Meatball Sliders

Ingredients You’ll Need

• 1/3 cup (25 g) panko breadcrumbs
• 3 tbsp whole milk
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 lb (226 g) ground beef, 80–85% lean
• 1/2 lb (226 g) ground pork or mild Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1/2 cup (40 g) finely grated Parmesan, divided
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt (1/4 tsp if using sausage)
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) thick marinara sauce
• 1 package (12 count) slider rolls or Hawaiian-style rolls, still connected
• 4 slices provolone
• 1 1/2 cups (6 oz / 170 g) low-moisture mozzarella, shredded
• 3 tbsp (42 g) unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

How to make meatball sliders

1. Step 1.

   Heat the oven to 400°F (205°C). Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment.

2. Step 2.

   In a large bowl, mash the panko with the milk and let it soak for 3 minutes. Beat in the egg.

3. Step 3.

   Add the beef, pork, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Mix gently with your hands just until combined.

4. Step 4.

   Roll into 12 meatballs about 1 3/4 inches wide and arrange on the baking sheet. Bake for 15–18 minutes, until browned and cooked through to 160°F (71°C).

5. Step 5.

   Meanwhile, simmer the marinara in a skillet over medium heat for 5–8 minutes, stirring, until thick enough that a spoon dragged through it leaves a clear trail. Add the baked meatballs and turn to coat. Reduce the oven to 350°F (175°C).

6. Step 6.

   Slice the connected rolls in half horizontally and set the bottom half in a greased 9×13-inch baking dish. Layer with the provolone slices.

7. Step 7.

   Halve each meatball and arrange the halves flat-side down over the provolone so each roll gets one meatball. Spoon the remaining sauce over and around them, then sprinkle with the mozzarella.

8. Step 8.

   Replace the roll tops. Stir the melted butter with the garlic powder and remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan and brush or spoon over the tops.

9. Step 9.

   Cover loosely with foil and bake for 10 minutes. Uncover and bake for 8–10 minutes more, until the cheese is melted and the tops are golden.

10. Step 10.

    Sprinkle with parsley, let stand 3 minutes, then cut along the seams and serve warm.

Tender meatballs start with a panade

Soaking breadcrumbs in milk before mixing them into the meat keeps small meatballs moist. The soaked crumbs hold on to liquid and interrupt the meat proteins, so the meatballs stay tender instead of tightening into dense little spheres. Mix with your hands only until the ingredients come together; overworking the meat makes it springy.

A mix of beef and pork gives the best balance of flavor and tenderness. Mild Italian sausage in place of plain pork adds fennel and seasoning; cut back the salt if you use it.

Bake the meatballs instead of frying

At 400°F, a single sheet of meatballs browns in about 15 minutes with no splattering and no batches. They finish cooking again inside the sliders, but cook them fully first; the second bake is too short and too gentle to bring raw centers to a safe temperature. An instant-read thermometer should read 160°F in the center.

Halve them so they stay put

A whole meatball on a slider bun is tall and round, pushing the top bun up and rolling out as soon as someone takes a bite. Cutting each one in half gives two flat surfaces that sit securely on the cheese and let the top rolls sit level. It also means more sauce and cheese reach the meat, and each slider is easier to eat.

Thicken the sauce

Jarred marinara is usually thinner than it looks. Spooned into sliders as is, it seeps into the bottom rolls during baking. Simmering it for a few minutes concentrates both the texture and the flavor. When a spoon dragged across the skillet leaves a trail that stays briefly open, it is ready. The provolone layer on the bottom rolls adds another barrier between sauce and bread.

The garlic-Parmesan top

Butter mixed with garlic powder and grated Parmesan turns plain rolls into something closer to garlic bread. Hawaiian-style rolls add a sweet contrast to the tomato sauce; plain slider rolls or brioche give a more classic sub flavor. Cover the dish loosely for the first 10 minutes so the cheese melts before the Parmesan on top starts to brown too much, then uncover to crisp.

Party planning

The meatballs can be baked up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated, or frozen for up to 3 months. Reheat them in the simmering sauce before assembling so the sliders bake in the stated time. Assemble the sliders no more than a couple of hours before baking.

Two sliders per person is a good estimate when they share a table with other appetizers. Keep a second tray assembled in the refrigerator and bake it when the first is half gone. Any sliders left at the end of the party should go into the refrigerator within 2 hours; they reheat well, wrapped in foil, in a 350°F oven for about 15 minutes, and keep for 3 days.