You only need 7 ingredients to make these dinner rolls. Flaky, soft, and buttery, these fresh dinner rolls outshine any main dish. If you’re a bread beginner, read this blog post to learn more about the yeast rolls recipe, including how to prep the rolls ahead of time. You can also reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
This recipe is brought to you in partnership with Red Star Yeast.
- Do you long to bake homemade bread but are too intimidated to start?
- Does yeast dough send you running for the hills?
- Do bread recipes seem overly complicated and confusing?
I’m teaching you how to make homemade dinner rolls. These are the best homemade dinner rolls I’ve ever had and it all starts with a straightforward 7-ingredient dough. I make these rolls whenever I get the chance and even brought a pan to our friends who just welcomed a baby. They’re pillow-soft with the most delicious flaky and buttery texture. Everyone will demand you bake them on repeat.
And with this recipe, I guarantee you will finally feel confident baking bread. 🙂
This recipe is such a fan favorite, that it deserved a spot in print! You’ll also find this recipe in my cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.
Video Tutorial: Dinner Rolls
Let’s start with a video tutorial.
Overview: How to Make Homemade Dinner Rolls
- Make the dough. Continue below to learn more about this dough recipe.
- Knead the dough. Reference my How to Knead Dough video tutorial if you need extra help with this step.
- Cover the dough and let it rise. The dough rises in about 1-2 hours in a relatively warm environment.
- Punch down the dough to release the air and shape into rolls.
- Let the rolls rise for about 1 hour.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. If desired, brush the warm rolls with a little honey and melted butter for extra flavor.
As shown in the video tutorial, the dough comes together with a mixer. You can use a paddle attachment or a dough hook. You can also make the dough by hand, but it requires a bit of arm muscle. After the dough comes together in the mixing bowl, it’s time to knead. You can simply continue beating the dough with the mixer for this step or you can knead the dough by hand. I chose to knead the dough by hand so you can see me doing it in the video above.
If you’re new to bread making, my How to Knead Dough post and video can help even more with this step. And my Baking with Yeast Guide is a wonderful resource for all bread beginners!
Soft Dinner Rolls Require a Rich Dough
The crustier and chewier the bread, the less fat in the dough. This is known as a lean dough. The softer and richer the bread, the more fat in the dough. This is known as a rich dough. Unlike chewy homemade bagels, focaccia, ciabatta, and my artisan bread, soft dinner rolls require a rich dough. Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean that the dough is swimming in cash. Rather, “rich” correlates with the amount of fat. For example, this dough has milk, butter, and egg.
You need 7 ingredients total. They’re the same ingredients in my easy cinnamon rolls and homemade brioche, which are also rich doughs. (Though I use more sugar for sweeter cinnamon rolls, of course.)
- Milk: Liquid activates the yeast. For the softest dinner rolls, use whole milk. Nondairy or low fat milks work too, but whole milk produces phenomenal flavor and texture.
- Yeast: You can use active dry yeast or instant yeast. If using active dry yeast, the rise times will be a little longer. I recommend Platinum Yeast from Red Star, which is an instant yeast blended with natural dough improvers.
- Sugar: Sugar feeds the yeast, increases its activity, and tenderizes the dough.
- Egg: 1 egg provides structure and flavor.
- Butter: Butter promises a flavorful and soft dinner roll. Make sure it’s room temperature.
- Salt: You can’t make flavorful bread without salt!
- Flour: You can use all-purpose flour or bread flour in this recipe. All-purpose flour is convenient for most, but bread flour produces chewier dinner rolls. There are no other changes to the recipe if you use bread flour.
Once you make the dough, let it rise:
After that, punch down the risen dough. Shape into balls and arrange in a baking pan. Don’t worry if they’re not all uniform in size.
Let the shaped rolls rise before baking. Look how puffy they get after 1 hour of rising:
How to Shape Dinner Rolls
You can shape this dough many different ways including twisted rolls, knotted rolls (how I shape garlic knots), cloverleaf rolls, or even hot dog buns. Let’s stick with the basic round shape. Divide the dough into 14-16 pieces. Take a piece and stretch the top of the dough while pinching and sealing the bottom. Make sure the rolls are smooth on top and sealed on the bottom. I shape hot cross buns the same exact way.
