Making bao buns is easier than you might think. You can fill these steamed buns with your favorite ingredients.
Bao buns are fluffy soft buns that originated in China. Homemade bao buns are easy, tasty, and these steamed buns can be filled with various ingredients.
They are often filled with different vegetables like cucumber, carrot, and red cabbage. Duck, chicken, or pulled pork goes perfectly with them, and a hoisin sauce completes the dish.
With this recipe, you make about 8 (or 10) bao buns, which is enough for 4 people as a lunch. You can also serve several vegetable dishes with it, like cucumber salad and edamame beans, to create a full meal.
This recipe contains the following allergens. Click on the allergen to search for alternative recipes.
Made by Véronique
Published at 2025-10-07, this recipe is for 4 persons and takes 45 minutes.
Founder of Ohmydish (since 2014), she prefers to spend all day in the kitchen. Once working in the hospitality industry as an independent chef, she loves helping you gain confidence in the kitchen. With her easy-to-follow recipes, handy tips, and cooking knowledge, you'll make the most delicious dishes yourself! The recipes are accessible to everyone, from beginners to advanced home cooks.
Updated at: 2025-10-08
You can knead the dough with an electric mixer or by hand.
Make sure the water and milk are lukewarm and dissolve the sugar and yeast in them.
Mix flour, salt, and baking powder together with the yeast mixture and knead this into a smooth and soft dough. This will take about 10 minutes.
Grease a bowl with a thin layer of oil and place the dough ball in the bowl. Cover it with a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rest for an hour.
Since there is not a lot of yeast, this dough will not rise too much but will become extra fluffy.
In the meantime, cut squares of baking paper for the buns to be steamed on (see the photo below).
Dust the countertop with a little flour and knead the dough again.
You can shape the dough in different ways, I find rolling and cutting the easiest. Roll the dough out to a thickness of about 0.5 centimeters.
Use a round cutter to cut out circles; my buns had a diameter of 10 cm.
Roll the remaining dough again; you can make about 8 to 10 buns - depending on the exact size.
Lightly roll each circle out to an oval and brush the top with a thin layer of oil.
Use a chopstick to fold the buns in half. Press down gently and remove the chopstick. Move the bun to a square piece of baking paper.
Repeat for all buns and cover them with a clean kitchen towel to prevent them from drying out.
If you don't have large steamers, place a large colander over a large pot. Fill the pot with a layer of water and bring it to a boil.
Place the buns in the colander and make sure they have space to rise slightly.
Steam the bao buns for about 10 minutes; you can check if they are done when they feel sticky and have become lighter. If they still feel heavy, you need to steam them a little longer.
Repeat for all bao buns and fill them with duck, chicken, and/or vegetables. Enjoy!
How long can you keep bao buns?
You can keep bao buns in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Can I make bao buns without a steamer?
Yes, you can also steam them in a large pot with a fitting colander and lid. The important thing is that the water does not touch the buns, but the steam will cook them.
Per 1 serving / piece:
| Amount | Ingredient | Allergens | Kcal | Carbs | Carbs of which sugars | Fat | Fat of which saturated | Protein | Fibers | Sodium | Iron | Calcium | Magnesium | Potassium | Phosphorus | Copper | Zinc | Iodine | Selenium | Vitamin C | Vitamin D | Vitamin A | Vitamin B1 | Vitamin B2 | Vitamin B6 | Vitamin B12 | Vitamin B11 | Vitamin E | Vitamin K | Vitamin K1 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | ml | water | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 16.25 | ml | milk | milk | 10.08 | 0.70 g | 0.70 g | 0.55 g | 0.34 g | 0.60 g | - | 7.15 mg | - | 19.50 mg | 1.63 mg | 26.00 mg | 16.09 mg | - | 0.08 mg | - | - | 0.33 mg | 0.02 mg | - | - | 0.03 mg | 0.01 mg | 0.07 µg | 0.65 µg | - | - | - |
| 0.25 | teaspoon | sugar | 5.03 | 1.24 g | 1.24 g | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.03 mg | 0.05 mg | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 0.38 | teaspoon | yeast | 10.66 | 0.91 g | 0.91 g | 0.11 g | 0.01 g | 1.26 g | 0.47 g | 1.84 mg | 0.11 mg | 1.31 mg | 4.20 mg | 36.75 mg | 3.15 mg | 0.09 mg | 0.21 mg | - | - | - | - | - | 0.32 mg | 0.53 mg | 0.12 mg | - | 76.13 µg | - | - | - | |
| 75 | gram | flour | gluten | 273.00 | 52.35 g | 1.13 g | 1.13 g | 0.15 g | 8.55 g | 2.10 g | 1.50 mg | 0.75 mg | 15.00 mg | 15.00 mg | 135.00 mg | 75.00 mg | 0.22 mg | 0.83 mg | - | - | - | - | - | 0.09 mg | 0.08 mg | 0.21 mg | - | 26.25 µg | - | - | - |
| 0.25 | teaspoon | baking powder | 1.56 | 0.39 g | - | - | - | - | - | 0.35 mg | - | - | - | 0.09 mg | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 0.25 | pinch of | salt | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 100.00 mg | - | 0.03 mg | 0.73 mg | 0.01 mg | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| sunflower oil | 33.04 | - | - | 3.74 g | 0.44 g | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |||
| 333.35 | 55.58 g | 3.97 g | 5.53 g | 0.94 g | 10.41 g | 2.58 g | 110.83 mg | 0.86 mg | 35.84 mg | 21.58 mg | 197.90 mg | 94.24 mg | 0.31 mg | 1.12 mg | - | - | 0.33 mg | 0.02 mg | - | 0.41 mg | 0.63 mg | 0.33 mg | 0.07 µg | 103.03 µg | - | - | - | ||||
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