Sliders for Summer!

How has your July 4th weekend been?

I had a very relaxing holiday weekend.  It felt great to decompress and spend time with my family. 

Yesterday, I decided to make sliders and have Cory grill them outside. There is something about eating a mini hamburger that is just FUN, especially in the summer!  The kids really enjoyed building their own burgers, the burger station got rave reviews.

Here's what I did:

{I used {80% lean and 20% fat} ground chuck for these sliders.  You could also use ground turkey if you wanted to.  I prefer the 20% fat content when cooking grilled burgers; they are tastier and juicier. To the ground chuck, I added a packet of onion soup mix, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce.  A few dashes of each.}

{We like our burgers cooked to "medium", these didn't take long at all.  A few minutes and they were done!} 

{These are the best rolls to use for sliders.  King's Hawaiian Sweet Rolls. They are the perfect size and add the perfect sweetness to the burgers.  So good!} 

Now for the toppings.  This is where you can get creative.  The possibilities are endless, I had the most fun coming up with what would be good for our sliders.

{Bacon, cut down to size to fit the sliders, is a must have.}

{Shredded cheddar is also a delicious addition.  Any cheese would do, really.} 

{I caramelized a red pepper and a red onion and added some cayenne pepper for kick!} 

{Mixed greens for color and texture.  Little pieces of romaine lettuce would have worked too.} 

{I caramelized more onion, cooking them down with a bit of butter until they were sweet and yummy.  I then added some barbecue sauce and let it cook down.  SO GOOD!}

{Since blue cheese is a fave in this house, I made this blue cheese mayo for our sliders.}

{I also whipped up some coleslaw: to 2 16 oz bags of coleslaw mix and 3 chopped green onions, I added this dressing: 3/4 cup of mayo, 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, 1/4 cup white sugar, salt, pepper, oregano, dried parsley, and onion powder {all to taste}.  I let it sit in the fridge for about an hour for all the flavors to meld. Crunchy, sweet, creamy and delicious.}

 {Here is one of the sliders I made.  I added all of the toppings to mine. The flavor combinations were heavenly.}

{My favorite drink on a hot summer day, to go with lunch - an icy glass of pineapple soda. I can't get enough!}

xoxo, thanks for reading and I hope you are enjoying your holiday! :)