If you want same day burgers with incredible, soft burger buns, I got you. These buns are made using sourdough discard and use active yeast as our leaven. This yields a bun that is sweet, tangy and perfect for your next BBQ.
My favorite food in the entire world (and has been since I was a child) is burgers. While I was battling migraines, hormone imbalances and acne, I stayed away from ALL GLUTEN which meant lettuce wrapped burgers. PSA, it just isn’t the same. After years of figuring out what was going on inside my body, I decided to try out sourdough. And I never went back.
Now, even though these burgers are not going thru an overnight fermentation, you are still getting the benefits of using the discard AND the longer you can let the dough sit in the day, the better it is for you! But seriously, health benefits aside, these are delicious. My father even told me “These are the best burger buns I have ever tasted”.
Why Sourdough Discard?
I was gluten free for years after experiencing migraines and headaches anytime I touched gluten. A friend told me that they found they were able to enjoy ALL glutenous goodness as long as it was made with a fermented sourdough starter. This intrigued me because GF bread was just not doing it for me.
Within 24 hours, I got myself a sourdough starter and began to figure this out. Within a week of eating sourdough fermented breads, I boasted of zero migraines/headaches AND even saw my skin clearing up.
Fast forward to now, I bake all our own bread by use of an active sourdough starter or with the discard. Either way, my body (and my family’s body!) loves it!
This recipe does just use a sourdough discard and is not an overnight fermentation option, which really is the best for your gut, but that doesn’t mean sourdough discard is without its own goodness.
Here are some sourdough discard facts for you:
- Sourdough discard goods are easier to digest: It contains a natural bacteria and variety of probiotics which promote a healthy gut and overall, a better digestive system. Basically, very gentle on your gut!
- Blood sugar friendly: Sourdough discard works against and balances any bad starches and ingredients that can cause your blood sugar levels to rise and spike.
- Full of good acid: The acid in sourdough breads and sourdough discards can help your body process foods easier and absorb more minerals, yielding a stronger immune system and better health.
- Fibrous: Sourdough discard is loaded with fibre to help you feel fuller for longer and lower cholesterol.
- The flavour: Sourdough has a tang and flavour like no other bread or baked good. It is hearty, satisfying and extremely delicious, whether it is fermented or made with sourdough discard.
- Vitamins and minerals: From iron to zinc to vitamin B, sourdough discard contains a variety of essential vitamins and minerals!
Quick Sourdough Burger Buns Ingredients
- Water: I use a filtered, lukewarm water which will help our leaven develop quickly.
- Active Yeast: This is our leaven. It works very fast, making this a same day sourdough recipe.
- Sourdough Discard: If you have a bubbly starter, that will also work too! My discard is typically room temperature.
- Coconut Oil: This ingredient will help to soften the bread and give it a good chew.
- Egg: We get our eggs from our local farm. This does not need to be at room temperature either, straight from the fridge is fine.
- Flour: The flour I use is sourced from an organic mill in my area, but any all purpose flour will do!
- Sugar: I use an organic cane sugar for this burger bun recipe. It adds a complimentary sweetness to the tang of the discard.
- Salt: I always use sea salt for the best flavour and health benefits!
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If you are wanting a longer ferment for these buns, make them the night before you plan on eating them and replace to sourdough discard and yeast with 140g of bubble active starter!
How To Make Quick Sourdough Burger Buns From Scratch
If I am planning on eating these for dinner, I will make these buns anywhere between 8:00am to 1:30pm if dinner is going to be at 5:30pm. That gives them enough chance to knead, rise, shape, final rise and bake.
The dough can be mixed by use of a bread machine or a stand mixer using a dough hook attachment. I prefer my bread machine since it kneads and rises my dough while I can get other things done around the home!
Baker’s Timeline:
Because this is a quick, discard recipe, it can be made same day! All the same, here is a bit of a timeline to help you out and give you an idea of what this may look like in a given day! You can easily tighten up the time on this baking schedule by reducing the amount of time you have it sitting from morning to afternoon BUT I like for my sourdough starter to have little bit of time to further flavour in the bread. This is not necessary though!
