Put together the meatballs: Mix hen, crumbs, milk, garlic, half the scallions, the paprika, salt, pepper, and egg in a big bowl with a fork, mixing till simply mixed. Switch bowl to fridge when you put together the slaw.

Make the slaw: Whisk buttermilk, mayo, cider vinegar, sugar, and remaining half of scallions from the meatballs in a big bowl and add cabbage, tossing to evenly coat it. Season to style with salt and pepper.

[Here is where, if you’re unhinged enough to make your own barbecue sauce, you can do so using the quickie recipe at the end. But there is truly no need to do this to make a great meatball slider, promise.]

Toast your buns: In a big frying pan, the identical one the place you’ll cook dinner your meatballs, soften a tablespoon of butter over medium warmth. Place your buns, cut-side down, within the pan. Prepare dinner till lower sides are golden-brown, about 1 to 2 minutes. Switch to plate or platter the place you’ll assemble your sliders.

Prepare dinner the smashed meatballs: Take away hen meatball combination from fridge and, utilizing moist fingers for a smoother form, roll into the dimensions and variety of meatballs you’ll need — that is decided by the dimensions of your buns. Make sure to roll the meatballs smaller than the bun in order that they are going to fill it out as soon as smashed.

Warmth your massive frying pan over excessive warmth for a minute, then coat with about 2 tablespoons oil. Place your first few meatballs within the pan and allow them to sear for 30 seconds to 1 minute earlier than utilizing a heavy spatula to flatten them till they’re about 1/2-inch-thick. Season meatballs with an additional dusting of salt and pepper. Prepare dinner till they’re crisp and deeply browned beneath, about 3 to 4 minutes — scale back the warmth to medium-high in the event that they’re cooking a lot quicker — and flip every, cooking on the second aspect till additionally it is browned beneath, one other 2 to three minutes. Switch meatballs to ready buns and repeat with remaining meat.

To complete: Spoon barbecue sauce onto every meatball, prime with a number of sliced of pickle, and a small heap of slaw, and eat straight away.

Quickie Barbecue Sauce: Mix 1/3 cup ketchup, 3 tablespoons every molasses and apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, and 1 teaspoon chili powder or smoked paprika (or half of every) in a skillet and convey to a simmer, stirring, over medium-high warmth. Scale back warmth to medium and proceed to cook dinner, stirring, for two to three minutes. Season to style with salt and freshly floor black pepper. Pour right into a bowl for serving; wipe out pan and proceed to make use of it to toast the buns and cook dinner the meatballs.