Ranking 11 Store-Bought Hot Dog Buns, From Worst To Best

Hot dogs — along with burgers — are a summer staple. Regardless of how you feel about the idea of what's in a hot dog, you can't help but admit that there is something alluring about a slightly charred, plump dog, resting on a plush bun. These buns are used for other things, of course — New Englanders love to stuff hot lobster meat into them — though they are very obviously more associated with the hot dog than they are with any other food. And I reckon that a good hot dog is only as good as its bun.

The number of store-bought brands touting great hot dog buns is astonishing, which is why I wanted to try the most popular ones and rank them from worst to best. As such, I got my hands on as many styles of them as I could find, including classic, brioche, and potato-based buns. I tasted them both as-is and with a hot dog to see which one was not only the sturdiest (as this is the primary purpose of a hot dog bun) but also which had the most pleasant texture and flavor. Read on to find out which hot dog buns you should add to your cart, and which ones are better left in the bread aisle.

Going into this ranking, I didn't expect to find a brand that was outwardly bad — like, don't-add-it-to-your-cart-ever bad. But these Bettergoods rolls certainly fit that description. For one, there are only six buns in a pack. It's infuriating enough that there are always more hot dogs than buns in a package, but the fact that I have to buy more of these to make up for the eight in other packages aggravates me to no end. 

These rolls were also outright stale. Not only were they dry — so dry that I could probably hit someone over the head with them and knock them out — but they also split as soon as I opened them. There wasn't even a dog in my tongs, and they broke, which spells bad news for anyone serving them at a cookout. To add insult to injury, the dryness and lackluster flavor of these rolls was also a big drawback. On one hand, you want your buns to be somewhat dry, as they need to sop up condiments. But these were so dry that they separated from the hot dog and made me feel like I was chewing on wadded-up gauze.

I have learned my lesson here: Don't trust Walmart brands to make halfway decent hot dog buns. The plain Great Value White Hot Dog Buns were not as inedible or as stale as Bettergoods, but they were so poorly made and dry that they splintered in my hands when I tried to open one. As such, any hope of them holding a dog was completely gone. 

When I tried it with the hot dog, I noticed that the bread was spongy, though I felt like I was eating a dried-out kitchen sponge that was practically begging to get thrown out. While it would probably be okay at soaking up some mustard or ketchup, the sauces would likely turn it gummy and cause it to disintegrate even faster. It's a lose-lose bun, and not one that I would recommend using for hot dogs, brats, lobster, or anything else. I get wanting to avoid spending a ton on buns and focus more on the dogs, but this is a matter you simply can't put in the hands of Great Value.

When I tried these L'Oven Fresh Hot Dog rolls in the past, I was not impressed by them — at all. However, it would appear that Aldi has revamped its recipe a bit. Emphasis on "a bit," as these rolls were still not ones I would recommend adding to your cart. This go-round, the hinge was more stable and less resistant to cracking and breaking. However, it didn't offer anywhere near the same support as some of my higher-ranked hot dog buns. 

Like Great Value, these rolls splintered in my mouth as I ate them, which made me dislike them. The flavor was stale, though the texture was not. Had I let them sit out on the counter for a few hours, I would probably say otherwise, though, as it seems like they would stale very easily. Another downside of this bread was that it didn't taste like anything. There was nothing buttery, sweet, or flavorful about these rolls. It's like Aldi took its worst and cheapest sandwich bread and put it into a hot dog mold.

I would assume that a brand that knows how to make a good hot dog could also make a good bun. But I was wrong. Oh so very wrong. 

These Kayem Split-Top rolls were hopelessly dry. When I took one out of the bag, I noticed that it had an identical shape to the ones on its left and right sides. This uniformity was juxtaposed by the split on the top of the bun, which was all the way to the right side rather than in the center. As a result, the hot dog had to be eaten horizontally, like a sandwich, to prevent it from falling apart. I also got a ratio of about 80% bun on top and 20% underneath, which made for a dry, bland bite. It wasn't as dry as Aldi, Great Value, or Bettergoods, but it was still nowhere near where it needed to be.

The crust on the outside also flaked off easily — so easily that I could peel it off like a pore strip (which is perhaps the last thing I want to think of when eating a hot dog). It revealed a hopelessly dry interior beneath, which no amount of relish could hide. Compound that with absolutely no flavor, and you get a hot dog bun that's fit for the bin rather than a barbecue.

