These Garlic Herb Hot Ham Sliders are an easy snack to feed a crowd. Made with soft rolls, two different cheeses, ham and a delicious garlic herb butter, it’s the ultimate appetizer for your next football game day party!
1(12-count) slabdinner rollshomemade or a brand like Sweet Hawaiian
12ozdeli ham
6ozmelty cheese slicese.g. Swiss or Havarti
6ozsharp cheese slicese.g. sharp Cheddar or aged Gouda
4tablespoonsunsalted butteror more to taste; melted
1teaspoondried garlic powder
1teaspoonsalt
black pepperto taste
2tablespoonspoppy seeds
1tablespoonItalian seasoning
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Using a serrated bread knife, split slab of rolls in half. Place bottom half in lightly greased baking dish slightly larger than your slab of rolls.
Combine melted butter, garlic powder, salt and pepper (feel free to add the Italian seasoning at this point, too - I personally don't but some people do prefer it). Dab about 2 tablespoons of the butter on the cut sides of the rolls.
Place half of the deli ham on the bottom half of the rolls. Evenly top with both cheeses, then top with the remaining ham. Finally, place top with the top half of the rolls.
Add poppy seeds (and Italian seasoning, if you didn't add it before) to the melted butter mixture. Brush all over the top of the rolls. Cover rolls with aluminum foil.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly. Uncover and finish baking for 4-5 more minutes, until tops are golden. Allow to cool on the counter for 5 minutes before slicing to serve.
Notes
Ingredient notes
Dinner rolls: I actually make my own dinner rolls for this (see my dinner roll recipe), but it’s absolutely fine to use Hawaiian rolls or any store-bought dinner rolls you enjoy.
Deli ham: I always buy an Italian-style cooked deli ham for this. I like using a deli meat with a lot of flavor, since this is pretty much half of the filling, so it better taste goo ? Feel free to use your favorite though, but I do recommend using a thinly sliced variety.
Cheese: I always buy two different kinds of cheeses for the sliders. One that’s sharp and one that melts well. For the melty one: Swiss, Havarti or Fontina. And for the sharp one: Sharp Cheddar, Gruyère or aged Gouda. Always depends what I can find sliced at the store! For the photos, I used Swiss and aged Gouda slices.
Butter: I use unsalted butter. If you’re using salted, I recommend using less salt or none at all.
More flavor: If you prefer, you can spread mustard on your sliced rolls instead of dabbing them with butter. This will add more flavor and goes really well with the ham.
Topping: If you’re not a fan of poppy seeds, feel free to leave them out. You can also use sesame seeds in place of the poppy.
Recipe tips
The cheese in the middle rolls takes a little longer to melt than the cheese in the outer rolls. I always pass these rolls to my younger children, because I’m not giving them melted cheese yet for choking reasons. You can also put just the middle rolls back in the oven for 5 minutes if you find out you pulled the sliders out too soon for them to be melty enough.
Watch the sliders closely after uncovering, you don’t want their tops to burn.
I recommend using a cooking spatula to cut the rolls before serving. Makes it a lot easier to pull them apart!