STEP 1: MAKE THE DOUGH
Combine your wet and dry ingredients using either a bread machine or a stand mixer. If using a stand mixer, after the dough is combined, over and let rest for at least 2 hours. The dough while develop in flavour and texture during this time.
STEP 2: SHAPE & RISE
Remove your dough from the bowl onto a non floured surface and divide into 8-10 pieces. Gently shape each piece into a ball, trying your best to not remove bubbles and air that has formed. Place each dough ball onto a greased or parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Cover and let this rest about 20 minutes or until noticeably puffier.
STEP 3: BAKE
Before baking, brush each bun top with some melted butter to help with colour and even baking. Bake for upwards of 16 minutes or until you have reached a honey brown colour. Remove from the oven and allow the burger buns to cool about 20 minutes at least before cutting and serving.
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How To Store
Keep your burger buns in an airtight container or bread bag at room temperature for 3 days or in the refrigerator for 7 days. Reheat in the microwave or toaster oven to enjoy again.
If you enjoyed this recipe, be sure to share and tag me @sarahthereseco on Instagram and come back here to rate and leave a comment!
Quick Sourdough Burger Buns
Equipment
- bread machine or stand mixer
Ingredients
- 200 Grams Lukewarm Water
- 2 Teaspoons Yeast
- 100 Grams Bubbly Sourdough Starter Or Discard
- 1½ Tablespoons Melted Coconut Oil cooled
- 1 Egg
- 450 Grams Flour
- ¼ Cup Sugar
- 1½ Teaspoons Sea Salt
Instructions
- Between 8:00AM-1:30pm, in your bread machine or stand mixer with dough hook attachment, add in your lukewarm water and yeast. Let this sit for 3-5 minutes before adding in the rest of your ingredients in order. This is our poolish and will help our bread rise quicker since we are doing a same day sourdough buns.
- Once all your ingredients are together, turn on your machine to knead and mix your dough. It should be quite elastic and smooth. My bread machine is my go to for this and it kneads my dough for about 15 minutes and then lets it rise for at least an hour. I keep my dough in the machine until it is ready to be shaped into buns. If you are using the stand mixer, let it knead the dough until it becomes one smooth elastic ball, cover the bowl with a wet towel and let it sit at room temperature until ready to form the buns and let them rise.
- When you are about 2 hours away from eating, remove the dough onto a clean, non floured surface and divide the dough into 8-10 pieces, depending on the size of bun your would like. Prepare a thick pan or sheet with parchment paper. I like actually layering 2 cookie sheets to ensure the bottom of my buns do not get too well done or hard.
- Shape your dough into round balls and then place them onto your sheet. Take your palm and REALLY press down the dough so it becomes like a pita shape: round and more thin. These buns really puff up, so don’t be afraid to really squish them down. Repeat to all your dough pieces, and place unconverted in a warm area to rise. This can take anywhere from 30-60 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- When ready to bake, brush the top of your buns with a little melted butter (optional) and bake in the oven for 14-16 minutes. Remove them when golden brown and, once more while they are still warm, brush more butter on top to give them a satiny texture and cover with a tea towel to encourage further softness.
- Let cool about 10-30 minutes before eating! Serve with any burger patty or sandwich meats!
- They keep 7 days in the fridge and reheat beautifully in the toaster or microwave.
Wow these buns were amazing!!! I’ve been making sourdough for a few years but never could find a burger bun recipe I liked. Sourdough or yeast. These were perfect, soft and big enough!
Thanks SO much Hannah! I am thrilled you like them!
I have, and if I make them early in the morning and give them a good rise time, they are still soft and puffy with half yeast and active starter! If I am doing it this way, I will make them around 7:00-8:00am and enjoy them around 5:00-5:30 for dinner!
could i make them with butter or olive oil instead of coconut oil?
Yes! We love using butter here too!
Wow just wow thank you so much for the recipe!!! These rolls turned out amazing! Congratulations on the launch of your website 💕
So glad, thank you Lisa!
Have you ever tried making these with lard or tallow instead? I can’t have coconut. thanks!!
Hi Kristen! I have not BUT these still work using butter or olive oil!
Excellent bun! So yummy and great texture. Can these be used for hot dog buns or do you have a different recipe for that?
I do shape these to use as hotdog buns! Sometimes I add in extra sugar or honey for the hotdog bun to increase that sweet bun flavour to compliment the dog!
