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 make these often and they are awesome. I just received your Sally’s Baking 101 and it is the most beautiful book I’ve seen. I will definitely be making the three versions of the dinner rolls
Many thanks
I love to make bread, but I haven’t in several years. Sally has me wanting to begin again, soon!
I work for 3 hours or more on these dinner rolls was a disaster
Hi Rhonda, what about the rolls didn’t turn out for you? We’re happy to help troubleshoot!
This my best recipe for dinner rolls, and it is not even mine. I have used this one exclusively. The only modifications I make are for high altitude. My ranch is at 8,000 ft. in Colorado. I use duck eggs and substitute double acting baking power for baking soda and double the amount. Perfect rise and texture. For those who do not know, YES duck eggs are edible. Fried, scrambled etc, they are far superior for baking. Look up why, no room to explain here. Also, they are more expensive because they cost more to produce. Raising the ducks and selling them a fair price is $4.99 a six pack. they are more than twice the size of chicken eggs. Try them with Sally’s recipes and you will be amazed.
Can i put cheese inside?
Hi Yan, you can mix in the cheese when you add the flour. Enjoy!
What brand of flour do you use for yeast rolls? I know King Arthur has more protein and gluten than White Lily – there seems to be varying opinions on which makes the lighter more fluffy yeast rolls. Even Gold Medal is recommended by some.
Hi Brenda, we usually use King Arthur.
I was wondering if I could use a different type of sugar for these rolls as I don’t have granulated sugar at the moment? I’m intending on making several batches today and freezing them for a family reunion in a couple months.
Hi Sarah! You could use our honey butter rolls recipe if you have honey on hand.
I just made these (first attempt at making rolls) and they came out perfectly! I used my Nutri Ninja on the dough setting and it works well. I ran out of flour so mine are half plain, half whole meal and a bit of self-raising and still worked luckily- soft and fluffy in the inside with a nice crisp outside! Thank you!
Excellent excellent recipe. The rolls turned out super fluffy and yummy!!!
I didn’t read the question about using this dough for hot dog buns. I’m going to carry through with my idea & make hot dog buns. At least they will taste 100% better than supermarket buns!
Hi!
Can I make the dough in a bread machine?
Hi Anna, we do not own a bread machine so we haven’t tested this recipe using one, but a few readers have reported success doing so. Let us know if you do give it a try!
Have been meaning to inform you that the rolls made with coconut milk and plant butter were wonderf, made difference was that the rolls did brown as much. Surely the coconut milk is reason for the lack of deep browning.
PS. Your chocolate cake was made with the plant butter and coconut milk was a smash hit. Made the frosting with coconut cream and plant butter. The biased opinion was that it was the best frosting they had tasted.
Hi! Why do my roll taste “yeasty”? I baked until golden brown and at 350. But it kind of tastes like a biscuit. Thank you!!
Hi Melissa! Rolls can turn out biscuit-y if there is too much flour in the dough. 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. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post.
Would this dough for soft dinner rolls work for hot dog buns? Or, would you recommend another one of your dough recipes?
Hi Sue, 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!
First time making these and they were absolutely lovely. Will definitely be a weekly thing in my house. Thank you
Hi. Can I omit the egg?
Hi Crystal, the rolls won’t be quite as soft without the egg, but should still turn out just fine.
I have no idea what I am doing wrong. This is my second time trying this recipe and I followed it exactly as written. Somehow my rolls keep coming out similar to biscuits and don’t get golden brown on top. Any advice? Thank you!
Hi Caitlyn, does your dough seem quite dry? There could be too much flour in the dough. 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. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post.
