sliders: Spread the pesto evenly over the bottom bread. Next layer on top of the pesto the ham, sautéed onions, and cheese slices. Place the top section of the rolls that you already removed back on top of the sandwich.
5. Cook the sauce: In a medium sauce pan bring the 1/2 cup butter to a soft boil. Add mustard, worcestershire, poppy seeds, and brown sugar.
6. Pour sauce over the 9×13 sandwiches.
7. Bake!

Tips and substitutions:

• You can use any protein in this recipe and replace the ham (beef, chicken, shrimp, pork, pastrami, etc.)
• The sauce is amazing – so use it on any variety of sliders.
• Pesto: Even if you don’t have enough basil to make a batch of homemade pesto, you can add baby spinach with the basil. Easy!
• Optional to use an electric knife to cut the rolls in half horizontally!
• I usually use a 9×13 plus a 8×8 pan, but use the pans that fit the amount of rolls you are using.
• Use any kind of rolls (or buns). What makes this recipe so good is the buttery sauce on top!
• Optional to leave out the pesto – but why would you? (wink-wink)
• Optional to use Jack, Mozzaella, Gouda, Cheddar or your favorite cheese!
• Again, you can leave out the poppyseeds if you are not a fan, but why would you? *ha*
• Make ahead of time and pour the sauce on right before baking.

How do you serve Pesto Ham and Cheese Sliders?

Best served warm out of the oven. Allow them to sit for 5-10 minutes before serving though, so the cheese sets (and isn’t so cheesy, melty, hot that it slides all over). You can also enjoy these cold (so it’s a good idea if you’re going to a tailgate party to bake ahead and enjoy warm or cold).

Serve with a pasta salad, a fruit salad, and a big pan of Healthy Banana brownies! The perfect game day meal.

Perfect for any party

This recipe is loved by all, and perfect for a casual Christmas, New Year’s Day party, appetizer parties, football parties, tailgate parties, summer parties.

Seriously, there is not right or wrong season to make these delicious sliders. The only problem … you can’t stop at just one. They are that good. :)

More slider recipes to try:

• Low Carb Cheeseburger Sliders with special sauce
• Caprese Sandwich Sliders
• Cheesy Breakfast Sliders
• Turkey Cheddar Apple Sliders
• Beer and Cheese Slider Recipe
• Poblano Sliders
• Shrimp Bacon Sliders

4.72 stars (7 reviews)

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Pesto Ham and Cheese Sliders

Easy Pesto Ham and Cheese Sliders are a fun party or game day food made with caramelized onions and a delicious poppyseed topping!

Use an electric knife to cut the rolls in half horizontally! Easy! Make ahead of time and pour the sauce on right before baking. I usually use a 9×13 plus a 8×8 pan.

Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 30 minutes mins

Total Time: 45 minutes mins

Yield: 12 servings

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Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

• 1 ½ lb. deli ham thinly sliced, or leftover holiday ham
• ½ lb. swiss cheese slices
• 2 pkg. whole wheat dinner rolls
• ½ cup pesto
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 1 medium sweet onion, sliced and sautéed

Make the sauce

• ½ cup butter
• 2 Tbsp. prepared mustard
• 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire
• 1 Tbsp. poppy seeds
• ⅓ cup brown sugar

Instructions

 

• Heat 2 Tbsp. butter in medium pan. Thinly slice the onion; sauté in the butter for about 5 minutes, or until clear and cooked.
• Line the pan(s) with foil.
• Leaving the (24) rolls attached, horizontally slice the top off; set aside. Place the bottom (attached 24 pieces) rolls in a 9×13 foil-lined baking pan. (You may need to squeeze them into the pan, or use a 9×13 + 8×8 pan:)
• Spread the pesto evenly over the bottom bread.
• Next layer on top of the pesto the ham, sautéed onions, and cheese slices.
• Place the top section of the rolls that you already removed back on top of the sandwich.
• In a medium sauce pan bring the ½ cup butter to a soft boil. Add mustard, worcestershire, poppy seeds, and brown sugar.
• Pour sauce over the 9×13 sandwiches.
• Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 10 minutes.
• Serve hot or cold.

Notes

Originally posted DEC 2013

Cuisine: American

Course: Appetizer

Author: Sandy / Reluctant Entertainer

Calories: 398kcal, Carbohydrates: 13g, Protein: 19g, Fat: 30g, Saturated Fat: 14g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 9g, Trans Fat: 0.4g, Cholesterol: 79mg, Sodium: 966mg, Potassium: 250mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 8g, Vitamin A: 666IU, Vitamin C: 2mg, Calcium: 235mg, Iron: 1mg

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