This recipe never fails me! They are tangy, fluffy, and so simple to whip together in a pinch. I use it all the time and always get comments on how much people enjoy eating my rolls/buns!
Laura, I am thrilled by your comment! Thank you!
I’m thinking about doubling this recipe and using half the dough for burger buns.
Do you think I could use the other half for dinner rolls?
I really appreciate that you have included metric measurements! Saving all your recipes to try in the coming weeks. Such a well made website, bravo!
Thanks Angie! Glad to have those for you!
The best sourdough hamburger bun recipe I’ve found! These always turn out perfect!
Sarah, Thank you! These are not only the tastiest buns, but the recipe is so straight forward and easy. I am so grateful to have a quick AND ridiculously tasty recipe for buns!
I am so glad you like them Sarah!
My GOODNESS, these are the best buns I’ve EVER had! So easy to make and they come out so fluffy and absolutely delicious! (I will admit I ate two straight out of the oven, I couldn’t resist the smell) I’ll never buy buns ever again, this is the best recipe ever!
Nicole, this made my day!! Thank you!
Ok, this is the first time they come out fluffy and just delicious after so much self failed attempts. I cannot expressed how excited I was to give this buns to my family. The metric calculation was life changing, I enjoyed not dirtying up all the dishes and just weight in the bread maker insert lol
Thank you for all you do and for sharing all of this amazing recipes with us 🙃😍😍😍
So glad this worked for you this time!! Thank you Jessie!
I’ve made a doubled batch twice already and everyone loves them!! Even my almost 3 year old asked for 2! They’re so fluffy, soft and smell soo amazing! I’m sharing this recipe with everyone!
Thank you Sarah!
Woohoo, thank you Emma!
This recipe is absolutely amazing! Thank you, Sarah for generously sharing your gifts and talents. My family loved the buns and my husband was so excited about the fluffiness. Best hamburger buns I ever made. Thank you. So delish.
I am so glad, thank you Natalie!
I made the mistake of underestimating how much they would puff up and just made 4 hot dog style out of this recipe. They were essentially full sub buns when they were done baking haha. My bad. But my goodness they were soooo good! Thank you for this recipe!
We love using this recipe for sub buns!! They do puff up quite a bit!
Thank you for the wonderful recipe. I have just begins my journey as. homemaker. This coming Friday is my last day of work as a kindergarten teacher in the same school for 10 years.
Wow Michelle, that is INCREDIBLE!
Hi Sarah, do you know if I could modify the recipe to make it without eggs? Thanks 🙂
I have never tried BUT I have found that 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil can substitute an egg, but not for every recipe. You may have to experiment and let me know how it goes!
Hi! So I might have screwed these up (I’m sure they will taste fine) but I’m confused. The “bakers timeline” instructions are very different from the instructions in the recipe sheet. Am I suppose to flatten them down with my palm or shape them into a ball being careful of the air bubbles? For the second rise, are they supposed to be covered or uncovered?
Thanks in advance!
Hi Ali! The bakers timeline is just to give you an idea, they are not the full instructions! The full instructions are on the recipe card 🙂
Yes, still flatten them down but DO NOT press so hard as to remove all air bubbles. We need them for a fluffy bun! For the second rise, I usually cover them but its not necessary!
can’t wait to make these this week! do you use all purpose or bread flour?
I use all purpose from our local mill!
Wow! This recipe was not only easy to follow but oh my gosh they are the best I have ever tasted! They remind me of a delicious yeast roll we used to get at a restaurant years ago! I think I am going to attempt to shape these like a dinner roll and bake them that way too! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Thanks Dana! I appreciate it! We also love using this recipe for dinner rolls, hotdog buns, sub buns and more!
This is the best hamburger bun recipe I’ve ever made! My husband and toddler just devour these buns! Highly recommend giving this a try if you haven’t yet!
I had a really good bun recipe already, but I just wanted to try something new. I’m so glad I did; these are amazing (though my first attempt did end up comically large)
Glad to hear it! Yes, these can turn out quite big, so feel free to make them smaller to suite you! We enjoy making this recipe into even 14 buns for sliders!
