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These chicken parmesan sliders pack all of the flavors you love from the comfort-food classic into easy, shareable sandwiches. Perfect for parties, game day, or a weeknight dinner, you’ll love how simple these sliders are to make.
It’s slider time!
Our family is a BIG fan of sliders. The love affair started with ham and cheese sliders, and since then we’ve only gotten more obsessed as we’ve added cheeseburger sliders, roast beef sliders, and more to our dinner rotation.
They’re easy to make, which makes me happy, and my family will gladly eat them. Which makes me even happier.
Chicken parmesan sliders are our latest favorite. They’re crispy, cheesy, and easy enough to make on a weeknight.
What are chicken parmesan sliders?
Chicken parmesan is one of those comfort-food meals that I am not signing up to make on a weeknight. But you know what I will make? These chicken parm sliders.
Chicken parmesan sliders have all of the things you love about a classic chicken parmesan – crispy chicken, melty cheese, tangy tomato sauce. But all of those things are packed into slider form, so they’re easy to make and super sharable.
Kind of like how I took everything you love about buffalo chicken dip and turned it into buffalo chicken sliders.
These sliders are a must for game days, movie nights, and just about any party you’re hosting. They’re also easy enough to make for a weeknight dinner.
Serve them up with a big caesar salad and you’ll be set with a comforting dinner that the whole family will love.
How to make my chicken parm sliders
We’re going to use a couple of “shortcuts” to make these sliders quick and easy while still being totally delicious.
Ingredients you’ll need
To make my chicken parmesan sliders, you’ll need:
- 26-ounce bag frozen chicken tenders
- 24 King’s Hawaiian rolls (2 12-count packages)
- 1 teaspoon italian seasoning
- 2 cups marinara sauce
- 2-4 ounces shredded parmesan cheese
- 3-4 ounces sliced provolone cheese
- 6 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese
- 0.5 ounce fresh basil
- 3 tablespoons melted salted butter
I typically use the Perdue Crispy Chicken Strips when I make these sliders. I think they are a great size and I like how they get perfectly crispy in my air fryer.
You can use whatever chicken strips you like, including homemade air fryer chicken tenders. I personally recommend staying away from chicken nuggets, though. Their texture just isn’t quite what we want in these sliders.
You could even pick up a bag of hot chicken tenders from the deli section of your grocery store to make this recipe even faster and easier.
I like to keep some of my quick marinara sauce on hand in the freezer, so I like using it for this recipe. But you can use any jarred marinara sauce that your family likes best.
I like using a combination of parmesan, provolone, and fresh mozzarella cheese. They all add different flavors to the sliders and make them a little more special.
The last thing that helps bring some freshness into this recipe is a bit of fresh basil. Trust me, it’s a small thing that will add big flavor to these chicken parm sliders!
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Before you can assemble the chicken parmesan sliders, you need to prep your chicken tenders.
Cook the tenders according to the package directions in your oven or air fryer. I prefer to use my air fryer for this so they get nice and crispy, but do whatever works best for you.
When the chicken is done cooking, let it cool for a few minutes before handling it.
While the chicken is cooking, use a serrated knife to slice the Hawaiian rolls in half horizontally, like the way you’d slice a bagel. Place the bottoms of the rolls in a greased 13×9-inch pan or on a rimmed baking sheet.
When the chicken tenders are cool enough to handle, cut them into roughly bite-size pieces. Add them to a bowl and toss them with half of the italian seasoning.
Spread half of the marinara on the cut sides of the rolls – both top and bottom – then layer the sliced provolone cheese onto the bottoms of the rolls.
Distribute the chicken over the sauce, then spoon on some more marinara. You can add as much as you like here. If you don’t use it all, you can save the rest for dipping your finished sliders!
Chiffonade the basil by stacking the leaves, rolling them up tightly, and cutting them into thin strips with a sharp knife. Sprinkle the basil over the chicken.
