Way back in 2010, in the early days of Our Best Bites, my original blog partner, Kate, and I travelled to Des Moines, IA to participate in a cook off at the Better Homes and Gardens test kitchens. We showed up with this killer recipe for BBQ Bacon Sliders with Blue Cheese and Crispy Onions to wow the judges, and we won the cook off!
The burgers are grilled up to perfection with a delicious BBQ sauce, then assembled with fresh rolls, a tangy blue cheese spread, smoky bacon, and crispy onions. These little sliders could easily be made as full sized burgers as well. I promise these won’t disappoint!
Ingredients Needed
This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.
Burgers
- High quality 85/15 ground Angus – The fat in the beef results in a juicy, flavorful burger.
- BBQ sauce – You can use your favorite store-bought BBQ sauce here, or make your own Kansas City Barbecue Sauce, like we did.
- Salt and pepper
- Dinner rolls – Or Hawaiian sweet rolls.
- Lettuce leaves – Choose a sturdy, flavorful lettuce. I would avoid iceberg.
- Bacon
- Crispy shoestring onions – Cook up a batch of Crispy Shoestring Onions to top your burger. Although not exactly the same, you could substitute store-bought fried onions. You can also leave them off if you aren’t a fan. Caramelized onions would be great here, too.
Garlic Blue Cheese Spread
- Mayonnaise – Use a good quality mayo like Duke’s or Best Foods/Hellman’s.
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- Red wine vinegar
- Fresh garlic
- Crumbled blue cheese – Not a fan of blue cheese? You can leave it out, or use a smaller amount.
How to Make BBQ Bacon Sliders
- First you’ll whip up a garlic blue cheese spread and pop it in the fridge until needed. This mayo is kicked up a notch with blue cheese, fresh garlic, and red wine vinegar. You’ll want to make sure you have some bacon cooked up as well.
- The patties are mixed up with beef, bbq sauce, and salt and pepper then grilled to perfection on the grill and glazed with a little extra sauce.
- Once cooked, you’ll assemble your sliders on dinner rolls with the garlic blue cheese spread, lettuce, bacon, beef patties, and crispy shoestring onions. To die for!
Storing and Other Tips
- These sliders are best eaten fresh off the grill!
- Feel free to make these full-sized if you’d like.
Frequently Asked Questions
These are best eaten fresh off the grill! If you want to plan ahead, the BBQ sauce and garlic blue cheese spread could be made ahead of time. You could even mix up and form your patties a few hours before cooking. Just cover tightly with plastic and store in the fridge until ready to cook.
I have only made this recipe with high quality beef. Feel free to experiment with other ground meats, just make sure they have some fat in them to keep the patties juicy. I would not use plain ground turkey breast, which tends to be dry and flavorless.
BBQ Bacon Sliders with Blue Cheese and Crispy Onions
Ingredients
Burgers
- 1½ lbs high-quality 85/15 ground Angus
- ½ cup BBQ sauce or your favorite bottled BBQ sauce
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 8-10 dinner rolls, small, white or Hawaiian sweet rolls, sliced in half and toasted if desired
- 8-10 crisp lettuce leaves
- 8-10 slices bacon cooked crisp
- crispy shoestring onions or store bough fried onions
Garlic Blue Cheese Spread
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 clove garlic pressed or finely minced
- ¼ cup crumbled blue cheese Not a blue cheese fan? Leave it out!
Instructions
Garlic Blue Cheese Spread
- Combine mayonnaise, salt, pepper, red wine vinegar and garlic. Mix well and stir in crumbled blue cheese. Store in refrigerator until ready to use.
Burgers
- Heat a grill pan on the stove top, or an outdoor grill to medium-high heat. Combine beef, 2 tablespoons barbecue sauce, salt and pepper. Divide and shape mixture into 8-10 3/4"-thick patties (keep the size of your buns in mind as wells the fact that the burgers will shrink quite a bit while cooking when shaping the patties). Grill for 2-3 minutes and then flip. Brush the top side of each burger with remaining sauce. Continue grilling for another 2 minutes and flip burgers again, brushing the other side with additional sauce. Continue to cook and baste until the internal temperature of the burgers reach 160-165℉.
Assembly
- Lightly spread the bottom half of each bun with Garlic Blue Cheese Spread and top with a lettuce leaf. Break each bacon piece in half and place on top of lettuce leaves. Place burger on top and drizzle with additional barbecue sauce if desired. Top with a small handful of Crispy Shoestring Onions. Spread remaining Garlic Blue Cheese Spread on top halves of buns.
Questions & Reviews
I just made these last night… blue cheese and all… ABSOLUTELY AWESOME
I just got my copy of BHG! Congratulations on the big win! You looked fabulous and I’m sure this isn’t the last time you will grace the pages of BHG.
I received my July 2011 issue of Better Homes & Gardens directing me to the following website to get your recipe for the BBQ Bacon Sliders at BHG.com/sliders.
Sorry, ladies the website says “No such item to be found”! I guess I should have been smart enough to go on your website in the first place where I found it.! Now, toooooooooooo bad I cannot print it out!
Oh well, it was a good thought on my part; I think I can remember most all of the ingredients to come closer enough!
Thanks!
R.Dion
These were SO DELICIOUS!!! Thank you for the recipe!!!!!!
Hi ladies! I’m finally going to make these this weekend! Where might I find cute, little buns? 😉
Look for the King’s Hawaiian Rolls. They should have them in just about every grocery store (usually by the deli). Or you can use dinner rolls from the bakery as well, (that’s what I used) they make great buns!
DO you think you could sub in gorgonzola cheese for the blue cheese in that sauce? Can’t wait to give them a try this weekend!
Yep, definitely!
We emailed out sis Juliin Des Moines who was in the test kitchen with you at Better Homes and Gardens. I needed something new and fresh and she gave me your blog. She said wonderful things about you both and that is saying a lot! I tried these little beauties out on the fam tonight and they were such a hit! Best burger in a LONG time! Thanks for your great site…
Tomorrow the key lime tarts and chicken tostada roll ups.
Thanks for a great resource!
Unbelievable burgers!! My entire family loved these.
Stefani- nothing that will make it taste the same, but you could use sour cream.
Is there anything I could substitute for the mayo in the blue cheese spread?