Chicken Bacon Ranch Sliders

Three years sober was March 8th. I've been mentioning it in the wrong week for a while and I want to set it down correctly: it was a Tuesday, and I drove to the river the same way I do on January 1st, and the ice was mostly out of the Yellowstone by then and the water was high and running green with snowmelt. Three years. I stood there for twenty minutes and let the number settle and then went home and made breakfast. There was no ceremony beyond that and it didn't need one.

What three years looks like: fourteen farrier accounts, a therapeutic certification, twenty-two essays posted on RecipeSpinoff, a visit to Salina to stand at Derek's grave, a recurring correspondence with his mother, two relationships that taught me something about what I can't yet do, a father with Parkinson's who still gets up at six and argues with the weather, and a mother with a kitchen full of seedlings growing toward a summer that the world is going to need. That's the three years. That's what sobriety built.

Dad asked me something this week that surprised me. We were in the shop after supper and he asked if I thought I'd want the ranch. Not in a morbid way — in the way of a man making plans, accounting for the future with his usual pragmatism. I said yes. He nodded and said we'd talk about it when he felt like it. I said that was fine. It is. I've been waiting for that conversation since I was twenty and I can wait longer.

Made pork shoulder this week — rubbed the night before with garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper, slow-roasted at three hundred degrees for six hours. It pulled apart with two forks and we ate it as tacos with pickled jalapeños and thinly sliced cabbage and crema. Dad had three. I ate my share and then a little more of his. Nobody mentioned it.

I made pork shoulder that night, but the spirit of the meal was the same as it always is when something real has just happened: feed the people at the table, don’t make it precious, let seconds be the whole conversation. These chicken bacon ranch sliders carry that same logic—they’re built for a counter or a kitchen table where someone has had a long week and needs something that just works. Dad would have three. I’d eat my share and a little more of his. Nobody would mention it.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 12 sliders

Ingredients

12 slider buns (Hawaiian rolls work well)
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
6 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 packet (1 oz) ranch seasoning mix
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup ranch dressing, plus more for serving
6 slices provolone or cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

Cook the chicken. Place chicken in a baking dish or slow cooker. Season with ranch seasoning mix, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Add chicken broth. Bake at 375°F for 22–25 minutes (or slow cook on low for 4–5 hours) until cooked through and easy to shred.
Shred and combine. Remove chicken and shred with two forks. Return to the pan juices, add ranch dressing, and toss to coat. Fold in crumbled bacon. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Assemble the sliders. Preheat oven to 350°F. Slice the slider buns in half horizontally and place the bottom halves in a greased 9x13 baking dish. Pile the chicken mixture evenly over the buns. Lay cheese slices over the chicken.
Top and bake. Place the top buns over the cheese. Mix melted butter with parsley (if using) and brush evenly over the tops. Cover with foil and bake for 10 minutes. Uncover and bake another 5 minutes until the tops are golden and the cheese is melted.
Serve. Slice apart and serve warm with extra ranch dressing on the side.

Nutrition (per serving)

Chicken Bacon Ranch Sliders — The Kind of Meal That Doesn’t Need a Ceremony