Tear the fresh mozzarella into pieces and add that to the sandwiches, followed by the parmesan cheese.
Add the tops of the rolls. In a small bowl, mix together the melted butter and the rest of the italian seasoning, then brush this mixture over the tops of the rolls.
Cover the sliders with foil and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Take the foil off for the last 5-10 minutes to let the tops of the rolls get nice and golden brown.
Serve the sliders with more marinara sauce for dipping if desired.
Reheating tips
If you have leftover chicken parmesan sliders, store them in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
My favorite way to reheat these is in the air fryer. Wrap a couple of sliders loosely in foil, pop them in your air fryer, and warm them at 350ºF for 5-10 minutes.
If you don’t have an air fryer, the oven will also do the trick. Place them in an oven-safe pan and cover with foil or wrap loosely with foil and bake at 350ºF for about 10 minutes.
Frequently asked questions
To really make these sliders the most like chicken parmesan, we like to use breaded chicken tenders. But you can absolutely use rotisserie chicken if that works better for you and your family!
Simply replace the cooked chicken tenders in the recipe with the shredded meat from a rotisserie chicken.
Absolutely! If your grocery store deli makes good chicken tenders, feel free to use those. Since the tenders are already cooked, you can skip that step in the recipe.
You will need about 1.5 pounds of deli chicken tenders to replace the bag of frozen chicken tenders.
I like to roughly chop up the chicken tenders before layering them on to the chicken parm sliders because it makes the final sliders easier to slice and eat. Otherwise, you have to play a bit of tetris to get them to fit onto the Hawaiian rolls just right.
It also helps even things out if the chicken tenders aren’t all the same size/thickness.
But feel free to simply add the chicken tenders to the sliders whole if those things don’t bother you!
I think fresh mozzarella has a bit more flavor than shredded mozzarella, which is why I like it on these chicken parmesan sliders. But shredded mozzarella will still work great if that’s what you happen to have available.
Chicken Parmesan Sliders
Ingredients
- 26 ounces frozen chicken tenders I used Purdue Crispy Chicken Strips
- 2 packages King’s Hawaiian rolls 12 count each
- 1 teaspoon italian seasoning divided use
- 2 cups marinara sauce
- 2-4 ounces shredded parmesan cheese
- 3-4 ounces sliced provolone cheese
- 6 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese
- 0.5 ounce fresh basil
- 3 tablespoons salted butter melted
Instructions
- Using the oven or air fryer, cook the chicken tenders according to package directions until crispy. I prefer using my air fryer for this, but use whichever method you prefer.
- While the chicken tenders cook, use a large serrated knife to slice the Hawaiian rolls in half horizontally, similar to how you would cut a bagel. Place the bottoms of the rolls in a lightly greased 9×13-inch baking dish or rimmed baking sheet.
- When chicken tenders are done cooking, let them cool for a few minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- Cut the tenders into roughly bite-sized pieces and transfer them to a large bowl. Season with half of the italian seasoning and toss to coat.
- Spread a heaping cup of the marinara sauce on the cut sides (tops and bottoms) of the rolls.
- Next, evenly layer the sliced provolone on the bottom buns, followed by the chicken. Spoon some of the marinara sauce over the chicken. Use as much marinara as you like; you may not use all of it.
- Stack the basil leaves on a cutting board. Tightly roll them up, then use a sharp knife to cut them into thin strips. This is called a chiffonade cut. Sprinkle the basil over the chicken.
- Tear the fresh mozzarella into pieces and distribute over the chicken, followed by the shredded parmesan cheese.
- Place the tops of the rolls on the sliders. In a bowl, combine the melted butter with the rest of the italian seasoning. Brush this mixture over the tops of the rolls.
- Cover lightly with foil and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Remove the foil for the last 5-10 minutes of cooking to allow the tops of the rolls to get golden brown.
- If desired, serve the rolls with additional marinara sauce for dipping.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
