Cheesy Pepperoni Pizza Sliders

These delicious Cheesy Pepperoni Pizza Sliders are the perfect sandwich when you’re looking for a little bit of comfort. Smothered on top with a savory garlic butter glaze and fresh parmesan, each bite is a pizza lover’s dream. Hawaiian rolls are filled with gooey melted cheese, delicious sauce and loads of turkey pepperoni.

Packed with flavor and all the best parts of a pizza, these wonderful sliders are the perfect choice for a meal or party appetizer!

Why We Love It

We just can’t get enough of sliders these days. Have you seen the post for my Ham and Swiss Cheese Sliders? They’re legendary around here. We love them so much that they are now a main entrée at Easter.

So yes, you might say we’re a little slider obsessed. I mean, who doesn’t like a little oven toasted gem filled with oozing cheese and other yummy things? You’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone around here who says that they don’t!

So you know if I’m surrounded by a lot of slider fans, I eventually had to branch out and try some new varieties. Enter these scrumptious Cheesy Pepperoni Pizza Sliders. These sliders use the same sweet Hawaiian rolls as the Ham and Swiss Cheese Sliders, but that’s where most of the similarities end.

Layered with zesty pizza sauce, mounds of turkey pepperoni and loads of shredded Italian cheese, these tasty little sliders definitely live up to their name! And the best part? Well, for me it’s the savory topping. The garlic butter parmesan glaze is so tasty, it should be bottled up and sold in stores. It’s seriously just that good.

These sliders can get a little messy. But a little mess never hurt anyone. Especially when it’s from indulging in an almost too delicious to describe, get-it-before-it’s-gone, Cheesy Pepperoni Pizza Slider!

Why You’ll Love It

These Cheesy Pepperoni Pizza Sliders are so easy to make. If you can make a sandwich and melt some butter, you can make these. The recipe is easy to double (or triple!) for a meal or appetizer. They’re perfect for a fun lunch or dinner. They’re also great for parties, and with football season right around the corner, they’ll be perfect for tailgating and gametime!

My one main piece of advice when making these sliders? Assemble them no more than an hour or so before you’re ready to bake them. The sauce can get–well, pretty saucy–which can lead to a soggy slider bottom. And although these are absolutely amazing once made, they don’t keep for long in the fridge (1-3 days max).

So try to make what you plan on eating and know your audience. If you’re serving pizza and/or cheese lovers, plan accordingly, and know that these will be going…going…gone fast!

If you love pepperoni as much as we do, be sure to check out Pepperoni Pasta Salad and Pepperoni Alfredo Bake!

Ingredients for Cheesy Pepperoni Pizza Sliders

• 1 (12 count) Hawaiian sweet rolls (King’s Hawaiian recommended)
• 1 cup of your favorite pizza sauce– I like a chunky sauce because it’s usually a little thicker
• 5 ounces turkey pepperoni– I like turkey for this because it has less fat and calories
• 8 ounces shredded Italian cheese blend or mozzarella– this is where I can’t skimp on fat and calories. Kraft’s shredded Italian 5 cheese is awesome for this
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted– I use salted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese– choose refrigerated shredded in a bag if you don’t have time to do it yourself

How to make Cheesy Pepperoni Pizza Sliders

You’ll want to gather the following equipment:

• 13 x 9 in. pan, greased or lined with greased foil
• cutting board
• long serrated bread knife
• small pot with lid
• stirring spoon
• pastry or basting brush (optional, but handy)
• foil
• toothpicks (optional, but handy)

Before starting:

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

Now unpackage those rolls! If you bought King’s Hawaiian (which I highly recommend), they will come out of the package perforated, but unseparated. Simply turn the entire set of rolls on its side. Use a bread knife to slice through all of them at once, but keep all the tops and bottoms together.

Kitchen Ready Betty tip: Because these sliders are saucy, it’s best not to separate the individual tops and bottoms. Keep one giant “top” and one giant “bottom” as pictured.

Lightly grease a 9×13 pan or line the pan with foil and lightly grease. Then lay the bread bottoms (still connected) in the dish, cut side facing up.

Spread the pizza sauce over the rolls in the pan.

Then top with the turkey pepperoni.

Sprinkle on the shredded Italian or mozzarella cheese.

Cover with roll tops (still connected) and set aside.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Then add the garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Stir to combine and remove from heat.

Add the freshly shredded parmesan and mix well. The mixture will be very thick–almost like a paste.

Spoon the butter glaze evenly over the tops of the rolls. Then use a pastry brush to evenly distribute.

At this point, I like to insert a toothpick into the top of each slider. While not absolutely necessary, I do this for two reasons:

• Although temporary, they help to press down the ingredients in each individual slider since they’re so packed!
• The toothpicks also help me to create a foil tent over the sliders. We bake these covered, but we don’t want any of the foil sticking to the tops of the sliders. The toothpicks serve as a guide when tenting the foil over the pan. Once you have a good tent, remove the toothpicks and set your foil tent loosely over your baking dish.

IMPORTANT: REMOVE THE TOOTHPICKS BEFORE YOU BAKE THE SLIDERS!!!!!

Bake for 20-25 minutes covered and then 5 minutes uncovered. You’ll know they’re done when the inside cheese is starting to ooze!

Let stand for 5 minutes; then separate and enjoy!

Cheesy Pepperoni Pizza Sliders Leftovers?

If you have some, lucky you, but they won’t last for long!

Store in an airtight container and refrigerate. Enjoy within 3 days (the longer these sit, the soggier they get).

Reheating instructions: Arrange in a single layer on a prepared pan, cover loosely with foil and bake at 300 degrees for 10 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 2-3 minutes or until sliders are heated through (the melted cheese will be a good guide for this).

Because these are so saucy, freezing isn’t recommended.