Chipotle Ranch Sliders

It was a great honour to be chosen this year as one of Canada's top online influencers to participate in the Hidden Valley Ranch^TM Ranchify Recipe Challenge.  This was the perfect excuse to get into the kitchen to do a bit of experimenting with the goal of creating a recipe to enter in the contest.  This year's contest will be judged by Chef Ned Bell, of the Four Seasons YEW Restaurant in Vancouver, British Columbia.

I honestly had a lot of fun experimenting with the Hidden Valley Ranch^TM dressings included in my contest kit.  It was really difficult to choose a favourite between the Original, Spicy and Cheese-flavored ranch dressings.  Quite frankly they are all delicious!

Pictured are the Bacon Ranch Sliders submitted for my contest recipe.  These little gems are delicious, packed full of flavour with just the right amount of heat.  They are kicked up a notch from my contest creation stage recipe for bacon ranch sliders.  These mini burgers were a lot of fun to create.  They were declared a winner by my husband.  The Bacon Ranch Sliders are easy to make so I hope your family enjoys them as much as I enjoyed creating them!

Chipotle Ranch Sliders
recipe by:  Garden Gnome, June 2013

For this recipe you will need the following: mini burger buns with sesame seed tops, grilled mini patties, chipotle ranch sauce, fresh salsa, and leaf lettuce.

burger patties
1 lb lean ground beef
3 tbsp cooked crumbled bacon pieces
¼ c Hidden Valley Ranch^TM spicy dressing
 ½ tsp garlic pepper
8 small squares Asiago cheese

Cook the bacon pieces and drain.  Mix all of the ingredients together.  Divide into 8 equal sized portions.  Form into large meatballs then flatten to form patties.  Place the patties into mini burger grilling rack.  Grill on medium high cooked through, turning once.  Remove top of mini burger grilling rack.  Place a slice of cheese on each burger patty.  Continue grill just until cheese melts.

chipotle ranch sauce
½ c Hidden Valley Ranch^TM spicy dressing
½ chipolte pepper in adobo sauce
1 tsp chopped red onions
½ tsp chopped garlic
¼ tsp cumin
½ tsp fresh lime juice
½ tsp dried oregano leaves

Place all ingredients except oregano leavesinto blender.  Blend until well mixed.  Transfer the sauce to a small container with lid.  Stir in oregano leaves.

fresh tomato salsa
3 tbsp tomato, seeded and chopped
2 tbsp finely chopped red onions
2 tbsp chopped yellow pepper
1 tsp fresh parsley, chopped
2 tsp fresh lime juice

Mix together.

Assembly of Chipotle Ranch Sliders
Toast the buns until golden brown.  Place a circle of leaf lettuce on the bottom half of the bun.  Place a cheese topped mini burger patty on top.  Spoon about a teaspoon of Chipotle ranch dressing over the patty then top with fresh tomato salsa.  Place the top half of the bun on the burger.