35 Easy Sourdough Discard Recipes

Tired of letting your sourdough starter go to waste? Unlock the full potential of your starter with these 35 easy and delicious sourdough discard recipes. From breakfasts to desserts, these are the mouthwatering dishes that’ll keep everyone coming back for more. Save time, money, and reduce food waste while enjoying the taste of your homemade creations!

Sourdough has become really popular in the last few years, a fact I’m well aware of because my one day, easy sourdough artisan bread continues to be the most popular recipe on the site!

If you are a sourdough fan and have started down your own baking journey then you’re familiar with the process of maintaining a sourdough starter which includes dealing with the the extra starter – the ‘discard’ – you need to remove before feeding again to keep it at it’s healthiest.

After awhile you may start to think, “what do I do with all the discard?”

TIP: You don’t have to deal with the sourdough discard right away – put it in a jar in the fridge and just add to it as you have other discards. It can hang out there a long time before being used, and you’ll have enough time to gather enough if you need certain amounts for discard recipes.

Even though it’s called discard, we don’t actually want to throw it away – it’s precious stuff and there are countless delicious recipes that can be made with sourdough discard!

From pancakes to crackers to even chocolate cake, your leftover sourdough starter can be transformed into a variety of tasty foods your family and friends will love.

The simple sourdough recipes below are separated into savory and sweet. In the first section you’ll find all kinds of breads, fritters, tortillas, naan, and more. The second sweet section has desserts, sweet breads, and breakfasts.

I hope you enjoy these recipes I’ve collected that are all easy ways to use up any type of discard from fed to refrigerated.

Savory Sourdough Discard Recipes

1. Quick Sourdough Vegetable Fritters

This is one of my absolute favorite ways to use up discard! You simply grate and finely chop any vegetables you have (cabbage, carrots, and onions are a fav combo) and mix them with the discard along with a few other ingredients and fry them. They freeze well, too, crisping up again in a toaster oven.

2. Easy Whole Wheat Sourdough English Muffins

This is such a fun recipe – I never once thought about the fact that you could easily make English muffins from scratch growing up!

One of the things I love about this recipe is that you mix up the starter, milk, honey, and whole wheat flour the night before so it’s more of a fully fermented recipe that still works with discard.

3. Sourdough Whole Wheat Crackers

The two things I discovered the first time I made these simple sourdough discard crackers were: a) the dough was SO easy to work with which made it easier to roll thinly and b) they are so good the whole batch may disappear the day you make them.

I now plan for discard to make these one-hour crackers, adding different seasonings or grated cheese to sometimes change it up.

4. Cheesy Sourdough Batter Bread Recipe

Pockets of oozing cheese in an easy no-knead, low mix batter bread? Yes, please!

You mix this together in the morning, let the dough rise, add cubes of cheese, rise a bit more and then bake it in time for dinner. With tomato soup maybe?

5. Sourdough Discard Soft Pretzels

Add discard to this yeast-based pretzel recipe to get that wonderful sourdough tang. Boiled and baked like regular pretzels, you can shape into the traditional shape or cut into pieces for pretzel bites.

6. The Best Sourdough Tortillas

These ‘perfect’ tortillas are a great way to use up your discard. They can be made with some whole wheat flour and frozen where they will be “good as new when reheated.”

7. Sourdough Discard Flatbread

Amazingly, you can make this flatbread in just 5-10 minutes using only your discard! Made quickly in a skillet with a bit of butter, you can top it with the seasonings of your choice.

8. Sourdough Discard Bagels

This recipe uses commercial yeast in addition to the sourdough discard for the rise you need with bagels, which is a great option for using up your discard. (Here’s the easy 100% sourdough bagel recipe I use that needs an active starter).

9. Sourdough Biscuits

Using sourdough discard, baking powder, an egg and frozen butter ensures both flavor and loft – folding the dough gives you the flaky layers! There’s an option to make cheesy biscuits, too.

10. Easy Sourdough Discard Sandwich Bread

Seven ingredients, including your sourdough discard, are all that’s needed to make this soft and tender sandwich bread! Since it’s risen with yeast, it will only take a couple hours (compared to many hours with the wild yeast in sourdough), so you can do this at any time.

11. Sourdough Discard Dinner Rolls

Tender and fluffy dinner rolls with 1 cup of discard baked in a cast iron skillet can be yours with just 20 minutes of hands on time and a couple hours of rising.

12. Sourdough Discard Challah Bread

With it’s braided shape and it’s fluffy and sweet interior, this is a special bread recipe to make with your discard that everyone will love.

13. Sourdough Discard Garlic Knots

What a fun way to use your discard! Served with the tomato sauce dip, these garlic knots would make a great appetizer or fun family night dinner.

