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These Sourdough Hamburger Buns are super soft and fluffy. They are easy to make, naturally leavened with your sourdough starter, and can be made in just one day. Start them in the morning and have them ready for your summer BBQ dinner!
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Sourdough Hamburger Buns are another recipe that once you learn how to make homemade, you’ll never want to go back to store-bought again! Just like my Same-Day Sourdough Hot Dog Buns, Sourdough Pizza Dough, Sourdough Pita Bread, or Sourdough Tortillas, this recipe is easy to make and tastes better than anything you can find at the store. Your whole family is going to love this recipe!
Short on time? Check out my Sourdough Discard Hamburger Buns or Sourdough Discard Hot Dog Buns that are ready in less than two hours!
Table of Contents
Why you will love this recipe
- This is THE sourdough recipe you need for BBQs, cookouts and summer parties! You will make these buns on repeat for Memorial Day, Father’s Day, 4th of July, and any other backyard get-together! Then for dessert make Sourdough Fruit Pizza or S’mores Sourdough Focaccia.
- This recipe can be made in just one day, with a 6-8 hour total rise time.
- These Sourdough Hamburger Buns are really versatile and can be used for burgers, pulled pork sandwiches, sloppy joes, and more! If you love cheeseburgers, make sure to also check out my Cheeseburger Sourdough Focaccia recipe.
Important Ingredients and Substitutions
- Sourdough starter – An active sourdough starter is one that has been recently fed, has doubled in size, and is bubbly.
- Bread flour – I recommend using bread flour over all-purpose flour because it has a higher protein content and is better at absorbing liquid.
- Milk – To help speed up the process, you will use milk that is warmed to 100°F. I use whole milk because it has a higher fat content and adds richness to the dough.
- Eggs – Two eggs and one egg yolk are added to the dough, and then you will also add an egg wash on top of the buns before baking to create a beautiful golden brown crust.
- Butter – Butter adds richness and flavor to the homemade sourdough hamburger buns. I recommend using unsalted butter to control the amount of salt added to the dough.
See all the ingredients and amounts in the recipe card below.
Instructions to make Sourdough Hamburger Buns
Step 1: In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the warm milk, sourdough starter, bread flour, butter, salt, honey, eggs and egg yolk and knead with the dough hook attachment. I like to use my Bosch mixer when kneading dough. Knead for 15 minutes or until the dough passes the windowpane test. Perform the windowpane test by pulling a piece of dough thin enough to see light through without it tearing. If it doesn’t pass, continue to knead for another couple minutes.
Step 2: Place the dough on a lightly floured work-surface and knead into a ball. Place the dough ball in a bowl or straight edge container to rise covered.
Step 3: Let the dough rise until doubled in size. At 80°F this will take about 5 hours.
Step 4: Punch down the dough and divide into 10 (110 gram) balls or make 12 slightly smaller rolls (93 grams). Roll into circles on a lightly floured work surface.
Step 5: Place on two baking sheets lined with parchment paper, 5 on each. Press down with the palm of your hand so they flatten to about 3.5”-4” wide.
Step 6: Let them rise in a warm spot covered for another 2-3 hours. The dough balls should look puffy and when poked should keep an indent.
Step 7: Brush with an egg wash and sprinkle the top with sesame seeds.
Bake in a preheated 375°F degree oven for 20 mins. To serve, slice with a serrated knife and add your favorite burger toppings.
Recipe Tips
- Let the dough double for the first rise in a warm spot to speed up the process. Use a bread mat (use code country10 for 10%) or proofing box to keep the dough warm, or see more tips on how to keep your dough warm here.
- After several minutes in the mixer, if the dough is super sticky, add a little more flour until it is just a little tacky.
- If your buns puff up dramatically in the oven or come out pale, it’s a sign they needed a longer rise before baking. For beautifully browned, evenly baked buns, be sure to let them get puffy and well-risen before they go in the oven.
- You can make 12 smaller buns instead of 10 if preferred. For sliders, you could also use my Same Day Dinner Rolls or Sourdough Hawaiian Rolls..
