These soft and fluffy low carb buns are made with psyllium husk powder and taste just like multigrain bread. Originally published in 2016, I’ve updated this recipe with better instructions and pictures.
The Best Psyllium Husk Bread I’ve Made So Far
Experimenting with psyllium husk has proved to be quite beneficial in my low carb recipes. Because of it, I’ve been able to make keto bagels, low carb tortillas and even low carb chocolate cake!
Psyllium husk is a form of fiber made from the husks of the Plantago plant’s seeds and it’s most commonly known and used as a laxative. However, it’s become quite popular in low carb baking and cooking as it acts exactly the way gluten does, as glue.
If you’ve ever tried baking a low carb recipe, you’ll notice that baked goods don’t always hold together and can fall apart quite easily. By adding a bit of psyllium husk to these recipes, it helps the batter stick together where you can form any shape you want.
I made low carb buns with the batter from this recipe, but honestly, you could make any shape you want. I’ve once made long sandwich buns and made a crispy chicken sandwich that looked like it was from Burger King, and it was absolutely amazing. Have fun with it and create whatever shape you’re looking for!
I decided to add different seeds to the batter because multigrain bread was one of my favourite breads to eat in my gluten eating days. If you don’t like seeds, feel free to skip them. You can also add other types of seeds if you wanted.
You can eat the bun as is when it’s cold to make sandwiches, you can toast it and spread butter on it, or even make small grilled cheeses with it. It’s one of the softest, most chewy bread you will ever make and it does not taste like eggs whatsoever, like most other recipes.
Great Psyllium Husk Uses
The greatest thing about psyllium husk powder is that it can also be used to thicken sauces, gravy or soups. If you do add too much however, it does have a gelatinous feeling to it so you have to be careful with the amount you add in.
Psyllium used in cooked foods needs to be mixed with enough fluid so that the husk can absorb and bulk up, reducing the risk of constipation.
When baking with it, most recipes will call for eggs or egg whites and hot water. The hot water helps the psyllium activate and activates its ‘glue’ properties.
You’ll notice that in all of my recipes where I use psyllium husk powder, I add hot water and lots of eggs. I find that by adding both ingredients, it helps double the recipe in size and also makes everything stick together without falling apart.
You’ll definitely want to check out these low carb psyllium husk recipes where you can decide what kind of recipes you’d like to try with it.
How to Make Psyllium Husk Bread
When making psyllium husk bread, the process it pretty similar in every recipe. You’ll first want to mix the dry and wet ingredients separately and then mix everything together.
After having mixed the batter ingredients together, the next step is usually to add the boiling water to the batter. You’ll notice that the batter, which includes psyllium husk powder, will absorb the liquid really quickly and bulk up. This is exactly what we want.
If you let it sit a few minutes, you’ll give it enough time to absorb all of the liquid, which will then let you separate the dough and make balls with your hands.
By making this recipe, you should be able to make five low carb buns, but in the pictures below I had doubled the recipe so I was able to make about 11 buns.
The size you make the buns is entirely up to you, but I tried to separate the dough evenly and make keto buns equal in size.
Once the low carb buns are formed, pop them into the oven for a good 30 minutes and they are ready to eat! How simple was that?
Tips to make these Low Carb Buns
Whenever I bake, I always measure all of my ingredients with a scale to make sure that for anyone who makes it, they will have an accurate recipe. I do not like to use cups in baking because depending on where you are in the world, the cup size will be different.
Also, depending on the altitude where you live, the weight of your ingredients will also differ. Finally, depending on whether you stuff you cups or not, the weight of the ingredients will be completely different which will give you an entirely different recipe.
I’ve made this recipe available in grams and ounces so that everyone can make this low carb bread recipe accurately without any problems.
Make sure to read the following tips so that you can make the best psyllium husk bread out there without problem!
- You cannot substitute the psyllium husk powder. This recipe will not work without it.
- You can store these at room temperature or inside a ziplock bag in the fridge. You can also freeze them. I would just slice them in half before freezing so you can toast them easily once you want to eat them again.
- I have not tried vegan eggs for this recipe, so not sure if that works. But you absolutely need the eggs and boiling water in this recipe.
- Instead of the coconut oil, you can use light olive oil, lard, butter, ghee, beef tallow, shortening. Any type of fat will work.
- I used refined coconut oil because extra-virgin coconut oil gave them an intense coconut taste (which I hate).
