Um, what the heck is a hot brown? I don't even know what a hot brown is, so why would I want a mini one? These are a few of the questions I asked myself when I first found this recipe, and I am now fully prepared to answer them for you!

I've been trying to find recipes for my work week lunches that don't need to be microwaved, and sliders are my faaavorite form of sandwich. I found this recipe and thought these sliders may be just as good cold as they are warm, and oh em gee, I was so right. So keep scrolling and let's learn about the hot brown!

MINI HOT BROWNS

190 calories per slider

6 SP per slider

Oh hey, allow me to introduce you to the hot brown. The hot brown is a sandwich created by Chef Fred Schmidt of the Brown Hotel in Louisville, KY. It was created for hungry guests to eat after a dinner dance hosted by the hotel in the 1920's. So basically, it's drunk food. Delicious, creamy, meaty, carby, drunk food.

Now that you've learned what a hot brown is, let's talk about why you'd want a mini one. One word: calories. I've never had the privilege of having a real hot brown but I can imagine it's not the lowest calorie dish on the menu!

This recipe takes all the best ingredients of the classic hot brown and turns them into lower calorie, single serve, sliders. And they're un. be. lievable. I can't decide if they're better hot or cold! And the sauce sets up pretty well in the fridge so they're not too messy to have for lunch during the week!

Start by splitting 12 King's Hawaiian rolls and spreading a little mayonaisse on each piece. (wait did she just say MAYO?? It'll be okay, it's only a little.) Place on a foil lined baking sheet then broil for 1-2 minutes until they start to brown. They brown fast so keep an eye on them! A little extra crispiness is good for these sandwiches, though.

Eeee they look so good already!! Turn the oven down to 200 degrees.

Top each roll bottom with a little bit of turkey (I used about ¼ slice per roll), one piece of bacon cut in half, and a slice of tomato. Put the sandwiches back into the oven at 200 degrees to keep them warm while you prepare the Mornay sauce (the glue of this tasty treat!)

For the sauce, add 2 tablespoon of butter to a pot and allow it to melt over medium heat. Whisk in ⅛ C of flour and continue to mix for another minute. Slowly add in 1 ¼ C milk, ⅛ teaspoon paprika, and ¼ C grated parmesan cheese. Continue to whisk until sauce thickens, which will take about 5 minutes. Remove from heat then add in ⅛ cup shredded cheddar cheese.

Drizzle the sauce over each slider and serve warm. If you're going to eat them cold you can still assemble each sandwich and then refrigerate them. I ate these all week paired with zoodle pasta salad and it was a perfect lunch! I had two sliders, a serving of "pasta" salad, and a side of grapes for a full meal that had less than 600 calories! Way to set the lunch bar high, you little hot browns.