These Barbecue Cuban Sliders are nothing like what I ate on a recent trip to Cuba. So, take the name “Cuban sliders” with a grain of salt. Traditional Cuban sandwiches do not have barbecue sauce, but the flavor of the spicy barbecue sauce puts them over the top.

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When I was in Cuba, we ate mostly black beans and rice, either separate or mixed together (called arroz congri). However, we did have ham and cheese (jamón y queso) sandwiches at one meal. I chose to have mine on a tortilla, rather than bread. Turns out tortilla in Cuba is more like an omelette than a wrap. Therefore, what I ate for lunch was more like a ham and cheese omelette than a ham and cheese sandwich!

Cuba Trip

I had the awesome opportunity to travel to Cuba as part of a Cuba-U.S. Agriculture Business Conference. We met with members of the Cuban Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cuban farmers!

In addition to the meetings, I also had about 1/2 day of time before my flight left. During this time, I visited the fort, ate at a historic restaurant and went to a baseball game! Here are a few photos from my trip.

For the Barbecue Cuban Sliders

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 13 x 9-inch baking pan with aluminum foil and spray very lightly with cooking spray.
Remove rolls from package without separating them and slice in half horizontally with a serrated knife (making one giant rectangular hamburger bun). Place bottom portion of rolls in the bottom of the pan.
Layer ham slices and cheese evenly over rolls. Pour barbecue sauce over the cheese and top each with a pickle slice. Then place the top portion of the rolls on top.
Pour melted butter over tops of rolls, coating each one. Sprinkle with garlic powder. Garnish with sesame seeds.
Cover rolls with tented foil (don’t let the foil touch the tops of the rolls) and bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for 10 more minutes.
Remove from oven and let rest 5 minutes. Remove rolls from pan and slice into single servings.