Vegan Sourdough Discard Savoury Pancakes

Are you into making your own sourdough bread? I’ve recently become slightly addicted to it - I find it so satisfying making the best tasting bread ever out of essentially one ingredient: flour (plus water and a pinch of salt). But I’m always a little sad when I throw away most of the sourdough starter before feeding it. It seems so wasteful to just discard that culture of bacteria and wild yeast after lovingly nurturing it for so long!

So here is something delicious you can do with that sourdough starter discard - the simplest savoury pancakes you could imagine! It’s literally just a case of combining the discard with whatever vegetables you fancy, a little bit of seasoning, and that’s it. The discard binds everything together and sets nicely when fried, forming a lovely golden crust while keeping beautifully soft in the middle.

I topped mine with some roasted vegetables we had, and a drizzle of sriracha, but you could try it topped with pesto, vegan aioli, as part of a cooked breakfast or even sliced up with hummus as part of a mezze platter. It’s a great way for using up any vegetables you have that need eating - this one was with finely sliced leeks but I’ve tried it with broccoli, asparagus, and peas which all work wonderfully. You can also add paprika, curry powder, or some herbs to the mixture to switch up the flavours. Let me know what other combinations you try as I’d love some inspiration for new ideas :)

Vegan Sourdough Discard Savoury Pancake Recipe

Ingredients (makes two):

• Approx 200g sourdough starter discard (see notes below)

• 1 medium leek, washed and finely sliced (approx 200g)

• A pinch of salt and a few generous grinds of black pepper

• 1/4 tsp garlic granules

** Starters fed 12-24 hours before work best for this recipe, but if your starter’s been kept in the fridge then you can use the discard for these pancakes for up to a week. However, if your starter has been kept for a while and has developed a grey or watery layer, discard most of it and refeed before using for this recipe.

Method:

1. Start by pouring out your sourdough discard and stir through the salt, pepper, and garlic granules

2. Prepare your vegetables - here I washed and finely sliced one leek

3. Add the vegetables to the sourdough discard mixture and stir through to thoroughly combine

4. Heat 1 Tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat, and spoon half the pancake mixture in. Use the spoon to flatten the mixture down into a thick pancake shape.

5. After a few minutes, the underside should have developed a nice golden, crispy coating. Carefully flip the pancake over using a spatula and cook the other side for another few minutes.

Eat as it is or top with roasted veg, salad, and hot sauce, pesto or vegan aioli.

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Vegan Sourdough Discard Savoury Pancakes

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 10 minutes
• Total time: 20 minutes

  Servings: 2

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Ingredients:

• 200g sourdough starter discard

• 1 medium leek (approx. 200g) finely sliced

• Pinch of salt and black pepper

• 1/4 tsp garlic granules

• 1 Tbsp olive oil

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Instructions:

1. Start by pouring out your sourdough discard into a bowl and stir through the salt, pepper, and garlic granules
2. Prepare your vegetables - here I used one leek which I washed and thinly sliced
3. Add the leek to the sourdough discard mixture and mix thoroughly to combine
4. Heat 1 Tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat, and spoon half the pancake mixture in. Use the spoon to flatten the mixture down into a thick pancake shape
5. After a few minutes, the underside should have developed a nice goldne, crispy coating. Carefull flip the pancake over using a spatula and cook the other side for another few minutes.
6. Eat as it is, or top with roasted vegetables, salad, hot sauce, pesto, or vegan aioli.

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Nutrition:

• Protein: 7.5g (Women: 15.0% / Men: 13.6%)

• Iron: 4.3mg (Women: 23.0% / Men: 49.4%)

• Calories: 301 (Women: 15.1% / Men: 12.0%)

• Sugar: 4.1g (Women: 4.6% / Men: 3.4%)

• Total Fats: 7.9g (Women: 11.3% / Men: 8.3%)

• Saturated Fat: 1.1g (Women: 5.5% / Men: 3.7%)

• Salt: 0.2g (Women: 3.3% / Men: 3.3%)

• Fibre: 3.0g (Women: 10.0% / Men: 10.0%)

  See the Nutrition Info page for more details on % of Dietary Reference Values for men and women.

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