Hawaiian Roll Turkey and Cheese Sliders — ❤️🧡💛 Juicy turkey, Swiss cheese, and cranberry sauce all nestled in soft Hawaiian rolls that are brushed with butter and topped with poppy seeds for the BEST turkey sliders! FAST, EASY, and takes advantage of leftover turkey! Deli turkey also works.
Table of Contents
Easy Turkey Hawaiian Roll Sliders Recipe
My readers love my sliders recipes and this version gives you a way to use up leftover turkey from Thanksgiving or Christmas and repurpose it in tender, soft, and gooey baked turkey sliders.
This turkey and cheese sliders recipe features juicy turkey and Swiss cheese, cranberry sauce, and it’s all nestled in soft, sweet Hawaiian rolls, and topped with melted butter and poppy seeds.
Don’t have leftover turkey? No problem! You can still make the sliders with deli turkey, shredded rotisserie chicken or deli chicken, or even ham. More on that below.
If you’re reading this the day after Thanksgiving, and you’re starving from all that black Friday shopping, these are the perfect snack!
The day after Thanksgiving, I’m usually not up for a big meal, nor anything complicated in the kitchen, and this turkey cranberry sliders recipe is so fast and easy to make!
You probably have most of the only 6 ingredients on hand already from your holiday leftovers and all you’ll need to do is pick up a package of Hawaiian rolls and in 20 minutes, you’ll be devouring these family favorite turkey sliders.
They are also great for football Sundays, game day parties, or anytime you need a comfort food sliders recipe.
Ingredients in Turkey and Swiss Sliders
Making turkey and cheese sliders on Hawaiian rolls only requires a handful of easy to find, and very common, fridge and pantry ingredients including:
- King’s Hawaiian Original Sweet Rolls – I am a big fan of King’s Hawaiian. In my opinion, there’s really no substitutions for that brand. I’ve never tried a generic or store brand.
- Leftover turkey – or deli turkey
- Cranberry sauce – homemade or store-bought (I prefer whole berry)
- Sliced Swiss cheese – If you’re a cheese fanatic, you can add a few extra slices without thinking twice.
- Unsalted butter – If you’re a person that likes finger lickin’ good type of sliders, then increase the amount of butter. Double or triple it, whatever you like.
- Poppy seeds – add a nice crunch
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Turkey and Swiss Sliders on Hawaiian Rolls
It doesn’t get any easier to use up that leftover Thanksgiving turkey than these sliders! Here’s an overview of how the turkey and Swiss sliders come together:
Preheat the oven and spray a 9 x 13-inch pan or casserole dish with cooking spray. If you’re using a metal pan, I always line my pan with nonstick foil for easier cleanup but it’s optional.
- Using a large serrated knife, slice the rolls.
- Evenly add the turkey.
- Evenly add the cranberry sauce.
- Evenly add the cheese.
- Place the top of the rolls back on, brush with butter, sprinkle with poppy seeds, cover with foil, and bake covered for 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, peel back the foil, and bake for 5 more minutes or until lightly golden brown before serving.
Recipe FAQs
Although you could use regular slider rolls or small hamburger buns to make this easy recipe, I highly recommend using Hawaiian sweet rolls. Hawaiian rolls are soft, buttery, and slightly sweet. They pair perfectly with the melted Swiss cheese and your leftover turkey or deli turkey.
The best kind of turkey to use is whatever you have on hand!
If you’re lucky enough to have leftover roast turkey from Thanksgiving or Christmas, it would be amazing in these baked turkey and cheese sliders. My goal with this recipe was to help people use up their leftover holiday turkey. You can use white meat, dark meat, or a mixture. Whatever you feel like and have!
However, if you don’t have leftover turkey, feel free to pick up about 3/4 of a pound of sliced deli turkey. Or you can also use a package of turkey from the prepackaged options that I always use to make sandwiches for lunch. You can make these baked slider roll sandwiches with that type of turkey as well.
Yes! This recipe will also work with shredded rotisserie chicken or sliced chicken. 
Yes! I used Swiss, but you can also use Provolone, Havarti, or even Mozzarella. It’s most important to use something that melts especially well and all of the above listed cheeses do just that. While you could use something like American cheese, cheddar, or Parmesan, they don’t melt as easily and from a flavor perspective, I prefer the other white cheeses listed above.
Yes, you can omit the cranberry sauce if you don’t have it on hand.
Not sure what cranberry sauce to use? I’ve got you covered! I have a few homemade cranberry sauce recipes: Cabernet Cranberry and Blueberry Sauce, Spiced Apple Cider Cranberry Sauce, and Cabernet Cranberry and Currant Sauce.
Store-bought is also fine. If you’re going this route, opt for a tried-and-true cranberry sauce that you know you like. The chunkier the better, in my opinion. Whole berry is best.
Those little poppyseeds cling to the top of the sweet Hawaiian rolls and add a bit of texture and very slight crunch, combined with the flavor they add and do make a difference. So use the poppy seeds! Trader Joe’s Everything But The Bagel Seasoning blend is a handy substitution if you don’t have pure plain poppy seeds, but have that instead.
Yes, you can cut the rolls into “slabs,” then layer on the turkey, cranberry sauce, and Swiss cheese, and top with the remaining top slab of Hawaiian rolls. Cover the pan tightly with foil and refrigerate for up 12 hours until you’re ready to add the butter mixture and bake.
Leftover sliders will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 4 days, noting that the buns will become soggier as time passes. That being said, I suppose you could also freeze these airtight for up to 3 months.
What to Serve with the Sliders
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Turkey and Cheese Sliders
Ingredients
- 12 count package King’s Hawaiian Original Sweet Rolls
- 2 cups shredded leftover turkey or sliced deli turkey
- 1 cup cranberry sauce*, homemade or store bought
- 8 slices Swiss cheese, or more if desired (Provolone, Havarti, or Mozzarella may be substituted(
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and spray a 9 x 13" baking dish or metal baking pan with cooking spray. Tip – If you're using a metal baking pan, I like to line my pan with nonstick foil for easier cleanup; set aside.
- Either sliced the Hawaiian rolls in half horizontally so you will have a bottom "slab" and then a top "slab" OR separate the rolls and slice each one and a half horizontally. Note – I find the first "slab" method easier because you don't have to be as precise about the placement of the remaining ingredients. However, slicing the final baked sliders is a bit easier with the second method.
- Place the bottom half of all the rolls in your baking pan and then evenly sprinkle the cooked shredded turkey over the rolls.
- Evenly spread the cranberry sauce over the turkey, making sure to use whole berry sauce or thicker cranberry sauce, and nothing that is watery.
- Evenly layer the cheese over the top. Tip – If you like cheese, you can easily add a few extra slices, or you can even almost double the amount of cheese. Note that if you do double it, it may not fully melt, which is fine.
- Place the tops of the rolls over the cheese.
- Evenly brush the tops of all the rolls with the melted butter. Tip – For extra buttery sliders, you can double or triple the amount of butter.
- Evenly sprinkle with poppy seeds, cover tightly with foil, and bake covered for 15 minutes.
- Remove the baking pan from the oven, peel back the foil and bake for about 5 minutes uncovered, or until the tops of the rules are likely golden browned. Tip – Make sure to keep a close eye on the rolls in the last few minutes of baking so that they do not burn because Hawaiian bread is prone to burning.
- Serve immediately. Sliders are best served warm and fresh but leftover sliders will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months, noting that they will not have the same texture, and will likely become soggier as time passes, or during the thawing process.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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