This post is sponsored by Johnsonville Sausage. Thank you for supporting the brands that support this blog!

Tailgating football games is one of our family's favorite fall activities! I’m lucky enough that one of my best friends goes to University of South Carolina so we get to go down and visit for games! There’s nothing better than the game day atmosphere of all the fans, rivalries and my favorite part, the food! Ben’s go-to tailgating dish for USC tailgates are Southern Sausage Sliders. They’ve become a huge hit with our friends and I’m excited to share the recipe with you guys!

We even decided to enter our recipe into Johnsonville’s Tailgate Throwdown Contest! They’re asking SEC fans to submit their own sausage tailgate recipe for a chance to win a championship game tickets! You have from now until November 5th to enter and this end with end with a Tailgate Throwdown at the SEC Championship game in Atlanta where one recipe will be crowned.

Interested in entering? You can enter your original tailgating recipe for a chance to win by visiting www.TailgateThrowdownContest.com. All you need is the name of your recipe, its ingredients, cooking instructions and a photo of the finished dish. There will be two groups of winners: one Ultimate Fan Favorite and two Finalists. The Ultimate Fan Favorite recipe entry will be determined by a public vote, conducted on www.TailgateThrowdownContest.com between the dates of Nov. 6-15 so tell your friends and family! The Ultimate Fan Favorite will be awarded Johnsonville Sausage for one year (via 12 coupons) and a Sizzling Sausage Grill!

Additionally, a panel of Johnsonville members (employees) will be reviewing the contest entries and help choose the two Finalists based on quality, originality, adherence to tailgating theme and visual representation. Johnsonville will notify the two Finalists the week of Nov. 18, in time for them to prepare a trip to the SEC Championship weekend in Atlanta, how exciting!!

The morning of the 2019 SEC Championship Game, the Finalists will receive the glory of showing off their tailgating masterpiece at a live Throwdown event with the Johnsonville Big Taste Grill, in addition to: two tickets to the 2019 SEC Championship Game, a two-night double occupancy hotel room in market, and a $1,000 gift card for travel, expenses onsite and potential taxes associated with the prize.

In the meantime I want to share our creation with you guys! For this recipe you’ll need sausage (Johnsonville), onions, peppers, cheese, marinara sauce, Hawaiian rolls, butter and some seasonings. They take less than 30 minutes to make, so this recipe is a quick and easy one for a game day party or tailgate!

Southern Sausage Sliders Recipe

Ingredients:

1 lb. bulk Italian sausage (sweet or hot)
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup red and green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup marinara sauce
1 - 12 ct. package of Hawaiian rolls
10 slices provolone cheese
1 TBSP grated Parmesan Cheese
5 TBSP butter (salted), melted
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp. dried parsley

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Preheat a large skillet on medium heat and grease with oil. Add sausage and break it up as it cooks. Once sausage is thoroughly cooked, set aside in a separate bowl.
In same skillet, add onion and pepper. Cook until onion is translucent and peppers are also soft. Take off heat and then add the sausage back in the pan. Toss in marinara sauce and combine.
Open your package of Hawaiian rolls and split them in half so there is a top and a bottom, without pulling each roll apart. Place the bottom half of the rolls in a 9 x 13 pan.
Place 5 slices of provolone cheese on the bottom half of the rolls.
Spread sausage and peppers mixture evenly on top of provolone cheese.
Place another 5 slices of provolone cheese on the sausage and peppers. Top with top half of rolls.
In a small bowl, combine the melted butter, garlic, and dried parsley. Brush over the tops of the rolls before covering pan tightly with foil.
Cook in oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until sliders are heated through/cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

Southern Sausage Sliders Recipe (& Contest!)