Pull apart Cuban Sliders make for a flavour packed appetizer and are perfect for just about every occasion. Slow roasted pork shoulder rubbed in yellow mustard and spice rub that sits in a bath of orange juice and broth and cooks for 3 1/2 hours. Each handheld slider is filled with  layers of ham, melted swiss cheese and buttery pickles sandwiched in soft toasted brioche rolls. 

I am a huge fan of a classic Cuban sandwich. Its filled with ingredients I love and the flavours just work so well together. It’s definitely a sandwich that a lot of people enjoy which makes it an easy choice to serve guests when hosting. How do you serve a crowd without being stuck in the kitchen or making 12 individual sandwiches.. well you make some sliders! Sliders are fun, bite sized, and finger food style so their easy to serve yourself and walk around with without making a mess. 

CUBAN SANDWICH

A good cubano is made with crispy bread, tangy mustard, sweet bread and butter pickles, juicy pork, ham, and cheese.  I find the best way to make it at home is to use some shredded pork, slow roasted shoulder is ideal but tenderloin will work if you are more comfortable making pulled pork. For this sandwich I used the same method to cook the pork as my most recent wet burrito recipe. I usually roast a big shoulder so that I have lots of leftovers for some other meals. The second most important piece is the mustard. It is crucial to use a good quality yellow mustard because it’s the only sauce in a cuban sandwich. I used Kozliks market mustard , which is a good all around yellow mustard and perfect for sandwiches. This is the mustard I used to rub the shoulder and I also mixed it with some of the drippings to make the mustard sauce that I spread across the rolls. 

MAKE AHEAD

I fully intend to make these for my upcoming SuperBowl party. Because the pork takes 3h30-4 hours it can absolutely be made ahead of time and gently reheated before assembling into the sliders. I always find that the house gets really hot when the oven is going for that long so I like to cook anything that takes over 1 hour before hand that way my guests aren’t uncomfortably hot. Cook the pork as directed, shred and store with juices refrigerated, when you are ready to host, pull it out and reheat it a little bit for about 1-2 minutes in the microwave to loosen it up and get some of that liquid going as you will need it for the sauce. 

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Print Recipe

Cuban Sliders

Cuban sliders made with slow roasted pork shoulder shredded and spread across brioche buns spread with mustard, layers of ham, melted swiss cheese and buttered pickles.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time3 hours hrs

Additional Time15 minutes mins

Total Time3 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Course: Appetizers

Servings: 12

Author: the communal feast

Ingredients

• 4-5 lb pork shoulder
• 4 garlic cloves
• yellow mustard
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 TBS salt and pepper
• 2 TBS smoked paprika
• 2 TBS mesquite dry rub
• 2 TBS ground cumin
• 1 TBS chipotle chili powder
• 2 TBS dried oregano
• 2/3 cup orange juice
• 2/3 cups vegetable stock
• 12 pack of mini pull apart brioche rolls
• 15 slices of deli ham
• 10 slices of swiss cheese
• 24 slices of buttered pickles

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• To prepare the pork: combine sugar, salt, pepper, paprika, mesquite, cumin, and oregano in a bowl. Optional to trim fat from pork ( I did not). Rub the pork on both sides with mustard using your hands to cover most of the shoulder. Season with the dried spice mixture all over ensuring fully covered. Place pork in a large oven safe dish and toss in those 4 garlic cloves. Pour the orange juice into the dish from the side ensuring not to remove any of the rub or spice from the meat. Do the same with the broth. Cover with foil and Cook for 3 1/2 hours until tender. Depending on thickness of the shoulder it could take up to 4 hours. If the meat isn't pulling off easily with hands, return to oven.
• Remove from the oven and shred the meat. Keep the shredded meat in its juices and discard fat here. The fat should easily come apart and be noticeably visible.
• Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees F.
• Gently run a bread knife along the side of the rolls going across to cut open the top. Use your hand to hold down the tops and keep it steady. Mix the same yellow mustard, about 1/3 cup with 1/4 cup of the braising liquid from the pork. You should have a mustard that's easily spreadable. Spread acrosss the bottom bun to fully cover, Top with a good amount of shredded pork, next layer the ham and the cheese slices. Place 2 buttered pickles on top of the cheese per slider, close the sliders with the top buns and cover with a piece of foil. Bake for 20 minutes until warmed through and the cheese is melted.
• Serve immediately.