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If you love sourdough discard recipes that don’t require additional flour, then you’re going to be obsessed with these quick sourdough discard scallion pancakes served with a yummy dipping sauce!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe!
No Added Flour – You don’t need any extra flour for this recipe – just sourdough discard (or sourdough starter) which means it’s cheap and easy to pull together at the drop of a hat. If you love sourdough recipes that don’t need extra flour, then make sure you check out these sourdough crackers and this sourdough Dutch Baby pancake.
No Waste – This simple sourdough discard recipe utilises sourdough discard in a productive way to ensure nothing is wasted! You do need to make sure your sourdough starter is more than 7 days old before you start using the discard from it.
Minimal Ingredients for Maximum Flavor – Seriously, you won’t believe the magical savory flavors created by these sourdough discard scallion pancakes. With just a few ingredients, you are going to perform culinary magic!
Ingredients
- Sourdough Discard – you can use sourdough discard or active sourdough starter for this recipe. You do need to make sure that the discard you use isn’t too old or sour or it will make these scallion pancakes taste really unpleasant. You can read more about the difference between sourdough discard and sourdough starter here.
- Baking Powder
- Water
- Salt
- Scallions (finely sliced – also called green onions or spring onions)
- Oil – peanut oil and a little sesame oil works best for these. You’ll also need some peanut oil for the dipping sauce.
- Soy Sauce
- Rice Wine Vinegar
- Brown Sugar
- Red Pepper Flakes (chili flakes)
How To Make Quick Sourdough Discard Scallion Pancakes & Dipping Sauce
This sourdough discard version of scallion pancakes is not prepared exactly as traditional scallion pancakes would be. Traditional scallion pancakes are made from a laminated dough.
In this version, sourdough discard is mixed together with a little water, salt, baking powder and scallions (green onions or spring onions) to create crispy, savory pancakes that will make your mouth water!
Dipping Sauce
I recommend making the dipping sauce first so you can enjoy your sourdough scallion pancakes straight away.
In a small bowl, mix the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, brown sugar, red pepper flakes and peanut oil. Stir until well combined and set aside. You can leave the peanut oil out if you prefer.
Sourdough Scallion Pancakes
In a medium mixing bowl, place the sourdough discard, baking powder, water, salt and chopped scallions. Stir vigorously unti well combined. It will fizz and bubble as the baking powder dissolves.
Heat a non stick frying pan or cast iron skillet on high heat. When you’re ready to cook, add a little oil to the pan and then spoon out the mixture into pancakes. I make 6 good size pancakes from this mixture, but you would get 10 smaller sized pancakes.
Once the pancakes are bubbling, flip them over and cook on the other side. Remove cooked pancakes from the pan and repeat with remaining mixture.
Serve pancakes warm with dipping sauce.
How to Store + Freeze
I recommend eating these sourdough discard scallion pancakes straight away. They don’t really store that well, although they can sit in the fridge for up to 24 hours if you need to. Just warm them through before eating (either pop them in the oven for a little bit or back in the pan). They won’t be as good as when you first made them though.
I don’t recommend freezing this recipe at all. Although, you can use sourdough discard that has been frozen to make the batter.
Frequently Asked Questions
Scallion pancakes, also known as green onion pancakes or cong you bing in Mandarin, are a savory Chinese flatbread made from dough that is layered with chopped scallions (green onions) and pan-fried until crispy. Originating from Northern China, scallion pancakes have been a popular street food and snack for centuries, especially in regions such as Beijing and Tianjin.
They are enjoyed both as a standalone snack or as an accompaniment to other dishes, often served with dipping sauces such as soy sauce or vinegar. Scallion pancakes are cherished for their crispy exterior, tender layers, and the aromatic flavor of the scallions infused throughout the dough. Over time, they have become a beloved dish in Chinese cuisine and have gained popularity in other parts of the world as well.
You’re right, these aren’t like the traditional laminated dough pancakes, however, these are quick, easy and oh so tasty! I guarantee you’ll love them and make them over and over again!
Absolutely, you can add other chopped vegetables to the batter. I’ve just used scallions to keep things simple.
Quick Sourdough Discard Scallion Pancakes [with dipping sauce]
Equipment
- Frying Pan or Cast Iron Skillet
Ingredients
Sourdough Scallion Pancakes
- 200 g Sourdough Starter, (or sourdough discard)
- 5 g Baking Powder
- 50 g Water
- 5 g Salt
- 3 Scallions, (finely sliced – also called green onions or spring onions)
- 30 g Oil, (for frying – sesame oil, peanut oil etc)
Dipping Sauce
- 40 g Soy Sauce
- 10 g Rice Wine Vinegar
- 12 g Brown Sugar, (can reduce to taste)
- 1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes, (chili flakes)
- 5 g Toasted Sesame Oil, (or peanut oil)
Instructions
Dipping Sauce
- I recommend making the dipping sauce first so you can enjoy your sourdough scallion pancakes straight away.
- In a small bowl, mix the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, brown sugar, red pepper flakes and peanut oil. Stir until well combined and set aside.
Sourdough Scallion Pancakes
- In a medium mixing bowl, place the sourdough discard, baking powder, water, salt and chopped scallions. Stir vigorously unti well combined. It will fizz and bubble as the baking powder dissolves.
- Heat a non stick frying pan or cast iron skillet on high heat. When you're ready to cook, add a little oil to the pan and then spoon out the mixture into pancakes. I make 6 good size pancakes from this mixture, but you would get 10 smaller sized pancakes.
- Once the pancakes are bubbling, flip them over and cook on the other side. Remove cooked pancakes from the pan and repeat with remaining mixture.
- Serve pancakes warm with dipping sauce.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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These are TO DIE for! I needed to use up some discard, so I tried these this afternoon. I didn’t have peanut oil on hand, so I used toasted sesame oil in the dipping sauce, and a mixture of vegetable and regular sesame oil to fry. I ate them all by myself!
I loved how this used up a lot of starter. It was very easy and used ingredients I already have. Objectively it tasted good. But as a Chinese-American who enjoys traditional scallion pancakes these were so weird to me. 😆
These were easy to make, and really tasty. A lovely savoury recipe that I’ll make again.
Holy cow, these were good! I tested the recipe just for myself, and it was gone really quickly, and I want more. I used onion greens from an onion that sprouted, rather than scallions. Easily the best scallion pancakes I’ve ever had! My sourdough (discard) is all wholegrain rye.
Amazing.
Made this with very old and thick starter. Added yellow onion and garlic powder because I didn’t have scallions. Didn’t even do the dipping sauce! Ate with an Indian curry. Everyone loved them!
These were amazing, my husband and I both loved the tang. I have two separate starters that I collect discard from, one is 100% whole wheat and the other is 100% sprouted whole wheat. When I collect the discard I combine both into a container in the fridge, so I used this combination to make these. I used very little oil but found that they absorbed a lot of oil. The next time I make them I’ll make sure to cook them on high heat, maybe this will help with the oil absorption. I did place them on papertowel afterwards to soak up some of the oil. But overall, this was probably my fault and not the recipe, so I am giving them a 5. Super tasty, will definitely make again and again.
Thank you, Bettina. We appreciate the detailed review. 🙂
These were amazing!! I had quite a bit of discard in a jar, and was very happy to use some to make these delicious pancakes. I couldn’t even wait for the dip … I ate one straight out of the pan! Very yummy … thank you for sharing.