- Instead of the apple cider vinegar, you can use regular vinegar, rice vinegar or lemon juice. I used apple cider vinegar because I found it made them more fluffy.
- If you don’t want to add all of the seeds, that’s fine. You can skip them easily without any problems.
- When you form the balls with your hands, the batter is very sticky. It helps to spray some olive oil on your hands to avoid the batter sticking to your hands.
Keto Low Carb Buns with Psyllium Husk
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp boiling water
Dry Ingredients
- 100 g blanched almond flour (about 3/4 cup tightly packed)
- 2 tbsp psyllium husk powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp black sesame seeds
- 1 tsp white sesame seeds
- 2 tsp sunflower seeds
- 1 tsp black chia seeds
- 1/2 tsp Himalayan salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
Wet Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 2 egg whites
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice, white vinegar)
- 3 tbsp melted refined coconut oil (or butter, lard, shortening, ghee)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.
- In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients with a whisk. In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix with a silicone spatula.
- Slowly pour in the boiling water and continue mixing. The dough will be quite thick and expand as it absorbs the water.
- Separate the dough into 5 and form 5 balls with your hands (the batter is pretty sticky). You can spray some olive oil on your hands to make the dough not stick to you.
- Place the balls over parchment paper on a baking tray and bake for 30 minutes. Take out and let cool before serving or you'll burn your fingers! These come out piping hot!
WATCH THE RECIPE VIDEO (must disable adblocker)
Notes
- You cannot substitute the psyllium husk powder.
- Please don't leave out the boiling water. You need it to activate the psyllium.
- Make sure to use REFINED coconut oil and not the normal extra-virgin kind as you'll get a huge coconut taste.
- If you double the recipe, you may need to add 1-2 tbsp of hot water to the batter.
- All of our ovens are different, so if you find yours to be too moist, just add 5 more minutes in the oven, or cook them at 190C/375F instead for 30 minutes.
Nutritional information is provided through calculations made on fatsecret.com. They are approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on mypcoskitchen.com. Sugar alcohols are included in the fiber count. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber (which include sugar alcohols).
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Athena says
Great recipe.. Whole family loved them! Would it work as a loaf?
Mira says
It probably would, but won’t be very big! I haven’t tried myself, though.
divya says
hii, can i use whole husk instead of powder as thats what i have on hand.. of yes shall i half the quanity .. 1 tbsp instead of 2..?
Mira says
Hi Divya, I have not tried making it with whole husks, so am not sure!
Dawn says
I made these today followingg the recipe exactly and also got really runny dough. When I watched the video I noticed that you only use a tablespoon of water whereas the recipe calls for a 1/4 cup. What volume of water is actually required, if any?
Mira says
Hi Dawn, I use 1/4 cup of water. I add a tablespoon at a time and in the video, I just showed 1 tbsp to just say add water, but I put 1/4 cup in there. If your batter is runny, it’s probably because of the brand of psyllium you used. I recommend using the one from NOW as I’ve never had any problems with it.
ketoginac says
Thanks for sharing! Mine came out kinda purple but it could be because I used flax seed to substitute the black sesame… they tasted amazing! Hubby was happy too 😉
Mira says
The purple comes from some brands of psyllium!
Teresa says
I made these a little while back and found that ‘making the batter into a ball’ was hopeless. It was too runny. I was so careful with measurements and they tasted great but certainly didn’t look as nice as the pictures on here.
I just need the batter to be thicker I think. Would it be best to add more psyllium husk or more flour, or less water?
And yes, I waited on it to thicken itself up!
Mira says
Hi Teresa, it might be your brand of psyllium. I would try to add more psyllium to see if the dough consistency changes.
Elizabeth says
Wonderful dinner roll. So easy!!!!
5*star
JuGoKeto says
WOWZA! This is game changingly good!!!!!!! Found this morning, made for our brunch. I can’t believe how nice the taste and texture is – like real bread. Ecstatic!! THANKS
Lisa says
Hey:) thanks for the recipe, I will try it on the weekend. But before I have a question concerning your almond flour. Do you always use the one you have linked or do you change sometimes?! I am asking because the almond flour I get in the store here has completely different nutritional facts. Here is the comparison:
Serving of your flour (28gr.) 160 calories, 14 gr. Fat, 6 gr. Carbs and 6 gr. Protein. Serving of my flour (28 gr.): 106 calories, 3.4gr Fat, 2 gr. Carbs and 15 gr. Protein.