I just made these today, and they were so fluffy and chewy! I did end up getting a dozen out of them instead of eight and they were still good sized buddies. Thanks for sharing! You are a sourdough queen! 💪🏼
Hi, which type of yeast do you use? Is it dry active or fresh?
I cannot wait to try these buns!!
They turned out great, really fluffy and perfect for burgers and breakfast the next morning.
The only issue I had is that they had a strong coconut oil taste!
You can always replace the coconut oil with butter, works great!
I adore this recipe and I was able to make it without a bread maker or stand mixer (it was my arm work out for the day) incredible recipe that my whole family enjoyed. Making these for the 4th time now.
These are by far the best hamburger bun I have ever tasted. Such an easy recipe to follow and they are absolutely delicious. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe Sarah.
Is there any way to omit the yeast and use more sourdough?
Yes! Make the night before using the 140g of active bubbly starter instead of yeast!
These are soft and full of delicious flavor! I will definitely make these again! This recipe made not only great burger buns, but also yummy dinner rolls. They are also so good warm with a drizzle of honey 🙂
These are incredible! I think I’ve made them about 20 times, maybe even more. I’ve been making them since the initial video came out last year on your channel. I’ve also made them as hotdog buns, hoagie buns, one big long log that I cut into slices and make paninis…it’s all amazing. Sometimes I make it with yeast and starter, sometimes just with the starter. This last time I made it with 140g of starter and no added yeast and it was awesome and they were so beautiful… your recipes are fantastic!! Thank you for all of your work!
I love this recipe. My favourite way to make them is to divide them into 12 instead of 10 and place them in a buttered 9×13 dish to make dinner rolls. They pull apart BEAUTIFULLY and every person I serve these to goes out of their way to tell me how delicious they are. I’ve been baking bread for years and have never had this much praise over something I’ve made before
My Sourdough Starter and my bread machine love this recipe.
They turn out great, every time.
You are correct when you say that these fluff up.
When I baked them, I added a pan of hot water to the oven and the steam allowed them to really increase in volume as they baked.
This is the only recipe that will be using for buns from now on.
Thank you.
Love this recipe, so simple and delicious. They are the perfect addition to burger night or sandwiches or just for a yummy roll on the side.
THESE!! I have made these four times
Now and they are incredible. Sarah, All your sourdough recipes are so delicious and easy to make.
I am so excited to try these! Is it possible to use whole wheat sourdough starter? It’s currently what I have lol If so, will I need to use whole wheat flour instead of regular flour? Thank you, Sarah! 🙂
Hi! I have never tried these with w whole wheat starter, but have had someone do this recipe using rye and it turned out great! Try and see and let me know how it goes!
oh my gosh these are amazing! I was gifted some sourdough starter recently and only use your recipes because they’re tried and tested! excited to try more! they’re beautiful! thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. your YouTube videos bring me peace too! I love them! please don’t stop! hahaha!
Im 30 and this is the first review I have EVER left on an online recipe (in my whole 30 years on this earth)…. WOW. the best burger buns I have made. Beautiful, I think these will be a staple in my home MULTIPLE times per week. So so soft and fluffy perfect for sandwiches. Thanks Sarah!
(p.s electric oven here and It took these 6 minutes to bake in my oven- worth keeping an eye on)
thank you! i am not very good at cooking and new to sourdough but still managed to bake it!
i tried it with rye starter and its not that fluffy, but very good, ritch in flavor!
now i tried it with wheat starter and its great! very fluffy, like a little cloud ❤️
Hi Sarah! Cant wait to try this! What setting do you use on the KBS bread machine for this?
Setting 12, Leaven Dough!
These turned out incredible! The dough was easy to work with, and they had a lovely oven spring. Very flexible recipe – I was able to let my dough sit longer than the recipe suggested, and they still made beautiful buns. Thank you, Sarah!
My husband LOVES THESE BUNS! everyone else does to but especially him 🤣 so soft and easy!!
These turned out amazing. The closest texture I’ve ever had to store bought. I couldn’t believe how soft and light the buns were. So easy too, just bring the dough together and have it in the mixer to knead for a few mins. I used butter instead of coconut
oil and it works great. I have also made these shaped as hot dog buns too. This is the bun recipe I will be using for the rest of my life.