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 are my go-to dinner rolls, I’ve made them multiple times and they always turn out perfectly! Currently waiting for a batch to rise to go along with my turkey dinner 🙂
Great recipe and instructions. This was my first find on Sally’s, I’ll be back.
Thank you!
Question:
I am planning to make these for Easter using my stand mixer. In steps 2 and 3 you say to beat the dough. Are you using a bread hook attachment like I’d normally use when making bread?
You can use either the paddle attachment or dough hook for this recipe. I switch back and forth with my doughs.
This recipe is excellent, I kneaded the dough by hand after watching the video and my rolls actually look like Sally’s and they are gorgeous! Splendid
Thank you Sally and well done for being a brilliant cook and teacher.
I’ve made this a couple of times, Sally. I’ve never baked bread before and this recipe was a success for me. So, this will be my go-to recipe for dinner rolls. Thanks, Sally!
these were sooo good.
Sally,
Just made these as practice for Easter. They are amazing!! Thank you so much for the detailed directions, tips, and yummy recipe!
Hi Sally,
I just made your soft dinner rolls and it turned out amazing. However, just to check. Is it normal for the dough to be sticky after mixing all the ingredients? I realised mine was still sticky and needed to add some flour to it and also from your video tutorial, it doesn’t look sticky at all.
Hi Bethany! This could be a few factors such as spooning and leveling (or weighing) the flour, the humidity in the air, brand of flour, etc. Glad you added a little more flour to make the dough workable. It should be soft, but still manageable to knead.
Amazing recipe!! my dough was sticky but i just went with it and it turned out amazing. Anytime i see a recipe elsewhere I want to try I ALWAYS check if sally has it (and she usually does) because her technique is easier and instructions are better. Every recipe is so carefully thought out and easy to follow. I love the mass measurements, they are crucial to my success. Thank you for all your hard work!!
You know you’ve found the perfect recipe when the result looks just like Sally’s. The dinner rolls turned out amazing. Better than store bought! Thanks Sally!
Hi Sally,
Just to ask about the warm milk. Must it be at the temperature stated in the recipe? Can it be at room temperature? I don’t own a kitchen thermometer, hence, not sure how to measure.
Sure can! The cooler it is, though, the longer the rises will take.
Hi Sally! My rolls are in their second rise right now and looking good. I’m thinking I would like to try changing the size to make hamburger rolls or hot dog rolls (quarantined, high risk and avoiding stores!). Would you make any changes if you were changing the size? Cook lower temp for a little longer maybe? TIA for your thoughts! Excited to try these!
Hi Christine! These will make very light and fluffy hamburger or hot dog buns and I fear they wouldn’t support the meat very well. Though you can still certainly try it. You may want to try my bread bowls dough instead.
Thanks for the recommendation. I will try the bread bowl dough in place of the other. I used your directions for the rolls but not the ingredients—I had already made the dough when I saw your information and recipe. Was able to get some yeast (well, I ordered it so we’ll see if they have it in stock soon) and will try the dinner rolls again but all you next time. They were still great and I appreciated the directions of using the 9 x 13 pan. Onwards to the bread bowl hamburger buns!! Thanks again.
Amazing! Soft, light, delicious, yum!!! I’ve been trying recipes for yeast risen dinner rolls from various websites and just haven’t found the one….. until now. I divided the dough into 24 rolls in the 9 x 13 glass pan and the size of them was perfect for us for a small dinner roll. Excellent, will use this recipe again and again! Thank you!
Thank you ! Easy to follow and the rolls turned out beautiful despite not having a mixer.
Made these for the first time today, turned out perfectly and taste amazing, thank-you for the recipe and tips!
My dough is sticky I followed the recipe. Can you please give any suggestion? I used all purpose flour. Thank you. I never go wrong with your recipes but this one came out sticky. Please help. Thank you. I am making them as I send this message
Hi Anji, the dough will be relatively soft. (Which helps promise soft rolls!) Feel free to add a bit more flour so it’s manageable and similar to the texture you see in the recipe video and photos.
Hello Sally
Thank you so much for replying. Actually that is what I did and my family enjoyed the rolls. So delicious and soft. I enjoy baking your cakes and cup cakes. Your recipes are amazing and I learned so much about baking from you. I am new to baking but have tried many of your recipes so far and have always gotten good compliments. Thank you so much
How much longer to keep it for rising if i use fleischmans dry active yeast as i am not able to find red star yeast so.
Hi Aditi, Active yeast will take longer than instant yeast – it’s best to keep an eye on it. For the first rise you want your dough to double in size.
Love this recipe! Worked so well and now my go-to recipe for rolls!
Question, can I use brown bread wheat flour?
Thanks!
Hi Samantha! So glad you enjoy these. I haven’t tried this recipe with that flour, but let me know if you do!
Hi Sally, I am so grateful for this recipe. It was such a wonderful and easy recipe to follow. My family loves the soft and fluffy buns. It still taste soft (after heat up) the next day. I am going to use this recipe from now on. Thank you so much!
Hi Sally, I’ve tried baking this finally! Though I followed every instructions plus tips in between, I waited my rolls to become golden brown after 25min of baking but instead I kinda burnt the bottom a little but the top is still white(I added 3 min more).. May I know if you have any tips on successfully making the beautiful browned top without burning bottom part? Thanks!
Hi Sally, already made another batch and followed your suggestion on reducing the temp and finally came out real good. This really comes in handy since there are no bread supplies on the stores and we missed bread so much. I am really a fan of your baked recipes! Thanks for sharing and giving tips.
During the pandemic, trying to stay home as much as possible, made the dinner tools into hoagie rolls. Will enjoy for lunch. They are perfect and delicious.
Could I bake them at 400 degrees for less time? With only one oven, I’m trying to figure out the temperature for everything that needs to go into the oven so that it can all be ready at the same time. Thanks!
Hi Maria! I fear the centers won’t cook properly. For best results, I recommend following the recipe as written.
Thanks Sally. I followed your recipe. It worked like a charm. I usually avoid anything to do with yeast. I tried it! I cannot believe I actually made these rolls. I really appreciate all the tips and details you shared on your blog! They are very helpful. Thank you very much.
hello! is it possible to use oat milk instead of whole milk? thank you! 🙂
In a pinch, yes!
My dough is super sticky. Any recommendations?
Oh my goodness!! These are awesome rolls. Beautiful. My Mother used to make clover leaf rolls similar to these but with (awful for you, but good tasting!) Crisco. These are all natural ingredients. Btw, I did use a food processor with the dough attachment. Worked fine. Love this recipe. A keeper for sure.
Hi Sally,
My rolls turned out a little tougher than I hoped and they stuck to the pan. I used bread flour and i substituted 2% milk instead of whole milk. I used olive oil in the bowl for the 1st rise and used it in the pan, so I was surprised they still stuck. Is it possible that I over-kneaded the bread? I followed the time allotments that you mentioned.
Thanks.
Hi Janine! It’s odd the rolls stuck to the pan even thought it was oiled. If you try the recipe again, perhaps nonstick spray would work better for your pan instead. Over-kneading will produce a tougher roll, so always be careful not to over-work it. Thank you for trying this recipe!
I am making these now. Could I mix the dough in my food processor with the dough attachment? They look so good! I am craving comfort food!
Made these tonight. Amazing recipe! Easy to follow and soooooo good!
Thanks for the great recipe!
Amazing Recipe! Just made these and they’re absolutely gorgeous. Thank you!
OH..BOY…..these rolls are incredible!!!….so is the topping. I made most of them in a round cake pan and a few in a little cast iron skillet.
Thank you so much…..a keeper for sure.