Grilled Chicken Sliders with Poppy Seed Butter
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Grilled Chicken Sliders with Poppy Seed Butter.
These sliders are perfect for entertaining a crowd on a warm summer evening! #FrenchsCrowd #FrenchsMustard
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Laura and I love to host parties. During the cold winter months, we’ve been known to host murder mystery parties or Mardi Gras shindigs. (The Mardi Gras parties are my excuse for making my favorite Cajun recipes…all on the same day.) During the warm summer months, we love to just sit outside with friends while kids, dogs and the occasional husband or two run around in the backyard. Growing up, my parents had dinner parties and casual gatherings quite often, so it’s really no surprise that we like to do the same.
As a kid, I can still remember the nights when my parents would host dinner parties. My sister and I would rent a movie, eat an early dinner and then go upstairs with the dog for the evening. But what made it special was that we got to hang out in my parents’ room since that’s where the VHS player was. And then if we were able to stay awake long enough, we’d get to come down at the end of the party to say hello to the last few guests. So there we came! The dog and two kids dressed in pajamas would scamper down the stairs and start looking for leftover food.
And when it came to leftover food, I could always count on finding this Grilled Chicken Sliders! Well, to be fair, in the winter months, my Mom would make these sliders with chopped ham instead of grilled chicken…because who wants to stand outside grilling chicken in the middle of January? But then in the warmer months, the sliders would transition over to chicken. No matter whether it was ham or chicken, the real star of these sliders was the Poppy Seed Butter. This stuff is magical, my friends!
That Poppy Seed Butter gets spread on the bottom of the slider buns (or dinner rolls). Then comes the grilled chicken or ham and a bit of arugula. Then the sliders are off to the oven until the cheese gets all melty and delicious. Talk about the perfect picnic food! Now that our back deck is de-winterized and ‘officially’ open for the season, we decided to invite a few friends over this past weekend. When I was thinking about what sort of food to make, I remembered my mother’s Grilled Chicken Sliders. Done! These sliders seriously are easy to make, and they can actually be totally made in advance. Just prep the sliders and then wait until 15 minutes before dinner to put the tray in the oven. This must be why these sliders were one of my Mom’s go-to entertaining recipes!
Let’s talk Poppy Seed Butter. This butter is a mixture of butter (obvi) along with chopped onions, poppy seeds, cheese and mustard. When it comes to summer grilling, we’ve always got a bottle of French’s mustard nearby. Whether it’s their classic yellow mustard or one of their other varieties, French’s mustard is a staple in our house! (We all know about French’s Classic Yellow mustard, but did you know that French’s also has a delicious bold Spicy Brown mustard as well as a smooth & creamy Dijon mustard? There are times when we have all 3 varieties in our fridge. #TrueStory!)
French’s Classic Yellow mustard is 100% natural, and it’s made from stone-ground #1 grade mustard seeds. No artificial ingredients. Just mustard seeds, vinegar and spices. And as far as I’m concerned, summer picnics just aren’t complete without French’s mustard! Fun fact: did you know that the individual-sized packets of French’s yellow-mustard were first released in 1974? Or that the first Saturday in August is National Mustard Day? Now you can surprise your friends with your knowledge of mustard trivia!
If you’re looking for a fun picnic recipe, then keep these Grilled Chicken Sliders with Poppy Seed Butter in mind! (I actually had some of this butter left over, and I used it to make grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner last night. Best grilled cheese sandwich ever.) Here’s to a long summer filled with delicious food and fun evenings with friends. Cheers!
For more tasty recipes, check out French’s website and follow them on Facebook!
Grilled Chicken Sliders with Poppy Seed Butter
Ingredients
For the Poppy Seed Spread
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter room temperature
- ¼ cup yellow onion minced
- 3 Tbsp yellow mustard
- 2 Tbsp poppy seeds
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup shredded Pepperjack cheese
For the Sliders
- 16 oz. chicken breasts
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 cup baby arugula
- 24 dinner rolls
Instructions
- Preheat grill to medium-high heat.
