Leftover Thanksgiving Sliders
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Repurpose holiday leftovers into Thanksgiving sliders! With turkey, cranberry sauce, mustard, and cheese baked warm on fluffy Hawaiian rolls!
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why you’ll love Thanksgiving Sliders
- Guaranteed crowd-favorite. Sliders are so easy to serve, and when they are loaded with all of the Thanksgiving fix-ins, they are sure to be a guaranteed party hit, perfect for Friendsgiving, holiday entertaining, and feeding a crowd.
- Make-ahead friendly. You can easily assemble the sliders ahead of time, storing in the fridge and baking just as your guests arrive. The sliders will be perfectly warm, buttery, and toasted.
- Great way to repurpose leftovers. This is an excellent way to use up some of the holiday leftovers (turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and stuffing), even serving leftover gravy for dipping! The best part is that it doesn’t even taste like leftovers.
- Made all year long. Even if leftovers are not accessible, these sliders can still be made and enjoyed any time of the year with store-bought deli meat and canned cranberry sauce, getting your holiday fix 365 days out of the year.
What are Leftover Thanksgiving Sliders?
These are pull-apart sliders featuring Thanksgiving leftovers such as shredded turkey, cranberry sauce, and cheese, sandwiched between sweet, Hawaiian rolls and then baked warm until slightly toasted and cheesy.
Key Ingredients
Bread
Sweet Hawaiian rolls or dinner rolls
Turkey
Leftover roasted turkey (or ham)
Cranberry sauce
Leftover cranberry sauce (jellied or whole berry)
Cheese
Melty cheese slices such as havarti, white cheddar, Swiss, gruyere, or provolone cheese
Spreads
Dijon mustard (or honey mustard) and mayonnaise
Toppings
Melted butter and poppy seeds
Optional add-ins
Leftover stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy (for dipping)
How to make Leftover Thanksgiving Sliders
- Slice the rolls. Keeping the rolls connected, carefully slice the entire block in half horizontally, creating a top half and a bottom half.
- Mix the spread. Mix together the mustard, mayonnaise, green onions, salt, and pepper. Then spread a thin, even layer over the top half of rolls.
- Layer the ingredients.
- Spread a thin, even layer of cranberry sauce over the bottom half of rolls.
- Add the shredded or sliced turkey in an even layer. Optional: spoon the stuffing or mashed potatoes on top.
- Top with a layer of cheese, then place the top half of rolls on top.
- Brush with butter. Generously brush the tops of the rolls with melted butter and sprinkle with poppy seeds.
- Bake. Cover with foil and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking for 5-8 minutes until the tops are golden brown and the cheese is melted.
- Slice and serve. Let the sliders rest for 5 minutes, then slice into individual sliders and serve warm alongside leftover gravy for dipping.
leftover thanksgiving slider variations
- Dinner rolls: use homemade or store-bought dinner rolls instead
- Ham: leftover holiday ham (or deli ham) is a great swap for the turkey
- Bacon: add cooked bacon slices prior to baking
- Mashed potatoes: add leftover mashed potatoes
- Gravy: warm up leftover gravy for dipping
- Heat: add pickled jalapeño slices or banana peppers for a kick of heat
- Cheese: use white cheddar, Swiss, gruyere, or provolone cheese
- Everything bagel seasoning: substitute everything bagel seasoning blend for the poppy seeds
what to serve with leftover Thanksgiving sliders
Tools For This Recipe
Leftover Thanksgiving Sliders: Frequently Asked Questions
Hawaiian rolls are pillowy yet sturdy, holding up saucy, heavy fillings without falling apart, making them ideal for small, baked sandwiches. Once baked, the interior stays warm and fluffy while the tops turn crisp and perfectly golden brown.
You can use deli turkey (or your favorite deli meat) instead!
Absolutely! You can add all of the Thanksgiving leftovers here. For example, mashed potatoes and stuffing would be great additions, using leftover gravy for dipping.
