These delicious barbecue chicken sliders are made with barbecue chicken, Hawaiian rolls, coleslaw, pickles and cheese. They are easy to prep, serve a crowd, and taste delicious. Just, slice open your rolls, add your ingredients, and enjoy. Next time you have leftover rotisserie chicken or want an easy shredded chicken recipe to enjoy, make these BBQ Chicken Sliders.

Hawaiian Roll Chicken Sliders with Barbecue Sauce

These chicken sliders are made using Hawaiian Rolls. Hawaiian Rolls are easy to find in most grocery stores and everyone seems to love them. They are soft, delicious, and have a slightly sweet taste that pairs perfectly with so many different flavor combinations. For this recipe I combined shredded chicken, barbecue sauce, cheddar cheese, homemade coleslaw, and bread and butter pickles to make a delicious barbecue chicken slider.

These barbecue sliders can also be made with shredded pork or beef instead of chicken. I love making different type of sliders because they are such an easy recipe to make to serve a crowd. Think of it as making one giant sandwich and cutting it into 12 perfectly sized pieces. It comes together so fast and are so cute. If you love sliders as much as I do, here are some of my other slider recipes: Chicken Bacon Ranch Sliders, French Dip Sliders, and Cheesesteak Sliders.

Pulled Chicken Barbecue Sliders

Pulled chicken is a great protein to incorporate into your meals. If you are using chicken breast to make pulled chicken it could be a little dry so it is great to mix with something like BBQ sauce. And when you add it into a slider with cheddar cheese, cole slaw, and pickles it becomes anything but dry.

You can make your own pulled chicken for these pulled chicken barbecue sliders or you can buy a rotisserie chicken. If you want to make your own, you start by boiling chicken breast so that it does not lose moisture. You cook it just until cooked, let it rest, and then you use two forks to shred the chicken. You can also buy pre made plain shredded chicken, but it tends to be a little expensive since they did all the work for you. I have seen this at my local Wegmans and Costco. However, in a pinch or if you are short on time, buying premade/pre shredded chicken breast is a great option.

I combined my shredded chicken with a barbecue sauce that I buy at Trader Joe’s called “Carolina Gold” Barbecue sauce. It has a slightly tangier flavor because there is a little bit of mustard in it. I love it because it is so flavorful but not too sweet. You can use your favorite barbecue sauce in this recipe as they will all work out well.

BBQ Chicken Sliders

You could absolutely make bbq chicken sliders by just combining barbecue sauce and chicken and throwing it on a Hawaiian roll, or you can jazz it up a little bit by adding a few more ingredients. For these barbecue chicken sliders I added some cheddar cheese since I think it goes best with barbecue sauce, but you can choose whichever cheese you like best. I also added caramelized onions since I have some leftover, but you do not need them for this recipe.

Topping the barbecue chicken with cole slaw is important. It gives this sandwich a fresh crunch which is favorite part. I love the combination of cole slaw and bbq chicken so this was a total win for me. And then, because I love pickles I added some bread and butter pickles because I knew they would go great on this and I was right – it was delicious.

How to make this Recipe:

INGREDIENTS

12 Hawaiian Rolls
10 oz shredded chicken rotisserie or leftover previously shredded
1 cup barbecue sauce plus extra to brush on the bread
9 slices cheddar cheese
1-2 cups shredded cole slaw mix store-bought shredded cabbage found in the produce section
1/2 cup vinaigrette I used a mango vinaigrette from Trader Joe’s but any will be delicious
12 sweet pickle slices
caramelized onions optional

INSTRUCTIONS

In a bowl combine shredded chicken and 3/4 cup barbecue sauce. Check the consistency. If you prefer it to be saucier, then add the remaining barbecue sauce.
Slice open the Hawaiian rolls so that you have one sheet of tops and one sheet of bottoms. Add them side by side on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
Spread a small amount of bbq sauce on the inside of both sides of the rolls. If you are adding onions, you can add them to the top halves of the rolls now.
Cut each slice of cheddar into 4s, so that you have 36 mini cheddar squares. Add two mini cheddar squares to each roll on the bottom slice. After you do this you should have 12 slices left that you will place on the insides of the top rolls(if you are using onions, the cheese will be placed on top of the onions).
Add your chicken on top of the cheese that is on the bottom rolls. Using a small spatula make sure the chicken is evenly distributed.
Put them in the oven (uncovered) at 325F until the cheese is perfectly melted. (about 20 minutes)
While this is cooking, combine your cole slaw mix with your vinaigrette.
Remove them from the oven once the cheese is melty and then top the chicken with your cole slaw mixture and 1 pickle slice on each sandwich. Carefully place the tops of the rolls on top of the sandwich and press down slightly so that the melted cheese sticks to the pickles.
Cut along the lines of the rolls and serve with additional barbecue sauce.

NOTES

If you want the tops of the rolls to be shiny, youcould brush a light coating of bbq sauce on the tops or you could brush a light coating of butter on top.