- Brush both sides of chicken breasts with olive oil and then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill over medium-high heat for 5-6 minutes per side, or until fully cooked. Let cool for 10 minutes.
- Slice grilled chicken breasts into ¾”-1” slices; set aside.
- Using a medium bowl, add butter, onions, mustard, poppy seeds and Worcestershire sauce; stir until well combined.
- Add shredded cheese; stir until well combined.
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Place bottom halves of slider buns on a sheet pan. Spread poppy seed spread evenly across slider buns and then top each with sliced grilled chicken and baby arugula. Place tops of sliders on top.
- Bake at 325°F for 15 minutes.
That poppy seed spread (well the whole lot of this recipe) is right up my alley and I can’t wait to try! Sliders are too fun. I think, though, that because they are little that I could eat a few, but probably end up eating more than if it were one normal sized sandwich, lol 😀
Geez, I remember those Murder Mystery party games – what a laugh! And thanks for that trivia. There’s so many food days that it’s hard to keep up with it all, ya know? Now I want a sandwich wit this butter! Hope you have a great week, David 🙂 !!
Sliders really are fun, aren’t they, Dawn? It’s like a savory version of a mini-cookie…and who doesn’t love mini-cookies? 🙂 This poppyseed mustard butter is downright amazing! You should totally make a sandwich with it sometime soon! Thanks, my friend, and I hope you have an awesome week yourself!
Hi David. Great way to minimize the work and still feed a crowd, leaving plenty of time to socialize. The poppy seed butter sounds delicious and I can think of several other things it would be good on (burgers for one).
Yes! I’m all about socializing in the summer (heck, in the winter, too…), so minimizing the work is pretty awesome. And speaking of awesome, these sandwiches! Oh, burgers? I like where you’re going with this. I think I still have a bit of that poppyseed mustard butter left, and I might have to try it out on a burger here this week. You always have the best ideas, Dorothy…thank you!
I remember when my parents would entertain and my sister and I would get to watch tv in their room in our jammies too. We would sneak out and peak through the staircase railing to see what was happening. I don’t recall ever seeing any of delicious chicken sliders like these though! I’m digging that poppy seed butter too. And who knew there’s such a thing as national mustard day?!?!?!
Haha…weren’t those the best times, Rachelle? My parents bed would start all nicely made, and by the time my sister and I were done with it, it would be a total mess! And we totally spied on people through the railing, too! (Wait…sure you aren’t my sister in disguise??) Thanks so much, my friend! Hope your week is off to a great start so far. 🙂
I don’t know why but I’ve been seeing tons of poppyseed recipes and it fills my little heart with joy since… I love poppyseeds. I enjoy going to murder mystery parties, but I’ve never hosted one. I might have to change that this summer. My parents also loved to entertain, I loved it when the house was full of people. Ahhhh the good ole VHS player, growing up we didn’t have a TV in our room so we also snuggled in Mom and Dad’s room watching a fun movie until it was time to raid the kitchen for leftovers. The combinations of mustard arugula and chicken sounds divine David. These are perfect for a nice dinner party.
Oh, you would totally love hosting a murder mystery party, Mary! There are some pretty good kits you can grab on Amazon, and they aren’t very expensive at all. You just need a group of 6-8 fools who are willing to dress up and act in character all night. With your craftiness, I’m thinking a murder mystery party at your place would be a blast! And yes to the childhood dinner party memories…those were always fun nights because you could spy on what was happening down below. (I like to think I was sneaky, but looking back I doubt I was very sneaky at all. Haha!)
What a crowd pleaser! The poppy seed butter sounds so good. We are big mustard lovers in this house, so this is perfect for summer get togethers!
If you love mustard, then please promise me that you’ll make this poppyseed butter sometime this summer, Marissa! It is so darned good…like I said in the post, I used some of the leftover butter for a grilled cheese sandwich. Woah. 🙂 Thanks so much, my friend, and happy Tuesday!
Duuuuuude – “Poppy Seed Butter???” Good golly – and with cheese and mustard to boot – that’s just freakin brilliant, David!
