Serve a March Madness appetizer that your friends will cheer for. These Mini Basketball Cheeseburgers are served on a fried potato round and are topped with a slice of cheese that's decorated like a basketball.
When your friends gather together to watch the Final Four, serve them a fun March Madness appetizer like these cute basketball sliders. These fun little bite-sized cheeseburgers served on fried potato rounds are sure to get rave reviews.
Topped with a slice of cheese decorated to look like a basketball, these will be so much fun to serve during the final four games or at a basketball-themed party or event.
These basketball sliders are easy to make. Let's start by making the basketball cheese slices.
Make cheese basketballs.
- Cut 1-inch or 1 ½-inch circles out of your cheese slices using a round cookie cutter. The larger circles will completely cover your burgers while the smaller circles will allow the burger to show beneath the cheese.
- Dip a fine-tip paintbrush into a bowl filled with a few drops of black food coloring.
- Paint the black food coloring onto the cheese to look like basketballs.
- Let the food coloring dry.
Slice potatoes.
- Cut russet potatoes into ⅜″ thick slices using a Mandolin or a knife.
- Use a 2″ round cookie cutter, to cut rounds from each potato slice.
- Fill a mixing bowl with hot tap water.
- Place potato rounds in water and set aside for 10 minutes.
- Remove potato rounds from the water and set them on paper towels.
- Blot dry.
Oven fry potato slices.
- Dry out your mixing bowl.
- Combine the vegetable oil and ½ teaspoon salt in the mixing bowl.
- Line a heavy-duty baking sheet with non-stick aluminum foil. (You can also use a heavy-duty non-stick pan – my non-stick pans are too thin and they warp at high temperatures.)
- Pour 3 tablespoons of the oil onto the foil-lined pan.
- Use your hand to swirl the oil around to get an even coating all over the pan.
- Be sure the get the salt evenly distributed.
- Place potatoes in a mixing bowl and toss to coat evenly with the remaining tablespoon of oil.
- Lay potatoes in a single layer on the baking sheet.
- Sprinkle a pinch of salt over the potatoes.
- Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove foil and bake for 8 minutes.
- Rotate the pan 180 degrees and continue to bake for 8 minutes.
- Remove pan and flip potatoes over.
- Bake for 8-14 more minutes until golden brown.
- Remove from oven and place potato rounds on paper towels to remove excess oil.
Make burger meat with panade.
- Tear a slice of white bread into small pieces.
- Place in a mixing bowl.
- Pour in milk.
- Use a fork to smash the bread into a paste.
- Add ketchup, ½ teaspoon salt, and a pinch of black pepper.
- Stir to combine.
- Add ground chuck and stir just until combined.
Shape and cook sliders.
- Scoop out 22 portions of meat by the tablespoon. I used a 1 tablespoon – 18/8 ice cream scoop.
- Press a ball of hamburger meat into a 2″ round cookie cutter to form it into a nice circle.
- Heat one teaspoon of vegetable oil on a griddle pan, skillet, or grill pan until smoking.
- Cook burgers in two batches until well browned on both sides and cooked through.
- If serving these right away, set a piece of cheese on each burger after you flip it to cook the second side and allow the cheese to melt slightly.
Making your sliders ahead.
If you plan to prepare the burgers and potatoes hours before your party, you can reheat them just before serving. Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Place potatoes and burgers on a baking sheet and heat for 5 minutes.
Remove from oven and top burgers with a slice of cheese. Heat just until the cheese melts and the burger is heated through.
More March Madness Recipe Ideas
Recipe
Serve delicious cheeseburgers on a fried potato round then top each slider with a cheddar cheese basketball. These snacks are perfect for your March Madness party.
- 6 slices cheddar or American cheese
- black food coloring
- 3 russet Idaho potatoes
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ½ teaspoon table salt plus a pinch
- 1 slice of white bread crusts removed
- 1 ½ tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon ketchup or steak sauce
- ½ teaspoon salt
- pinch of black pepper
- 1 pound ground chuck
- 1-2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- lettuce
- 22 tomato slices
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Use either a 1 ½" or 1" round cookie cutter to cut 22 rounds from the cheese slices.
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Pour a few drops of black food coloring into a small bowl.
-
Dip a fine-tip paintbrush into the food coloring.
-
Paint seam lines onto each cheese slice creating basketballs.
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Move an oven rack to the lowest position.
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Preheat oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Wash potatoes.
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Cut, using a Mandolin or a knife, into ⅜" thick slices.
-
Use a 2" round cookie cutter, to cut rounds from each potato slice.
-
Fill a mixing bowl with hot tap water.
-
Place potato rounds in water and set aside for 10 minutes.
-
Remove potato rounds from the water and set them on paper towels.
-
Blot dry.
-
Dry out your mixing bowl.
-
Combine the vegetable oil and ½ teaspoon salt in the mixing bowl.
-
Line a heavy-duty baking sheet with non-stick aluminum foil. (You can also use a heavy-duty non-stick pan - my non-stick pans are too thin and they warp at high temperatures.)
-
Pour 3 tablespoons of the oil onto the foil-lined pan.
-
Use your hand to swirl the oil around to get an even coating all over the pan.
-
Be sure the get the salt evenly distributed.
-
Place potatoes in the mixing bowl and toss to coat evenly with the remaining tablespoon of oil.
-
Lay potatoes in a single layer on the baking sheet.
-
Sprinkle a pinch of salt over the potatoes.
-
Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil.
-
Bake for 10 minutes.
-
Remove foil and bake for 8 minutes.
-
Rotate the pan 180 degrees and continue to bake for 8 minutes.
-
Remove the pan and flip the potatoes over.
-
Bake for 8-14 more minutes until golden brown.
-
Remove from oven and place potato rounds on paper towels to remove excess oil.
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While potatoes are baking, make burgers:
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Tear a slice of white bread into small pieces.
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Place in a mixing bowl.
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Pour in milk.
-
Use a fork to smash the bread into a paste.
-
Add ketchup, ½ teaspoon salt, and a pinch of black pepper.
-
Stir to combine.
-
Add ground chuck and stir just until combined.
-
Scoop out 22 portions of meat by the tablespoonful. (I used a 1 tablespoon - 18/8 ice cream scoop.)
-
Press meat into a 2" round cookie cutter to form into a nice circle.
-
Heat one teaspoon of vegetable oil on a griddle pan, skillet, or grill pan until smoking.
-
Cook burgers in two batches until well browned on both sides.
-
If serving these right away, set a piece of cheese on each burger after you flip it to cook the second side and allow the cheese to melt slightly.
-
If you plan to prepare the burgers and potatoes hours before your party, you can reheat them just before serving. Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Place potatoes and burgers on a baking sheet and heat for 5 minutes.
-
Remove from oven and top burgers with a slice of cheese. Heat just until the cheese melts and the burger is heated through.
-
To assemble: set potato rounds on a serving platter and top with lettuce and tomato, if using. Then top with a cheeseburger. Serve immediately.
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