These smoky-grilled sliders are jam-packed with juicy chicken and topped with lots of garden-fresh pesto sauce. —A perfect fun-sized 4th of July appetizer!
Sliders. Also known as meal-sized appetizers. Uh-huh. I think I can get on board with that.
Aaaaand well, cause it’s Sunday and ginormous, fun-sized food is kinda required.
Seriously, these sliders are so freaking HUGE, they’re practically a full meal themselves. And obviously, they’re total health food cause they’ve got GREEN in them!
Soooo…have two. Just do it. 😀
I think I’ve told you before that I tend to almost always make a meal outta appetizers.—I love myself some munchies. 🙂
Old habits die hard, ya know?
Pesto-grilled chicken is my newest love. Seriously, it is SO delish guys! The chicken breasts grill up crispy and smoky and are literally covered every inch in herby-green pesto sauce.
You could stop there, and have a perfectly fine chicken dinner but nope, I had to go even farther and throw some lettuce, tomato, a bun, and even MORE pesto sauce into the mix.
I hope you saved your appetite. 😉
These sliders are SO stinkin’ easy, they practically make themselves. — The longest part is probably just grillin’ up the chicken and that only takes 15 minutes, or so. From there, it’s just assemble and EAT.
Or in my case, hide them away so my greedy, and downright-PIGGISH family doesn’t eat them all in less than 10 minutes.
Trust me, I speak from experience.
For even easier prep, you can grill the chicken ahead of time and refrigerate it and the lettuce, tomato, and some extra pesto sauce until you’re ready to assemble. Then, just grab your slider-buns and pile ’em up!
Summer sandwich in 5. It doesn’t get any easier than that, people.
These fun sliders make an AWESOME last-minute appetizer, dinner, or even lunch.
I’d say breakfast too, but I think that might be going a little bit too far… So I’ll just stop there and say that these sliders make just about any meal amazing.
And guys, they’re SO fresh and summery! Who ever said sliders were only for football season?! Seriously, how could you resist something so GREEN?!
I’m here to say, that you should probably plan on making these sliders for your 4th of July festivities this year.
You know, just to tide over your guests appetites, before you move onto the hamburgers and potato salad. 😉
And that reminds me: Guys, I’m freaking out here. The 4th is only 5 measly days away and I’ve barely even THOUGHT about my menu, even when I know we’re having a houseful of people over.
I did decide on all the side dishes I’m gonna make, but I’m stuck on what to serve for the main attraction. AKA: The meat. Sooo…help me out here. Should we have BBQ grilled chicken (using my homemade BBQ sauce) or classic American cheeseburgers. (using this amazing hamburger recipe and THESE homemade hamburger buns) Both are HUGE-ish family favs, so I just can’t decide. Thoughts??
One thing I’m sure of: These smokey chicken sliders are definitely going on my appetizers menu for the 4th.
If you don’t get around to making these sliders for the 4th, don’t sweat it. These easy sliders are awesome at just about any summer affair: Graduation parties, picnics, barbecues, potlucks, ect.
Just make sure you stash one away for yourself. They go FAST.
Long live pesto! 😀
Grilled Chicken Pesto Sliders
Ingredients
- 3 lbs chicken breasts cut into 1/2-in thick slices
- 1 cup prepared pesto divided
- 6 lettuce leaves
- 1 large tomato sliced
- 6 slider-sized buns OR hamburger buns split in half
Instructions
- Preheat a gas grill to medium-high heat. Brush both sides of chicken with 1/2 cup pesto. (set aside remaining 1/2 cup pesto) Grill chicken, turning occasionally until juices run clear, about 15 minutes. Transfer chicken to a serving plate.
- Assemble the sliders: Layer lettuce leaves, tomato slices and grilled chicken on buns. Drizzle each slider with remaining pesto and top with bun top. Serve sliders immediately.
Notes
You must try my other cook-out favs next! <3
ami@naivecookcooks says
Girl, only today I was getting cravings to eat a good basil pesto slathered on bread with eggs and now I see this!! I seriously am making this tomorrow!!!
Sarah says
Yea! I love it when my recipes match with other peoples cravings. 😉 You will have to let me know how these sliders turn out for ‘ya, Ami!
Cindy @ Pick Fresh Foods says
This is a sandwich I would seriously love. Pesto is amazing! Sadly, I’m the only one in the house that enjoys it, so I hard ever have it. Bummer, right?
Sarah says
Oh, I SO get that Cindy! My family is anti-pesto for most of my recipes too. 🙁
aux fourneaux says
Looks so delicious. Love that you used burgers chicken pesto !
Bye
Manuella ( french 🙂 )
Sarah says
Thank you, Manuella!
Ana says
Wow! Beautiful pictures! Making these awesome-looking sliders soon 🙂
Sarah says
Thanks so much, Ana! I hope you’ll let me know how these sliders turn out for ‘ya! 🙂