But wait – that mailman must have lost the invite y’all sent me – right? 😉 Seriously, what a treat these sliders must have been!
I must have been one lucky kid cos back in the day when my folks had parties, they’d just put all the kids together in one room and we could stay up and eat and play till they were ready to call it a night. Though come to think of it – they never let us share in the cake or sweet stuff – and am guessing that was a good thing!
Hope y’all had a wonderful Easter and Robbie got loads of eggs! Happy Monday, friend!
That mailman. We can’t ever rely on any of our mail actually getting delivered. I assume you actually got the shipment of sliders that I sent down to you, right? 🙂
Oh man, hanging out with all of the kids in one room sounds awesome! I guess the other adults got babysitters when we were kids as it was always just me and my sister…spying on the events down below. Haha! I guess Robbie will be doing that himself one day. Or, more likely, Robbie will sneak down when we aren’t looking and start charming our friends!
Hahaha! Yes – yes, I agree with that last line – he couldn’t even talk when we saw him and he was so charming – and, from seeing him from this side of the screen, looks like he’s even more charming now!
And…wth!!! That darn mailman ate the sliders!!! I’m setting my dogs on him today!
Hah! 🙂 That mailman won’t even know what’s coming today. Thanks, Shashi! And you’ll have to make your way up north again sometime so Robbie can charm you again!
I need to host a huge party and make these sliders. I love the idea of a murder mystery! How fun!!! These sliders looks great, especially the poppy seed butter! Yum!!!
Yes! Wait, I think dinner on any given night in your house would constitute a huge party, Kathy! 🙂 I bet your boys could polish off a tray of these sliders in no time flat! This poppy seed butter is amazing, and you’ve totally got to try it sometime soon. Yum! Thanks so much, my friend!
The poppy seed butter spread sounds delicious. I am sure that these sliders are a big hit with your guest. It is always so much fun to have friends over for dinner parties.
Well hello there, Dawn! This poppy seed mustard butter spread (not exactly sure of an easier name for it) is super delicious. It’s perfect for summer sammiches, and as Dorothy commented above, I bet it would be great on a burger! I love hosting parties no matter the season, but parties are always so much more fun when you can go out on the back deck. Thanks so much, my friend, and I hope you are doing well!
the poppy seed spread sounds delicious David, yum! Need to try and these sliders look perfect for entertaining!
Why thank you very much, Manali! These sliders are indeed perfect for entertaining, and the star of the show is that poppyseed + mustard + cheese + butter spread. There’s no easy name for it…but I promise it’s delicious! 🙂
I love playing host too! And I’m always a fan of mini sized foods, so I think sliders are super fun.
Yes! I couldn’t agree more, Nicole! I’m not one bit surprised that you like to play host, too. You have so many fun stories and entertaining ideas on your site…and I might just have to steal some of those ideas for future parties. 🙂 Hope you guys had a great holiday weekend!
OMG, love these! Perfect for a crowd and still delivers that grilled flavor with a little pop!
Yes! It’s hard to beat sliders since they are mini…and mini everything is better, right, Karly? Thanks so much, my friend!
I not even going into the whole Google rabbit trail that brought me here, but here I am. I love this recipe! I’m WAY older than you, but I remember my parents entertaining in the 60s, laughing, dancing, and grooving to the music of the day (yes, I got to stay up past my bedtime to watch the Beatles premiere on the Ed Sullivan show–it was a sacred time at our house!). I occasionally make the most fabulous homemade slider rolls–and I sprinkle them with poppy seeds! So, I am definitely in on this yummy sounding recipe. Can’t wait to try, and thank you for posting it.
Haha! Don’t you just love internet rabbit holes? Sometimes I stop and try to figure out how I landed on a page…and more often than not I can’t remember. But then I end up reading about stuff I would never have seen before, so it all works out, right? 🙂 Oh man…you saw the Beatles premier on the Ed Sullivan Show? That’s a classic! What a great memory from childhood, Kim! Thank you so much for leaving a comment, and I do hope you enjoy these sliders. That mustard + poppyseed + butter combo is nothing short of delicious! Have a great day, my new friend!