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Daily starter feeding produces a lot of “discard” — the portion you remove before refreshing. Most people pour it down the sink. Don’t.
Discard is just slightly-fermented flour and water. It still has incredible flavor and structural properties — perfect for recipes that don’t need full leavening power but benefit from sourdough’s complex tang and crumb.
Here are five recipes we make weekly with our discard. None are complicated. All are better than the non-sourdough version.
1. Sourdough Discard Pancakes (10 minutes)
The single best use for discard. Fluffier and tangier than buttermilk pancakes.
Ingredients
- 200g sourdough discard
- 1 large egg
- 100g milk
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp melted butter
Method
Whisk everything together until smooth. The batter will fizz from the discard + baking soda reaction — that’s the leavening. Cook on a buttered pan over medium heat, 2–3 minutes per side. Serve with maple syrup.
2. Sourdough Crackers (1 hour, mostly hands-off)
Crispy, salty, addictive. Perfect cheeseboard companion.
Ingredients
- 200g sourdough discard
- 50g flour (whatever you have)
- 30g olive oil
- ½ tsp salt
- Flaky sea salt + herbs for topping
Method
Mix into a smooth dough. Roll between two sheets of parchment as thin as possible (3mm or less). Score into crackers. Brush with olive oil, sprinkle flaky salt and herbs. Bake at 350°F for 25–30 minutes until deep golden. Cool on a rack, snap apart.
3. Sourdough Pizza Dough (Overnight)
Best pizza crust we’ve ever made. The flavor is what takes it from “homemade pizza” to “restaurant pizza.”
Ingredients
- 500g bread flour
- 325g water
- 200g sourdough discard
- 10g salt
- 20g olive oil
Method
Mix all ingredients into a smooth dough. Knead 5 minutes. Cover, leave at room temp 4 hours. Divide into 4 balls. Refrigerate overnight. Stretch and top the next day. Bake at the highest temperature your oven can go (550°F+) for 8–10 minutes on a preheated pizza stone or steel.
4. Sourdough Banana Bread (60 minutes)
Discard adds depth and moisture you can’t get any other way.
Ingredients
- 3 very ripe bananas, mashed
- 150g sourdough discard
- 2 large eggs
- 100g brown sugar
- 80g melted butter
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 200g flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
Method
Whisk wet ingredients (bananas through vanilla). Fold in dry ingredients until just combined. Pour into a buttered loaf pan. Bake at 350°F for 50–55 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Let cool in pan 10 minutes before turning out.
5. Sourdough Crumpets (Lazy Sunday Project)
Honeycomb-textured English crumpets, made with discard. The right way.
Ingredients
- 250g sourdough discard
- 120g milk, warmed
- 5g sugar
- 5g salt
- 3g baking soda
Method
Whisk milk into discard. Add sugar, salt, baking soda. Let sit 10 minutes — it should foam and bubble dramatically. Heat a buttered pan over low heat. Place greased crumpet rings (or metal cookie cutters) in the pan. Pour batter ½-inch deep into each ring. Cook 6–8 minutes until tops are dry and full of holes. Flip out of rings, brown the tops 1 minute. Serve with butter.
The Real Lesson
Once you start using discard, you stop seeing it as waste. You’ll start over-feeding your starter on purpose — just to have more discard for the weekend pizza or Sunday pancakes.
Welcome to the discard mindset. Your kitchen just got a free fermentation lab.
