These smoked Italian sliders take my baked Italian sliders recipe to a whole new level by cooking them in the smoker for a couple of hours! The smoked flavor, delicious seasoned butter on top of the Hawaiian buns, melty cheese, and different meats make these a great appetizer for parties or even an easy dinner.
Slider recipes are incredibly easy to make, and when using Hawaiian buns, they add a sweet flavor as a contrast to savory flavors of some of my favorite sliders. These cheeseburger sliders are the most popular slider recipe, these fish sliders are the most unique and these ham sliders are the most common, and they all use Hawaiian buns too.
Most sliders are made in the oven but when I thought I’d try making sliders in the smoker, I was hoping they’d come out with a delicious smokey flavor, and they did! Plus, cooking the sliders this way, was a great way to cook dinner without having to babysit a dish. I also smoked cheeseburgers on Hawaiian buns!
Ingredients for Smoked Italian Sliders
I’ve given notes on a few of the key ingredients below, but you can see the recipe card below that lists all of the ingredients and instructions too!
- Hawaiian buns: If you do not like sweeter buns, you can use regular slider buns for this recipe.
- Italian dressing seasoning: This is different than Italian seasoning that you find in the spice aisle. This is the seasoning packet that you’ll find in the dressing aisle at the grocery store. I’ve used Zesty Italian and have also used regular Italian dressing seasoning, so either will work.
- Cheese: I prefer to use provolone for this recipe but mozzarella or white American cheese would also be delicious.
- Banana peppers: Totally optional. Sometimes I will include these on Italian sliders but have found that I prefer them without. If using, simply top the meat with your desired amount of peppers, trying to make sure they don’t carry over a lot of liquid that could make the bread soggy.
How to Make Smoked Italian Sliders
- First, preheat your smoker to 250 degrees F.
- Next, slice the Hawaiian rolls in half, creating a top bun and a bottom bun, making two separate pieces. (Do NOT cut each roll or bun in to individual buns. It will be much easier to keep the rolls intact, so you can easily create a bottom bun and a top bun.
- Place the bottom buns in an aluminum foil pan. Next, layer on the sliced provolone cheese, covering the bottom layer of buns. I did 12 slices of cheese, using 9 to cover the buns and 3 more pieces running diagonal through the middle, just to use the package of cheese and get more cheese in more bites. You can do more or less depending on your preference.
- After the cheese, add a layer of salami, then a layer of pepperoni and a layer of smoked ham. (It doesn’t have to be in this order.) If you prefer banana peppers on your sliders, this is where you’ll layer those on as well.
- Place the top buns on top of the meat. Mix together the melted butter and the Italian dressing seasoning and stir to combine. Brush the tops of the buns with half of the seasoned butter. (If desired, you can mix in crushed red pepper and grated parmesan in to the butter as well.)
- Cover the aluminum foil pan with aluminum foil, and place the pan in the preheated smoker, and smoke at 250 for 2 hours.
- After the two hours are up, remove pan from smoker and remove the aluminum foil. The cheese should all be melted, the meat heated through and the buns a beautiful seasoned brown. (The aluminum foil will protect the buns from toasting and drying out.) You can now top the buns with the remaining melted butter if desired.
Using a spatula (preferably two) slide the Italian sliders on to a cutting board so you can cut the sliders in to individual pieces.
Serve while warm, or leave covered with foil to keep them warm longer before serving.
Pro Tips
- Careful Removing: The cheese could stick to the sides of the aluminum pan, or if the cheese melts and sticks to the bottom of the pan. So before removing the sliders to the cutting board to cut in to pieces, make sure to detach anything sticking to the pan, to help make sure that your bread does not break or pull apart.
- More Flavor: Love a little kick to your sandwiches? Feel free to add some crushed red pepper. You can also add grated parmesan cheese to the butter mixture if you prefer.
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Recipe
Smoked Italian Sliders
Equipment
- 1 aluminum foil pan Disposable
- smoker We have a Treager but any brand will work
Ingredients
- 12 count package of Hawaiian buns
- 12 slices provolone cheese slices
- 9 ounces smoked ham
- 7 ounces salami slices
- 5 ounces large pepperoni slices or small (Can also use more/less pepperoni if desired.)
- 4 Tablespoons butter melted
- 1 Tablespoon Italian dressing seasoning
- sliced banana peppers optional
- crushed red pepper optional
- grated parmesan cheese optional
Instructions
- Preheat smoker to 250° F.
- Using a sererated bread knife, slice the 12 count package of Hawaiian buns in half, creating a top bun later and a bottom bun later.
- Place the bottom buns in a 11×9 aluminum pan.
- Add layer of 12 slices provolone cheese slices on top of the bottom buns, making sure to cover the bread completely.
- Next layer on the meats, (9 ounces smoked ham, 7 ounces salami slices, 5 ounces large pepperoni slices) one at a time, and the order doesn't matter, just try to make sure the meats are evenly layered if possible, so the top buns rest evenly on top. If desired, layer on sliced banana peppers.)
- Add top layer of buns on to the top of meats.
- Mix 4 Tablespoons butterwith 1 Tablespoon Italian dressing seasoning and brush half or ¾ of the mixture on top of the buns. (If desired, mix in crushed red pepper and grated parmesan cheese as well.)
- Cover the pan with aluminum foil and place on smoker and cook for 2 hours.
- Remove the pan from the smoker, remove the aluminum foil, and if desired, brush on remaining melted seasoned butter. (You may have to re-melt the butter.)
- Remove sliders from the pan and place on to a cutting board or platter. Using a big spatula to remove the large rectangle is easiest. Using the serrated bread knife, slice the sliders in to individual pieces, where the lines are aleady formed. Serve!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
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