Cuban Sliders are quickly becoming one of my favorite party appetizers. Once you make them, you’ll understand!
These Cuban Sliders are a twist on traditional Cuban sandwiches, layered with ham, cheese, pickles and lots of flavor. Mini Cuban sandwiches make a great appetizer or finger food for any occasion!
These mini Cuban sandwiches are SO good and tasty. They’ve quickly become one of my favorite Hawaiian roll sliders to make for any gathering.
So, what is a Cuban sandwich?
Cuban sandwiches can have many variations but traditionally included ham, cheese, pickles and mustard. Some use boiled ham, other honey ham, some a spicy pulled pork and some even have a combo of all including salami!
Pickles can also vary from traditional dill or bread and butter. For a little extra spice, I like to use my Honey Habanero Pickles.
Cuban sandwiches originally became popular in South Florida, brought there by Cuban immigrants, but have now spread to other parts of the country.
In restaurants, the recipe varies by region and some believe the addition of salami began with the Italian immigrants working alongside the Cubans and combining their culture through food.
While a loaf of Cuban bread is usually pressed panini style, I like using sweet Hawaiian roll sliders for my mini Cuban sandwiches. It allows me to make a large batch in a jiffy.
Instead of slathering with yellow mustard, I add a little tang with mayonnaise and use zesty Dijon with butter to pour over the tops, much like my beloved Ham and Cheese Sliders.
The sweet Hawaiian roll sliders help to mellow out the tang of the Dijon, for a delicious flavor that’s not overpowering at all.
Mini Cuban sandwiches make a great party appetizer – easy to make, delicious, and usually popular with most guests. Hawaiian roll sliders in general always seem to be a hit at parties but Cuban sliders have become a favorite at my house lately.
I love making sliders instead of full-size sandwiches because you can eat one and still have room for all the other delicious party foods. You can even make them as a lunch or light dinner, served with chips or a side salad.
Whether you make them for a party, Super Bowl Sunday or for lunch, these Cuban Sliders are something you’ll want to make over and over again.
You may also like these other easy party appetizers:
- Nashville Hot Chicken Sliders
- Italian Sausage Sandwich Sliders
- Buffalo Chicken Pinwheels
- Spinach and Artichoke Dip
- Salmon Croquettes
- Olive Tapenade
- Nashville Hot Chicken Sliders
- Hush Puppies
- Loaded Tater Tots
- Carrabba’s Bread Dip
- Oyster Crackers with Dill
- The BEST Chicken Wing Recipes
Tools for making Cuban Sliders:
9 x 13 Glass Baking Dish– an absolute essential for any kitchen! Use it for baking, marinating or storing. Get one with a lid, you’ll thank me later.
Wood cutting board – wood won’t dull your knives like plastic and if treated properly, has natural antimicrobial properties.
Check out even more slider recipes in my 19+ Hawaiian slider roll recipe collection and ALL of my Slider Recipes!
Cuban Sliders
Ingredients
- 12 Hawaiian sweet roll sliders
- 1/2 pound ham , thinly sliced
- 1/2 pound Swiss cheese , thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup sliced pickles
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter , melted
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Place all 12 Hawaiian rolls onto a surface suitable for cutting. Using a serrated knife, slice in half while keeping tops and bottoms intact. It should be like one large sandwich.
- Place the bottom layer of rolls in a 9×13 pan.
- Slather mayonnaise on the bottom slab of Hawaiian rolls.
- Evenly layer the cheese, ham and pickles over Hawaiian roll bottoms. Place the tops back on.
- In a small bowl, combine unsalted butter, Dijon mustard, garlic powder, Worcestershire sauce and fine sea salt. Place in the microwave until butter has melted, approximately 40 seconds.
- Pour over the tops of the rolls, trying to get as much on top as you can.
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove aluminum foil and continue to bake until tops are slightly browned and cheese has melted.
- Remove, cut into 12 individual sliders and serve hot.
- If you’ve tried this recipe, make sure to come back and let us know how it went!
I made these for New Year’s Eve and my family LOVED them. I used leftover pork roast (that I made earlier in the week for the excuse of this recipe) in addition to store bought smoked ham. I also used creamy swiss cheese triangles instead of mayo on the bottom and it gave it an extra creamy texture in addition the meaty pork and crunchy pickles. When I placed it in the oven I placed foil on top of the sliders and then set a small sheet pan with a cast iron pan on top for the first 20 minutes and then brushed then with more butter topping and put them on low broil for 5 to toast the top. It gave them a real pressed sandwich taste with no effort. I truly loved the dijon butter topping. I owe you SO MUCH for this idea. I’m going to do the ham and cheese sliders the next time I have my (picky) nieces and nephews over!
Woohoo! The ham and cheese are just as delicious.
This recipe looks delicious. Can they be prepared ahead of time, like overnight, before baking?
Sure! Just don’t do the butter topping until you are ready to heat. The bread will get mushy.
This is one of our go to meals. It is even great the next day.
Thank you! It is one of our favorites too!
I have made sliders before using the same basic recipe.I made Rubens and baked them it was great.i got the idea from one other slider recipe on this site but it didn’t have the baking step.
We love these sliders and they are super easy. My husband requested them tonight for dinner and I was happy to make them. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Yay! We love to hear that, thanks for letting us know, Betty!
These sliders look amazing and would make the perfect comfort food!
I love cuban sandwiches, and I really love the idea of them as sliders!! will be adding this to the menu!
These might be the best sliders I have ever seen, I am a big fan of Cuban sandwiches and adding sweet Hawaiian rolls makes them all the better.
these sound so tasty! I loved learning about the history of these sliders too.
Totally drooling over these cuban sliders! That mustard sauce on top is calling my name! And I am totally heading over for the honey habanero pickle recipe! 🙂