Cuban Sliders

Authentic flavor in a fun bite-sized sandwich, these mini Cuban Sliders are an awesome party appetizer or meal to serve the family! Layers of slow-roasted pork, ham, melted Swiss cheese, and a tangy mustard-butter sauce create a crave-worthy dish that’s guaranteed to be a hit!

Cuban sandwich sliders with roasted pork, ham, pickles, and cheese

Cubano Sliders

A few years ago, my husband owned a Cuban food truck. He made quite a few amazing dishes, but the star of the show was his Cuban sandwich, or Cubano.

As my blog grew, my husband decided to put a pause on the food truck and come home to develop recipes for me. I love working with my husband, but sometimes I miss him bringing home goodies he cooked for me on the truck!

Sometimes he will still make a batch of Cubans for a party or just for us — these sliders are an awesome bite-sized copycat of those famous Cuban sandwiches!

Related: Serve with our crispy oven baked fries!

What is a Cubano?

“Cubano” is another name for what is often called a Cuban sandwich or Cuban pressed sandwich. Despite the name, there is some disagreement over where the sandwich actually originated — in Cuba itself or in the Cuban-American communities of Miami.

Regardless of any disagreement over who and where it was created, the key components are usually consistent: ham, roasted pork, Swiss cheese, mustard, and pickles, served on Cuban bread.

When my husband made his Cuban pressed sandwiches, he used bolillo buns because our local bakeries did not have “Cuban” bread. This is a similar style of bread and created a nearly spot-on look and flavor. He also added bacon because, well, bacon rules!!

He slow roasted and hand-shredded his own pork. You can’t even imagine how amazing that smelled while it was cooking!

I’m getting hungry just thinking about it!

Related: Love sliders? Be sure to try our famous Hawaiian Sliders Recipe too! They’re one of our all-time most popular recipes on the blog!

Cuban style sliders stacked on a plate

For your convenience, I’ve included shop-able ad links to supplies used to make this recipe; read our disclosure policy here.

What You Need to Make Cuban Sandwich Sliders

  • Hawaiian slider rolls — 1 package is perfect for this recipe!
  • Shredded roast pork — You can use homemade or store-bought, depending on preference and how much time you have.
  • Sliced deli ham — Honey ham or regular is our preference.
  • Swiss cheese — This is the traditional cheese used, but you can sub with a milder cheese if you like.
  • Pickles — Dill pickles are what is traditionally used.
  • Yellow mustard — I’m not normally a huge fan of yellow mustard, but tradition is tradition! And it’s soooo good on these sliders!
  • Butter — Either salted or unsalted is fine for this recipe.

Note: I added an additional 1/2 cup of shredded cheese and you’re welcome to do so too!

Kitchen Tools Used

 

 

ingredients needed to make Cuban sliders, on a wooden cutting board

How to Make Hawaiian Roll Cuban Sliders

Preheat oven to 350 and prep a 9×13″ casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.

Cut the slider rolls in half right through the middle, so that you have two “sheets” of bread. Place the bottom half of the sandwiches in the casserole dish.

slider bread in the bottom of a glass baking dish

First, you’ll layer the shredded pork:

slider bread layered with shredded pork

Next comes the ham:

deli ham layered on top of sliders

And cheese:

Swiss cheese layered on top of sliders

Finally, dill pickles:

pickles layered on top of cheese to make sliders

Cover the sandwich fillings with the top sheet of slider buns.

Cuban sliders ready to go into the oven

In a small saucepan, melt together the butter and yellow mustard and stir until completely smooth.

melting butter and mustard in a saucepan

melted butter - mustard sauce in pan

Pour this melted mustard-butter sauce on top of the sandwiches, making sure to cover all of them as evenly as possible.

pouring melted butter on top of sliders

Cover your baking dish with foil and bake for 15-20 minutes. You’ll know they’re done when the tops of the sliders are a gorgeous golden brown and they’re absorbed all the sauce.

baked Cuban sliders basted with mustard and butter

Slice and serve. They’re fantastic while still warm and the cheese is nice and melty!

baked Cuban sliders stacked on plate

Can I substitute the cheese?

Yes! While this recipe traditionally calls for Swiss cheese, you do not have to necessarily use it on your sliders. If you wanted to, you could substitute the cheese if you don’t like Swiss cheese.

How do you keep sliders from getting soggy?

Since you’re pouring butter on top of the sliders, they are going to be moist and a little bit messy. That’s totally normal! And trust me, you don’t want to skip the butter sauce! It totally takes these sandwiches to the next level!

If you like your sliders a little on the drier side, you can reduce the amount of butter to 1/4 cup.

Another trick is to make sure that the buns do not come separated from each other. That way the butter actually soaks into all of the bread instead of falling through the cracks and pooling on the bottom of the baking dish.

Cuban sliders basted with butter and mustard

Can sliders be made the day before and refrigerated?

While these are best enjoyed fresh the day of, if you’d like to prep them ahead of time, cover and refrigerate them BEFORE baking.

When you’re ready to bake them, pour your mustard sauce over them and bake.

Do I need to roast my own pork?

I mean, it’s hard to beat fresh slow-roasted pork! However, it does take a bit of time in the kitchen! To make these sliders quickly, you can use pre-made pork that you bought from the store or prepped in advance.

close up of a Cuban style slider with pork and cheese

Grab a free printable copy of our Cuban Sliders Recipe:

If you like this recipe, please rate it! We’d also love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

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5 from 3 votes

Cuban Sliders

Authentic taste you can make at home, you'll want to make these Cuban Sliders every day
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Course: Appetizer, Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Cuban, ham, party, party snacks, pork, sandwich, sliders
Servings: 12 Sliders
Calories: 294kcal
Author: Stacey aka the Soccer Mom
Cost: $8

Ingredients

  • 1 sheet sandwich rolls
  • 2-3 cups roast pork shredded
  • 1/2 lb ham sliced
  • 6 slices Swiss cheese
  • 1/3 cup dill pickles sliced
  • 1 Tablespoon yellow mustard
  • 1/3 cup butter or more as desired

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F.
  • Grease and line a 9” x 13” casserole dish.
  • Cut the sandwich roll sheet in half through the middle and lay the bottom half of the sandwiches in the casserole dish.
  • Layer your ingredients on top of the bread: first the shredded pork, then the ham, Swiss cheese and pickles.
  • Place the top sheet of slider buns on top.
  • In a small saucepan, melt together the butter and yellow mustard and stir until completely smooth.
  • Pour the mustard-butter sauce on top of the sliders. If needed, us a basting brush to make sure you coated all the buns evenly.
  • Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 15-20 minutes, until sauce is fully absorbed and sandwich tops are just lightly browned.

Notes

Note: Nutrition information is an estimate only; your actual data will vary based on the exact amount and type of ingredients used.

Nutrition

Calories: 294kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 58mg | Sodium: 579mg | Potassium: 261mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 235IU | Calcium: 149mg | Iron: 2mg

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Authentic taste you can make at home, you'll want to make these Cuban Sliders every day

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Stacey aka the Soccer Mom
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