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
These were great and easy to make. I made with my four year old and nearly 2 year old and they turned out delicious. We had our with pumpkin soup for dinner and the kids devoured it all!
I made the soft dinner rolls and they seemed dry. What did I do wrong?
Hi Bonnie! How did you measure the flour? Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. Over kneading bread can also cause it to be tough and dense. Thank you for giving these a try!
thank you! I bake with my 4 year old nephew every week and wanted him to see the magic of yeast working. He used a making cup to scoop the flour out. We will try again and spoon the flour.
I sorry to say I was disappointed with this recipe and final dinner roll, they came out dry and very dense. I under baked them a few minutes to allow for my oven but I still found them very dry , not pillowy soft. I have worked with yeast dough quite often so I was careful to measure correctly and follow the video.
Me and my husband LOVED this recipe! They were so fluffy and light! I even added a little cinnamon to the honey and butter mixture and they turned out delicious!
Love how the rolls turned out but mine didn’t brown for some reason . I added and extra 5 minutes and only the bottoms browned. Any tips why?
Hi Kay! The placement of the baking pan in the oven can brown the rolls more or less, but all ovens are different. You can try moving the oven rack up to a higher position next time.
I made these today for tge first time I cant have dairy I used almond milk and plant based butter turned out great this will be my go to roll recipe
So easy to make, and delicious! I followed the recipe exactly, except I added a little more salt. These rolls are so good! I highly recommend the butter and honey topping after they come out of the oven!
For several years I was really intimidated to make bread or anything that had to do with a raised bread. I’ve been making these for about a year, and have finally honed in on what makes them good for me. These are easy enough that it isn’t intimidating!! The keys in my opinion are using bread flour, measuring that as directed, and also using the maximum recommended rise time.
I always top with melted butter mixed with maple syrup…there are never any left.
I take it if I wanted to double the recipe I just double everything including using 2 eggs instead one. Just wondering because my bread machine recipe is similar but when the flour goes up everything else does besides the eggs. Thanks.
Hi Angela! We recommend making two batches instead of doubling here.
Thank you for the input
We love these dinner rolls. They’re soft and tasty, easy to make, and they turn out amazing. I have another recipe that includes garlic powder, rosemary, parsley and oregano in the dough, and (in a butter on top), some Italian seasoning and minced garlic. Have you thought about a seasoned dinner roll? I might try mixing the two recipes, adding the garlic and herbs to your recipe, see what happens. I bet they’ll turn out great.
Hi Laurie, we love these sea salt & herb skillet rolls!
I am a novice bread maker and a bit intimidated but I have to tell you that these rolls came out wonderfully. They are soft and full of flavor. This was a trial run for me. I intended to make them for Easter dinner if they turned out. I am all smiles and much less intimidated at the prospect of baking bread. Thank you for wonderful recipes!!!
Does it work without the egg?
Thank you
Hi Vanessa, 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).
This is the quintessential dinner roll. It is melt-in-you-mouth moist, soft, and flaky. Although slightly lacking in flavor when tasted side-by-side against other recipes, they are far from bland — when paired with honey butter without another roll next to it, no one would complain.
I’ve made these twice now and they were a huge hit both times! These are so soft and delicious, the honey butter at the end really helps them shine!
This is one of my favorite recipes! My rolls get wrinkly on top after cooling (they’re perfectly smooth after baking), any tips on how to reduce the wrinkling?
Hi Lili! Those winkles are normal, try to allow the rolls to cool gradually.
I absolutely love this recipe! The rolls are yummy, soft and delicious. I’m making them again very soon. I made 10 bigger sized ones. The only thing I did different is I covered them in egg yolk prior to baking, so they have a lovely golden colour and shine.
whoops found the answer to where the v rest of the flour goes in
I think you forgot to tell us what to do with the other two cups of flour…?
I’ve made these rolls several times. The rosemary has been a huge hit when I make for friends. I am wondering how they woukd turn out with almond milk and vegan butter. I’m cooking for my daughter and son in law and my daughter has a dairy sensitivity. I have a olive garden breadsticks recipe I could do but I think this recipe is special. I’ve also made your cinnamon rolls. Amazing!!
I love this recipe,tried it yesterday and the dinner rolls came out perfectly thank you. Can’t wait to make them again
Added cheddar cheese and garlic. Made half into hamburger buns. So good!
If I wanted to freeze the dough and let them thaw in the fridge, how long should I leave them into fridge before taking them out to rise?
We usually let them thaw in the fridge overnight.
I have attempted to bloom my yeast in the recommended warm milk; I cannot seem to get it to bloom; 4rth attempt there was some blooming but poor/light; I tried using it and the recipe flopped; no raise. Are you using whole 3.25% milk? I have no issues blooming yeast in water as I make sandwich and artisan and foccacia bread 2-3 times per week but this ne with milk only bloom has me stomped. I always use my stand mixer stainless steel bowl for blooming, would it be better in PYREX?
Hi Danielle, that’s strange you have no trouble with water but only with milk. Is the milk warmed to within the recommended temperature range? You could try it in glass instead of stainless, but I don’t think it’s a problem to use stainless. Is your yeast possibly expired?
These are amazing, all gone in one sitting!
Seriously so easy and delicious!
My husband ate four! I brushed the tops with butter and fleur de sel when they were finished cooking.
I have made this recipe countless times and it’s perfect ❤️ Thank you for sharing this gem!!
Love these, they turn out perfect every time! Is there a way to adapt them for hoagies? Or a sub roll that you’d recommend?
Hi BKE! This recipe may be a little soft for sub rolls, we would try our bread bowls dough instead – it’s very versatile.
I love dinner rolls, but for some reason have only only made regular rolls and they were crusty, and not really what I was after. These are the softest, fluffiest, tastiest and most melt in the mouth dinner rolls that I have ever tasted. They beat restaurants and store bought. My goodness. If I don’t get fat from eating these every week, it will be a miracle
Mine did not turn out very good looking, have yet to taste. No browning on top either, maybe I did something wrong?
Hi Taija, Browning can depend on the baking position in your oven (and each individual oven differs too). Try moving the rolls up a bit in your oven to encourage browning on the tops. Also make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post.
I add 1/2 cup wheat flour and 3 Tbs of wheat germ to my lavender rolls. I like to experiment with flavor and texture.
I make herb rolls all the time, this time I tried something different. I dried spinach in the oven then crumbled it in my herb bread 3/4 cup, then added dried edible lavender, a tbsp of garlic powder, no egg. Quick rising yeast. After baking I brushed tops with honey & butter lightly. Best bread I ever had. Very light & fluffy. My daughter and I are always on the run. We put a slice of hot pepper cheese and ate as we ran. No butter, nothing. Was not dry at all. Room temperature. Sometimes I add a heaping tablespoon of peanut butter, not this time. I never bake with lavender but they smelled and tasted wonderful. I am making more today. They lasted a week for 2 people.