Sourdough Discard Hamburger Buns Recipe
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These quick sourdough discard hamburger buns are perfect for grilling season. Make these speedy sourdough discard hamburger buns in around 2.5 hours - and use your sourdough discard. Winning right? They are soft and tender with a rich, buttery crumb yet will wow you with their golden brown, glossy sheen. Honestly, you'll never want (or need) to buy store-bought buns again!
Just like this sourdough discard sandwich bread and these sourdough English muffins, these sourdough discard hamburger buns are perfect to make while you are making a sourdough starter, just like this list of 100+ sourdough discard recipes!
Why You'll Love This Recipe!
Fast Rise Time - These soft buns utilise a small amount of commercial yeast, along with your unfed sourdough starter, to make them rise. This gives you a delicious flavor, without having to wait. If you'd prefer to use active starter, check out these sourdough burger buns.
Perfect for Grilling Season - You can use these sourdough discard burger buns during grilling season, for burger night, breakfast or lunch sandwiches - and the best thing is you can make them whatever size you like. Why not serve them with these sourdough onion rings, sourdough hot dog buns or sourdough pigs in blankets?
Make Ahead, Bake When You're Ready - If you want to make these buns earlier than you need them, you can put them in the fridge after shaping. They can stay there for up to 24 hours. Just bring them to room temp before you bake them. Because they have commercial yeast, they will complete the second rise in the fridge.
Ingredients
- Milk - I've used whole milk, but you can use 2%. I recommend warm milk if you can as it will speed up the rising process.
- Sourdough Starter Discard - You'll use 100g of sourdough discard in this sourdough hamburger bun recipe.
- Bread Flour - I've written this recipe with bread flour and it works perfectly. If you want to use all purpose flour, I recommend reducing the milk by around 20g.
- Sugar - just a little granulated sugar to create a slight sweetness to the dough and soften the crumb. You can leave it out if you prefer, but trust me on this, it's much better if you leave it in!
- Egg - I've used 2 egg yolks to create an enriched dough. I've then used the egg white to create an egg wash before baking. No waste here!
- Butter - softened but not melted, salted butter is best, but you can of course use unsalted if you prefer.
- Instant Yeast - we are using instant yeast here because we are using sourdough discard, which doesn't have the leavening power that active sourdough starter does (plus we are wanting a quick rise here).
- Salt
- Sesame Seeds - these are completely optional, I've use black sesame seeds for something a little different!
How To Make Sourdough Discard Hamburger Buns
Start by combining warm milk, yeast, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer, stirring gently until dissolved. Add the flour, sourdough discard, egg yolks, butter, and salt, and bring everything together into a shaggy dough (a silicone spatula can help scrape down the sides). Fit your stand mixer with a dough hook and knead for 6–8 minutes, until the dough is silky, smooth, and comes away cleanly from the sides of the bowl with no stickiness. Using a stand mixer is both fast and convenient here, as it efficiently works the butter and eggs into the dough (but as always, you can easily knead the dough by hand if you prefer).
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a bag and let the dough rise for about an hour, or until doubled in size. The exact time will depend on the temperature in your kitchen. Once risen, transfer the dough to your counter for shaping. For accuracy, weigh your dough on a kitchen scale and divide it evenly by the number of buns you’d like. For larger burger buns, divide into 8 pieces of approximately 137g each. For smaller buns, divide into 12 pieces of about 90g each. The enriched dough is smooth and easy to handle, making shaping simple—just pull the edges into the center to create a rounded top, then roll on the counter to form a bun.
Place the shaped buns on a parchment-lined baking tray, cover, and let them rise for around 30 minutes until plump and round. Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F). Brush each bun with egg white and sprinkle with sesame seeds, black sesame seeds, Everything Bagel Seasoning, or leave plain—it’s completely up to you. Bake for about 22 minutes, keeping a close eye on them as they brown quickly. The buns are ready when they’re golden, glossy, and sound hollow when tapped underneath. Cool on a wire rack before serving.
If you’d like to make them ahead, you can refrigerate the shaped buns for up to 24 hours before baking; just bring them to room temperature to complete their second rise. Soft, buttery, and slightly sweet, they toast beautifully—split and lightly char the insides for the perfect brioche-style burger bun. We love eating them with this simple tomato chutney.
How To Store + Freeze
Store At Room Temperature - These sourdough discard hamburger buns will last for 2 days at room temperature. Store in a plastic ziplock bag or airtight container. Warm slightly in the microwave to freshen them up.
Freeze - These buttery hamburger buns are super fast to make fresh, however sometimes you may have a few leftover. Or perhaps you like having a stash in the freezer for easy weeknight dinners. These sourdough buns can be frozen. Simply place them in a Ziploc bag and freeze (there's always a bag in my freezer).
