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
This recipe is very yummy and the instructions are simple to follow! However, When it came time for me to do my second rise, I separated out the dough and only had enough for 9 average rolls. I tried again and got the same result. This is definitely user error but I am stumped because the 9 rolls I made were not very big. Any tips?
Hi Trinity, We are glad you enjoyed this recipe! If you watch the video directly under the recipe instructions you can see how we divide the dough (this step starts at the 55 second mark). They are pretty small when shaping them but then they puff up during the second rise.
I made these last Thanksgiving and guess what I was asked to bring this Thanksgiving! These are great!
Hi Sherri, same baking temperature, and bake time should be similar. Keep a close eye on them!
Can this recipe be doubled?
Hi Kim, for best results, we recommend making 2 separate batches rather than doubling.
Can I use reduced fat milk?
Hi Violeta, For the softest dinner rolls, use whole milk. Low fat milks work too, but whole milk produces phenomenal flavor and texture.
Will honey work in place of the sugar?
Hi Emily, yes, or you might enjoy these honey butter rolls instead.
I am going to make several batches for Thanksgiving. I am wondering if the dough can be mixed in my bread machine using the dough cycle. I often make your overnight cinnamon rolls and mix the dough in my bread machine. They always turn out wonderfully. Love that recipe. I’m sure this one will as well. Thank you.
Hi Ruth, we haven’t tested it, but several readers have reported success using a bread machine for this recipe in that way. Let us know if you do give it a try.
After refrigerating the night before, it says take the rolls out at least 3 hours before baking and then let the dough rise for 1-2.. is the rising included in the 3 hours or take out for 3 hours then let rise for 1-2?
Hi Megan! That 1-2 hours is included in the 3 hours ahead of time that the dough should be removed from the fridge.
Hi Sally! My rolls never get quite as fluffy as yours do at the second rise. I’m wondering if it’s could be possible that I am working them too much in shaping them? I follow all other directions so I’m not quite sure where I could be going wrong! Thanks!
Hi Abby! They may just need a little longer to rise, but over-kneading can lead to a more dense dough. Here’s our guide to kneading dough!
My grocery stores do not carry Platinum yeast. Should I use rapid rise or regular yeast?
Hi Carol, You can use either but rise times will be slightly longer using regular active dry yeast. You can reference our Baking with Yeast Guide for more details if you are interested.
These dinner rolls look delicious. I will try them at Christmas,
Delicious and easy to follow instructions. I omit the honey and just do butter on the top as my family does not like sweetness the honey brings. Will be making these for Thanksgiving this year!
Hi, after leaving the yeast (I’m using Fleischmann’s Rapid Rise Instant Yeast packets) for five minutes with the warm milk and sugar, should it be frothy and foamy? I tried with Fleischmann’s regular active dry yeast in a different recipe; but the “rapid rise instant yeast” didn’t look activated. What am I doing wrong?
Hi Mary, yes, it should look foamy if it is active. Make sure your milk isn’t too hot! That would kill the yeast.
I’m paranoid about getting the little balls to the right size for company Thanksgiving dinner. Do you know about how many grams or ounces per dough ball?
Hi Janice, we haven’t measured that. Sorry we can’t help more!
Janice,
When I make these rolls I will measure out the weight of the dough after the first proof and then divide that number by 16. You might have to do a little rounding but I get uniform rolls each time I make these.
If you have a good scale, maybe just weigh the whole ball before dividing it up to shape the rolls and divide that weight by how many rolls you want? Then you can weigh them individually from there and have the number you’re aiming for. I hope that made sense!
Hi Sally, I am cooking Thanksgiving this year for just me and my fiancé. Would this recipe work well if cut in half? If not, I will just do the whole and possibly freeze some following your freezer instructions! Can’t wait to try this out!! 🙂
Hi Greer! You could certainly halve the recipe and bake the rolls in an 8×8 pan. It would be best to divide the egg – to halve an egg, simply crack it, whisk, and then use half. Or, as you mentioned, the baked rolls freeze wonderfully, so you could bake the full batch and save half for another time. Let us know how they turn out!
