The Costco Find That's Making Everyone Crave Mini Meatball Sliders

Shopping at Costco for appetizer ingredients can be a bit like searching for a needle in a haystack. Of course, they already have plenty of pre-made items like mini quiches, taquitos, and corn dogs (check out which of Costco's appetizers we think are the best — and worst), not to mention industrial-sized fruit and veggie platters. But if you're looking to make a smaller volume of bites at least partially from scratch, you've got to get a little more creative. One of the best sources of ingredients is the bakery department, where most of the items are either baked fresh or par-baked and taste a lot like homemade (although not every Costco bakery item is made from scratch). If you're in the mood for a platter of small sandwiches, skip right past the fully baked Hawaiian rolls and grab a package of Kirkland Garlic Parmesan Butter Dinner Rolls. Drenched in cheesy garlic compound butter and baked at home to perfection, they're ideal for making mini meatball sliders.

All you need to make sliders with Costco's dinner rolls is a bag of Italian-style meatballs with sauce like Mama Mancini's Jumbo Meatballs, which come in 3-pound packages. If you'd like to add some cheese on top, grab a package of sliced provolone from the deli section, or whatever flavor of cheese you prefer.

The process for making mini meatball sliders with your Costco haul is very easy. Bake the garlic parmesan rolls and cook the meatballs by following the package instructions. The rolls come in a foil base, which is the preferred pan for baking. The rolls should all bake together so that when you pull them apart, they'll have soft edges. Then all you have to do is slice the rolls in half, add a meatball and some sauce, and just like that you've got sliders. If you're adding cheese, top each of your meatballs with a slice and then bake or broil them in the oven until the cheese is melted to your liking.

Mama Mancini's Jumbo Meatballs have a salty, acidic tomato sauce that perfectly cuts through the buttery, sweet richness of the rolls, but you can use any meatball that has tomato sauce — there are some great frozen meatballs out there. If your favorite brand doesn't have sauce, use a jar of basic marinara. And while the Costco website doesn't always have meatless meatballs that compare to Mama Mancini's, it's been known to carry Gardein Meatless Meatballs​​ with sauce from time to time so grab 'em if you see them. With a bag of meatballs in your freezer and a pan of these rolls, you can have an easy party platter — or even weeknight dinner — that tastes like you've been working in the kitchen all day.