Thaw at room temperature. You can microwave them for a few seconds to soften them up or simply split them and toast the insides before adding your favorite burger fillings.
You'll find more information on how to freeze sourdough bread here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Since this recipe uses discard, the flavor is mild. You’ll get a hint of tang, but the enriched dough (with butter, milk, and eggs) makes them soft, fluffy, and slightly sweet — more like brioche.
No — you can knead by hand if you prefer. It will take a little longer (around 10–12 minutes), but the dough is smooth and enriched, so it’s easy to handle.
The dough should be silky, elastic, and come away cleanly from the sides of the bowl. It shouldn’t feel sticky.
No you don't have to. If you have a mature sourdough starter and you're confident in your discard, you can skip the yeast, or just use active starter.
Sourdough Discard Hamburger Buns Recipe
Video
Equipment
- Stand Mixer
- Digital Scale
- Baking Tray
Ingredients
- 250 g Milk (warm)
- 100 g Sourdough Starter Discard (unfed sourdough starter)
- 500 g Bread Flour
- 50 g Sugar
- 2 Egg Yolks
- 100 g Butter (softened but not melted)
- 7 g Instant Yeast
- 10 g Salt
- 1 Egg White (for egg wash)
- 30 g Sesame Seeds (optional)
Instructions
- Combine the warm milk, yeast and sugar together in a stand mixer bowl and gently incorporate so that the yeast and sugar are dissolved in the milk.
- Add the flour, sourdough discard, egg yolks, butter and salt to the bowl and bring together to form a shaggy dough. You may need a silicon spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Use a dough hook and/or knead function for this step.Knead the dough for 6 to 8 minutes using a stand mixer (see notes for hand kneading below).The dough will be silky and completely come away from the sides of the bowl when it's done. There should be no stickiness at all.
- Cover the bowl with a plastic bag or wrap and set aside for around an hour to rise. The time it takes depends on the temperature in your home.
- Once the dough has doubled, transfer it to your kitchen counter for shaping. If you are able to, weigh your dough. Divide the weight of the dough by the number of buns you want. Then you'll know how big to make each bun.I make 8 from this recipe and each bun is around 137g. For smaller buns, divide into 12 pieces of approx. 90g each.
- Divide the dough into 8 perfectly even pieces (weighing them for accuracy).
- Shape each piece into a bun. Pull the edges into the centre to form a rounded top and then place each piece on the counter and roll to shape (like you'd shape a boule).
- Place your buns on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and cover with a plastic bag or wrap. Set aside to rise for around 30 minutes. They will be plump and round when they're ready to bake.
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.
- Brush each bun with egg white and sprinkle with sesame seeds (optional).
- Bake for around 22 minutes or until glossy and hollow when you tap the base. They burn very easily so keep an eye on them.
- Cool on a wire rack.
Notes
Nutrition
Amazing recipe.
The hype is real! Thank you so much for a fantastic recipe. I've tried several hamburger bun recipes in the past and they were all just slightly off in one way or another.
I made these buns yesterday for homemade smash burgers and they were perfect. The dough was soft and pillowy as promised and very nice to work with. The texture of the rolls is light and buttery while standing up to the burger at the same time.
I also love having a new use for my sourdough discard. I'm going to make these again today as dinner rolls by halving the recipe and reducing the size of the rolls to about 70 grams.
Thank you, again. My family and I will be enjoying these many more times in the future.
What if you don’t have yeast in the house? How would you change this recipe up?
If you don't want to use the instant yeast, just use the same amount of active starter as discard in the recipe and allow it to bulk ferment for a lot longer 🙂
I made these sandwich rolls tonight. They were perfect, soft and delicious. It's great that the recipe is so fast.
Can I use All Purpose flour instead of Bread flour?
I am prepping to what sounds like amazing buns! Does it matter what kind of milk I use? Whole? 2%? 1%? Thank you
I don't usually review or leave comments for recipes, but oh my goodness! These were fantastic! I had very little time available to make anything on a weekday but I forgot to get buns for pulled pork sandwiches when I went to the grocery store. I decided to do a quick search for discard burger buns and I landed here. After mixing the ingredients together I had to leave for about 2 hours. I left the dough in the mixing bowl inside my cool oven. My house is usually on the cooler side. I figured they would be ok to leave. I got home to a dough that had doubled perfectly! I divided it and shaped the buns and allowed to rise again for 30 minutes. I did not use the egg wash or sesame seeds because my family does not like either. The buns baked for about 25 minutes and came out pillowy soft! My daughter said they were like eating clouds! My husband said we will no longer be buying buns from the store! Next time I will make them smaller. I made 8 but I think 12 would be perfect for us. Thanks for the fabulous and easy recipe!
Best, softest sourdough recipe I’ve ever made. I need to know how to make this into a loaf of bread. SO GOOD!!!