How to Make Yeast Rolls Ahead of Time
The rolls require around 3 hours of rising. Not everyone has 3 hours to spare, so let’s discuss another option! Prepare the dough, let it rise, and shape the rolls. Cover the shaped rolls tightly and refrigerate for up to about 16 hours. At least 3 hours before you need them the next day, remove the rolls from the refrigerator and allow to rise on the counter for about 1-2 hours before baking.
And here’s how to freeze dinner rolls: Follow the make-ahead instructions and instead of refrigerating overnight, freeze the rolls in a baking pan. Once frozen, they won’t stick together anymore and you can place them in a freezer bag. Let them thaw and rise for about 4-5 hours, then bake. You can also freeze the baked dinner rolls. Therefore, if you want a smaller batch, you can make the entire recipe and bake only a few fresh rolls at a time.
These make-ahead options are especially helpful if you want fresh-baked rolls for Easter brunch, Thanksgiving dinner, or on Christmas.
Dinner Roll Flavors
How about some pizazz? Mix in these ingredients when you add the flour.
- Rosemary Dinner Rolls – 2 Tablespoons fresh or dried chopped rosemary.
- Cheddar Dinner Rolls – 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese. Other cheese varieties work, but avoid super soft cheeses.
- Garlic & Herb Dinner Rolls – 2 teaspoons each: dried rosemary, dried basil, & dried parsley, along with 1 teaspoon garlic powder.
- Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls
- Brown Butter Sage Dinner Rolls
- Honey Butter Rolls
- Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls
- Oatmeal Molasses Dinner Rolls
- Multigrain Rolls – Here is my Multigrain Bread recipe that you can turn into rolls.
They’re also fantastic with a simple swipe of homemade honey butter or homemade cinnamon butter.
This dough is not ideal for a big loaf of bread. Instead, I recommend using a leaner dough, such as my sandwich bread or whole wheat bread recipes. If you need an egg free dough, try homemade breadsticks instead. And if you love pizza, try these pizza pull apart rolls next!
3 Success Tips
- Reference my Baking with Yeast Guide, which answers many common yeast FAQs.
- Make sure your yeast isn’t expired. Expiration date is on the package.
- Directly from the pros at Red StarYeast: Measuring flour correctly is key to avoiding a dense dough, which leads to heavy (not soft!) rolls. Spoon and level your flour, do not scoop it out of the package.
My final piece of advice? Don’t limit these rolls to suppertime. They’re welcome anywhere, with any meal, any time of day. Use for sliders, breakfast sandwiches, soaking up your favorite tomato sauce with slow cooker turkey meatballs, alongside salad, or dunking into a bowl of creamy chicken noodle soup. Above all, don’t doubt yourself because you, too, can become a bread baking pro.
Soft Dinner Rolls Recipe
- Prep Time: 3 hours, 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 22 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 45 minutes
- Yield: 14-16 rolls
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
You only need 7 ingredients to make these dinner rolls. Flaky, soft, and buttery, these fresh dinner rolls outshine any main dish. See recipe notes for freezing and overnight instructions. You can also reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs. This recipe is also in my cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (240ml) whole milk, warmed to about 110°F (43°C)
- 2 and 1/4 teaspoons Platinum Yeast from Red Star instant yeast (1 standard packet)
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp; 56g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature and cut into 4 pieces
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups (390g) all-purpose flour or bread flour* (spooned & leveled)
- optional topping: 2 Tablespoons (28g) melted unsalted butter mixed with 1 Tablespoon honey
Instructions
- Prepare the dough: Whisk the warm milk, yeast, and 1 Tablespoon of sugar together in the bowl of your stand mixer. Cover and allow to sit for 5 minutes. *If you do not own a stand mixer, you can do this in a large mixing bowl and in the next step, mix the dough together with a large wooden spoon/silicone spatula. It will take a bit of arm muscle. A hand mixer works, but the sticky dough repeatedly gets stuck in the beaters. Mixing by hand with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula is a better choice.*
- Add the remaining sugar, egg, butter, salt, and 1 cup flour. With a dough hook or paddle attachment, mix/beat on low speed for 30 seconds, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula, then add the remaining flour. Beat on medium speed until the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 2 minutes. If the dough seems too wet to a point where kneading (next step) would be impossible, beat in more flour 1 Tablespoon at a time until you have a workable dough, similar to the photos above. Dough should be soft and a little sticky, but still manageable to knead with lightly floured hands.
