Easy Garlic Bread Meatball Sliders

Hot and meaty Easy Garlic Meatball Sliders are oozing with melty cheese and garlic bread flavor. An irresistible game day and party snack!

These Easy Garlic Meatball Sliders just right for serving a tasty snack for game days, parties and potlucks! We love making simple and delicious sliders like our Buffalo Chicken Cheese Sliders, Bacon Cheeseburger Sliders, and Hot Ham and Cheese Sliders.  

This is one of our amazing Appetizer recipes you’ll want to keep in your recipe box!

Garlic Bread Meatball Sliders

Easy Garlic Bread Meatball Sliders are an irresistible party food! I’m always on the lookout for easy party food. Even better when the food can be eaten with your hands!

Adults and kids alike LOVE these sliders as a snack or part of our game day half-time lineup. I like to make the sauce ahead of time and assemble them right before popping in the oven. In 20 minutes, you can serve this hearty snack right from the oven.

How to make Meatball Slider sauce

Whether made in the slow cooker (like we did) or on the stovetop, homemade sauce for these irresistible sliders is super easy to make. We’ve included both methods for your convenience.

To make the meatballs and sauce unbelievable simple, we used frozen meatballs. Just adjust the recipe for how many sliders you want to make, and count out the meatballs from the bag. This is our favorite way to make sauce in the slow cooker.

This sauce is also incredible over pasta or baked in casseroles!

Full disclosure – these pictures show a double batch of sauce, using 24 meatballs and just doubling the sauce ingredients.

This recipe was created using frozen meatballs for convenience. But you could make your own meatballs using our fan favorite Easy Skillet Meatballs recipe. See note below on how to add homemade meatballs to the sauce.

Slow Cooker Method:

1. Gather all the ingredients and set up your slow cooker.
2. Add all the ingredients to the slow cooker and gently stir to combine.
3. Place cover on the cooker and set to LOW for 6 hours, or HIGH for 2-3 hours.
4. Preheat oven to 350 F.
5. Place bottom of slider rolls in 9×13 baking pan. Place one meatball and a tablespoon of sauce on each bun.
6. Sprinkle cheese over meatballs and cover with top of bun.
7. Melt the butter, garlic and parmesan together either in the microwave or a small saucepan on the stove. Stir to combine.
8. Brush butter mixture over the top of the rolls.
9. Cover pan with foil and bake for 20 minutes, removing foil during the last 5 minutes. They’re done when the cheese is melted and sliders are heated thru. Serve with any remaining sauce.

Stovetop Method:

1. Gather all the ingredients and get out a large, heavy bottomed saucepan.
2. Add all the ingredients to the pot and gently stir to combine.
3. Bring ingredients to a boil over MED-HIGH heat, then reduce heat and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until thickened and meatballs are heated thru. Stir sauce occasionally while it simmers.
4. Preheat oven to 350 F. Place bottom of slider rolls in 9×13 baking pan.
5. Place one meatball and a tablespoon of sauce on each bun. Sprinkle cheese over meatballs and cover with top of bun.
6. Melt the butter, garlic and parmesan together either in the microwave or a small saucepan on the stove. Stir to combine.
7. Brush butter mixture over the top of the rolls.
8. Cover pan with foil and bake for 20 minutes, removing foil during the last 5 minutes. They’re done when the cheese is melted and sliders are heated thru. Serve with any remaining sauce.

NOTE – Add homemade meatballs toward the end of the sauce cooking time because they have have a tendency to break up when cooked in liquid. For the slow cooker, add homemade meatballs during the last hour of cooking if the setting is on LOW, or the last 30 minutes if the setting is HIGH.

For the stovetop method, add homemade meatballs after you have brought the sauce to a boil, while it simmers.

How to Assemble Meatball Sliders

1. Use your favorite slider buns or rolls, and place the bottom of the bun in a 9 x 13 or similar size pan. We like to use pre-cut slider rolls that are like little hamburger buns. So convenient, with no cutting needed!
2. Place one meatball and some sauce on each roll. These rolls are big enough for 2 meatballs each, but this way the cheese melts around the meatball, which is delicious.
3. Sprinkle the shredded cheese over the top of the buns. No worries if some is off to the side. Lots and lots of cheesy goodness.
4. Brush the melted butter, garlic and parmesan over the top of the rolls. When they bake, the bun tops will be like garlic bread. Note – the parmesan cheese will brown in the oven. If you don’t want the parmesan browned, wait to sprinkle it on the top buns when they’re hot out of the oven.

Can You Prep These Meatball Sliders Ahead?

This is a crowd pleasing recipe, and sure, you can make them ahead of time. Sure can. Prepare the sauce up to three days ahead and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Just heat the sauce and meatballs in a saucepan before assembling the sliders.

OR

You can assemble the sliders up to one day ahead. If assembling ahead of time, I recommend placing the shredded cheese over the bottom buns first, then adding the meatball and sauce. This will help keep the buns from getting soggy.

Add the top of the buns and brush with the butter sauce right before baking. Add a little extra time for baking too.

What Rolls to Use for Slider Buns?

You could make your own buns, but we’re talking an easy recipe here. You could use mini buns like we did, King’s Hawaiian rolls or classic pull-apart dinner rolls.

What to Serve with Meatball Sliders?

We love these rolls for appetizers for game day and parties, but they’re great as a main dish too. For that, you’ll want a few side dishes to go with. Here’s our favorites:

• Crispy Garlic Matchstick Fries
• Grandma’s Real Southern Baked Beans
• Parmesan Chive Corn on the Cob
• Broccoli Slaw

More Slider Recipes You’ll Love

• Buffalo Chicken Cheese Sliders
• Easy Bacon Cheeseburger Sliders
• Hot Ham and Cheese Sliders
• Swiss Mushroom Burger Sliders