7 Store-Bought Hamburger Buns, Ranked

Going out to your favorite gourmet burger chain to fill up on burgers and fries is always fun, but these days, more and more of us are trying to save money by cooking at home. Luckily, burgers are pretty easy to make, whether you choose to use a grill or stick with a skillet. Of course, picking out high-quality meat is important, as is ensuring that you have fresh, tasty toppings to add to the dish. But one element of homemade burgers that often gets overlooked is the bun. A hamburger bun is integral to a great hamburger, as it's responsible for keeping all the different parts of the sandwich together, providing structure. Plus, its texture and flavor can absolutely make or break your burger night.

There are plenty of different burger bun brands lining grocery store shelves, so I took it upon myself to try seven different varieties. I've ranked them from worst to best so you have a better idea of what you're getting into when you buy a package from any of these brands. The criteria I used for this ranking included flavor, texture, and size of the bun, which helped me determine where each variety should land on this list. We may not agree on every point, but by getting a better understanding of the hamburger bun landscape, your next burger night might just be a bit tastier.

Sometimes, store brand products offer basically the same level of quality that you'll find from the name brand version of the same thing. However, when it comes to Signature Select Hamburger Buns, that's not exactly the case. I wanted to like these buns, considering the fact that they were significantly cheaper than the other varieties on this list. But once I bit into one, I realized why the price point was so low.

These buns don't taste bad, but they're nearly flavorless. Sure, I'm not expecting an explosion of flavor from a hamburger bun, but eating one of these buns almost makes you feel like you're sick and have lost your sense of taste: You can pick up on the texture, but the flavor is absent. Texture-wise, too, these buns are too soft and spongy, and they don't hold up well to a juicy burger. You're almost guaranteed to have meat juice running down your arm within a few bites. Plus, their small size means that they're inappropriate for a lot of burgers out there — you're going to have to make your patties especially small. Unless you're really trying to watch your budget, there are much better hamburger buns to try.

Panera Bread is a restaurant that literally has "bread" in the name, so I expect the bread there to be particularly good. If you actually eat at Panera, I do think you're getting decent-quality bread. However, that doesn't necessarily translate to the brand's retail products, if these buns reflect their general quality. Panera's Soft Country White Bakery Buns, like the Signature Select's, have essentially no flavor to them at all. Again, I'd like just a hint of something going on there to make my burger more interesting, but I was met with an unending landscape of blandness.

These buns are also quite soft and spongy, but they definitely hold up a bit better than the Signature Select variety. They're also pretty large, which means you can fit a burger of any size on them, which is a plus. I also liked the sprinkling of flour on the top of the buns, although it seemed like it was mostly there for aesthetics instead of flavor. These Panera buns weren't the worst on the list, but I'd still choose most other brands over this variety.

If you're looking for standard hamburger buns that aren't going to offend anyone and will get the job done at your next grill out, then these Pepperidge Farm Soft White Hamburger Buns might be a good option. Are they anything special? Not really. However, they're so standard that we think they're a good option when trying to please a large crowd with diverse tastes.

The package isn't lying when it says that these buns are soft. They're quite spongy, with a lightness to them that lets you know you're not getting much heft here. I'd like them to be a bit more substantial to contend with particularly juicy burgers, but I found that they didn't disintegrate right away when met with moist toppings. These buns actually had a slight flavor to them — they tasted like any plain white bread you've ever had, which gives them an advantage over the aforementioned hamburger buns on this list. Their middle-of-the-road size means that they can handle a standard burger, although they might be a bit small for larger patties.

Not everyone likes sesame seeds on their hamburger buns. To be fair, it does make your sandwich instantly messier, as you'll have to deal with seeds falling everywhere, potentially getting on your clothes or lap. However, I'm ultimately a fan of sesame seeds on a burger bun. It makes the burger feel a bit more fancy, and the slight nutty flavor profile makes for a more interesting bite. That's exactly what you'll get with Arnold's Sesame Seed Buns.

You do, in fact, get a nutty edge to the flavor of these buns, which makes them stand apart from all of the other hamburger buns on this list. The bread itself isn't that flavorful, but the presence of the seeds makes a big difference. Although these buns were a bit too soft for my liking — like so many of the other buns on this list — they seemed to hold up well to a burger patty, even if the bread became rather flat after some time. It's a solid option for your next burger night, but don't think that any of your guests are going to be particularly excited about these buns.

When you want a bit more flavor to your buns, look no further than Ball Park's Butter Hamburger Buns. This brand represents a marked step up in terms of quality and flavor in this ranking, which is why it's landed in the top half. I love these buns specifically because of their butter-forward flavor. Does it taste like they're actually adorned with a layer of fresh butter? Maybe not. But there's an extra richness and fattiness in every bite that makes you feel like you're eating a bun that actually adds to a burger's deliciousness instead of just holding it all together.

These butter buns are quite soft, but they don't flatten quite as easily as some of their counterparts. That allows you to enjoy that spongy texture without having to worry about the integrity of your burger. The glossy texture of the outer bun seems to keep some of that juiciness where it belongs: in the burger itself. Their large size also makes for a more versatile burger-making experience. Ball Park already has a reputation for making some of the best grillable food products in grocery stores, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that the brand's buns are also on point.

Generally speaking, I prefer fresh bakery items over the plastic-packaged breads that are kept in a different part of the grocery store entirely. However, I have to admit that Sara Lee Artesano's products represent some of the best quality I've found in the more processed bread aisle. It doesn't come as a surprise, then, that the brand's Bakery Buns are some of the best I tried for this ranking.

They don't have a pronounced flavor, but these buns taste like actual, fresh bread. That yeasty quality is even more apparent once you've toasted them, so I definitely suggest doing so. They have a soft but very substantial texture that soaks up juiciness quite well, so I didn't worry about the burger I made with this bun being too messy at all. Plus, the dusting of flour on top makes for a more visually appealing burger, which is also a plus. When you're looking for a higher-quality hamburger bun to take your burger night to the next level, Sara Lee Artesano's Bakery Buns may just be the way to go.

When it comes to processed bread and rolls of any kind, whether you're making a burger, sliders, or just a plain sandwich, Martin's should be your go-to brand every single time. First of all, these potato rolls pack a surprising amount of flavor. There's that normal, yeasty flavor you taste in most types of bread, but there's also an added layer of starchy complexity, probably thanks to the inclusion of potatoes in the recipe. I also find that Martin's generally has a buttery quality to it that adds a lusciousness to everything it touches.

Although these buns are soft, they're also quite dense, which means they hold their own without becoming too flat, even after being in contact with a juicy burger patty for several minutes. The texture is smooth and velvety, and immediately makes a burger taste more appealing. Unfortunately, these buns aren't quite as large as I would like them to be, but the fact that they're so incredibly delicious means that I'll choose them for every burger night I have anyway. Give them a try the next time you're trying to improve your burger game.

I chose these hamburger bun varieties based on availability at my local grocery store. I aimed to select the most basic available product from each separate brand. 

The most important criteria for this ranking were flavor and texture. Flavor-wise, I first considered whether the bun in question had any perceptible flavor at all. Then, I evaluated its richness and complexity, with the richest and most complex bun flavors coming out at the top of the ranking. Texture-wise, I was looking for a bun with structural integrity that would hold the burger ingredients together nicely, along with a pleasant, dense mouthfeel that wouldn't overpower the other ingredients in the sandwich. 

The buns that offered said texture most successfully ranked higher than those that did not. I tried all of these buns both on their own and prepared simply with a cooked chicken patty and a thin spread of Trader Joe's organic mayonnaise.