Vegetable Multigrain Buns — Soft, Gentle on the Stomach, One Batch Lasts a Week
By Vivian
Why You'll Love It
These vegetable multigrain buns are a carbohydrate blessing when you're managing blood sugar or cutting back. One bite is pure fluff, and chewing slowly gives you corn aroma and the sweetness of vegetables coming back. Full of fiber without spiking blood sugar too fast; straight out of the steamer, the smell of wheat and greens fills the house. Softer than bread but with more chew — better the more you eat.
Fermented staples are gentle on the stomach, and the carrot and spinach add plenty of fiber. Soft and fluffy, and kids like them too. If you're cutting back, one of these with an egg is a perfect breakfast. Eating something this honest on an ordinary day fills you with happiness 😁!
Ingredients
| Ingredients | |
|---|---|
| 3⅓ cups (400 g) all-purpose flour | ¾ cup + 2 tsp (100 g) fine cornmeal |
| 1¾ tsp (5 g) instant yeast | 1 tsp (5 g) salt |
| ½ tsp (2 g) baking soda | 4 oz (110 g) carrot |
| 4 oz (110 g) spinach | ¾ cup + 1 tbsp (200 ml) water |
Ingredient Notes
- Use fine cornmeal — coarse grind eats gritty.
- Blanch the spinach 30 seconds in salted water with a few drops of oil, cool it, then squeeze it dry before chopping.
- Grate the carrot, then chop it fine — small pieces don't feel hard in the bun.
- The 1 tsp (5 g) of salt isn't just seasoning; it firms up the gluten.
- The ½ tsp (2 g) baking soda offsets the cornmeal's tang and makes them more golden.
Instructions
-
1
Trim and wash the spinach. Bring water to a boil with 1 tbsp salt and a few drops of oil, blanch the spinach 30 seconds, take it out and cool it in cold water, then squeeze out the water and chop it. Peel the carrot, grate it finely, and chop it small.
-
2
In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, yeast, baking soda, and salt and stir with chopsticks. Add the vegetables and fold through, then pour in warm water while stirring until shaggy, and finish kneading by hand into a medium-firm dough. Flours absorb differently, so add water as needed.
-
3
In a cold room, cover the bowl and set it in 100°F (38°C) water (the water shouldn't come over the rim of the bowl) and let it rise to double, about 40 minutes — a finger poked in should leave a hole that neither collapses nor springs back.
-
4
Turn the risen dough out onto a floured board, knead 5 minutes to deflate, roll into a log, and cut into equal pieces.
-
5
Take one piece and work it from the edges toward the center to shape a bun. Set them in the steamer and let them rise again to 1½ times.
-
6
Start with cold water, bring to a boil over high heat, then drop to medium and steam 15 minutes (counting from boiling). Turn off the heat and rest 3 minutes before opening, then take them out to cool.
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7
Made this way, you'll never make enough — they're that good. If this showed up on your feed, give them a try.
-
8
To keep: once completely cool, seal them in bags and freeze up to a month. No need to thaw — steam from cold water for 10 minutes.
Recipe Notes
Vegetable Multigrain Buns
flour and cornmeal with finely chopped carrot and spinach, fermented and steamed into fluffy buns. Clean carbs that don't spike your blood sugar.
Time Needed
Prep Ahead
- Squeeze the blanched greens completely dry before chopping, or the dough turns too wet to shape.
- Steam a big batch, let them cool completely, seal, and freeze — no thawing needed, just 10 minutes in the steamer from cold water.
- 【Yield】4 cups (500 g) total flour makes 10–12 buns.
- 【Key ratios】All-purpose flour to cornmeal ≈ 4:1 (400:100), with ¾ cup + 1 tbsp (200 ml) water, 1¾ tsp (5 g) yeast, ½ tsp (2 g) baking soda, and 1 tsp (5 g) salt.
- 【Heat】Start with cold water, bring to a boil over high heat, then steam over medium 15 minutes (counting from boiling). Rest 3 minutes off the heat.
- 【Rising】First rise to double (about 40 minutes); after shaping, rise to 1½ times.
- 【Storage & reheating】Cool completely, seal, and freeze 1 month; steam 10 minutes from frozen, no thawing.
- 【Common problems】Firm buns mean too high a proportion of cornmeal or too little water. Vegetables leaking water softens the dough — squeeze the spinach thoroughly dry.
Nutrition (per 100 g, estimated)
| Calories | about 232 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | about 8 g |
| Fat | about 4 g |
| Carbohydrates | about 41 g |
| of which sugars | about 4 g |
| Fiber | about 3 g |
| Sodium | about 330 mg |
Estimated from the ingredient amounts, not lab tested. One bun is about 2.6 oz (75 g), roughly 174 kcal, calculated at 4 / 9 / 4 kcal per g of protein / fat / carbs.