Hawaiian Roll Meatball Sliders Slow Cooked Dinner Idea Recipe | Sip Bite Go
Want an easy game day or weeknight dinner idea with meatballs? My Hawaiian roll meatball sliders are perfect for serving a group on a busy day. Slow cook or bake the homemade beef meatballs. Then serve them with toasted slider-sized mini Hawaiian buns. Let’s cook!
Ingredients for homemade meatball sliders (substitute frozen store bought meatballs)
2lbground beef80/20 ratio preferred
1medium yellow oniondiced
1cupbreadcrumbs
2cloves garlic minced
1 ½ tbsp salt
1tsp black pepper
1tbsp basilfresh chopped
2tbsp olive oilfor searing meatballs before slow cooking
Ingredients for simple crockpot sauce (substitute store bought marinara sauce)
16oz tomatoes diced, canned
½ yellow oniondiced
1garlic cloveminced
½tbsp salt
1tbsp olive oil
½cupbasilfresh diced
For serving meatball sliders
2packages Hawaiian buns
2tbsp buttermelted
2cup marinara saucewarmed
1cup parmesan cheese grated or substitute shredded provolone or mozzarella cheese
Instructions
How to shape meatballs for sliders
Add ground beef to a large bowl with the diced onion, minced garlic, breadcrumbs, salt, and pepper. Mix all ingredients by hand, flipping them in the bowl and squishing them together, until combined.
Make each meatball with about ¼ cup ground beef. I use a large serving spoon to eyeball the amount of meatball ingredients so they are all consistent in size. Roll the meat around in the palms of your hands while gently pressing together until they form a circle shape. Two pounds of ground beef makes about 25 meatballs.
How to slow cook Hawaiian roll meatball sliders
Turn a large burner on the stove to medium-high heat and add a very large frying pan on top (or fry meatballs in batches if using a smaller pan). Add olive to the frying pan. When the oil is hot and a slight smoke starts to appear, add in the meatballs carefully - the oil may splatter.
Sear meatballs, rotating frequently with tongs, until all sides of the meatballs are seared and brown in color. The insides will not be fully cooked which is fine. During this time, add all simple crockpot sauce ingredients to the slow cooker and stir to combine.
Once meatballs are seared, add meatballs to the slow cooker. Set your slow cooker to cook for desired time (the meatballs in the photos cooked for 6 hours) until done.
How to make baked meatball sliders in oven
To do this, preheat the oven to 400°F. Add raw meatballs to a large baking dish or parchment paper lined rimmed baking sheet without searing them first.
Bake meatballs for sliders, turning them every 10 minutes, for 20-30 minutes until brown on the outside and fully cooked inside. The internal temperature for fully cooked meatballs is 165°F which you can measure with a meat thermometer.
How to toast Hawaiian buns in air fryer
You don’t need melted butter. Just pop them in the air fryer (it doesn’t matter which side is up) and toast them for 3-5 minutes at 400°F until golden brown to your liking.
How to toast Hawaiian buns in the oven
Preheat oven to 350 - 400°F. Toast Hawaiian buns in the oven with the inside of the rolls facing up, with a spread of melted butter on them for 5-10 minutes, until golden brown to your liking.
How to assemble Hawaiian roll meatball sliders
Add one meatball on top of the bottom half of the Hawaiian bun. Add a spoonful of marinara sauce on top. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese or add provolone or mozzarella cheese. Top with the other half of the roll and secure with a toothpick if desired.