Enchilada Chicken Sliders

Enchilada chicken sliders with homemade enchilada sauce make a perfect game day appetizer or quick weeknight dinner! These sliders can be prepped ahead of time with slow cooked chicken and homemade enchilada sauce made ahead of time.

Enchilada Chicken Sliders Recipe

Pull apart chicken sliders with homemade enchilada sauce are an easy party appetizer for any get together. They come together quickly and feed a crowd easily!

Game day parties always need plenty of finger foods, and sliders are a great way to make sure you have enough food to go around. We also love these turkey burger sliders when you need an easy appetizer for a crowd!

But forget the game day party, these easy enchilada chicken sliders are a great easy meal on a busy weeknight. They're something that the whole family will love and you can make more than enough servings for everyone.

There's so many uses for these tasty little sandwiches, you're going to love how flavorful and juicy they are!

Why You'll Love this Recipe

You are going to adore this chicken slider recipe.

• This sliders recipe is a fabulous meal to make if you need an easy weeknight dinner.
• Hosting a party or bringing food to a potluck? These easy chicken enchilada sliders are a great quick appetizer!
• You can make the chicken and enchilada sauce ahead of time to save you time on the day that you'll need these sliders.

Ingredients

Ready to make this super easy recipe? Here's what you'll need to have on hand:

• shredded chicken breast
• sweet Hawaiian rolls
• shredded sharp cheddar cheese

You'll also want to pick up some enchilada sauce if you're not going to make your own, plus some ingredients to brush on top of the buns.

You can go all out and make homemade dinner rolls to serve these slides on, if you'd like!

Slider Topping

For the slider topping, you'll need:

• butter
• salt
• black pepper
• dried parsley

Homemade Enchilada Sauce

For the enchilada sauce, you'll need:

• avocado oil or olive oil
• all-purpose flour
• chili powder
• onion powder
• salt
• vegetable stock
• lime juice

Substitutions and Variations

The shredded chicken in this recipe is not the only option to make the chicken enchilada filling. If you have left over grilled chicken or a leftover rotisserie chicken that needs to be repurposed, you can absolutely shred it and use it instead!

For a spicier enchilada sauce, use dark chili powder or add cayenne powder or ground red pepper.

You can use chicken stock or beef stock in place of the vegetable stock in the enchilada sauce.

Feel free to use any shredded cheese that you want. This recipe calls for cheddar cheese, but a Mexican blend cheese is great as well as pepper jack cheese if you want some added kick!

Steps to Prep Ahead

These chicken enchilada sliders are incredibly easy to make and don't take long at all right beforehand. But, if needed, there are a few ways to speed up the process even more.

If you need to prep ahead or make these quickly, here are a few things you can do:

• Use a grocery store rotisserie chicken or leftover chicken for the sliders.
• Slow cook the chicken overnight the day before you need to assemble the sandwiches.
• Use store bought enchilada sauce.
• Make your homemade enchilada sauce the day before.

The only thing I wouldn't recommend doing is assembling your sliders before you're ready to cook them, as the sweet Hawaiian rolls might get soggy from the sauce.

How to Slow Cook Chicken for Sliders

Here's how to cook chicken in the slow cooker to make this slider recipe:

1. Prepare a slow cooker liner with non stick cooking spray or a liner. Then, place a pound of chicken breasts into the slow cooker.
2. Season chicken with one tablespoon of chili powder, one teaspoon salt, one teaspoon garlic, and one teaspoon cumin.
3. Cook chicken on low for 4-6 hours, then remove from the crockpot and shred with forks.
4. Toss shredded chicken in red enchilada sauce for the sliders. Then build the delicious mini sandwiches whenever you're ready.

How to Make Homemade Enchilada Sauce

The secret ingredients of these chicken sliders comes from the homemade enchilada sauce, which is incredibly easy to make.

To make your own homemade enchilada sauce:

1. Heat olive oil in a medium heavy bottomed saucepan on medium-low heat.
2. Add all purpose flour to the oil and whisk continuously.
3. Then add chili powder, onion powder and salt while you continue to whisk. The mixture will be pretty crumbly and dry, but that's normal.
4. Reduce heat to low and slowly pour stock into the flour mixture. Continue to whisk to incorporate the liquid and spices together.
5. Bring the enchilada sauce to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes until it thickens.
6. Lastly, remove the sauce from heat, add a splash of lime juice, and it is ready to go!

Once your enchilada sauce is ready, toss it over shredded chicken breast to coat.