These were great and so easy. I ended up with 9 buns at about 4 oz each and they were really big. Next time ill go a little smaller. I sprinkled some bagel seasoning on top. Planning to use them for chopped brisket sandwiches! Thanks so much for the recipe!!
I always make a brioche hamburger buns that my family loves. Today I warned them I was trying a new recipe. They looooved them! This is our new hamburger bun. Thanks!
Hi,
Can use unbleached flour instead of bread flour?
Thank you!
I have never made hamburger buns before, I'm not much of a cook, let alone a baker. I just recently started learning about sourdough. From a very beginner, beginner, I can tell you these were super easy to make.
I do not have a fancy stand mixer and just kneaded the dough by hand for 7 minutes. The dough came together beautifully and I finally made something that looks like all the pictures I see, smooth, fluffy dough.
I halved the recipe and still got 5 pieces of dough that weighed about 105 grams each. They baked for the full 22 minutes, in a gas oven, and were just the perfect shade of golden brown.
We used them right away when still warm and they held up beautifully to the burger and fixings, crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. My partner reports they were the best hamburger buns he has ever eaten.
10 out of 5 stars!
I'm a sourdough newbie and tried these today- so good!! My kids and husband loved them, so mission accomplished. Can't wait to try your other recipes!
I can’t wait to try these! Should it work with active dry yeast the same as the instant yeast? I’ve never used dry yeast before.
Yes it will still work 🙂
Do you think you could use some pineapple juice in place of milk to create a Hawaiian roll? I love this recipe and make a big batch for my family every two weeks and freeze them. I want to make Hawaiian rolls for a BBQ this weekend and I am very loyal to this recipe. It seems like Hawaiian rolls recipes call for pineapple juice.....your thoughts?
You can use pineapple juice, yes or you can use this sourdough Hawaiian rolls recipe instead 🙂
This is the first time I’ve had an issue with a recipe of yours. Sticky dough. 15 minutes in the stand mixer and still sticky to touch it. I don’t know if the 65% humidity inside and 93% outside is a factor but I had to add more bread flour to get it right. I hope they turn out or I’ll be going to the store for buns🤷♀️🤦♀️
Good but mine came out really dense and tasting like a pretzel. Idk if they will be good for our burgers tonight sadly.
Can you replace the yeast with baking soda (using the discard)?
No, baking soda doesn't do the same thing as yeast x
Absolutely love this recipe! I have a question, can I shape them into a long roll for a hotdog bun instead? Thanks!
I do it all the time. I usually make 4 hamburger buns and 5 or 6 hot dog buns.
Fantastic recipe! I never have a ton of luck with bread recipes off of Pinterest, but this one is a keeper! Thank u! The only substitution I did was use a milk wash instead of egg whites. They turned out perfect
I've made the AWESOME hamburger buns a couple times. I love them, but a few people have said they're kind of dense/heavy. I know it's because they're sourdough, but is there a way to make them softer/lighter?
Thanks!
They definitely shouldn't be dense or heavy. If fermented correctly, sourdough shouldn't be dense, especially because these use yeast as well. I would extend the fermentation of these and make sure they are VERY puffy and soft before you bake them 🙂
Would you think overnight is plenty of rise time when not using yeast but active starter? Any concerns with egg/milk in the dough over night?
Yes that would be plenty of time. No concerns with leaving eggs/milk out, the sourdough starter takes care of that - as long as it's not too warm 🙂
Very nice recipe for using up some sourdough discard, and the added yeast makes the timing of last minute burgers easy to achieve. Very easy recipe overall, don’t be put off if you don’t have a stand mixer, just 5-7 minutes of hand kneading was enough to incorporate everything smoothly. Great taste and consistency to the dough, whilst retaining enough integrity to not full apart as a burger. Definitely will be making this one again!
My go to recipe! Buns come out perfect every time! They are a family favourite! I’m so happy I came across The Panty Mama’s recipes!
You know it’s good when your kids ask you to only make this recipe forever and ever. They were soft and delicious. Big enough for our Costco burgers and strong enough to hold condiments. Recommend!
Hi, 1st time I made this it came out great. Made it twice since than and it rises but the dough is just so sticky to work with and hard to knead I am going to by a stand mixer
These are so beautiful - soft and just perfect! They are super easy to make. I kneaded by hand and the dough was great to work with. I made 8 large buns and put 4 in the freezer for later. I think they will become a staple in our house.
I made the hamburger buns - they are so good. Will definitely be my go to recipe. Nice and easy to make!!
Will be trying more of your recipes!!
These are always a hit!
I made a bunch and froze them for next time.
Looks delicious. Can I skip the egg yolks?
These are incredible!!! I’d been using a different bun recipe but decided to try a sourdough one and omg I think I’ll have to make these from now on!