These rolls, which are sold under Aldi's premium foods brand, Specially Selected, look absolutely stunning. When I saw them on the shelves of my local store, I couldn't help but note that they shone in the light, making them instantly appealing. Their color is likely due to the fact that these aren't just any ol' hot dog rolls: They're brioche ... made in France brioche. Although they may hit the "authentic" mark here, I don't think there is anything authentic about eating a hot dog in a brioche bun.

Since these rolls are enriched with fatty ingredients (which gives them their color), they have an almost buttery flavor. However, the flavor of the butter conflicts with the flavor of the cheap hot dog. It's kind of like wearing a fancy prom dress and Converse sneakers: You feel cool in that moment, then look back on it and cringe. The cheap hot dog just doesn't jive with the flavor of the brioche, which is outwardly flabby — to the point where its flavor is distracting. 

Aldi clearly wanted this roll to scream "brioche," perhaps to distinguish it from the cheap, L'Oven Fresh buns. It tastes like the Specially Selected brioche loaf I've tried at Aldi in the past, though I would argue it makes a better fit for French toast than hot dogs. Structurally, this is a great roll; it's neither too dry nor too wet. But it just seems like overkill for a hot dog. Maybe put some hot lobster and drawn butter in it instead?

These Pepperidge Farm buns look a little worse for wear. However, I had high hopes for this company, which makes some of my favorite cookies (I even tried and ranked them) and some of the best whole wheat bread I've ever had. These buns were piled atop others at my local Walmart, which explains why they look like they were run over by an 18-wheeler. Although I initially suspected this was due to poor shelf stacking by a Walmart employee, I quickly realized that these buns are very, very susceptible to being smooshed because their texture is so moist and soft. 

The roll I tried had the texture of the center of a cinnamon roll: soft, impressionable, and became a chewy wad in your gums after mere minutes. It eats more like a soft piece of sandwich bread, albeit a tasty one. This bread was almost sweet, a refreshing change for my palate after I had sampled dry roll after dry roll. However, when eaten with the hot dog, I found that this sweetness and texture quickly became a disadvantage. 

If you were eating it with something like a bratwurst — which is thicker and juicier than the cheap Aldi hot dogs I tried these buns with — the roll would not only alter the flavor but also gum up rather than soak up condiments, juice, and the like. It's weird to say, but I would only like to eat this roll without anything else — perhaps a little bit of peanut butter? While it can actually hold a dog without fracturing, the gumminess kept it from the top spots. 

I tried the Artesano Potato Rolls to see how they compared to Martin's, a brand that I grew up eating. At first, I doubted that these rolls were actually potato bread. They were dry and almost stale, though I wouldn't go so far as to say that they were inedible. I just expected potato bread to be a bit more moist and soft all around. This dryness was not only on the exterior "crust" but also where the crust met the interior and around the hinge of the bread, which split relatively easily. I assumed that the inclusion of potato would give the bread a bit more pliability and act as insurance against splitting, but apparently not. Eat this one with caution.

The roll itself offered a distinctive potato flavor that almost teetered on the edge of pineapple- or coconut-like. It's like it once took a vacation to Hawaii and called itself a local from there on out. Paired with the sweetness of the hot dog (which was made with chicken, beef, and pork), it worked. But if you were to pair it with a dog (or brat) that was less sweet, you might run into a butting of heads. The textural issues with this roll slid it back in the ranking, but I wouldn't refuse a hot dog made with it at a cookout. It's not inedible, but I'm not "wowed" (this seems to be the theme here).

Stop & Shop, a staple in my home state of Rhode Island, sells both Homestyle Hot Dog Rolls and Split-Top Hot Dog Rolls. I was contending between which of the two to try, and ended up going with the former. Hindsight is 20/20, because the split-top version would have been much better. The reason being? The ratio of bread to hot dog. These rolls were thick and dense and swallowed up the hot dog entirely. I can't say what the golden ratio of bun-to-dog is, but this one was leaning toward 70/30, which is far too much. I couldn't taste the hot dog at all. 

