The Best Hot Dog Buns for Grilling Season and Beyond

• Pros: pleasantly squishy, neutral flavor
• Cons: prone to sogging out, requires toasting

Odds are, these are the buns you think of when you think “hot dog buns.” They’re doughy in the best way possible with a subtle bready flavor that pairs with everything from beer brats to mystery meat wieners. (Hey, the kids like them.) The only downside? You better toast these babies, unless you like a soggy bun.

• Pros: slightly sweet, makes us feel healthy
• Cons: dense texture, less soft

When we want to eat hot dogs for dinner but also want to feign #health, we reach for these whole wheat buns. They have a slightly sweet, nutty flavor, with the tradeoff being that the texture isn’t as soft as a standard white flour bun. (FYI, the same Arnold buns are sold under the brands Orowheat in the Midwest and Brownberry on the West Coast.)

• Pros: versatile, soft yet sturdy
• Cons: hard to find, condiments prone to spilling

If you’re an East Coaster, you know that split-top is where it’s at—the construction of these squishy yet sturdy buns makes them ultra-versatile for sausages, shrimp rolls and lobster salad (if you’re feeling fancy). Caveats: They’reharder to find in other regions of the U.S., and if you’re notorious for topping overload, you might end up with a lap full of relish.

• Pros: fancy flavor, surprisingly sturdy for brioche
• Cons: hard when toasted

Leave it to Trader Joe’s to serve up some bakery-level buns without the trip to a specialty store. These rolls are buttery, sweet and soft yet surprisingly sturdy for an enriched-style dough, so you can rest assured they won’t melt into nothing when you load them with mustard. In our experience, they’re actually better untoasted than toasted. (When we tried them toasted, they were a little too crunchy and had a tendency to burn.)

• Pros: neutral flavor, soft yet sturdy, good toasted or untoasted
• Cons: harder to find than some hot dog buns

A potato bun is a hamburger no-brainer, so we were pleasantly surprised when we found them in hot dog form. We liked these buns for their neutral yet slightly rich flavor and soft but sturdy texture, and we found them satisfactory both toasted and not.

• Pros: neutral flavor
• Cons: not sturdy, gritty texture

Even if you’re avoiding gluten, you’re not out of the grilling game. These gluten free buns are made with brown rice flour and potato flour, so they have a pleasantly neutral flavor like any wheat bun. As with many gluten free bread products, the texture is slightly gritty and has a tendency to crumble—nothing a quick toast can’t fix, though.

• Pros: sweet flavor, soft texture
• Cons: can get soggy if not toasted

You say, “Hawaiian roll” and we say, “when and where.” The sweetened buns are irresistible in all forms, so yeah, we’re big fans of these hot dog holsters. We love that they play off the ultra-savory meat of a hot dog and pair with all types of toppings, but we would highly recommend toasting them before serving, since the softer texture can break down quickly when ketchup strikes.