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7 Nutritious Burger Bun Alternatives for Grilling Season
While there are plenty of protein options for your burger, from beef and turkey to meatless alternatives, buns are usually an afterthought.
“Most of the time a bun is made from white bread, which isn’t exactly adding any nutrition to a meal that is already highly processed — so there’s lots of room for improvement,” says Karen Ansel, RDN, Syosset, New York–based author of Healing Superfoods for Anti-Aging.
Fortunately, there are a lot of low-carb options. “If you’re looking to cut down on calories or carbs, you can always choose a thinner bun or do an ‘open-faced’ burger or dog with only half the bun,” says Christy Brissette, RDN, Chicago-based president of 80 Twenty Nutrition.
If you’re not that into bread buns anyway, you’re in luck. Because of eating fads like going gluten-free, plant-based, or keto, there are plenty of naturally low-carb, plant-based bun alternatives at your disposal.
Whatever your reason, our list of delicious bun alternatives can help make your burger a little healthier. We list the raw nutrition data for each veggie, but keep in mind that the nutrient values may change somewhat as you process, season, and cook them. Still, the alternatives below are healthier than a simple white bread bun.
Portobello Mushrooms
“One of my go-to bun swaps is grilled portobello mushrooms. They are low in calories and can be easily made on the grill while you cook your burgers,” says Brissette. And did we mention their circular shape makes them the perfect bun substitute?
These mushrooms come with a whole host of health perks. “I’m a big fan of mushrooms for their beta-glucans, compounds that are being researched for their role in preventing cancer,” says Brissette.
To make your portobello buns, keep it simple with some olive oil or zest the mushrooms up with your favorite spices. For the bold, try food blogger Olivia Ribas’s portobello guacamole burger. The Primavera Kitchen owner from Toronto spices up her sandwich with some Dijon mustard, plenty of cilantro, and a hefty helping of guacamole.
Cauliflower Buns
From pizza crusts to fried rice, it seems as though there’s nothing cauliflower can’t take on, including the bun!
“Like with pizza, cauliflower is popping up in buns as well,” says Ansel. Just be mindful of what’s in the recipe. “While they are a good alternative if you’re watching carbs, they can contain a fair amount of cheese,” Ansel says. “So depending on the recipe, they’re not automatically healthier.”
For the perfect bun substitute, try this cheeseless “Everything Bagel” Cauliflower Rolls recipe from Lexi Davidson, Boston-based founder of Lexi’s Clean Kitchen. These are a great substitute for dinner rolls, bagels, and sandwich buns. The buns include only 57 calories and 5.1 grams of carbs, plus a boost from 2.4 grams of fiber (8.5 percent of your DV) and 3.6 grams of protein.
Grilled Pineapple Buns
Dress up your hamburger with lettuce, cheese, and a grilled pineapple slice as a bun, and you’re getting close to everyone’s favorite type of pizza to love or hate: Hawaiian. Pineapples also contain a number of health benefits, including aiding digestion and helping to lower inflammation.
Sweet Potato Buns
Try this sweet potato bun recipe from Bri McKoy, Hermosa Beach, California–based founder of the Ambitious Kitchen food blog, to test it out! The bun is paleo and gluten-free, too.
Eggplant Buns
“Eggplant buns are basically slices of grilled eggplant, which can be a really tasty bun alternative,” says Ansel. “I actually prefer these to cauliflower buns because they have fewer added ingredients that bump up the fat and calories.” (Cauliflower buns can include, for example, almond and coconut flour, like the ones featured above.)
Although you can get as creative as you want with seasoning, olive oil and salt are just about all you need to make this work. Alice Choi, writer and creator of Hip Foodie Mom from Malvern, Pennsylvania, has the perfect Grilled Eggplant Bun Burger recipe.
Lettuce
Using a fresh, crispy wedge of iceberg lettuce in place of a heavy, carb-filled bun adds both texture and crunch to your meal.
Zucchini Buns
One thing you probably never thought to make with zucchini is a bun. Alyssa Rimmer, New York City–based creator of the gluten-free blog Simply Quinoa, loves to incorporate the rich, summary taste of grilled veggies in her dishes, and her Herbed Turkey Burgers With Zucchini Buns are no exception!
Not only does zucchini taste delicious as a bun, but it comes with big health bonuses, too. “Zucchini contains the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin, which support healthy eyesight and skin, perhaps even slowing signs of aging,” says Brissette.
Time to serve yourself up a burger today — traditional bun optional.
The Takeaway
- Swapping vegetable alternatives for white bread buns means no refined carbohydrates and potentially fewer calories.
- Many vegetables offer a low-carb alternative for surrounding your grilled protein.
- Substituting vegetables also means added nutritional benefits, such as extra vitamins, more fiber, antioxidants, and possible cancer-preventing compounds.
Additional reporting by Jamie Putman.
Reyna Franco, RDN
Medical Reviewer
Reyna Franco, RDN, is a New York City–based dietitian-nutritionist, certified specialist in sports dietetics, and certified personal trainer. She is a diplomate of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and has a master's degree in nutrition and exercise physiology from Columbia University.
In her private practice, she provides medical nutrition therapy for weight management, sports nutrition, diabetes, cardiac disease, renal disease, gastrointestinal disorders, cancer, food allergies, eating disorders, and childhood nutrition. To serve her diverse patients, she demonstrates cultural sensitivity and knowledge of customary food practices. She applies the tenets of lifestyle medicine to reduce the risk of chronic disease and improve health outcomes for her patients.
Franco is also a corporate wellness consultant who conducts wellness counseling and seminars for organizations of every size. She taught sports nutrition to medical students at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, taught life cycle nutrition and nutrition counseling to undergraduate students at LaGuardia Community College, and precepts nutrition students and interns. She created the sports nutrition rotation for the New York Distance Dietetic Internship program.
She is the chair of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine's Registered Dietitian-Nutritionist Member Interest Group. She is also the treasurer and secretary of the New York State Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, having previously served in many other leadership roles for the organization, including as past president, awards committee chair, and grant committee chair, among others. She is active in the local Greater New York Dietetic Association and Long Island Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, too.
