Always Buying Hot Dog And Hamburger Buns? Here's The Only One You Need

As the weather warms up and barbecue season approaches, everyone's on the hunt for shortcuts, hacks, and ways to save money on their favorite foods. The common conundrum? Prepackaged hot dogs and burgers often come in packs of 10, while their corresponding buns and rolls tend to be sold in packs of eight. This mismatch means if you want just enough bread for one package of your chosen meat, you'd typically need to buy two separate bundles, leaving you with extra. And if you purchase another pack of hot dogs, you still end up with more dogs than buns, rather than the other way around.

That's why we suggest a simple, cost-effective solution: purchasing only hot dog buns. A leftover hot dog bun can be easily cut into several sections to create the perfect size for a bacon cheeseburger slider (or any kind of slider!), closely resembling a King's Hawaiian Sweet Roll. This smart trick is ideal for anyone tired of buying mismatched quantities of burger buns.

Surprisingly, experimenting with the use of hot dog buns for burgers — and vice versa — is so common that several clever approaches exist. One method involves turning burgers into sliders by using a pizza cutter to divide the patties into smaller sections, making them the right size to fit three in a single hot dog bun. Another method suggests slicing a burger patty in half lengthwise, sliding one half into a hot dog bun, and topping it with a thin layer of lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and whatever fixings you like. Be sure to toast the hot dog bun first, so that ketchup, mustard, grilled onions, or any other topping doesn't make the bun too soggy to hold up.

While it's possible to use a hamburger bun for hot dogs, achieving the perfect bun-to-dog ratio with this method requires some compromises. You might end up using two halves of different buns for just one hot dog, which would defeat the original purpose of using fewer buns. Another option is to simply cut the hot dog in half. Or, you could create a hot dog burger, where the hot dogs are cut up and then arranged on a hamburger bun.

No matter which method you choose, having hot dog buns as your only bread option provides much-needed versatility. Without buying multiple types of bread, you can focus your attention on upgrading the hot dog itself and making your next backyard soiree one to remember.