Air Fryer Loose Meat Sandwiches

Crumble ground beef into a small pan or baking dish that will fit into the air fryer.

Add garlic salt, onion flakes, and black pepper and mix well with your fingertips to combine.

Slice the sheet of rolls in half and set the top section aside—place bottoms of rolls into the air fryer basket on top of the aluminum foil.

Cook ground beef in the air fryer at 400°F for 5 minutes. Stir and continue cooking until ground beef has fully browned. (This took 10 minutes in my 1800 W air fryer.)

Remove the pan from the air fryer basket and drain any excess oil/liquid.

Keeping the Hawaiian rolls attached, measure to determine how many will fit into the basket of your air fryer at once. Tear off any rolls that won’t fit and use in a second batch or set aside for another use. (My air fryer basket held a neat square of 9 rolls.)

Line the basket of the air fryer with aluminum foil.

Slice the sheet of rolls in half and set the top section aside—place bottoms of rolls into the air fryer basket on top of the aluminum foil.

Cover the roll bottoms with about 1 cup of cheese. (You can also use cheese slices, but freshly grated cheese seems to melt faster.)

Pile ground beef mixture over the cheese and pat it into an even layer.

Sprinkle additional cheese over the ground beef, if desired.

Place the tops of the rolls over the prepared sliders.

Brush melted butter over the top of the sliders using a pastry brush. Don’t be afraid to use all of the butter. Extra that runs off the sides will be caught by the aluminum foil, helping the butter soak in and crisp up the rolls’ bottoms.

Sprinkle with sesame seeds, if desired.

Place the basket in the air fryer and cook for 4-5 minutes (at 400 degrees F, air fryer setting) or until the cheese has melted and the tops are browned, and the sliders are heated through. If needed, cover with aluminum foil at the end of the cooking time to prevent the tops from getting overly browned while the cheese is still melting.

Plate, serve, and enjoy!