I’m always brainstorming ideas to use up leftover rotisserie chicken (I’m looking at you chicken Florentine soup) and when I first made these chicken bacon ranch sliders my family went wild for them!
There is one caveat attached here. Though super delicious, these tiny chicken bacon sandwiches are SUPER RICH, so they’re not an everyday kind of meal (very much like this pesto gnocchi, one of our other favorite weeknight meals 😅).
I make my bacon ranch chicken sliders with pulled rotisserie chicken but you can also use chicken thighs or breasts—whatever’s easiest. If you use pre-cooked bacon and pre-grated cheese, you can have the sliders in the oven in about 10 minutes. Customize the recipe with whatever you have on hand but note it’s the ranch dressing mixture that’s the true star!
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💞 Why You’ll Love This Recipe
✔️ Chicken bacon sliders are legit delicious! Both kids and adults love them.
✔️ They’re multi-purpose. Make them for an easy weeknight dinner, a potluck, or a game day snack!
✔️ Bacon chicken ranch sliders are super easy to make.
📋 Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Cheese—I usually mix it up between sharp cheddar cheese and mozzarella.
- Pulled Chicken—rotisserie chicken from the grocery store is the easiest unless you have cooked chicken left over.
- Hawaiian Rolls Or Slider Buns—I recently found King’s Sweet Hawaiian Rolls where I live and I quite like them, but you can also use soft dinner rolls or slider buns.
- Ranch Dressing Powder—sometimes called ranch seasoning or ranch dressing and dip powder, it’s usually found in the salad dressing aisle of the grocery store and is sold in small packets.
- Everything Bagel Spice—is optional.
It’s important to note when making substitutions in recipes, the texture and flavor may be slightly different. However, these substitutes are the best options if you are looking to change the original recipe.
Ingredients Substitutions
- Bacon—to keep it in the family, I’d substitute the bacon with crispy cooked pancetta slices. You can also use packaged pre-cooked bacon to make things easier.
- Cheese—use any kind of cheese you like or have on hand. Provolone or Swiss are good choices.
Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top of this post, or scroll to the bottom of the post, to see the PRINTABLE recipe card with ingredient measurements and complete instructions.
👩🍳 How To Make Chicken Bacon Ranch Sliders
STEP 1—Cook the bacon in a frying pan over medium-high heat until crisp.
STEP 2—Whisk the buttermilk, melted butter, and ranch powder in a measuring cup or bowl. Set aside some of the mixture. Add the dried minced onion to the remaining mixture and stir.
STEP 3—Line a baking dish with the bottom buns. Spoon half of the plain ranch mixture evenly over the bottom buns.
STEP 4—Top each bun evenly with the cooked bacon.
STEP 5—Spread the pulled chicken evenly over the buns.
STEP 6—Scatter the grated cheese evenly over the sandwiches then spoon the remaining plain ranch mixture over the cheese.
STEP 7—Place a top bun on each slider then use your hands to press them down gently but firmly. Spoon the dried onion ranch mixture over the top buns.
STEP 8—Sprinkle on the grated Parmesan cheese and everything bagel spice (if using). Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake the chicken bacon ranch sliders. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before serving.
🗣 Expert Tips
1. To make the sliders less rich, brush the top buns with melted garlic butter instead of ranch.
2. Try Dijon mustard instead of ranch on one side of the buns.
3. Rather than a huge batch, make a few at a time in the air fryer.
📝 Recipe Notes
- Use pre-cooked bacon and pre-grated cheese to save time.
- The order you put the chicken, bacon, and cheese on the buns doesn’t matter.
- Add some arugula for color and extra flavor.
- Chicken bacon ranch sandwiches are messy! Serve with lots of napkins.
🙋♀️ Recipe FAQ
A slider burger is essentially a miniature hamburger. These days, slider buns and rolls can be found quite easily in most grocery stores and can be filled with anything you like, not just burger patties.
The trick to cooking crispy bacon in a pan on the stovetop is to start the bacon in a cold pan. Cooking the bacon this way, over medium-low heat helps the fat render from the bacon which helps make cooked bacon crispier.
French fries are probably the obvious answer, but sliders are also great served with a mixed green salad or a bowl of soup on the side.
💃 More Weeknight Meal Ideas
Did you make these chicken bacon ranch sliders? Please rate the recipe and tell me how it went in the comments below. Also, stay in touch with me on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest to see more delicious food and recipes!
🖨 Recipe
Chicken Bacon Ranch Sliders
Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons or digital kitchen scale
- Frying pan
- Tongs
- Paper towel
- Plate
- Oven-safe 9×13-inch (23×33-cm) baking dish
- Whisk
- Liquid measuring cup or bowl
- Spoon
- Aluminum foil
- Wire rack
Ingredients
- 1 package bacon, 375g
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ½ cup butter, melted
- ¼ cup ranch seasoning, also called ranch dressing powder
- 1 tablespoon dried minced onion
- 15 sweet Hawaiian rolls, or soft dinner rolls or slider buns
- 2 cups rotisserie chicken, pulled
- 1 ½ cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated
- 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 teaspoon Everything Bagel Spice, optional
Instructions
- Cook the bacon in a frying pan over medium-high heat until crisp, about 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC) and have an oven-safe 9×13-inch (23×33-cm) baking dish ready.
- Whisk the buttermilk, melted butter, and ranch powder in a measuring cup or bowl. Pour ⅓ of the mixture into a separate bowl and stir in the dried minced onion. Set aside.
- Slice the rolls if needed or pull them apart if pre-sliced. Line the baking dish with all of the bottom buns. They will nestle quite snugly together! Spoon half of the plain ranch mixture evenly over the bottom buns.
- Top each bun with bacon, chicken, and cheese. Don’t worry about placing the ingredients on too neatly as the sliders will later be pulled apart.
- Spoon the remaining half of plain ranch mixture over the toppings.
- Place a top bun on each slider then use your hands to press them all down gently but firmly.
- Spoon the ranch-dried onion mixture evenly over the top buns until it’s gone. Use the back of your spoon to gently spread the ranch mix over each top bun. Sprinkle the grated Parmesan over the buns and add a sprinkle of everything bagel spice (if using). Cover the baking dish tightly with foil and bake the sliders for 15 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and continue to bake the sandwiches for 12 to 15 minutes more, or until the rolls are golden. Serve the sliders warm or cold alone, or with any sides you like.
Notes
- Use pre-cooked bacon and pre-grated cheese to save time.
- The order you put the chicken, bacon, and cheese on the buns doesn’t matter.
- Add some arugula for color and extra flavor.
- Chicken bacon ranch sandwiches are messy! Serve with lots of napkins.
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