Yes! The sliders can be assembled a few hours in advance and placed in the fridge. Then brush the tops of the sliders with butter, sprinkle with poppy seeds, and bake just before serving.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days, reheating in the oven at 350°F, covered in aluminum foil, until warmed through (optional: remove the foil during the last 2-5 minutes to re-crisp the tops of the buns).
Leftover Thanksgiving Sliders
Video
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 (12-count) package Hawaiian rolls, halved lengthwise
- ⅓ cup leftover cranberry sauce
- ¾ pound leftover turkey, shredded
- 8 slices Havarti cheese
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly oil a 9 x 13 baking dish or coat with nonstick spray.
- In a small bowl, combine Dijon, mayonnaise and green onions; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Spread mixture on top half of dinner rolls; set aside.
- Place bottom half of dinner rolls onto the prepared baking dish. Top with cranberry sauce, turkey, cheese and top of dinner rolls.
- Brush tops of dinner rolls with butter; sprinkle with poppy seeds.
- Place into oven, covered with foil, and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until golden brown and toasted, an additional 5-8 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes.
- Slice and serve warm.
Equipment
Notes
- Use Hawaiian rolls. Hawaiian rolls are perfect for sliders – soft, moist, and slightly sweet to cut through the richness of the savory filling. Not to mention, they are perfectly bite-sized to feed a large crowd.
- Keep the rolls connected. To assemble the sliders, slice the entire block horizontally (in a single cut) while keeping the individual rolls connected.
- Substitute your favorite cheese. Use any melty cheese such as havarti, white cheddar, Swiss, gruyere, or provolone cheese.
- Serve with gravy. If repurposing leftover gravy, warm up the gravy for dipping on the side rather than adding it directly into the sliders.
- Bake covered first. Cover the sliders with foil for the first 10 minutes of bake time to prevent them from browning too quickly.
- Let it rest. Let the sliders rest for at least 5 minutes, allowing the melted cheese to set before slicing.
- Double the recipe. The sliders can easily be doubled or tripled, using a separate baking dish for each.
- Make ahead of time. This is a great recipe to prep and assemble ahead of time and placed in the fridge up to 4 hours.
Did you make this recipe?
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We loved this recipe! I used sharp white cheddar (shredded, sparingly) because I had that on hand. We also excluded the poppy seeds because I couldn’t locate them in my cabinet and gave up the search quickly. This will be one we add to the rotation! Also, if you like a little spice, I added a jalapeño to one for today’s leftover lunch and it was great! Very likely that you could also sub out the cranberry sauce for a lighter application of jam (blackberry maybe) and it would work well.
These are amazing. A really big hit in my house. I added nacho rings to kick it up, but did everything else to the recipe.
So good!
Can I make without cheese? Maybe use stuffing? Will it still hold together you think?
Can’t wait to try these! Any thoughts on a substitute for cranberry sauce as I am out of that ingredient.
In planning my Thanksgiving menu this year, I am most looking forward to having what I need on hand to make these!!! The sliders are delicious and a new holiday favorite in our house. We made them 3 times over last year’s holidays, and are looking forward to our first bite in a few weeks!
I made these 3 times over the holidays. The last time I made them with sliced turkey from the deli as I was out of the real thing. They were a hit each time. Super easy and super delicious!
My husband and I are not real big fans of turkey, but roast one as a rule for Thanksgiving…and had a lot leftover. I am so glad I saw this recipe. We now want to roast ANOTHER turkey just to have these sandwiches on hand!! I would not change a thing about the recipe. It is perfect, and I have been sharing this recipe with all of my friends! Thank you!!
These were delicious and a great use of the leftover turkey rather than having another “Thanksgiving Day” meal. Recipe is a definite keeper !!
Made with honey baked ham since I had it on hand. Absolutely delicious. All the flavors come together well.
Made these for dinner last night. Absolutely delicious.
Ahh! I wish I’d checked here sooner. All my leftovers are gone!! Must remember this for next year!!
Delicious.