Roast Beef Sliders

A few weeks ago I helped host a happy hour at Betsy’s office. The happy hour was for about 60 people so I wanted something delicious but that was easy to make for a crowd and also easy to eat while mingling.

I originally settled on making beef tenderloin sliders just because they sounded good, but then I went to my favorite butcher and learned that beef tenderloin was a whopping $25/lb. Since I calculated I needed probably 7-8 pounds to feed the party, this was sticker shock.

After I picked my tongue off the floor, I asked the butcher what he recommended. He told me that butchers typically use a top round roast when they make roast beef for sandwiches and proceeded to cut me two nice roasts that equalled about 8-9 pounds total. Those were $7/pound which was much more reasonable!

I also liked how the top round roast had more marbling throughout which meant it would probably be more flavorful.

I should note that this was the very first time I’ve ever cooked a roast like this for sandwiches and these roast beef sliders were a HUGE success. If I can do it for sixty people with zero practice, so can you!

Roast Beef Sliders

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3.36 from 14 votes

Author: Nick Evans

Servings: 30 Servings

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 3 hours hours

The party food to beat all party foods! If you’re feeding a crowd these roast beef sliders are much easier to make than you might think! Slice it thin and pile it high!

Equipment

• 1 Meat Thermometer
• 1 Carving Knife

Ingredients 

• 1 top round roast, 5-6 pounds
• Kosher salt
• Black pepper
• 60 slider buns
• 1 pound provolone cheese, sliced thin
• Baby spinach
• Stone ground mustard
• Horseradish mayonnaise

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Instructions

• Make sure your top round roast is prepared for roasting by tying it tightly with butcher’s twine (a good butcher will do this for you if you mention you are making roast beef). Also season the roast with salt and pepper generously in advance if you can (overnight is good).
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place prepared roast in a roasting pan or I like to cook in on a wire rack so the heat can circulate around the meat.
• Roast beef for 20 minutes and then reduce heat to 250 degrees F. Continue to roast until the beef reaches an internal temperature of 135 degrees F. in the thickest part of the roast. The ONLY way to know this with accuracy is to use a meat thermometer. Don’t eyeball it!
• Remove roast and let it rest for 15 minutes. Then slice it very thin with a carving knife.
• Serve roast beef slices on slider buns with toppings.
• For horseradish mayo, mix 1 cup of mayonnaise with 3-4 tablespoons spicy Horseradish.

Nutrition

Serving: 2Sliders | Calories: 270kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 29mg | Sodium: 127mg | Potassium: 123mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 133IU | Calcium: 169mg | Iron: 2mg

Course: Appetizers

Cuisine: American

Roast Beef Sliders

There are a HUGE number of cuts you can use for roast beef sandwiches like this. The top round roast did really well for me. It was easy to roast and cooked evenly. It had really great flavor as well. My butcher told me that you can also use Top Sirloin Roast or even a bottom round depending on what’s available.

My general rule for situations like this is: ASK. If you aren’t sure, just describe what you are trying to do and your butcher can probably guide you in the right direction. Mine was kind enough to tie my roasts with butcher twine so they roast evenly.

I decided to salt and pepper my roasts the night before. I found some mixed opinions on whether you should do this or not. I knew that one night of salting wouldnt’ penetrate the entirety of a roast this big, but I figured it would season it to some degree and since I was planning on slicing it thin, I thought the seasoning would incorporate a bit as I sliced it.

Roasting these was surprisingly easy. Here are my tips:

• Start it at a high temp (I did 375 degrees F.) and then drop it down to 250 degrees F. after 20 minutes or so.
• A very rough guide for time is to roast for 15 minutes per pound, but the only certain way to know is to use a thermometer. When the roast is 100 degrees inside and 135 inside it looks basically the same. USE A THERMOMETER.
• You are shooting for 135 degrees F. in the thickest part of the roast. Try not to overcook it as it can dry out easily.
• You can cook this in advance! If you’re making it for sliders like this, it’s fine served cold. Wrap it tightly with foil or plastic wrap once it has cooled off and store it in the fridge for a few days with no issues. Don’t slice it until you are ready to serve it.
• Use a GOOD carving knife to slice it. You want nice, thin, even slices.

Here are my first few slices on my roast! Keep in mind that the nice thing about a roast like this is that the ends will be more cooked than the center which will be more rare. People can pick slices they want. These slices were slightly more done than I personally prefer because they were close to an end of a roast.

Making sandwiches is easy once you have the roast beef done and will definitely impress! I kept the toppings simple for mine: stone ground mustard, a quick horseradish mayo (1 cup mayo and 3-4 tbsp horseradish), provolone cheese, and baby spinach.

It doesn’t get much better than these roast beef sliders for a delicious party food!

Want a different slider option? Try these Flank Steak Sliders or these Banh Mi Style Sliders!