Chicken Pesto Sliders Recipe
These chicken pesto sliders are made with King’s Hawaiian rolls, deli chicken, melty cheese and a homemade pesto and take just minutes to throw together. This easy appetizer has a lot of flavor with a perfect balance of sweet and savory.
There’s no right or wrong when it comes to sliders. l love my homemade pesto because it’s oil-free and incredibly flavorful but you can use homemade barbecue sauce, buffalo sauce, honey mustard, blue cheese dressing, etc. These are super customizable so feel free to get creative!
For more sliders, try Italian sliders, buffalo chicken sliders and chicken bacon ranch sliders.
Why you’ll love this recipe:
- Only 140 calories per slider.
- Simple ingredients.
- Perfect party food and football season food!
Ingredients and Substitutes:
These are the main ingredients and substitutions. See recipe card below for full ingredients list and instructions for Chicken Pesto Sliders.
- King’s Hawaiian Sweet Rolls: sweet Hawaiian rolls are the best for these sliders to get the perfect combination of sweet and salty. You can use any small dinner rolls or type of slider buns.
- Deli Chicken: using deli chicken makes these super easy to throw together but you can use shredded chicken, rotisserie chicken or make your own using chicken thighs or chicken breasts. I love to use leftover breaded chicken cutlets, when I’m feeling crazy.
- Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese: provolone cheese, monterey jack cheese, Swiss cheese, pepper jack cheese or cheddar cheese are great on these.
- Pesto: I used my own homemade oil-free pesto. It’s made with spinach, garlic, basil and lemon juice and because there’s no olive oil, it’s low fat. Try mine or use your favorite.
Variations
- Add dijon mustard, sliced red onion, pine nuts and a slice of tomato prior to baking.
- Try my buffalo chicken sliders for a sweet and spicy variation or chicken bacon ranch sliders.
- Add red pepper flakes or hot sauce, for some heat.
- Serve with a side of homemade ranch dressing.
Dietary Modifications
- To make this gluten-free, use your favorite gluten-free rolls, I like Canyon Bakehouse.
- To make this dairy-free, omit cheese entirely or use a dairy free option.
How to make these Chicken Pesto sliders:
Step 1: preheat and prep
Pre heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 9×13 inch baking pan or sheet pan with cooking spray and set aside. Using a serrated knife, slice your rolls through the center so you have a top and bottom, leaving all 12 connected.
Step 2: assemble sliders
Top the bottom rolls evenly with sliced chicken and cheese. Lay four slices of chicken down first, then top with the next 4 slices. Lay out 3 slices of cheese towards the top half (viewing the rolls connected by 4) and 3 slice along the bottom so they evenly overlap.
Step 3: make the pesto and add to the sliders
In a food processor or single smoothie blender: add basil, spinach, garlic, lemon juice, salt and black pepper and blend until fully combined.
Using a pastry brush, brush the under part of the top of the rolls with a spoonful of pesto sauce. Pour the remaining pesto on top of the mozzarella cheese. Place the top buns over the bottom half of the rolls. Option: sprinkle the slider rolls with dried minced onion, sesame seeds or everything but the bagel seasoning.
Step 4: cut and bake
Place the rolls in the baking sheet and CUT all 12 into individual sliders. Do this so that it’s easy to pull apart since the meat overlaps and will need to be cut.
Loosely cover the rolls with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the tin foil and let bake for an additional 5 minutes to crisp the rolls until golden brown. Remove from the oven when the cheese has fully melted and serve. Enjoy your delicious chicken pesto sliders.
Expert Tip!
For extra protein double up the meat! Swap with fresh slicer turkey after the holidays or use rotisserie chicken!
Recipe FAQs
Serve with toppings like sweet and spicy pickles, shredded iceberg lettuce and thinly sliced red onion. This Chicken Pesto Sliders Recipe is the perfect appetizer or easy weeknight meal.
Absolutely! While this chicken pesto sliders recipe calls for deli chicken you can swap with cooked chicken breast, shredded chicken breast or even rotisserie chicken.
I suggest making these sliders when you’re ready to serve them because they are amazing hot and gooey right out of the oven. If bringing to a party, assemble at home, and then toss into the oven before you serve. That being said, my kids take these for school lunches and love them, so rest assured, they will be a hit whether hot or cold.
Check out some of our other easy sliders!
If you make this recipe, please leave a rating and/or comment! Tag me on Instagram @ohsnapmacros, I love hearing from you!
Chicken Pesto Sliders
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Ingredients
- 12 pack Savory Buttery Rolls (King's Hawaiian)
- 8 slices Deli Chicken (Dietz & Watson Southern Fried)
- 6 slices Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese
- 1-2 cloves of garlic
- 1 cup fresh basil
- 1 cup fresh spinach
- 1 Tbsp. water
- 1/4 lemon juiced
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Pre heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 9×13 inch (or dish large enough to fit all rolls) baking dish with nonstick spray and set aside.
- Slice Buttery Rolls through the center so you have a top and bottom leaving all 12 connected.
- Top the bottom rolls evenly with sliced chicken and cheese. Lay four slices of chicken down first and top with the next 4 slices. Lay out 3 slices of cheese towards the top half (viewing the rolls connected by 4) and 3 slice along the bottom so they evenly overlap.
- In a food processor or single smoothie blender add basil. spinach, garlic, lemon juice, salt and and pepper and blend until fully combined.
- Brush the tops of the tops of the sliders with some of the fresh pesto. Pour the remaining pesto on top of the mozzarella cheese. Place the tops on the rolls. Option: sprinkle with dried minced onion, sesame seeds or everything but the bagel seasoning.
- Place the rolls in the baking dish and CUT all 12 into individual rolls. Do this so that it's easy to pull apart since the meat overlaps and will need to be cut.
- Loosely cover the rolls with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and let bake for an additional 5 minutes to crisp the rolls some.
- Remove from the oven when the cheese has fully melted and serve. Enjoy your delicious chicken pesto sliders.
Notes
- Nutritional information is an estimate and will vary with substitutions.
- These are best served right away so the cheese is melty.
- Use leftover turkey or ham after the holidays or use storebought rotisserie chicken for a chunkier slider.
Love these so much! Haven’t made them for a while.. any side dishes you’d think would pair nice with them?
Maybe a dumb question, but is the nutrition info for 1 slider? (Aka, how many sliders in a serving)?
Making this tomorrow for our NYE get together and super excited about it!
Yes, one slider per serving. Makes 12. Enjoy!!
I love these sliders and they have become my go-to for busy nights when we need a quick meal between kids practices. They are quick, taste great, and taste good the next day.
These look so yummy!!! Can I freeze these for later?
After making these can I freeze them for later????
I have not tried freezing them but I imagine they’d be soggy when defrosting. If you try it, please let me know how it worked.
I love this recipe!
For the lemon juice, it just says “ 1/4 lemon juice” – is it supposed to be “1/4 cup”?
Thanks!
No, 1/4 of a lemon, juiced. Thanks!
Trying these tonight! just curious though, about how many grams/ounces of mozzarella should we use? I could not find part skim slices either prepackaged or from my deli. So I’m working with shredded.
1 slice is 21 grams so use 126 grams shredded.
These were so simple and delicious!! Thank you!
Yay, thank you!!