Do you think my flour will work too? Or should I try to get a flour that is much more „fatty“?
I hope you can help me with that. 🙂
Thanks and greets from Germany 🙂
Mira says
Hi Lisa, I always use the same flour for every recipe. Any almond flour will work though so your flour should be fine 🙂
Lisa says
Thanks for your quick answer 🙂
I just thought that my flour could be too „dry“ because of the smaller amount of fat in it.
I will try it and tell you later:)
Margaret says
Hi Mira
Thanks for the recipe! I know you mentioned that psyllium husk shouldn’t be substituted by anthing else but I have xanthan gum at hand, is this recommended?
Thanks!
Mira says
Hi Margaret, unfortunately it won’t work with xanthan gum. You really have to use psyllium for this recipe.
Sandy says
I have been making these for months and they are fantastic!! Thank you so much. I am wondering if a whole egg can be substituted for the two egg whites? I don’t want to ruin a batch by experimenting so thought I would ask. Not sure how important the two whites are to the perfect results but suspect they are necessary or you would have mentioned it. Asking anyway because it would just be easier to use two eggs for me.
Margarette says
Made these and both my husband and I liked them. Was really easy to make and I plan to make again.
Thank you and I look forward to trying some more of your recipes.
Melanie Rana says
Made these and they were sensational, I couldn’t believe that they were no carb as the texture, taste and look is exactly like what you would expect from regular bread rolls. This will definitely become a regular recipe I make to help us on our keto journey. Would I be able to use the same formula to make a bread loaf? Guys, the dough does get sticky but this is normal do the best you can to ball them up even if you still have it on your hand when. The results are incredible. Thanks, very much Melanie!
Rafaela says
I am getting back on my Keto horse and it’s been a little tricky, so I really needed something to replace bread so I could regain momentum, and OH MY GOD. I never tasted any other keto bread recipe that was close to this one in flavor and texture. I LOVED IT, I didn’t have garlic powder, so I used fried garlic flakes instead, and the garlic flavor when combined with the flavor of the seeds… it’s amazing. THANK YOU
Mairyn says
These are delish! I enjoyed making them and they are an easy substitute for normal hamburger buns! Thanks a bun full!
Paula says
So I doubled the recipe, thinking I could make larger buns. However instead of using actual egg whites, I used carton eggs whites (had it in the fridge and it needed to be used) and I found the dough to be fairly runny. I even let it sit for a bit and it was still runny.
I put it in my loaf pan, let’s see if it’ll make excellent Keto bread!
Janet CB says
Hi Paula,
Tell us how your bread came out! Even if it was different from your anticipated results, we can learn from your experience.
Thank you!
Lisa Lofing says
Made these today and they turned out really well! They are very dark in color (like dark rye), but I’m sure it is because of the phsyllium husk I used. The only change I would make is to add alot more seeds. I added yeast to this to try and get a yeast flavor (something I really miss), but it didn’t seem to add tothe flavor at all. Next time leave it out.
Thank you Mira for your hard work in getting wonderful recipes out there that most of us are missing after starting this new way of eating!!
Alex Lee says
Can I make them into bigger balls in order to get a bigger bun? Or would the insides not cook properly?
Mira says
Hi Alex, you can but they won’t get that big.
Tamar says
I came across this recipe late this afternoon, and because I have all the ingredients,made them immediately. So easy – and pretty tasty. The are indeed fluffy and chewy. I use psyllium husks frequently and my only problem is the slightly sweet taste – but that can be overcome with some thyme and lots of seeds. I will be making these buns a lot. Thanks for the great recipe.
NS says
This recipe turned out be disaster at first. Let me explain: I didn’t have black/white sesame seeds, and sunflower seeds due to allergies. Even though the recipe says “”If you don’t want to add all of the seeds, that’s fine. You can skip them easily without any problems””.
You WILL need more, actually ALOT more of almond flour to have the right consistency. Once i added all the “liquid” in the “dry” mix, it was soooooo quickly that it looked like a soup. Then I added half a cup of almond flour if not more to make the right consistency. Once I did that I was able to bake them without a problem. And they were delicious.
Mira says
Oh interesting! I’ve made them multiple times without the seeds and they’ve always turned out great.
Angie says
I guess it depends on the size of eggs.
Large eggs are way more fluid than normal or small sized eggs.
