BBQ Pork Loin Sliders

Coated in a brown sugar spice rub and grilled to perfection, BBQ Pork Loin Sliders will be your grilling go-to for all those summer cookouts!

These BBQ Pork Loin Sliders are the perfect cookout dish. A quick and easy grilling recipe, these mini sandwiches are fantastic for a weeknight meal or a weekend pool party.

Made with a delicious brown sugar spice rub and topped with sweet and tangy barbecue sauce, these sliders are super tender and completely delicious! Having a party? Double the sliders with these Baked Jalapeno Popper Sliders!

BBQ PORK LOIN SLIDERS
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Growing up in South Dakota, pork was always part of the summertime menu. Pork chops and pork loin were simple to grill and fantastic with corn on the cob, potato salad, and fresh tomatoes. My dad worked at the local grocery store and always came home with a fresh cuts of meat, bakery rolls, and barbecue sauce. BBQ pork loin sandwiches became a mainstay for us, which is how these BBQ pork sliders came to be.

Not only is pork an economical cut of meat, but tenderloin and loin chops are also fantastic for grilling. Because of the lean nature of pork, it’s also a great healthy alternative in the summer to burgers.

To give the pork a sweet and savory flavor, I make a sugar-and-spice rub for grilling. The brown sugar caramelizes creating a wonderful, spicy crust on the outer edges of the meat, and the spice rub paste helps seal in the moisture of the pork!

Ingredients

• Pork tenderloin, about 1 1/2 pounds
• Brown sugar
• Chili powder
• Cumin
• Salt
• Ground pepper
• Olive oil
• Barbecue sauce – for grilling and serving!
• Dinner rolls, slider buns, or your favorite small buns

You can use any kind of barbecue sauce for these sliders. I like to make this Sweet and Tangy Barbecue Sauce, but any bottled sauce from your favorite brand or homemade sauce from your ideal barbecue region works great on these sliders. You’ll use the sauce to baste the pork after grilling as well as a topping for the sliders, so pick a sauce you love!

These sliders are small but pack a punch of barbecue flavor!

How to Make BBQ Pork Loin Sliders

1. Start off by heating your grill to medium-high heat. While your grill gets hot, mix your spice rub of sugar, chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, and oil in a small bowl. The mixture will be a paste.
2. Next, pat the pork dry with a paper towel. Then put the tenderloin on a sheet pan and rub all sides with spice paste with your hands. You want all the rub on the pork, no leftover rub!
3. Time to grill! Grease your grill grates with oil or non-stick grilling spray before putting your pork on the grill. You’re going to cook each side of the pork for about 10 minutes or until the pork internal temperature reaches 145 degrees F. (This is usually about 20 to 30 minutes depending on how the pork was cut.) Slightly pink pork is ok! As long as your internal temp reached 145, you’re good.
4. Once cooked, slather pork loin with 1/2 cup of barbecue sauce, and save the other 1 cup of sauce for your sliders! After that, removed the tenderloin from the heat and transfer your grilled pork tenderloin to a cutting board. Let it rest for about 10 minutes.
5. Thinly slice the pork while it’s warm and then build your sliders! Stack a few slices of pork on the bottom bun, top the meat with some BBQ sauce, and then place the bun top over the sauce. It’s that easy!

I like to serve these sliders with some coleslaw on the side, or even on top of the barbecue sauce. It rounds out the whole barbecue food experience for me.

These mini sandwiches are fantastic as appetizers and great for a simple weeknight dinner idea along with some Crock Pot Mac and Cheese. For my boys, I serve the meat, rolls, and sauce separately and let them build their own sliders.

How to make sliders

For this recipe, I use a bun evenly cut in half horizontally, similar to a hamburger bun but much smaller, about 2 inches across. Place the BBQ pork loin on the bottom bun, smother with barbecue sauce, and top with the bun.

Make it your own with homemade barbecue sauce or top the slider with coleslaw, pickles, cheese, mustard, or your favorite burger topping! I like to keep my sliders to 2-3 ingredients beyond the meat and bun.

What to serve with pork sliders

These BBQ Pork Loin Sliders go well with all the typical cookout side dishes. Pasta salad is always a classic, and this Pesto Pasta Salad brings the standard up a notch with pesto and toasted pine nuts.

Got more room on the grill? Throw on these Grilled Ranch Potatoes and keep the mess out of the kitchen. This fresh and fast Black Bean Salad is a great healthy cookout option to pair with pork sliders.

Want more slider recipes?

• Philly Cheesesteak Sliders
• Roast Beef and Horseradish Cheese Baked Sliders
• Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Sliders
• Tequila Turkey Sliders with Guacamole
• Chicken Enchilada Sliders
• More appetizer recipes…

Tools used to make this BBQ Pork Loin Sliders recipe

Grill: Fire up the grill and get cooking! This propane grill has 6 heat controlled areas so you can cook different foods at the right temp and become the grill master of your backyard!

Baking Sheet: A nice big baking sheet is a must-have for any kitchen. This half pan sheet is large than a regular cookie and works great for anything you’re baking.

Basting Brush: I use this brush for everything from grilling to desserts. The silicone brush and metal handle make it perfect for any temperature and no bristles flake off into your food!

Knives: A good set of kitchen knives is essential for any cook. This set is the best one I’ve owned so far and it comes with a knife block, steak knives, and an array of larger knives perfect for all your slicing, chopping, and cutting needs.

Cutting Board: A good-sized cutting board is a must for home cooks. This board is thick & sturdy and makes recipe prep a breeze.

*This post originally posted on 04/03/2018.