Smoked Italian Sliders

Sometimes you just need to take a classic sandwich to the next level. I am a total sucker for Italian subs – usually ham, pepperoni and salami, but I won’t say no to some capicola or mortadella, if we want to get fancy pants. But if I want to make such a relatively simple dish for a dinner, I feel the need to jazz it up some. I recently learned about smoking cheeses in the smoker. So I decided to see what would happen if I made Smoked Italian Sliders – let me tell you, it was a total success!

The real special part of these sliders is the ooey gooey cheesiness of them. By using the whole mozzarella sliced into thick slices – you get some much good melty cheese. If you can’t find a whole ball of mozzarella – you can use Babybel cheese snacks or string cheese in it’s place. For the Babybel snacks, I would slice them in half and place one on each slider. For the sting cheese, probably cut into thirds and also place once chunk on each slider.

Obviously this is intended to be a smoker dish – as the smokey flavor infused into the cheeses and bread are a great added layer of flavor. However, I can confirm that you could totally just make these in the oven and they would still be super tasty. If you wanted to go that route – I would suggest 350degF for 30 minutes, to make sure you get nice any melty with the cheeses.

The sliders would make a great lunch, appetizer or dinner. If you serve for dinner I would probably include a small side salad and maybe some garlic parm fries as well. For garlic parm fries, you can use store-bought frozen fries and cook as directed. Melt a bit of butter with minced garlic, parmesan and parsley (just like what’s on top of the sliders). As soon as the fries come out of the oven, transfer to a large mixing bowl and pour butter mixture over the top.

Now Let’s Get Cookin’!

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Smoked Italian Sliders

Layer up some sliders with mozzarella, salami, pepperoni, pepperoncini, ham, and provolone – all smoked to perfection.

Course Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine American, Italian

Keyword Ham, mozzarella, pepperoncini, pepperoni, salami, sandwich, sandwiches, sliders, smoked meals, smoker

Prep Time 10 minutes

Smoke Time 2 hours

Servings 24 sliders

Equipment

• 1 Smoker
• 2 13×9 Disposable Pans
• Aluminum Foil

Ingredients

• 2 12pk Dinner Rolls like Kings Hawaiian
• ½ cup Italian Dressing
• 1 lb Whole Mozzarella cut into 12 slices
• 32 slices Salami
• 60 slices Pepperoni
• ½ cup Pepperonicini
• 12 slices Ham
• 12 slices Provolone Cheese
• 4 tbsp Butter
• 6 Garlic Cloves minced
• 1 tbsp Parsley
• ¼ cup Parmesan Cheese grated

Instructions

• Preheat smoker to 250degF.
• These instructions are to build one set of sliders, so use half of each ingredient to make one tray of sliders. (repeat to make the 2nd tray)
• Slide the dinner rolls in half. Place the bottom half in the foil pan. Brush with Italian Dressing. Lay out salami in a single layer covering the whole surface, overlapping as needed. Next lay out the slices of mozzarella, followed by a layer of pepperoncini. Next lay out pepperoni in a single layer then fold ham slices in half and layer out to cover the whole surface. Next cover with slices of provolone. Add top of buns.
• Repeat building sliders with second tray and remaining ingredients.
• In a small microwave safe bowl, add butter and melt in microwave. Stir in garlic, parsley and grated parmesan. Brush over tops of each set of sliders. Cover with aluminum foil.
• Place both trays in smoker and let cook for 2 hours.
• Remove from smoker and transfer set of sliders to a cutting board. use a long knife to separate into individual sliders. Serve 3-4 per person.