Storage Instructions
To store the sourdough hamburger buns, let them cool completely and then store them in an airtight container or ziplock bag for up to 4 days on the counter. The buns will also freeze well. Let them cool completely, and then add them to a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. To thaw, remove them from the freezer and let them defrost on the counter. This is a great way to have homemade burger buns all summer long!
How to prep the sourdough burger buns ahead of time
If you want to prep the dough and then bake the buns later, you can put the unbaked buns in the fridge and bake them later. To do so, follow the instructions to shape them and let them rise. Once they are puffy and about ready to bake, cover and place them in the refrigerator. I wouldn’t recommend going longer than 12 hours. You can bake them directly from the fridge.
Sample baking schedule
Here is an example of the timeline to make the sourdough hamburger buns in one day. The timeline can depend on the temperature and the activity of your starter, so your time may vary. This timeline assumes a dough temperature of 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
| Step | Time |
| Feed sourdough starter a 1:5:5 ratio (17 grams starter: 90 grams flour: 90 grams water) left at room temperature. | Day one: 9 pm |
| Mix dough together. Let it rise for bulk fermentation. | Day two: 9 am |
| Divide dough into 10 dough balls. Let rise for the final proof. | Day two: 2 pm |
| Add egg wash + sesame seeds and bake. | Day two: 4 pm |
Recipe FAQ
I prefer to use bread flour, but in a pinch you can substitute for all-purpose flour. However, all-purpose flour does not absorb as much liquid, so reduce the amount of milk added to the dough by 25 grams.
Yes! Can you prep the dough and then add it to the fridge until you are ready to bake. See detailed instructions above.
If the dough isn’t warm enough, the rise time will be longer. But that’s okay! One way to speed up the process is to place the dough in the oven with the light on. Watch for it to double in size to know when it is ready to move on to the next step. At cooler temps, like the high 60’s you can let the dough rise overnight (8-12 hours) and shape the next morning.
Yes! Follow this Sourdough Hot Dog Buns recipe for shaping instructions and recipe tips.
More same day sourdough Recipes
Soft Sourdough Bread Recipes
Same Day Sourdough Dinner Rolls
Same Day Sourdough Recipes
Sourdough Flour Tortillas (easy & soft)
Same Day Sourdough Recipes
Buttery Garlic Sourdough Naan Bread
Soft Sourdough Bread Recipes
Sourdough Pizza Dough
Tried this Sourdough Hamburger Buns or another recipe from the site? I’d love to hear about it! Drop a star rating and share your thoughts in the comments—can’t wait to see what you’re baking!
Sourdough Hamburger Buns
Equipment
Ingredients
Dough
- 200 grams milk, heated to 100 degrees, ¾ cup + 1 Tablespoon
- 180 grams active sourdough starter, ¾ cup
- 550 grams bread flour, 4 cups
- 60 grams butter, softened, 4 Tablespoons
- 10 grams salt, 1 ½ teaspoon
- 45 grams honey , 3 Tablespoons
- 2 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
Egg wash
- 1 egg white
- 1 teaspoon water
- 2 Tablespoons sesame seeds
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the warm milk, sourdough starter, bread flour, butter, salt, honey, eggs and egg yolk (save the egg white for the egg wash at the end) and knead with the dough hook attachment. Knead for 15 minutes or until the dough passes the windowpane test. Perform the windowpane test by pulling a piece of dough thin enough to see light through without it tearing. It will be a weaker windowpane. If it doesn’t pass, continue to knead for another couple minutes.200 grams milk, heated to 100 degrees, 180 grams active sourdough starter, 550 grams bread flour, 60 grams butter, softened, 10 grams salt, 45 grams honey , 45 grams honey , 1 egg yolk
- Place the dough on a lightly floured work-surface and knead into a ball. Place the dough ball in a bowl or straight edge container to rise covered at 80°F. Let rise for about 4-5 hours or until doubled in size.
- Punch down the dough and divide into 10 (110 gram) balls. Roll into circles on a lightly floured work surface.
- Place on two baking sheets lined with parchment paper, 5 on each. Press down with the palm of your hand so they flatten to about 3.5”-4” wide.
