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These Roast Beef Sliders with horseradish mayonnaise are the ultimate party appetizer or weeknight dinner recipe made in about 30 minutes. Using everyone’s favorite Hawaiian rolls, you simply layer roast beef, Swiss cheese, and creamy horseradish sauce for a decadent sandwich recipe that’s guaranteed to be a hit.
When it’s time to entertain, I like to plan a menu that feeds a crowd, but gives options for everyone. For example, a cheese and cracker tray, crudités platter, hummus with dippers, and some type of slider or sandwich. Enter these Roast Beef Sliders! These can be served as an indulgent appetizer or great weeknight dinner. The best part is, these are made from start to finish in about 30 minutes!
These mini sandwiches have a secret sauce: homemade horseradish mayonnaise. I’ve made this mayo countless times and it’s one of those things that people request over and over again. It’s truly addicting to pair with a savory beef meal or juicy steak recipe. And it’s great on a Buffalo Beef on Weck!
The topping on the slider buns packs a ton of savory buttery flavor. I experimented with a couple different spice blends mixed with melted butter to spoon over the buns. This is definitely the best topping; it’s crunchy with hints of onion and garlic, plus it gives the sliders a beautiful golden top.
I hope you love these sliders; they’re truly a go-to recipe in the fall and winter months when football season is upon us and the holiday season comes around. If you need more easy appetizer inspiration, try our 20-Minute Chicken Lettuce Wraps, Homemade Sausage Rolls, Roasted Carrot Red Lentil Hummus, or Crescent Roll Veggie Pizza!
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- Crowd-pleasing appetizer recipe. These sliders will be a top appetizer recipe for any dinner party or large gathering. Especially delicious around the holidays, you can assemble them in advance and bake right as guests arrive.
- Customize with your favorite ingredients. While we love our version with horseradish mayo and Swiss cheese. However, you can make these to your liking with your favorite cheeses and spreads (provolone is another great option). Or make an Arby’s sliders copycat with barbecue sauce and cheddar cheese!
- Delicious sliders in about 30 minutes. These Hawaiian bun roast beef sliders come together no time. It’s the perfect recipe for beginner cooks or family members to help out with!
Ingredients
Breaking It Down
Ingredients Explained
In this section I explain the ingredients and give substitution ideas where applicable. For the full recipe (including the ingredient amounts), see the recipe card below.
Horseradish Mayo Ingredients
- Mayonnaise: The creamy base for the delicious horseradish sauce. It rounds out the spicy flavor of the horseradish.
- Sour cream: Also adds to the luscious creamy base for the sauce, and brings a little tang. Substitute Greek yogurt as desired too!
- Buttermilk: This is optional, you can also just use more sour cream, but we think it’s well worth it to add. Buttermilk makes the horseradish mayo the correct consistency and adds another layer of tangy richness. If you don’t have buttermilk, simply add a tablespoon of lemon juice to 1 cup whole milk and let it sit for 5 minutes.
- Prepared horseradish: You want the kind in the jar in the refrigerated section. It’s spicy, tangy, and just so delicious.
- Worcestershire sauce: Adds an umami, savory punch to the mayo.
- Garlic powder: Infuses the mayonnaise with complex garlic flavor.
- Black pepper: Adds an earthy, spicy flavor to balance the mayo’s richness along with the prepared horseradish.
Butter Toppings Ingredients
- Salted butter: In this recipe, we make a butter-based topping for spooning on the Hawaiian slider buns to ensure they’re deliciously golden brown.
- Dijon mustard: The tangy, sharp flavor layer that is a classic combination with roast beef.
- Honey: Adds a touch of sweetness to each bite.
- Minced onion: Used on the topping for the buns, this lends an almost caramelized onion flavor when baked.
- Worcestershire sauce: Another hint of savory umami flavor that pairs nicely with the roast beef and contrasts the sweet bun.
- Poppy seeds: Adds a little crunch as well as subtle nutty flavor to the top of the slider buns.
- Garlic powder: Just a hint of garlic adds great depth of flavor.
Roast Beef Slider Ingredients
- Avocado oil spray: This is to prevent the sliders from sticking to the pan and to help with easy cleanup. If you don’t have avocado oil spray, you can use any cooking spray you have on hand, or just brush on a little bit of olive oil.
- Hawaiian slider rolls: The star of the show! Slider size rolls are perfect for finger food sandwiches.
- Thinly-sliced roast beef: Buy this freshly-sliced from the deli section of the grocery store.
- Swiss cheese: Also grab this from the deli section.
How to Make Roast Beef Sliders
1. Make the Horseradish Mayonnaise
- Add the mayonnaise, sour cream, buttermilk, prepared horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and black pepper to a small bowl.
- Stir together and set aside.
2. Make the Seasoned Butter Topping
- Add the melted butter, Dijon mustard, honey, minced onion, Worcestershire sauce, poppy seeds, and garlic powder to a small bowl.
- Stir together and set aside.
3. Assemble & Bake
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Line a small baking tray with foil and spray with avocado oil spray. Put the entire tray of rolls onto a cutting board and horizontally slice through them. You should be able to pick up the top of the rolls as a unit. Place the bottom half of the rolls on the prepared baking tray. Spread 1/3 of the horseradish mayo evenly across the rolls (reserving the rest for serving).
- Layer on the roast beef, overlapping as necessary.
- Layer on the cheese the same way.
- Place the top half of the rolls on top.
- Spoon on the butter sauce.