- Knead the dough: Keep the dough in the mixer and beat for an additional 5 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5 full minutes. (If you’re new to bread-baking, my How to Knead Dough video tutorial can help here.) If the dough becomes too sticky during the kneading process, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of flour at a time on the dough or on the work surface/in the bowl to make a soft, slightly tacky dough. Do not add more flour than you need because you do not want a dry dough. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your finger—if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. You can also do a “windowpane test” to see if your dough has been kneaded long enough: tear off a small (roughly golfball-size) piece of dough and gently stretch it out until it’s thin enough for light to pass through it. Hold it up to a window or light. Does light pass through the stretched dough without the dough tearing first? If so, your dough has been kneaded long enough and is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading until it passes the windowpane test.
- 1st Rise: Lightly grease a large bowl with oil or nonstick spray. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat all sides in the oil. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rise in a relatively warm environment for 1-2 hours or until double in size. (I always let it rise on the counter. Takes about 2 hours. For a tiny reduction in rise time, see my answer to Where Should Dough Rise? in my Baking with Yeast Guide.)
- Grease a 9×13 inch baking pan or two 9-inch square or round baking pans. You can also bake the rolls in a cast iron skillet or on a lined baking sheet.*
- Shape the rolls: When the dough is ready, punch it down to release the air. Divide the dough into 14-16 equal pieces. (Just eyeball it– doesn’t need to be perfect!) A bench scraper is always helpful for cutting dough. Shape each piece into a smooth ball. Arrange in prepared baking pan.
- 2nd Rise: Cover shaped rolls with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Allow to rise until puffy, about 1 hour.
- Adjust oven rack to a lower position and preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). (It’s best to bake the rolls towards the bottom of the oven so the tops don’t burn.)
- Bake the rolls: Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on top, rotating the pan halfway through. If you notice the tops browning too quickly, loosely tent the pan with aluminum foil. Remove from the oven, brush with optional honey butter topping, and allow rolls to cool for a few minutes before serving.
- Cover leftover rolls tightly and store at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Prepare recipe through step 6. Place shaped rolls in a greased baking pan, cover tightly, and freeze for up to 3 months. Once frozen, the dough balls won’t stick together anymore and you can place them in a freezer bag if needed. On the day you serve them, arrange the dough balls in a greased baking pan, cover tightly, then let them thaw and rise at room temperature for about 4-5 hours. Bake as directed. You can also freeze the baked dinner rolls. Allow them to cool completely, then freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature, then reheat as desired. If reheating the whole pan, lightly cover and reheat in a 300°F (149°C) oven for about 10 minutes or until warm.
- Overnight Instructions: Prepare the recipe through step 6. Cover the shaped rolls tightly and refrigerate for up to about 15 hours. At least 3 hours before you need them the next day, remove the rolls from the refrigerator, keep covered, and allow to rise on the counter for about 1-2 hours before baking. Alternatively, you can let the dough have its 1st rise in the refrigerator overnight. Cover the dough tightly and place in the refrigerator for up to about 15 hours. Remove from the refrigerator and allow the dough to fully rise for 2 more hours. Continue with step 5.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Stand Mixer or Glass Mixing Bowl and Wooden Spoon / Spatula | 9×13-inch Glass Baking Pan | Bench Scraper | Pastry Brush
- Baking Pan: I prefer baking the rolls in a glass 9×13 inch baking pan because I find they brown a little too quickly in metal. As long as you bake the rolls on a lower oven rack and keep your eye on them, any pan is great.
