Quick Sourdough Discard Hamburger Buns With Yeast

Last Updated on May 12, 2026 by Jamie Saechao

These quick sourdough discard hamburger buns made with yeast add a light, fluffy, and flavorful upgrade to your summer hamburgers!

Why eat store-bought buns when you can quickly create your own sourdough hamburger buns with just a few ingredients?  

We love eating these golden brown buns with turkey burgers, cheeseburgers, or as pulled pork sandwiches.  They are perfect for the summer bar-b-que season. 

And these buns are great for last minute dinners. Just pull your sourdough discard out of the fridge and whip them up in just a few minutes!

More sourdough bun recipes: soft dinner rolls, overnight rolls.

Perfect Sourdough Hamburger Buns

Here’s just a few reasons why you’ll love these simple buns:

• Fast: This recipe is quick and simple to make. In just a few hours you can have fresh, fluffy buns for dinner. 
• Tasty:  Rich, buttery, soft and flaky… these homemade buns put all others to shame!
• Beginner friendly: New to sourdough?  This simple discard recipe is beginner friendly.
• Wholesome:  You only need seven simple ingredients!

Topped with a shiny egg wash and sesame seeds, these buns will quickly become the star of your picnic. Featuring an enriched dough, they keep kids full longer, which is always a win.

Find my longer ferment option for hamburger buns here, and learn how to meal plan using sourdough here.

What Is Sourdough Discard?

You will notice that after you starter has peaked in activity after feeding, it will “fall” and become flat and runny.  This inactive portion is referred to as discard. When used in recipes it adds a delicious sourdough tang.

So, sourdough discard is the leftover, inactive portion of flour and water that is removed prior to a feeding.

Using sourdough discard helps to prevent food waste and adds flavor. In this quick recipe, we will need an additional leavening agent to encourage the buns to rise. 

Ingredients

You will need just a few simple ingredients to make these soft buns: 

Buns: 

• Milk: We will warm this up prior to mixing the ingredients together
• Sourdough discard: You can also use active starter, stirred down. 
• All purpose flour 
• Honey
• Instant Yeast (I used one packet fast acting yeast)
• Egg yolks – set aside one egg white for a wash
• Butter
• Salt: I love using sea salt

Egg Wash:

• Egg white
• Water
• Sesame seeds or bagel seasoning

Tips

Here are a few tips for making these delicious summer-time buns:

• Make sure the milk is warm, but not hot- around 100 degrees F. 
• Room temperature will affect how quickly the dough rises.  In the summer, you may find your dough rises very quickly. If you are making the recipe in the winter, set the dough in a warm spot and cover it with a damp tea towel. 
• You can use a stand mixer with a hook attachment to mix the dough. Personally. I love to mix the dough by hand because it is a relaxing process.  The butter and eggs can be challenging to incorporate, so make sure to mix the dough ball long enough so all ingredients are thoroughly combined. 
• The dough is done when it feels soft and pliable and is no longer sticky. 

How To Make Soft Sourdough Discard Buns

A  kitchen scale will come in very handy for this recipe.  It will allow you to accurately weigh the flour, giving you consistent results every time.

Warm milk: Warm the milk either in the microwave or on the stovetop.  You want the temperature to be around 95 degrees to 100 degrees, not too hot but warm enough to activate the yeast.

Mix wet ingredients:  Add the warm milk, instant yeast and honey to a large bowl. Whisk well until combined. 

Add dry ingredients: Add the flour, sourdough discard, egg yolks, and salt to the wet ingredients.  Mix with a dough whisk or a spatula or until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl. 

Knead: Stand mixer: use the dough hook attachment to mix the ingredients for 5-6 minutes on low speed or until the dough is soft and pliable. 

If kneading by hand, dump the dough onto a clean surface and knead it for 5-6 minutes or until it is no longer sticky and the dough feels soft and silky.  

First ferment: For the first rise, cover with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and let the dough rise in a warm place until double in size.  The commercial yeast will rise the dough quickly: it should take about an hour in warm temperatures an 90 minutes in cooler temps.  

Shape + second ferment: Divide the dough into equal pieces.  I like to set the dough on the kitchen scale, then divide the weight of the dough by 8, to give me 8 buns that are approximately the same size.

Tuck the sides of each dough ball under, then roll on the counter top for a few seconds to create a nice ball.  Place each dough ball on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes for the second rise.   

Tip: Use a bench scraper to help you divide and shape the dough!

Bake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Whisk the water and egg white together to create an egg wash.  

Lightly brush the shaped buns with the wash, then sprinkle sesame seeds or bagel seasoning on top of the buns.  Bake for 22-25 minutes or until the buns are golden brown. 

Storage

Fluffy and fresh, homemade buns taste best served right away!  You can put them in a an airtight bag or a sealed container and keep them on the countertop for 3-5 days.

Freezing: Cool buns completely, then store them in airtight, freezer safe container.  They can be frozen for up to 3 months.  To reheat, thaw and then pop them into the toaster.  

I hope these sourdough discard homemade hamburger buns make your next burger night extra special!