- Let them rise covered for another 2-3 hours in a warm spot until puffy and well-risen. When you poke the side, the indent should stay. Mix egg white and water and brush the top of the buns with it. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. 1 egg white, 2 Tablespoons sesame seeds, 2 Tablespoons sesame seeds
- Bake in a preheated 375℉ oven for 20 minutes. To serve, slice with a serrated knife and add your favorite burger toppings.
Notes
- Let the dough double for the first rise in a warm spot to speed up the process.
- After several minutes in the mixer, if the dough is super sticky, add a little more flour until it is just a little tacky.
- You can make 12 smaller buns instead of 10 if preferred.
- If your buns puff up dramatically in the oven or come out pale, it’s a sign they needed a longer rise before baking. For beautifully browned, evenly baked buns, be sure to let them get puffy and well-risen before they go in the oven.
- To store the sourdough hamburger buns, let them cool completely and then store them in an airtight container or ziplock bag for up to 4 days on the counter.
- To freeze, let the buns cool completely, and then add them to a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. To thaw, remove them from the freezer and let them defrost on the counter.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Loved these buns for a July 4th cookout and family was impressed with me making them. Little did they know this was a pretty easy recipe. Definitely making these on a regular basis!
Thank you for taking the time to leave a review, Darlene. I really appreciate it.
I was wondering if you e ever kneaded by hand or if you have advice as to how long to expect? I don’t have a stand mixer and I’ve had to pass on a lot of recipes because I can’t knead long enough to pass the window pane test. I don’t give up easy either. I’ve kneaded for 25 minutes, sweat dripping, exhausted, not much fun. I’d do it if recipes would work but it’s tough by hand. I’m hoping yours would be easier but the 15 mixer time has me worried. Thank you in advance!
Hi Rachel, I haven’t kneaded by hand to be sure how long it takes. If I were you I would knead for about 15 minutes and then let it rest for 30 minutes and then knead another 5-10 mins if it still is not passing windowpane at that point. If it doesn’t pass windowpane but the dough is soft and elastic it should be ok. It might not be as fluffy but the buns should still be good.
I use a breadmachine for kneading, I got for $5 at a garage sale. I put it on dough setting, helps a ton.
That’s awesome. Love a good garage sale find.
Everything was fine until I baked them – I even turned the oven down to 350 and in 15 minutes and they were burnt to a crisp! The bottoms were absolutely inedible. I was able to cut the tops off and use two tops, but I couldn’t serve them to guests. Thank goodness that I bought regular hamburger buns for the party.
Watch these things because they burn in 10 minutes!
Oh no I’m so sorry! Does your oven run to temperature? Or did you make them into smaller buns? I’ve made these several times and never had an issue with them even close to burning so I’m bummed to hear you had a bad experience.
Can I add more salt to the dough to add more flavor without compromising the end result? I love the consistency of the dough. I made dinner rolls and separate buns with the dough. Love it!
I think if you add just a little more it shouldn’t be an issue. You can also use salted butter.
These hamburger buns were excellent & I had to make more cause my Grandkids wanted to take some home
They turned out great!
Thank you Lisa! So glad you liked them.
Any experimentation with excluding milk and just using water?
You could do water but the milk creates a tender, softer crumb. If you are dairy free you could also do whole fat coconut milk.
They aren’t actually baked yet. They’re on their second rise on the cookie sheet… But there is no way I was gonna get 110 g for each ball. I ended up with eight balls at about 50 to 60 g each not sure what happened. I will update after the bake is done.
Hmmm I feel like you are missing an ingredient or did you halve the recipe? If you only got 8 50 gram dough balls that would only be 400 grams of dough total, which wouldn’t make sense since the flour alone in the recipe is 525 grams. You should have closer to 1100 grams of dough.
These were AMAZING! It made the most beautiful dough and the buns were so soft and fluffy! I did add a bit of instant yeast when I was making the dough to ensure a good rise. Next time I will make 12 smaller buns because they did turn out quite large. Will definitely use this recipe again!
You’re going to love these soft and fluffy hamburger buns. Perfect for grilling season and can be made in just one day.