- Yeast: Platinum Yeast from Red Star is an instant yeast. You can use Red Star Yeast active dry yeast instead. Rise times will be slightly longer using active dry yeast. Reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
- Flour: You can use all-purpose flour or bread flour. All-purpose flour is convenient for most, but bread flour produces chewier dinner rolls. The rolls are still soft and fluffy no matter which you use. Either flour is fine and there are no other changes to the recipe if you use one or the other.
Adapted from Homemade Bread Bowls and Honey Butter Rolls
Reader Comments and Reviews
I made these dinner rolls before and it turned out so good. I also used the same recipe few days for my ham and cheese rolls and I forgot to put the egg. It still turned out really good and my bf asked me to make it again. So now I’m making a new batch of ham and cheese rolls with this recipe and added rosemary and parsley. Hopefully it’ll turn out just as good if not better.
I used this recipe with instant dry active yeast packets and i dont know where i went wrong. My dough didnt rise at all, not for the first rise or second. They took 30 minutes go even slightly brown and stayed dense.
Hi Max, it’s possible the rolls were over-handled when shaping. If it’s helpful, see our What if My Dough Isn’t Rising? section in our Baking with Yeast guide.
Easiest recipe for bread I’ve ever used. No actual kneading needed since I was able to use my dough hook.
The search for a recipe for soft dinner rolls is over. I’ll never use another!! These came out just absolutely perfect, soft and delicious. Thank you for the recipe
This made rolls for my family for dinner, and with limited experience, it was an instant hit. My wife said, this is the best bread youve ever made. So for that, and the straight forwardness, even a dude can now make dinner rolls thanks to you Sally! God bless you and your family, and may the peace of Christ be with you all! (I lost the recipe but remembered key words, so now I found it again and am good to go!
This is the only roll recipe I will use for the rest of my life, these turned out perfectly. I cooked them in a cast iron and they were absolutely delicious.
Turned out well… but…the flour measurement is too short. After 3 cups, I had to keep adding several tablespoons more to obtain the correct consistency.
This is the best buns recipe ever!! One question. For convection oven, any suggestions? Need to use one today and im scared to fudge it. It doesn’t bake as well as regulard oven.
Hi Jenn, If you do use convection/fan settings for baking, lower your temperature by 25 degrees F and keep in mind that things may still take less time to bake.
I’ve never made bread before and needed a beginner recipe. I followed this recipe as written. These rolls are PHENOMENAL. Fluffy, buttery, yeasty, ho gawd. I’m going to make them all the time.
I have used several of your recipes before and have loved them all. This roll recipe is absolutely amazing. It’s so easy and makes the most perfect rolls ever. It is my go to roll recipe forever. Thank you so much for sharing.
So light and fluffy! Out of this world! Goodbye to store bought rolls on the holidays.
If I could give 10 stars , I would. My 14 year old grandson loves Texas Road house rolls with the cinnamon ‘honey butter. He said these dinner rolls were the best he’s eaten. And he ate 5!
Sally, this weekend I made pizza from scratch using your pizza dough recipe and now these wonderful light and fluffy yeast rolls. Both breads were absolutely divine and I would not have attempted without your assistance. Please know that I am grateful for your expertise, your specific instructions, and the quick response I always receive when I need assistance. I am so blessed with good health in my 70’s…..it allows me to cook for my family and friends. You help me reach my fullest potential in my baking because of your talent and all the hard work of testing and tweaking. Thank you .
Hi Jennie, thank you so much! We’re so glad you are enjoying the recipes. Happy baking!
I love this recipe. My first time. Making dinner rolls was a success. I made 15 rolled out of this recipe. Can I keep it all the same but make them smaller to Double the amount of rolls for a family gathering?
Hi Crystal! Yes, you can definitely shape them smaller, the bake time will be shorter.
Easy to follow recipe, rolls were super soft and turned out perfectly! I’m now going to use this as my go to for dinner rolls especially as I’ve tried so many other ones but this one has worked out perfectly!
Is there a substitute for egg please?