I use a kitchen scale to measure my flour in grams, I also didn’t add any extra during the kneading process. The dough was actually the wettest dough I’ve worked with so far. I’ve had success with other recipes on here so I’m thinking this one might just not be for me
Its actually 2 cups of flower if you weigh it 390g of flower is 2 cups not 3… that’s why it might be coming out dry for some…
Great results
I’ve made this recipe twice and they’re tasty, certainly not a waste but they aren’t light and fluffy. What am I doing wrong? Is it too much flour? Not kneeded enough? I used my stand mixer and didn’t get to window pane stage but they had been kneeded so long I was worried they were over kneeded? Long time fan and your recipes always work out for me. I’m certain I’ve done something wrong!!
Hi Dawn! It could be an issue of too much flour in the dough. How are you measuring? Make sure to spoon and level here. Our baking with yeast guide and kneading dough guide should be helpful resources as well. Hope these help!
Would this recipe be best for shaping up some hot dog and hamburger buns? Or do you have a suggested bread recipe better for making those?
Hi Brooke, 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!
Excellent recipe for dinner rolls, soft, fluffy, an most of all delicious. I really enjoyed these rolls. Thank you for sharing.
This recipe definitely made me more confident in baking with yeast. In the past, I never had any luck with the dough rising. I followed your clear and concise recipe directions and ended up with delicious, soft, and fluffy dinner rolls!
So good and so easy! My new go-to!
Hello, I’ve made these before with my stand mixer with excellent results. So good. However, I’ve recently acquired a high end bread machine (Z) due to arthritic hands and wondered if I could use same recipe to the dough stage?
Many thanks
Hi Yvonda, yes, you can do that!
This is a winner! Kids and husband loved them. My daughter compared them to one of the local steakhouses we go to and that’s DEFINITELY a compliment. Absolutely amazing, delicious, and easy to make Thank you!
Thank you, this let me relax a little more , I didn’t mess it up (yet) looks good , taste even better!!Thanks again!!!!!!!!
I have a question, my granddaughter has FPIES and can not have dairy pro. I use plant butter with no problem in bread, my question is, can I substitute coconut milk for the whole milk?
Should be fine, Henry!
This gave me the softest dinner rolls I ever made. Thanks a looooot Sally! A recipe for keeps!
Can you please share eggless cakes and bread recipes too?
Hi Ekta, Here are all of our egg free baking recipes if you’re interested in browsing.
I made these and they turned out amazing. Basically like Brioche the tastiest rolls ever. And then every time Ive made them since they have become harder and harder, I cant get the fluffly and light consistency that I did the first time.
I am careful not to put too much flour when Im needing the dough by hand.
What am I doing wrong?
Thank you!
Hi Alex, we’re happy to help troubleshoot. Are you over-kneading the dough by chance? Over-kneading can over-develop the gluten and make doughs hard/tough when baked. You can try decreasing your kneading time a bit and that should help for next time. Thank you for giving this recipe a try!
I made these yesterday, my first attempt at bread rolls and they were perfect.
Thank you
I made these rolls and they were really good. The dough came together very nicely and the rolls were moist, slightly sweet and delicious. I will make these again soon.
Cate
This is my go-to recipe for dinner rolls. They are perfect everytime unless I try to freeze them. I follow the instructions exactly yet they never seem to rise if frozen. What could I be doing wrong?
Hi Merlaine, we’re happy to help! After you freeze the dough be sure that you are letting the rolls thaw and rise for at least 4-5 hours. While ours usually rise during that time frame, it’s possible that yours might take longer depending on how long it was frozen and the temperature of your kitchen. If the dough it still cold it may not rise properly. Hope this helps!
I made this. It did not turn out as expected for me (my yeast was super active in the beginning but the rise could have been better even after 2 hrs…it happens) BUT the rolls it made were really nice. It was more like little sandwich buns. They are super duper for a fish sandwich. I rolled them out like little hoagie rolls instead of the little dinner rolls. I saved half of this back, seasoned it with herbs and spices and used the rest for pizza dough. It was the best, thin dough i’ve ever had. So sometimes a fail is still pretty tasty. I have never had a bad experience with recipes from this blog.