Sourdough Hot Dog Buns
These homemade sourdough hot dog buns are soft, chewy, and packed with flavor—perfect for summer grilling, tailgates, or weeknight dinners. An easy shaped bread recipe using sourdough starter.
These soft and chewy sourdough hot dog buns are the perfect addition to your next cookout, weeknight dinner, or summer picnic. With just the right amount of sourdough tang and a sturdy-but-tender texture, they’re the kind of buns that hold up beautifully to whatever you pile on them—brats, grilled veggies, or a good old-fashioned hot dog.
Sure, store-bought buns are easy to grab, but these? These taste like you really cared. And they freeze well too, so you can always have a stash ready for your next grill night.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Big sourdough flavor in a soft, sturdy bun that won’t fall apart under pressure
- Beginner-friendly—great for practicing shaping and stretch-and-fold techniques
- Versatile and freezer-friendly so you can make a batch ahead of time
Once you’ve mastered these soft and sturdy hot dog buns, you might find yourself reaching for your starter a little more often. Try your hand at sourdough hamburger buns next—they use a similar dough and make the perfect base for a backyard cookout. Or twist things up with a batch of sourdough soft pretzels—salty, chewy, and so fun to make. If you’re craving something cozy and versatile, sourdough dinner rolls are a must for holidays or weeknight meals alike.
How to make homemade hot dog buns with sourdough
Below you will find simplified steps to help you get an idea of how to make these buns. For the full set of instructions, including ingredient amounts, please scroll down to the recipe card below.
Step One: Mix the dough
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the starter, flour, water, honey, and salt. Mix on low until just combined, then switch to the dough hook and knead on medium speed for about 4–5 minutes, until the dough is soft but strong. Cover and rest for 10 minutes.
Next, with the mixer on low, add the softened butter one piece at a time. Continue mixing until the butter is fully incorporated and the dough feels elastic and smooth.
Step Two: Bulk fermentation + stretch and folds
Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Do your first set of stretch and folds.
Cover and repeat every 30 minutes for a total of 3 rounds.
After the final fold, let the dough rest at room temperature for another 90 minutes. It should look puffy and active.
Step Three: Chill and shape
Pop the dough in the fridge for 1–1.5 hours to make it easier to handle.
Divide into 9 equal pieces and let them rest for 20 minutes under a towel.
Shape each piece into a 6″ log by folding and rolling tightly, tucking the ends under.
Place seam-side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet, about 1–2 inches apart.
Step Four: Final proof
Cover the shaped buns with a tea towel and let them rise at room temperature for 1–3 hours, until noticeably puffy and just touching.
Step Five: Bake
Preheat your oven to 400°F with a pan for steam on the bottom rack.
Brush buns lightly with milk and place in the oven.
Add steam (a handful of ice cubes or pour boiling water into the pan).
Bake for 25–35 minutes, rotating halfway through.
Remove from the oven and immediately brush with melted butter.
Cool on a wire rack before slicing.
Baker’s Schedule
Understanding how making these hot dog buns fits into your schedule is a big part of actually making them! I like to work backwards from when I want them to be done to see when I need to start feeding my starter. Here is the timeline for baking these:
- Mixing the dough – 25 minutes
- Bulk Fermentation with stretch and folds- 3 hours
- Shaping – 10 minutes
- Final Proofing – 1 to 3 hours – until doubled
- Baking – 25 minutes
*Remember the timing of this recipe depends on the temperature and humidity of your house. If your house is warm and humid, your dough will proof faster. If your house is cold, your dough will proof slower. Watch the dough, not the clock!
Recipe Tips
- Don’t skip the chill before shaping—it makes the dough much easier to work with.
- Let the buns proof close enough together that they’ll puff and touch—that’s how you get those classic bakery-style sides.
Sourdough is better when shared
If you try this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment and rating below.
Love and links are always appreciated! If you’d like to share this recipe, please link to the post directly for the recipe, please do not copy and paste or screenshot. Thank you so much for supporting me. XOXO – Jenni
Sourdough Hot Dog Buns
These homemade sourdough hot dog buns are soft, chewy, and packed with flavor—perfect for summer grilling, tailgates, or weeknight dinners. An easy shaped bread recipe using sourdough starter.
- Prep Time: 6 hours 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 7 hours
- Yield: 9 buns 1x
- Category: Bread
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 200 grams whole wheat flour
- 233 grams all purpose flour
- 300 grams water
- 170 grams sourdough starter 100%
- 37 grams honey
- 10 grams salt
- 27 grams softened butter
- milk and melted butter for brushing on the buns
Instructions
Mixing the dough
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In the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook, combine the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, about 3/4 of water, active sourdough starter, honey, and salt.
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Mix the dough on low speed until incorporated, about 2 minutes.
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Switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for 4-5 minutes, or until the dough starts to strengthen and clump around the dough hook. The dough should be strong, but it won’t completely leave the bottom of the bowl as it mixes, and will still look a little shaggy. But the majority of the dough should be around the dough hook. If the dough is not medium soft, add a little bit of the extra water at a time and mix until it is.
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Cover the dough and allow it to rest for 10 minutes.
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Turn the dough on low, and slowly add the butter, 1 piece at a time, allowing the butter to be fully incorporated into the dough before adding the next piece of butter. It will take about 3-5 minutes. It will be a soft but strong dough.
Bulk Fermentation
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Place the dough in a bowl and cover with a cloth. Set it in a warm place (about 75 F) and let it sit for 30 minutes.
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Do the first set of stretch and folds. Grab a section of dough that is closest to you and stretch it up high above the bowl. Then fold it over to the opposite side of the bowl. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees and repeat. Repeat this process until you have done a stretch and fold on each “side” of the bowl (four times total).
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Recover the dough, and allow it to sit for an additional 30 minutes.
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Do the second set of stretch and folds.
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Recover the dough, and allow it to sit for 30 minutes.
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Do the third set of stretch and folds.
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Recover the dough and allow it to sit for an hour and a half.
Shaping
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Place the bowl of dough into the fridge for an hour and a half to chill the dough. You can technically skip this step, but it really helps the dough to be easier to handle when shaping.
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Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat mat and set aside.
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At this point, the dough should be well risen, bubbly, light but also firm.
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Lightly flour your work surface and gently dump out the dough.
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Divide the dough into 9 pieces, each about 100g. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest for 20 minutes to help the gluten relax, making it easier to shape into buns.
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Shape each dough portion into a log, about 6” inches long (or into a smooth ball for hamburger buns!).
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Begin by stretching and patting the dough into a rough rectangle (with the long side horizontal) . Fold the ends in. Take the top edge and roll towards your body, pressing the dough into itself and away from you (like how you would shape a pretzel). Continue rolling and pressing until you form a tube. When you have reached the bottom, seal the seam.
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Place the buns on the prepared baking sheet with the seam side down, about 1 to 2 inches apart so the buns will barely touch after they have risen.
Final Proofing
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Cover with plastic wrap and a tea towel and allow to rest at room temperature for 1-3 hours, or until doubled. (The timing will depend on the activity level of your starter and the temperature of your house, so watch the dough here, not the clock)
Baking
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Preheat the oven to 400 F. You will also need steam for baking, so prepare for this now, depending on what method you want to use (see notes in the post for this).
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Brush a little milk over the buns, as this will help them develop an even golden color when baking.
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Place the buns in the oven with the steam and bake for 25-35 minutes, turning the pan halfway through baking, until the buns are nicely browned.
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Remove from the oven and brush with melted butter. This helps them maintain their soft texture.
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Cool completely on a wire rack before separating the buns.
Notes
Store loosely covered at room temperature for up to 3 days.