Have you ever wondered what the most popular burger buns out there are? When one thinks of burgers, the focus is usually given to the patty, but the choice of buns can be as equally important as the meat in the patty. Now, before you decide what type of buns you should go with, you should read up on what makes great buns and how the buns you choose could affect your enjoyment of your burgers. Then, once you have made up your mind, you can learn to make your own burger buns. Let this article about the most popular burger buns be your guide!
What Is a Good Burger Bun and Why are They Popular?
A good bun, popular or not, is a bun that you can easily chew and bite into. After all, who wants to eat bricks? Whether a burger is enjoyable or not comes down to the ratio of the bun to the meat, the texture and structure of the buns, and the ease by which you can eat the whole thing.
You want the buns to be just right instead of falling apart in your hands. Let your buns become a vessel or a canvass for all the toppings and add-ons in between. Last but not least, your buns should be able to absorb and soak up the drips and grease from the patty without becoming yucky and mushy.
This is the reason most buns, including popular buns, are big on top and thin on the bottom so that they do not overpower the meat.
Which Buns are the Tastiest?
There are many different types of popular burger buns to choose from and the choice can be overwhelming. Some people like to use flat sliced bread, but the bread tends to get too soggy too fast. Of course, you can always be safe and opt for the plain old-fashioned “sandwich” bread if you want something minimalist and basic, but what should you pick when you are bored of the same old buns and want to change things up?
We have found out in our research that the most popular burger buns, for now, seem to be pretzel buns, potato buns, brioche, and focaccia. Each of those popular buns has their own advantages and disadvantages as far as we are concerned with how well they affect other components of the burgers.
Brioche is surely gaining its popularity as we speak—who can resist the gorgeously golden brown, very soft, and indulgently crispy crust of this famous French bread? Unfortunately, the high egg content and the buttery nature of brioche means that it can quickly overwhelm your taste buds as it might be too rich and flavorful to pair up with meaty patties. You can certainly still use brioche, but maybe save that for veggie burgers or other less fatty burgers.
Then, we have the equally popular pretzel buns. These buns are a good choice if you want to work with juicier cuts of meat since the buns will be dense enough to hold the juice from the meat.
Next, we have potato buns, which also seem to be popular among the crowd. These pillow-like buns are squishy and fluffy, but at the same time, they are sturdy enough and do not easily break apart when you add watery ingredients like tomato slices or lettuce.
Finally, we have focaccia. The texture of focaccia makes it a popular choice for “messy” burgers, such as pulled pork or pulled chicken and even sloppy joes.
What Toppings are Good with These Popular Burger Buns?
Brioche:
Ever so popular, brioche buns are a tad bit sweeter compared to other buns. This is not surprising since the Frenchmen brioche as a type of dessert. Given their slightly sweet taste and their spongy texture, brioche buns perform best when paired with sharpness of blue cheese and aged cheese (think Gorgonzola). Thus, you can’t go wrong when you pair the dairy topping with brioche buns.
Another topping that might work well with brioche buns is raw onion as the sweetness of the brioche may counter the pungent smell of the raw onion. Other than that, fermented cabbage like sauerkraut and Korean kimchi can work too.
Since brioche goes well with anything that has a strong flavor, you can have fun with your condiments as long as you don’t go overboard. Consider putting a dash of hot sauce or spicy mayonnaise on your brioche buns for an extra kick!
If you like Mediterranean flavors, try the garlic aioli sauce. Try horseradish sauce for a spicier taste. For something fancier, try the decadent Bourguignonne sauce—simply caramelize shallots together with red wine.
Pretzel Buns:
Pretzel buns, popular as snacks in malls and carnivals, get their delectable taste from a blend of rye and bread flour. The salty flavor of the buns makes them a great accompaniment for Asiago cheese and cheddar cheese, although cream cheese, smoked Gouda cheese, feta cheese, and nacho cheese work too.
What about the sauce? Since pretzel buns are already salty, your best bet is to choose a type of sauce that has a sour or tangy flavor, such as ranch dressing or a vinegar-based barbecue sauce. You can also opt to completely skip the sauce and reach for guacamole instead—pretzel buns complement the taste of avocado.
A more modern option in enjoying pretzel buns with your burger is to slather pistachio pesto for complex flavor and robust color. Yes, pesto is usually paired with pasta, but the nutty flavor goes well with the saltiness of the pretzel buns. Still, looking for the even tastier spread? Then you may enjoy Spanish Romesco sauce—this sauce is made with red peppers, almonds, and tomatoes.
Potato Buns:
As a rule of thumb, anything that goes well with mashed potato would also go well with the airy potato buns. Since you usually serve mashed potatoes with salad, the same logic applies to potato buns too.
You are not, however, obliged to limit yourself to the popular stand-by that is iceberg or Romaine lettuce. Spinach, arugula, kale, watercress, and even collards can be thrown in as a substitute for lettuce. Looking for something out of the box? Try bitter Swiss chards, fuzzy turnip greens, or dandelion leaves.
Focaccia:
The thick focaccia is popularly served with vegetables, but of course, you can add cheese! Focaccia buns go well with melty Mozzarella cheese, flavorful white Monterey Jack cheese, Colby cheese, provolone cheese, Feta cheese made with milk from goat or sheep, and Gruyere cheese. If you want to go the authentic Italian route you can try Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (also known as Parmesan). Add some sun-dried tomatoes and you are in for a treat from heaven!
Where Can You Find Recipes for the Most Popular Burger Buns?
You can learn all about baking popular burger buns from various YouTube cooking and baking channels. Those recipes do require some patience as they involve a lot of waiting around for the dough to rise, but at the end of the day, the results are marvelous and satisfying.
For the potato roll recipe, we consulted the video of a YouTuber named Bincy Chris. Her explanation is very thorough and amazingly detailed, not to mention that her recipe requires no kneading, hence reducing the extra steps needed to make the potato rolls. You can find that video here.
For the focaccia bread, we have found that the easiest tutorial belongs to a YouTube channel called Kitchen and Craft. The technique is presented in the video is easy enough for complete beginners to do and the method does not require fancy equipment. That video is here.
If you want to make brioche buns, we recommend that you go to the channel of Joshua Weissman. He makes his brioche buns super soft and glossy with the addition of whole milk. Check this out here.
Lastly, for the pretzel buns recipe, we recommend that you check out the videos from Stay at Home Chef for simple and clear directions. Check that out here.
All of these buns would be a great choice no matter what type of burger you are making. We hope this information gives you an idea of what you can do with the most popular burger buns. Try them out and let us know how they work. We love to hear your burger stories!
Below is a Pinterest-friendly photo . . . so you can pin it to your Burger Board!