14. Sourdough Drop Biscuits

Want biscuits, but don’t want to take the time to roll the dough and cut them out? Then drop biscuits are your answer! Super easy and still just as buttery and tender as regular biscuits.

15. Easy Sourdough Naan

With just a few minutes of prep time you can make this small batch of four small breads easily with discard and baking powder. If you want to use your discard, but are cooking for 1 or 2, this is a great recipe to have in your repertoire.

16. Sourdough Pizza Crust

Get all the wonderful flavor of a sourdough pizza crust without the wait – plus tips on how to achieve the perfect browned crust.

17. Easy To Make Sourdough Discard Hamburger Buns

Soft and fluffy discard buns from a tried-and-true recipe with a bit of yeast that you can use for burgers, sandwiches, or as a regular dinner roll.

18. Sourdough Cheese Scones

Tender discard scones are stuffed with cheese and chives, making them a perfect side for a vegetable soup or tomato soup.

Sweet Sourdough Discard Recipes

19. Sticky Bun Sourdough Coffee Cake

This is such a special treat to bring to a brunch or holiday get together. The caramel nut layer oozes over the tender, slightly tangy cake interior which melds together in the best way.

20. Easy Sourdough Lemon Bread

This tart and tangy sweet bread gets extra lemoniness from three sources of lemon – juice, zest, and oil – and is coated in a thick lemon glaze. Perfection with a cup of tea.

21. Amazing Whole Wheat Sourdough Waffles

Making waffles was one of the first ways I used my sourdough starter discard when I was initially growing my starter – it made all the work after the first week worth it! Tender and light, even with whole wheat flour, and perfect for topping with fruit and cream or peanut butter and syrup.

22. Sourdough Discard Donut Holes

This recipe uses just 1/2 cup of discard and 1 teaspoon of yeast for a batch of 35 donut holes – sounds like a perfect use of that little bit of discard, right?

23. Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies

With this discard cookie recipe you can choose between a chewy consistency by cooking a bit less or a cake-like texture by baking a bit more.

This uses 1 cup of starter so its a good option when you have quite a bit of discard saved up.

24. Sourdough Peanut Butter Cookies

Maybe peanut butter is more up your alley? This recipe also uses a cup of discard, so feel free to feed your starter as much as possible to be able to make this peanut butter filled recipe.

25. Sourdough Snickerdoodle Cookies

Or take your snickerdoodle cookies to the next level with the extra chew and tang from sourdough discard!

26. Sourdough Discard Scones (with berries or chocolate chips)

With just a half cup of sourdough starter you can make this “master scone” recipe anytime, adding in the mix-in of your choice, from blueberries to chocolate chips.

27. Simple Sourdough Blueberry Muffins

Blueberry muffins with the tang of sourdough, zest of lemon, and a buttery crumb topping? Sounds like a great breakfast or tea time addition!

28. Lemon Poppyseed Sourdough Discard Muffins

Three types of lemon (juice, zest, and extract) plus a lemony sugar topping combine to produce a muffin that’s full of flavor.

29. Sourdough Chocolate Cake

This popular chocolate cake uses either fed or unfed starter and has an optional coffee flavored frosting for a mocha cake. There are lots of tips with the recipe – and a 4.6 rating.

30. Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls

Want cinnamon rolls without the wait? Use your discard along with baking powder and soda to be able to mix up the dough, roll it out, coat with topping, shape and bake right away!

31. Soft and Fluffy Sourdough Discard Pancakes

I always think of pancakes as a perfect way to use up sourdough discard and these look so light and fluffy. Freeze them to be able to have them any time you want.

32. Homemade Sourdough Graham Crackers

How fun to use your discard to make your own graham crackers! With whole wheat flour, honey, and the tang of sourdough, these may become your new s’mores addition.

33. Sourdough Brownies

Why add sourdough to brownies? For the deeper flavor and long lasting moistness! You may never want to make brownies another way again.

34. Sourdough Blueberry Breakfast Cake

In just over an hour you can be eating this cake warm from the oven with your breakfast or afternoon coffee! Using 3/4 cup of discard and your choice of fresh or frozen blueberries, this is a great way to use up your extra starter.

35. Sourdough Banana Bread

Perfect for when you have an abundance of unfed sourdough starter AND bananas. This recipe takes about 10 minutes hands on time and 45 minutes to bake.

Even More Sourdough Recipes

• How To Make Easy Sourdough Bagels
• Easy Soft 100% Sourdough Sandwich Bread – One Rise & Overnight Options
• Easy No Knead Sourdough Focaccia (Long Ferment)