How to Assemble Pulled Chicken Sliders

And then let's put the sliders together! Here's what to do next:

1. Spray a 9x13 casserole dish with cooking spray or lining it with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C).
2. Cut the Hawaiian rolls in half and place the bottom half of the rolls into the baking pan.
3. Spoon cooked chicken tossed in red sauce onto the bottom half of the slider buns. Then, sprinkle shredded cheese over the chicken and place the tops of the rolls onto the sliders.
4. In a small bowl, mix together melted butter, salt, pepper, and dried parsely. Then use a pastry brush or basting brush to add the mixture to the top of the rolls.
5. Bake in a preheated oven until the cheese is melted and the tops of the rolls have turned golden brown.

Serve while warm and enjoy!

What to Serve with Enchilada Chicken Sliders

For a party, try pairing it with a handful of other appetizers, like goat cheese meatballs, beef tostadas, cowboy caviar dip or creamy enchilada bruschetta. These buffalo chicken meatballs are also amazing!

For dinner, serve chicken enchilada sliders with traditional mexican rice, chips and five minute blender salsa. Top it off with a prickly pear margarita or margarita cupcakes!

My slower cooker sloppy joe sliders and brie chicken slidiers are always a hit too. Hawaiian roll sliders are great too. Not to mention, you could easily adapt my grilled chicken burgers and homemade hamburgers into delicious sliders!

How to Store Leftover Chicken Sliders

Chicken slider leftovers are best when each component is stored separately.

For best results, store enchilada chicken in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Store Hawaiian rolls at room temperature tightly sealed for up to a week. When you're ready to eat, just build sandwiches and heat according to instructions.

However, you can store leftover sandwiches — just keep in mind that the bread will get soggy. Sandwiches that are already made will last for 3 days in the fridge, stored in an airtight container or wrapped tightly in plastic wrap or aluminum foil.

Separated chicken and slider buns will also freeze well for up to 2 months.

FAQ

More Easy Appetizers

• Whipped Feta Dip
• Easy Buffalo Chicken Dip
• Skillet Sausage Dip
• Pepper Jelly and Cream Cheese

Chicken Enchilada Sliders

Chicken sliders with homemade enchilada sauce make a perfect game day appetizer or quick weeknight dinner! These chicken sliders can be prepped ahead of time with slow cooked chicken and making homemade enchilada sauce ahead of time. These chicken enchilada sliders are buttery and tangy!

5 from 5 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 sliders

Author: Madison | A Joyfully Mad Kitchen

Equipment

• Teal Silicone Pastry Brush and Basting Brush
• Spring Chef Professional Box Grater
• STAUB Ceramics Rectangular Baking Dish Set, Rustic Turquoise

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked shredded chicken breast
• Homemade enchilada sauce see below
• 1 package 12 Kings Hawaiian Rolls, halved
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Slider Topping

• ½ cup butter melted
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• ¼ cup dried parsley

Homemade Enchilada Sauce

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 4 tablespoons chili powder
• ½ teaspoon of onion powder
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock

Instructions

How to Slow Cook Chicken for Sliders

• Prepare a slow cooker with spray.
• Place around a pound or so of chicken breasts in the slow cooker.
• Season with 1 tablespoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon garlic powder and 1 teaspoon cumin.
• Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. (If cooking longer than this, add about ¼ cup of water to the slow cooker so that it doesn't burn.)
• Remove from slow cooker and shred with forks.

Homemade Enchilada Sauce

• Warm 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a sauce pan on medium heat.
• Add two tablespoons flour to pan and whisk to combine flour with oil.
• Add 4 tablespoons chili powder,?½ teaspoon of onion powder, ½ teaspoon garlic powder and ½ teaspoon salt and continue whisking. The mixture will become dry crumbles.
• Gradually add in stock (2 cups total), whisking to combine liquid and spices. Bring liquid to a boil.
• Reduce to low heat and simmer sauce for 10-15 minutes until sauce thickens and pulls away from the pan.

Assemble Sliders

• Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C).
• Pour enchilada sauce over chicken and stir to coat shredded chicken.
• Grease a 9 x 13 pan or line with parchment paper.
• Place bottom halves of rolls in pan.
• Cover rolls with shredded chicken coated in enchilada sauce.
• Add cheese to rolls and spread evenly.
• Add top layer of rolls.
• Melt butter and stir in salt, pepper and parsley.
• Use a basting brush to brush mixture over rolls and bake for about 20 minutes or until the top of the rolls are golden brown and cheese is melted.

Notes

If you need to cook chicken before making this recipe, that will add time to your total cook and prep time.

Use a rotisserie chicken and/or store-bought enchilada sauce to reduce cooking time.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 278kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 78mg | Sodium: 532mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g