Chicken Bacon Ranch Sub Sliders
Recipe By: @thebkydpalate
🥪 Fun Fact: The best pool food is the kind that feeds a crowd without requiring anyone to sit down properly. These qualify.
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Ingredients
For The Sliders
12 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1½ lb bacon
Big Bold Chicken seasoning, as needed
10 slices white cheddar cheese
10 slices pepper jack cheese
3–4 onions
2 French bread loaves
For The Big Bold Ranch
½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup sour cream
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp Big Bold Chicken seasoning
1 tbsp chives
2 tsp chopped fresh dill
2–3 tbsp buttermilk
Step By Step
1️⃣ Season + Skewer
Season the chicken thighs generously, then thread them onto skewers. Cook on a grill or smoker at 300°F for about 15 minutes on the first side.
2️⃣ Mix The Ranch
While the chicken cooks, combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon juice, seasoning, chives, dill, and enough buttermilk to loosen everything into a creamy ranch. Start cooking the bacon.
3️⃣ Flip + Griddle The Onions
Flip the chicken and cook for another 15 minutes. Slice the onions, then cook them in about 2 tbsp of the rendered bacon grease for roughly 10 minutes, until soft and deeply golden.
4️⃣ Bring On The Cheese
Layer the white cheddar and pepper jack over the chicken. Toast the French bread alongside it. Let everything sit in the grill or smoker for about 15 minutes, until the cheese is completely melted.
5️⃣ Build The Main Attraction
Pile the chicken onto the toasted bread, followed by the grilled onions, crispy bacon, and plenty of ranch.
6️⃣ Slice + Serve
Cut into 8 sliders and serve while everything is hot, smoky, melty, and gloriously messy.
thebacklabel Take
This is exactly what we want on a holiday weekend: big flavor, built for a crowd, and casual enough to carry straight out to the pool or pack into the beach-house lunch rotation.
The chicken brings the smoke. The bacon and onions make sure nobody mistakes this for a polite little sandwich. And that sharp, herby ranch keeps the whole thing from becoming too heavy.
For Labor Day Weekend, skip making six different things.
Make one thing everyone remembers.