- Cover the rolls with foil and bake for 25 minutes, removing the foil during the last 5 minutes so the tops of the sliders can brown.
Serve warm, along with the remaining horseradish mayo for dipping if desired.
Helpful Tips
- No buttermilk? You can easily make a substitute at home! Just stir 1 tablespoon lemon juice into 1 cup of whole milk and wait 5 minutes. Your buttermilk substitute is ready.
- Use a serrated knife to easily cut the slider rolls. When you’re assembling these mini sandwiches, use a serrated knife to keep both the top half and the bottom half of the slider buns intact as you cut evenly through the rolls as a unit.
- Cover the slider buns with foil when baking. This ensures the tops of the Hawaiian slider rolls won’t be too toasted by the end of cooking. And it’s the key step to ensuring that the cheese is perfectly melted throughout.
- Let your sliders rest for 5 to 10 minutes after baking. This is a step most people forget! The cheese is very hot and melty when the roast beef sliders come out of the oven. For clean pulling or slicing apart the sandwiches, allow the sliders to cool for a few minutes and then serve.
Storing Leftovers & Make-Ahead
Great news! These sliders store well in the fridge and reheat well too. This means they’re ideal to make ahead, especially before a potluck or dinner party. We have all the storing tips to make this recipe as easy as possible for you.
- Storage and Reheating: Store leftover sliders covered in the fridge for up to 3 days. These reheat well in the oven or air fryer at 350ºF. Cover them with foil to prevent over-browning. In the oven, it takes about 10 to 12 minutes, and in the air fryer it takes about 5 to 6 minutes.
- Make Ahead Instructions: You can assemble these sliders the day before you want to serve them, just don’t top with the butter sauce. Cover them well, and then the next day when you want to serve them, let them sit at room temperature for 20 minutes. Top with the butter sauce, cover with foil, and bake as directed.
Variations
There are a ton of different many ways to change these up! Here are some of our favorite suggestions:
- Swap out the horseradish mayonnaise. We love using spicy mayo or sweet fig jam!
- Use a different cheese. Cheddar, blue cheese, gruyere, and Monterey Jack are all delicious too.
- Add some greens. We’ve made these with baby arugula or baby spinach and you can’t go wrong.
- Substitute the mustard. While Dijon is always nice, a good-quality honey mustard is truly delicious too.
Frequently Asked Questions
Soggy sliders can be a result of a few different issues, such as adding too much sauce or not browning properly.
Here, make sure to add the amount of horseradish sauce that the recipe calls for (you can serve the extra sauce for dipping once they’re baked!). Additionally, don’t forget to take off the foil as directed during the last 5 minutes of baking so the sliders can brown and crisp properly.
There are so many options! A few good ones are horseradish sauce, spicy mustard, Dijon mustard, as well as honey mustard. A cherry pepper relish is also delicious!
The sky is the limit here! A few favorites include Swiss, Monterey Jack, provolone, gruyere, blue cheese, and classic cheddar. Choose whichever cheese you like best!
More Easy Sandwich Recipes
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Roast Beef Sliders Recipe
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Ingredients
Horseradish Mayo:
- 6 tablespoons mayo
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 tablespoon buttermilk or use more sour cream
- 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish increase to 2 tablespoons if desired
- 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Butter Topping:
- 6 tablespoons salted butter melted
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1/2 tablespoon honey
- 1/2 tablespoon dried minced onion
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Roast Beef Sliders:
- Avocado oil spray or other nonstick spray
- 12 ounce package King’s Hawaiian Original Sweet Rolls with 12 slider rolls
- 12 ounces thinly-sliced roast beef from the deli
- 12 ounces sliced Swiss cheese
Instructions
For the Horseradish Mayo:
- Stir together all ingredients in a medium bowl.
For the Butter Topping:
- Stir together all ingredients in a small bowl.
For the Roast Beef Sliders:
- Preheat the oven to 375F. Line a small baking tray with foil and spray with avocado oil spray.
- Put the entire tray of rolls onto a cutting board and horizontally slice through them. You should be able to pick up the top of the rolls as a unit.
- Place the bottom half of the rolls on the prepared baking tray. Spread 1/3 of the horseradish mayo evenly across the rolls (reserving the rest for serving).
- Layer on the roast beef, and then the cheese, overlapping as necessary. Place the top half of the rolls on top. Spoon on the butter sauce.
- Cover the rolls with foil and bake for 25 minutes, removing the foil during the last 5 minutes.
- Serve warm, along with the remaining horseradish mayo for dipping if desired.
Notes
- Recipe Yield and Serving Size: This recipe makes 12 sliders; each serving is 2 sliders, for a total of 6 servings.
- Make Ahead: You can assemble these sliders the day before you want to serve them, just don’t top with the butter sauce. Cover them well, and then the next day when you want to serve them, let them sit at room temperature for 20 minutes. Top with the butter sauce, cover with foil, and bake as directed.
- Storage and Reheating: Store leftover sliders covered in the fridge for up to 3 days. These reheat well in the oven or air fryer at 350F. Cover them with foil to prevent over-browning. In the oven it takes about 10 to 12 minutes, and in the air fryer it takes about 5 to 6 minutes.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is automatically calculated and should be used as an approximate.
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I’m the writer, recipe developer, photographer, and food stylist behind this blog. I love finding the human connection through something we all do every day: eat! Food is a common ground that we can all relate to, and our tables tell a story. It’s my goal to inspire you to get in the kitchen, try something new, and find a favorite you didn’t know you had.
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