Transform your leftover turkey into something delicious. These Turkey Cheddar Sliders are an easy meal idea for the hectic after Thanksgiving shopping weekend!
Whip up an Instant Pot Turkey breast or use leftovers for today’s sliders. Serve on homemade dinner rolls, or store bought to make it even easier.
Leftover Turkey Dinner Idea
Sure, I look forward to eating turkey at Thanksgiving Dinner. Know what I look forward to even more?
Turning the Thanksgiving leftovers into even more delicious turkey dinners to enjoy all weekend long!
Cooked turkey is a deliciously easy starting point for dozens of meals, like Turkey Noodle Soup, turkey hand pies, and salads. The recipe I’m sharing today is a new favorite that’s definitely going to be on the menu every post-Thanksgiving weekend from now on: Turkey Cheddar Sliders.
Sliced turkey piled onto sweet Hawaiian rolls, topped with cheese and baked to create a pan of small sandwiches perfect for pulling apart to share.
Even better? You top them with that leftover cranberry sauce! The savory turkey, tangy cheese and tart cranberry pair amazingly well with the sweetness of the rolls.
Dinner time is done leaving you more time for shopping, decorating or just recovering from all that Thanksgiving cooking!
Aimee’s Leftover Tip
Got leftover holiday ham too? Whip up our delicious Ham and Cheese Sliders!
Ingredient Notes
- Turkey – Cooked and sliced. Use your leftovers, make a quick Turkey breast in the Instant Pot or even grab some deli turkey slices.
- Cheese – I love cheddar in these sliders; Colby Jack is another good choice.
- Hawaiian Rolls – You can also substitute your other favorite dinner rolls that come stuck together in the package.
- Cranberry sauce – Use a can of prepared sauce or about 1 1/2 cups of homemade cranberry sauce.
- Poultry seasoning – A sprinkle of this seasoning on the buttered rolls adds just the right amount of salty savory flavor to the tops of the sliders when they bake.
Step by Step Instructions
Butter the pan. Melt unsalted butter on the bottom of a baking pan while you preheat the oven.
Assemble the sandwiches. Slice the layer of Hawaiian Rolls in half lengthwise (without separating the rolls). Put the bottom half of the rolls in the buttered baking pan and top with cheese, turkey and cranberry sauce.
Top with the other half of rolls.
Season and bake. Combine more butter with garlic salt, poultry seasonings and poppy seeds and melt. Pour this buttery mixture on top of the sliders, then bake for about 15 – 20 minutes.
You want to make sure the cheese is melted and the tops of the rolls are golden brown.
Cut the sliders into 12 sandwiches and serve immediately.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, they are delicious sans cranberry sauce. You can also substitute with red pepper jelly for a little bit of kick!
Freezing these sandwiches in individual portions totally works. Then you can reheat in the microwave for a quick lunch or snack during the week.
If you can’t find or prefer not to use Hawaiian rolls, I’d go with any another white bread dinner roll that comes in a package stuck together.
More Easy Dinner Recipes
- Turkey Taco Soup
- White Castle Burgers
- Meatloaf Recipe
- Pesto Pasta
- Crack Chicken
- Turkey Tetrazzini
- Crockpot BBQ Chicken
Pin this now to find it later
Pin It
Turkey Cheddar Sliders
Ingredients
For the sliders:
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter melted
- 12 Hawaiian sweet rolls
- 1 ½ cups sliced turkey fully cooked
- 12 slices cheddar cheese or colby jack cheese
- 1 can whole berry Cranberry sauce 14 ounce (or 1 1/2 cups)
For the topping:
- 3 Tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
- ¼ teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Melt the butter, and spread it over the bottom of a 9-inch square baking dish.
- Without separating the rolls, slice the package of rolls in half. Place the bottom half of the rolls in the baking dish. Top with 6 slices of the cheddar cheese, followed by the turkey and cranberry sauce. Top with 6 more slices of cheese. Then add the other half of the rolls on top.
- In a small bowl, melt 3 Tablespoons of butter, garlic salt and poultry seasoning in the microwave. Mix in poppy seeds. Whisk until well combined.
- Pour over the top of the rolls.
- Bake the sliders uncovered for about 15-20 minutes, until cheese is melted and the tops are browned.
- Remove and cut the sliders into 12 portions. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Use homemade cranberry sauce for a delicious addition.
- You can also substitute with red pepper jelly in place of the cranberry sauce for a little bit of kick!
- Freezing these sandwiches in individual portions totally works. Then you can reheat in the microwave for a quick lunch or snack during the week.
Nutrition
Turkey Cheddar Sliders – A perfect use for Thanksgiving leftovers but so tasty you’ll want to make them for quick dinners all year long!
This is one of the reasons I make a bigger bird. I love having leftovers and making these for lunch.
This is one of the reasons I make a bigger bird. I love having leftovers and making these for lunch.
I was so glad to find this recipe to use our Thanksgiving leftovers. It was so easy to make and absolutely delicious. My family loves them!
This is such a wonderful and different idea for all my Thanksgiving turkey leftovers. You can’t go wrong with Hawaiian rolls! And I love that touch of cranberry sauce.
These sandwiches are delicious!!! I used Havarti cheese and no cranberry…… the best! I froze the sandwiches before putting on the buttery topping and then added that after I thawed them out prior to baking. Mine got a little too brown on top so next time I will bake 1 minute less. Thank you for the great recipe.
Holy yum!!!! Thanks for posting this again. Can’t wait to make these with a little leftover stuffing. (No cranberry though, not all of us like the sauce). Can you freeze leftover sandwiches individually? Thanks.
I haven’t tried freezing them, but I don’t see why not? Actually, that sounds like an awesome idea!
Made these for dinner minus the cranberry. They were a huge hit. My kids ask for them all the time .
Yay! So glad you love them 🙂
Could I use something else in place of cranberry….family not fond of cranberry
A red pepper jelly would be delicious 🙂
Made these for a club supper last week….a double batch….substituted cranberry relish for the cranberry sauce (because that’s what I had on hand)…they were a big hit! Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Whoohoo 🙂 They’re on my menu for later this week!
These were fabulous! Thank you for sharing this recipe. Perfect use of Thanksgiving left overs… so good that I want to make them after Thanksgiving too!
I’m so glad you tried them! I think even deli turkey would work in this 🙂
I would definitely add some stuffing. These look so tasty! All that cheese, yes please!
We made these for dinner lat night, and I was a huge fan. Extremely easy and quick to make and very flavorful with the garlic in the topping and Hawaiian sweet rolls.
Will definitely make again! Thanks for posting Aimee! Cheers!
So glad you liked it! I added a dollop of stuffing to mine yesterday and they tasted amazing 🙂
You brilliant beast, you. These look perfect.
Oh my gosh yes; I’ll pass up a whole turkey dinner for these sliders. So perfect!!