However, the bun's flavor isn't bad, so I didn't complain. It has balanced notes of yeast and salt, with a subtle creaminess that was almost buttermilk-like. If this was loaded up with all the fixins for a proper Italian sub, I would have been all over it. But since the focus here is how well the bun supports the dog, I have to say I am firmly in the "don't buy it" camp. Could you use a larger hot dog with this roll and have it still be passable? Yeah, probably. But I used a standard-sized dog for this taste test, so I would say all hope is lost for the homestyle rolls. 

The Ball Park Hot Dog Buns, in short, do their job. The crumb structure was much more open and bready — akin to the cheap Wonder Bread of my youth — but there was some fracturing along the bottom. It wasn't as egregious as Aldi's hot dog buns, and as long as you're careful when eating them, you likely won't spill any mustard on your shirt — or worse, drop your dog. I also appreciated that these rolls weren't as outwardly stale as some of the other brands, like Bettergoods. Their open-crumb structure, which toes the line between dry and moist, would be a good home for condiments, hot dog grease, or your favorite hot dog chili. 

But by this point in the ranking, I was kind of expecting a hot dog bun with a bit more character. The roll was doughy and yeasty enough, but it lacked any lingering notes that would make me compliment it at a barbecue. Although I do think that a good hot dog roll should just harbor the dog inside (or the brat, the lobster, or really whatever you want to put inside it), I was left wishing there was more salt, depth, flavor, or something to make it memorable. There is nothing about Ball Park's rolls that makes me want to dislike them, but there is also inherently nothing great about them either. It's a safe yet middling pick. 

Bimbo (pronounced "beembo" — which I didn't know until this ranking) is a bread brand I am familiar with, as it's the one my dad bought before my mom went on a health kick and refused to keep it in the house. This pack of hot dog rolls is so unassuming and plain, and the same goes for its flavor. There is nothing memorable and unique about these rolls. Their structure is slightly less dry than Ball Park's rolls, which is why it earned a higher spot on my list. However, it's not so moist that it couldn't effectively soak up condiments. I appreciated this textural balance, which the lower-ranked brands did not offer.

Another big sell for these rolls was that their hinge was very strong and sturdy. There is no way that these rolls are ripping or breaking, no matter how heavy the brat or hot dog is. It's clear that Bimbo put a lot of work into the product engineering, and it pays off in a big (and mess-free-for-me) way. The one criticism I do have of them, though, is that there seems to be a crust issue. The crust on these rolls is flaky — like a cheap store-bought white bread — and interferes with the mouthfeel of the soft interior and the juicy hot dog. At this point in the ranking, I'm really splitting hairs, but it's still a factor that kept Bimbo from a top spot on this list.

I try not to go into rankings with the assumption that any one brand would win. But I'll be honest: I had a feeling Martin's Potato Rolls would be leaps and bounds above the others. This type of bread is unique because it's enriched with potato-based ingredients — such as starch or flakes — that make it chewier. "Chewy" isn't normally a good thing with hot dog buns, but in this case, the added moisture and elasticity prevented the hinge on the roll from cracking. It also gave this roll a sweet flavor, though not as sweet as the artificial-tasting Artesano rolls. It was not pineapple-y or coconut-y, meaning it could house a dog, brat, lobster, or basically anything without altering its flavor.

This roll also eats well. It didn't get gummy like the Specially Selected brioche, and it wasn't so enriched that it came off as buttery or flabby. I would have especially liked to toast it on the grill with a bit of butter so that the outside crisps up even more and better contrasts the soft, non-stale interior.

You will spend a little more on the Martin's rolls than other brands, but in this case, their sublime texture and flavor certainly warrant spending a couple extra bucks. Whether you're throwing a cookout or eating hot dogs for a simple, affordable dinner, these are the rolls you want to have with them.

To ensure the rolls were at peak freshness, I sampled them on the day that I purchased them, both plain and with an Aldi chicken, beef, and pork hot dog. I did not toast them or add any condiments, though I did note whether toasting could help improve these buns and how well they would soak up condiments, as this is one of the essential functions of a hot dog roll. Aside from acting as a sponge for relish, hot dog grease, and other unconventional hot dog toppings, a good hot dog roll should support the dog without disintegrating or cracking along the bottom hinge. 

The roll's flavor was also a consideration, as I wanted something neutral enough to let the hot dog shine but flavorful enough that it didn't just feel like a dry piece of sandwich bread. Rolls that were overly dry or had a poor mouthfeel ranked lower than ones that tasted fresh, fulfilled the job description of a hot dog bun, and would stand out at any cookout.