It’s officially Summer and that means two things to me – juicy, vine-ripe tomatoes and firing up the grill!
My favorite way to enjoy both of these pleasures is to make Grilled Caprese Chicken Sliders. Simply top grilled chicken parmesan patties with traditional Caprese toppings – fresh mozzarella, basil pesto & a juicy tomato slice. Serve in a Ciabatta roll, and boring grilled chicken becomes a hand-held Italian summer treat!
These little sandwiches have all the flavor of their Italian salad inspiration, and their petite size is perfect for little ones, or as a starter, and they are super easy to make ahead of time!
However, you may find yourself wanting a larger portion, as the ground chicken, parmesan & herb mixture creates such a juicy, flavorful patty. This recipe makes 6 slider size patties, or 4 full size patties.
Grilled Caprese Chicken Sliders
Cuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Easy6
servings10
minutes12
minutesTake boring grilled chicken to a hand-held Italian summer treat, with these Grilled Caprese Chicken Sliders!
Ingredients
1 lb. ground chicken
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil + more for garnish
2 tablespoons – chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 garlic clove – minced
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 8 oz. ball of fresh mozzarella – sliced
2 roma tomatoes – sliced
½ cup refrigerated prepared pesto
4 count – ciabatta rolls – sliced & cut in half
Directions
- In a medium bowl, combine ground chicken, basil, parsley, Parmesan, garlic and ½ teaspoon salt. Use a fork, to mix thoroughly, Form into 6 patties, drizzle with olive oil and turn to coat. Set aside. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate, if not cooking right away.
- Next, prepare garnishes. Slice mozzarella into ¼ inch slices. Then, use a 2-inch round cookie cutter to cut out cheese to fit the patties. Similarly, slice roma tomatoes into ¼ inch slices. Finally, remove pesto from the refrigerator, to allow it to come to room temperature while the chicken cooks.
- When ready, preheat a grill or greased grill pan. Cook patties over indirect or Medium heat, for 5 minutes on each side, or until patties reach 165 degrees. Then, top each patty with a slice of mozzarella, cover the grill and cook 1 minute more while the cheese melts. Remove from the grill.
- Finally, transfer the sliders to ciabatta rolls. Top each chicken patty with 1 tablespoon pesto, 1 slice of tomato, basil and additional parmesan. Makes 6 sliders.
Notes
- For ease of slicing, make sure mozzarella is cold, and use a serrated bread knife. We used a cookie cutter to get the perfect size slices for our sliders!
- When making a slider sized burger, the smaller roma tomatoes are a good choice for garnish.
- Add extra flavor by adding the tops & bottoms of ciabatta rolls to the grill for the last couple minutes – just until you see a little char develop.
- To keep with the Italian theme, we used Ciabatta rolls, but really any small roll would work. Note, for small sliders, you may want to cut the rolls in half.
