Grinder Sandwich Sliders
Published Aug 08, 2022 Updated Jul 11, 2023
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What Makes This Recipe Great
The Italian Grinder Sandwich is all the rage these days, and there is good reason for it! This famous sandwich is packed with delicious meats, provolone cheese, fresh veggies, and a delicious creamy dressing.
Since I love feeding a crowd, especially during this fun summer season full of gatherings and BBQs, I decided to make grinder sandwich sliders, the perfect shareable sandwich so everyone can get in on the trend!
These mini sliders are made with Hawaiian rolls, garlic butter, and all the fillings of the standard Italian grinder. You’ll want to make a double batch because they are that good!
Recipe Highlights
- Easy, 20-Minute Recipe!
- Perfect Appetizer, Lunch, or Entree!
- Yields 24 Sliders- Enough to feed a crowd!
Ingredient Notes
Grinder Sandwich Sliders
*See recipe card for full list of ingredients*
Bread: For this recipe, I used Hawaiian Rolls which crisp up so nicely but still have the perfect pillowy bread texture.
Meat: For these sliders, I used pepperoni, salami, and ham, but if you have something else on hand, use that! Prosciutto is another option that would work great!
Cheese: Italian sandwiches go so well with provolone cheese, which is what I used, but you can swap it for your favorite- it’ll still be great!
Grinder Salad/Dressing
Mayo: Use your favorite brand or make my homemade 60-second mayo!
Dressing: red wine vinegar, olive oil, pepperoncini juice (use this straight from the jar of pepperoncinis).
Veggies: The grinder salad aspect of this recipe calls for shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes, red onion, and pepperoncini- so delicious!
Spices: Italian seasoning, salt, pepper.
Garlic Butter
To make the garlic butter you’ll just need three ingredients: melted butter, minced garlic cloves, and Italian seasoning. You can omit this step if you’d like, but it adds tons of amazing flavor!
Recipe Step by Step
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- In a medium bowl add the mayo, olive oil, red wine vinegar, lettuce, pepperoncini’s and juice, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and onion slices. Mix together until combined.
- Cut the rolls in half and lay down the provolone cheese slices, ham slices followed by salami slices, and then pepperoni slices. Add the bread on top.
- In a small bowl, combine the melted butter and garlic and 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning. Brush the top of the bread rolls with the butter mixture
- Cover with foil and bake for 12 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 10-12 minutes or until the top is brown.
- Remove the top layer of bread and add the salad mixture after the sandwiches have cooked.
- Serve and enjoy!
Mac’s Pro Tips
How to Serve: Serve warm with your favorite sides and enjoy! If you’re planning to bring these as an appetizer, or have a larger crowd, double the recipe to make enough for everyone!
Storage: These are a bit tricky to store because half of the ingredients are cold and half is hot. If you do want to save them, I recommend storing them in an airtight container in the refrigerator and eating the leftovers cold.
Sides: The options are endless! Some of my favorite sides: No Egg Potato Salad, Crispy Air Fryer Sweet Potato Fries, or your favorite bag of potato chips! You really can’t go wrong.
Recipe FAQs
There’s much debate as to exactly why this grinder sandwich is called a grinder, but two things are for sure: it originated on the East Coast, and it contains hot ingredients (whereas a sub contains cold ingredients!).
Actually, yes! If you eliminate the bread from the recipe and fill a bowl with the salad, dressing, veggies, meat, and cheese, you have yourself a keto-friendly Italian grinder sandwich bowl!
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Grinder Sandwich Sliders
Ingredients
Sliders
- 1 24- pack Hawaiian Rolls
- 12-14 slices pepperonis
- 12-14 sliced tomatoes
- 12-14 slices salami
- 12-14 slices of ham
- 12-14 slices of provolone
Salad/Dressing
- 1 14 oz bag shredded lettuce
- 1/2 cup mayo
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 red onion sliced
- 1/3 cup pepperoncinis
- 1 tablespoon pepperoncini juice
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Garlic Butter
- 2 1/2 tablespoons melted butter
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- In a medium bowl add the mayo, olive oil, red wine vinegar, lettuce, pepperoncini's and juice, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and onion slices. Mix together until combined.
- Cut the rolls in half and lay down the provolone cheese slices, ham slices followed by salami slices, and then pepperoni slices. Add the bread on top.
- In a small bowl, combine the melted butter and garlic and 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning. Brush the top of the bread rolls with the butter mixture
- Cover with foil and bake for 12 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 10-12 minutes or until the top is brown.
- Remove the top layer of bread and add the tomatoes and salad mixture after the sandwiches have cooked.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These are so dang delicious!! Just made them for dinner and already thinking about when I can make them again 😅
This recipe is absolutely amazing!!! I doubled the recipe to serve 48 for our street’s Easter Party and it was truly I hit. I got so many compliments on it and heard multiple people recommend it to other guests. My husband and I had to stop ourselves from eating them all before the party started. I’m SO excited to get to make it again for my son’s 5th birthday. Scouring your site for something similar but more kid friendly, might try it with pizza fillings baked off or PB&J with Cinnamon/Sugar on top for the kiddos.
So happy to hear this. Glad it was a hit. Thank you so much
I love how easy they are! I’ve subbed the meats a few times for my kid’s preferences, and just as great. My family has made these for every “bbq” holiday for the convenience and crowd pleaser.
I love a easy dish and so happy this worked for you!
I made this sandwich last night and it was delicious! The sauce mixture added lots of flavor and something different. Thank you!
These are so delicious & my family absolutely loved them! I’m allergic to eggs, so I subbed Greek yogurt instead of mayo, and it worked out perfectly. I’ll definitely make these again.
This is great to hear, Emily! Thank you.
I made these over the weekend…twice. The second time I didn’t have Hawaiian rolls so I used French bread and it was delicious too!
So happy to hear this. Thank you for the feedback!
So good! Messy to eat, but good haha. The sauce mixture is the main attraction! Thanks for a great recipe!
So happy you loved it.
Absolutely love this easy recipe! It’s on repeat more than once a week at my house right now! Thank you, Mac, for another amazing recipe!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💖
Super good. Will definitely make it again!
So happy to hear this. Thank you