Jill says
Just had a go of making these buns and I’m very pleased with them. They are a nice size and look like the real thing. The taste surprised me as I found them to be a sweet taste but enjoyable all the same.
Maureen Jaeckel says
Can I use a mix of rice flour and arrowroot
Mira says
Hi Maureen, am not sure since I don’t eat high carb flours and starches. I haven’t tested baking with those flours.
Lee says
These are absolutely amazing! Turned out perfectly (albeit brown, due to the psyllium husk brand). Will definitely be making again and again!
Nancy says
Hi!
How would this work in a bread machine?
Mira says
Hi Nancy, I have not tried so am not sure!
Rebekah Samuels says
I would expect that it wouldn’t work, mainly due to the fact that you dont knead it, all you do is separately mix the wet and dry ingredients and then add them together and stir. It seems like a very easy recipe. And as it only takes 10 mins to prepare rather than hours in a bread maker, it would be better to make them by hand.
Marianna Pacheco says
I love your buns. I have baked them several times. I have loved the just right size buns and my BS are on target.
Today I went off the boat and since the buns had garlic in it, I added some turmeric, green chives, broccoli seeds, hemp seeds and some flax seeds. Well, let me tell you, it did not come out as a bun but as a “quick grab and go” kinda savory “cookie” :). I had to fight off my husband and kid to make sure I have one for tomorrow. Thank you for all the ideas. Love you and Bless you.
Lola says
Help!!!!
They turned completely purple! Followed recipe and used the ingredients suggested… still turned dark purple!
Mira says
Hi Lola, even if they’re purple, they still taste the exact same. Some psyllium husk does that. Just have to find a lucky batch that doesn’t turn purple. The colour doesn’t affect the taste whatsoever.
Donna says
This is the first time I have baked using psyllium powder. imaging my surprise when I opened th oven and found PURPLE rolls!
Waiting to cool down to see how they taste but the only difference was I used caraway instead of the sesame and sunflower seeds. Any explanation or way to avoid? — No that I have an issue with purple but others do.
Mira says
The purple is because of the brand of psyllium you used. Some turn out purple and some don’t. It all depends on the brand. But even the same brand can give different products. I always recommend NOW psyllium husk powder as I’ve never had any problems with it, but some who have tried it have mentioned that their breads turned purple too. Just have to find a batch of psyllium that doesn’t turn purple…
fizz says
can i use any other flour instead of almond flour since its expensive where i live ?
Mira says
You can use any other nut flour.
Petra says
Delicious; great texture and so easy, already shared the recipe with my friends 🙂
Sarah says
I followed the recipe to the ‘T’ but my rolls were pretty flat. Is there anything I could have done that caused this. They also came out brown.
Mira says
The colour depends on the type of psyllium you used and if you used blanched almond flour or not. For the flat part, is you baking powder still okay or is it passed expiration>
Ife says
Thanks recipe sounds great but I was wondering if I could substitute the almond flour with coconut flour as my daughter does not like the almond flavor.
Mira says
Hi Ife, coconut flour isn’t a 1:1 replacement for almond flour. You would need to change the dry and wet ingredients ratio.
Sally McKelvy says
Nummy!
Just made these today…in fact, this recipe is why I purchased psyllium husks.
Because many reviews of psyllium husks POWDER complained that it was too fine and flew around upon opening the bag, I opted for whole husks, which I then ground to a semi-fine state. This gave the crust a bumpy appearance, as though I’d added seeds (I did not).
I had to bake these an additional 15 minutes on 375, but that’s likely because of my wonky RV oven. (It’s necessitated many recipe adjustments, so I don’t believe it’s the recipes fault.)
The crust is perfect…I’m sure my next use of this recipe will be a pizza crust. But it’s pretty much guaranteed there WILL be a next time!
Thank you so much for your hard work to bring easy recipes to those of us new to Keto cooking. I’ll be combing your site with anticipation of what other goodies you’ve shared!
Nan says
Doesn’t taste like wheat bread to me but has a nice texture. Not bad at all. Will make again!
Majbritt says
Hi
You recipe looks amazing – except from the eggs… Do you think its posible to make a vegan version? Im thinking flax egg and/or baking powder? Wich function does the egg have i this recipe?
Thanks Again <3
Mira says
Hi Majbritt, I’m not really experienced in vegan baking so am not sure if flax eggs would work. Let me know if those work, though!
Baiba says
Maybe experiment with chia seeds. Put some in cup with water and leave over night. Google the proportions.