Are there any instructions for making these at high altitude (Denver)?
Hi NRH, I wish we could help, but have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
Hi! Is it possible to substitute the egg with anything?
We haven’t tested it, but let us know if you do!
I have used a flax egg with much success! Used a tablespoon of ground flax seed, added 2 1/2 tablespoons of water, stirred and let that sit while the yeast does its thing.
Hi Sally. Could I substitute water in place of the milk, or would that make too much of a difference to the outcome? Thank you.
Hi Rose, they won’t be quite as soft without the milk. We’d recommend using milk for best results.
Dear Sally, I am a avid follower and a seasoned cook. However, yeast rolls and pie crusts scare me! Too many failures. I’m trying this recipe for rolls and your pie crust for your caramel apple pie this week. I have one question – (I plan to follow the recipes exactly for minimum risk!), but what would you think about using buttermilk instead of whole milk in the recipe for rolls? Thank you!!
Hi Regina, yes, you can use buttermilk in place of the whole milk, with no changes to the recipe. We hope you enjoy the rolls!
Delicious rolls! I plan on making several batches for Thanksgiving, so I practiced freezing the dough ahead of time. I pulled a few out and baked them today to give it a test run. I baked 8 and all of them were gobbled up before I could put them on the cooling rack. Yummy!
Hello! I made these twice and they are wonderful! I want to make a double batch. Do I just double everything and continue as instructed?
Thanks
Hi Gina, We are so glad you enjoyed these! For best results, we recommend making two separate batches rather than doubling.
I tried this recipe and while they tasted fine (as judged by my wife) they did not brown at all. I set them on a lower oven rack as suggested. After 20 minutes, they seemed almost done, but the tops had no color at all. So I moved them to an upper rack for 5 minutes, which barely got them turning. Though they were fully done (testing by feel, by thump, and a thermometer) I ended up brushing them with the honey butter and giving them a quick broil to color them up. I used active dry yeast and AP flour. Next time, I think I’ll give them a blast of steam as soon as they go in the oven and use a higher rack. Thoughts?
Hi M, how much the rolls brown can vary by oven. You can certainly try a blast of steam and moving them up to a higher rack for the majority of bake time. Keep a very close eye on them. Glad they were still a hit!
I made this recipe today, for the first time, and was a little anxious that they might not turn out so well (it’s a yeast/bread/buns thing) I followed the directions precisely and was NOT disappointed! These will be served tonight with my homemade ‘King of Beef Stews’! Another keeper!
I couldn’t find my comment to respond – haha. Just for clarification, if prepping beforehand I can prepare 2 days in advance (so Tuesday night), prep rolls through step 6, cover them tightly after they are shaped and then stick in fridge? Then when ready to bake, remove at least 3 hours before and then let them do their second rise? Another little question don’t know if I can get an answer: I have an hour drive to my moms, would rolls be okay to stick back into fridge when I get there and then remove again for second rise or would it be best to just keep them out, bake, and then reheat when ready to eat? Thanks so so much! And Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Hi Lexi, yes you’re reading the make-ahead intuitions correctly! It would it be best to just keep them out, bake, and then reheat when ready to eat.
Hi, Sally! Question – is it possible to prep rolls 2 days beforehand? My mom doesn’t have a mixture and I don’t wanna bring mine all the way to her house. Will it dry the dough out too much? Thank you!
Should be fine, Lexi!
Excited to make these for family for Thanksgiving! I’ll be making two batches, but cooking all at the same time. Can I use a baking sheet to cook them all, or do I need a glass pan that has tall sides for the rolls to rise properly in the oven? Thanks!
Hi Jenna, it is best to have a pan with sides for these!
I made these the other night and they were a hit. I’ve been asked to make them for Thanksgiving. With all the people I’m hosting, I need about 25 rolls. Can I do one and a half of this recipe?
Hi Loo, you can certainly give that a try, or make a couple batches and have extras.
Hey Sally, do you think after the first rise I could shape them into “pumpkins”?
We haven’t tested this but can’t see why not!