Hatch Chiles And Bacon Jam Are The Perfect Way To Remix Your White Castle Sliders

We all know White Castle sliders are some of the most iconic sandwiches around. Doesn’t matter if you’re in it for the cheesy-onion combo, or are simply infatuated with the nostalgia that comes with them—sometimes you’re just craving those petite little pieces of joy and need to have them immediately. You’ve grown up with them. They’re part of your family. And (almost) literally part of your blood.

This includes our friend and Foodbeast Family Chef Linh Nguyen. He’s grown up with the White Castle slider since he was just 12 years old, and although they’re craveable on their own, he enjoys customizing their unique taste by playing around with the many wonderful, flavorful ways one can “upgrade” them. He’s leaned on tasty White Castles to uplift him throughout his cooking career and life in general, with their combination of juicy hamburger meat, onions, and cheese all within a steamed bun.

Thus, he was obviously down to reflect on some of his best days with the little handheld delicacies, and even share one of his customized White Castle burger recipes with us. As a kid, he’d add pickles, bacon and veggies to the burger to give a kick to the already delicious sliders. Some years later, he’s reinvigorating the formula with an elevated version—pickles fried in cornmeal, baked roma tomato petals, caramelized bacon onion jam, and roasted seasonal hatch chiles—it’s a recipe for success, flavor, and a whole new way to snack on one of your all-time favorite burgers.

Here’s Linh’s instructions on how you can put a fun spin on the classic White Castle slider:

Chef Linh’s White Castle Hatch Chile Sliders

Makes 2 sliders

2 White Castle hamburgers (available at White Castle restaurants and your local grocery store)

6 pickle slices

1 c pancake mix

1 c flour

1 c cornmeal

1 tbsp Cajun seasoning

1 white onion

10 strips bacon

¼ c brown sugar

¼ c red wine vinegar

2 Roma tomatoes

1 head butter lettuce

2 hatch chiles

2 slices Colby jack cheese

Bacon onion jam

Cut onion small and dice, slice bacon into small strips, sautée bacon and render fat with onions until caramelized. Add brown sugar and deglaze with red wine vinegar, blend in blender and cool.

Cornmeal fried pickles

Dust pickle slices with flour, dip into premixed pancake batter and toss into cornmeal. Fry until golden brown and season with Cajun seasoning.

Roasted hatch chile

Blister hatch chile on hot pan until skin is burnt. Transfer burnt chiles into plastic-wrapped mixing bowl to steam for 10 minutes. Rinse under cold water to remove skin, deseed, and slice into medium squares.

Roasted tomato petals

Slice roma tomatoes into quarters and deseed core. Toss with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, place on baking tray, and bake at 275-300 F for approximately 20 minutes. Tomatoes should be slightly dehydrated.

Assembly

Take top off White Castle sliders and add Colby jack cheese.* Place into oven for approximately 8-10 minutes at 350 F until cheese is melted and burger is hot throughout. Spread bacon jam onto top bun, add fried pickles, oven-dried tomato, roasted hatch chilies, butter lettuce, and enjoy!

*You can choose to either cook patties per package instructions or use the above method to cook the sliders—this method requires slacking the product in the fridge to defrost. The internal temperature of the beef patty must reach 165F.

Created in partnership with White Castle