By far one of the best sourdough starter discard recipes, I’ve made this sourdough scallion pancake recipe so many times, I couldn’t help but share it in its own post.
I originally shared this sourdough scallion-green onion pancake recipe as part of a post sharing how I keep a zero waste sourdough starter (meaning I use all the sourdough discard in recipes and don’t throw any out). But that post was very long and people were asking me where the recipe was, so instead of pointing them to find it buried somewhere, I’m sharing it as it’s own post, because it truly is worthy of being its own post.
So when you’re making/growing/maintaining a sourdough starter, you’re only using a fraction of the starter per feeding, and discarding the rest! Right now I feed mine once a week, and do 20 gm starter, 50 gm whole wheat flour, 50 gm all-purpose flour and 100 gm water. That means that the rest of the starter (minus 20 gms) is being discarded.
What do you do with the sourdough starter discard? These sourdough scallion pancakes are my favorite because you literally pour the discard into a pan and cook it. Other recipes like sourdough pizza crust or sourdough pierogi or eggless waffles (3/4 cup sourdough starter and 3/4 cup ap flour instead of 1 1/2 cup flour the recipe calls for) are super good, but you are adding other ingredients and using discard to make something else.
Scallions and green onions can be used interchangeably. These sourdough scallion pancakes are just sourdough discard fried in a pan with sesame seeds/green onions-scallions and pinch of salt. So so easy!
This sourdough scallion-green onion pancake is so good served with a fried egg for breakfast (or for a quick lunch or dinner). Whenever I take my sourdough starter out of the fridge to make bread with, my husband asks if I’m going to make these pancakes with the discard.
Next time you’re in need of a quick and easy sourdough discard recipe, I’d highly recommend trying these pancakes!!
Other sourdough recipes you might enjoy:

Sourdough Scallion Pancake Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon oil like vegetable oil, olive oil or canola oil
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 3/4-1 cup sourdough starter discard
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
- 2 scallions/green onions chopped
- pinch of salt or garlic salt
- serve with a fried egg, optional
Instructions
- Heat oil and sesame oil over high heat in a small frying pan
- Pour in sourdough starter discard and sprinkle sesame seeds and chopped up green onions on top of the discard. Add a little salt and/or garlic salt on top.
- Cook for 5 minutes, or until it looks partially cooked and you see bubbles on through the pancake (or underside looks like it's starting to brown), flip, cook for an additional few minutes.
- Remove from pan onto a cutting board and cut in half or slices like a pie.
- Serve by itself or with a fried egg.
Sonja Kelnhofer says
Ken made these yesterday with his discard and they are delicious! A weekly addition to our menu.
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for sharing that Sonja, so glad you guys liked these (they’re seriously my favorite thing to do with discard!!)
Susan Craig says
This is a game changer. I hate throwing away the sourdough discard! I am going to see if the pancakes freeze and reheat well. I could really use a new on-the-go breakfast food. Thanks for the recipe.
Sweetphi says
Oh I love the idea of trying it to freeze and reheat, I’d love to know if it works for you. This is the single most used recipe for my sourdough discard (behind my sourdough pizza crust – this is so much easier lol). I think you’ll love it, it’s been a game changer for me for sure. Thank you so much for commenting 🙂