You can leave the egg out completely, but they won’t be as soft. The texture will be closer to our sandwich bread (which doesn’t have any eggs).
Another delicious recipe- thank you!
Question though- the bottoms were getting browned/done but the tops never browned at all. I didn’t want the bottoms too hard so I pulled them out. Tasty but wanted to ask on how to get the tops brown.
I swapped one half cup of whole wheat flour and the rest bread flour- I weighed it with scale. Any ideas ? Thank you!
Hi Karli, it was likely the whole wheat flour that caused the bottoms to get too brown/hard before the tops could turn golden. We recommend sticking with all-purpose or bread flour for this recipe. You could also try this recipe for honey whole wheat dinner rolls.
What a fantastic recipe,I made it exactly to your instructions,but instead of dividing into 14/16 I made six,and wow they came out perfect,but bigger than yours,wish I could show you the picture
We make this recipe every time we are craving buns! They are so versatile- have used oat milk and regular milk, used honey instead of sugar when we were out, tried with both bread and AP flour- ALWAYS comes out fluffy and delicious!
Hi there, 3 Cups or really 390g flavor???
Thanxs
Hi Monica, we measure 3 cups of flour as 390g.
Imade your dinner rolls it came out great I always have trouble when come to making rolls
My grandson loves Texas Roadhouse dinner rolls. Would this recipe be similar or can you recommend another recipe? I always look here first because I have such success with your specific directions . Thank you again for your assistance.
Hi Jennie, these are a bit fluffier, but many readers have noted these are close comparison in taste. Let us know if you try it!
I would love to make this recipe using whole wheat flour. If so do I need to make any measurement changes on the ingredients?
Hi G, here is our recipe for whole wheat dinner rolls instead.
I love this recipe so much that I decided to make these rolls for a big party! I was wondering if I could triple or even quadruple the recipe?
Hi Evelyn! For best results we recommend making multiple batches instead out multiplying the recipe.
Thank you so much, I will have to send in a picture of the large amount of buns I will be making tomorrow!
I previously made dinner rolls and they are excellent. I am looking for a recipe for a hamburger bun. If I were to make eight buns instead of sixteen dinner rolls, do you think this recipe would make a quality hamburger bun?
Hi Robert! These will make very light and fluffy hamburger or hot dog buns and we fear they wouldn’t support the meat very well. Though you can still certainly try it. You may want to try our bread bowls dough instead. We’re unsure exactly how many either recipe would make, so let us know if you try it!
I use this recipe for buns as well as dinner rolls. When used as hamburger, sloppy joe, etc. buns, I usually slice the buns in half and lightly toast them. My buns hold up well.
My question is can you mix the dough completely by hand because I do not have a ixet
Hi Courtney! see step 1 for alternate details. “If you do not own a stand mixer, you can do this in a large mixing bowl and in the next step, mix the dough together with a large wooden spoon/rubber spatula. It will take a bit of arm muscle. A hand mixer works, but the sticky dough repeatedly gets stuck in the beaters. Mixing by hand with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula is a better choice.”
This is the best recipe! I’ve made them many times over the years and they always work. I do find that in a metal pan, the bottoms can get over cooked quickly. I will keep using glass from now on. This last time I decided to make cheddar buns and sprinkled cheese on top and they’re to die for and so pretty.
This is such a great recipe, the rolls come out great everytime! So simple and easy.
These turned out great! My only question was during the baking when the recipe says to rotate the pan, do you mean to flip the buns? or just turn the pan around…?
Hi E! Just rotate the pan in the oven (turn it around).
This recipe is truly the best for soft dinner rolls! I have tried many dinner roll recipes and this is the one I’m sticking with for all my future dinner rolls needs. Great taste, very soft, and so easy to make. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Hmmmm my Rolls never rose. They stayed dense and hard. I went over the recipe again and I did forget the salt but don’t think that would of made much difference. I’ve had trouble with packets of yeast recipes in the past however. They were still good we ate them but heavy hard rolls.
Hi Chrystyna, you may find our Baking With Yeast Guide helpful!