The best Homemade Dinner Rolls are soft, fluffy, and absolutely irresistible. They're surprisingly easy to make, using basic pantry ingredients.
If you love bread and roll recipes, try Garlic Knots, Cinnamon Rolls, Homemade Breadsticks, or Buttermilk Biscuits!
Foolproof Homemade Dinner Rolls
Foolproof Homemade Dinner RollsLoud shrieks are guaranteed to fill our house every time my kids see me making homemade dinner rolls. They give that cozy, home-y vibe that nothing else can match. And, why bother with mediocre store-bought rolls when these are so easy to make? They freeze great for future meals, or “roll sandwiches, which happen to be everyone's favorite school lunch. Do yourself a favor and make a double batch!
How to make Homemade Rolls:
Dough: Proof yeast by mixing warm water, yeast, and a pinch of sugar and rest for 5-10 minutes, until it's foamy on top. Add remaining sugar, warm milk, butter, egg, and salt and mix to combine. Slowly add flour while it mixes on low speed. Knead in mixer for about 5-6 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Be careful to not add too much flour. The sides of the dough will start pulling away. It will be soft and slightly sticky when touched with a clean finger.
First Rise: Spray a large bowl with cooking spray then place dough in the bowl, turning over once to coat the dough. Cover with a clean kitchen towel allow to rise for 1 to 1.5 hours in a warm place.
Roll and shape: Divide the dough in half and roll each dough ball into a rectangle about 1/4″ thick. Cut the dough lengthwise into two pieces with a pizza cutter or sharp knife. Slice the dough again into six strips across to equal 12 rectangles. Roll each small rectangle up and place seam-side down on a lined baking sheet.
Second Rise: Cover rolls with a thin kitchen towel and rise again for 1 to 1.5 hours, until doubled.
Bake: uncover and bake 375°F for 12-14 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven and brush the tops with butter. Enjoy with instant pot strawberry jam, chia seed jam, or peach jam.
Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions:
To Make Ahead: Make the dough and place in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 1 day, before rolling out and shaping.
To Freeze Baked Rolls: Store baked rolls in an air-tight container for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature, or rewarm briefly in the oven or microwave.
To Freeze Dough: Place dough (before first rise) in an air-tight container in freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw completely in the fridge or at room temperature before rolling and shaping. To freeze roll dough after the rolls have been shaped, place them on a baking sheet in the freezer for 30 minutes to “flash freeze”, then transfer to a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. When you're ready to bake, arrange them on a baking tray and let them rise for several house, covered with a towel, at room temperature until double in size. Bake as instructed.
More Recipes to Try:
- Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
- Homemade Scones
- Cinnamon Roll Biscuits
- Pita Bread
- English Muffins
- Pizza Dough
- Whole Wheat Bread
- Cheesy Breadsticks
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Recipe
Homemade Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup warm water (80ml)
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (7g)
- 1/3 cup + ¼ teaspoon granulated sugar (70g + 1g)
- 1 1/3 cups milk , warmed (320ml)
- 5 Tablespoons salted butter , softened (70g)
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 4 – 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (500-570)
Instructions
- Proof Yeast: Combine warm water, yeast, and ¼ tsp sugar. Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes until foamy. (If it doesn't get foamy, you need newer yeast).
- Mix Dough: Pour yeast mixture into the bowl of an electric stand mixer (or a large mixing bowl if kneading by hand). Add warm milk, ⅓ cup sugar, butter, egg, salt and one cup of flour and mix until combined.
- Knead: While mixing on low speed, slowly add additional flour, mixing until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Mix or knead by hand until dough is smooth and elastic, about 5-6 minutes. You may not use all of the flour called for. The dough should pulll away from the sides and bottom of the bowl, be soft, and just slightly sticky when touched with a clean finger.
- First Rise: Grease a large bowl with cooking spray or a tiny bit of oil. Place the dough in the bottom of the bowl and turn it once to coat all sides. Cover bowl with a dry kitchen towel and allow to rise in a warm place until double in size, about 1 to 1 ½ hours.
- Roll Out: Divide dough into two equal portion and roll each dough ball out on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle, about 1/4’’ thick.
- Shape Rolls: Use a pizza cutter or knife to cut the dough, lengthwise, into two pieces. Then slice the dough into six strips across so you end up with 12 equal-sized rectangles. Roll each small rectangle up and place, seam-side down, on a lightly greased or lined baking sheet.
- Second Rise: Cover rolls with a dry kitchen towel and allow to rise again until double in size, about 1 to 1 ½ hours.
- Bake: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Uncover rolls and bake for 12 – 15 minutes, until cooked and very lightly golden brown. Remove from oven and brush tops with butter.
- Store leftover dinner rolls in an airtight container or bag at room temperature for about 1-2 days, or I recommend freezing them, for best quality (see notes).
Notes
Nutrition
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Recipe originally adapted from Cooking Classy.
I originally shared this recipe August 2017. November 2019 and October 2024.
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Just made these today and they are absolutely amazing! My kids loved them!
I’ve had trouble in the past making rolls but these are easy and delicious!
Trying these for Thanksgiving this year to replace store bought rolls. So glad I did! I have frozen them at the rolled up point but did pull out a couple to finish the process as a taste test. Even though I had the sticky situation, guess I could have added more flour, they still rose and baked beautifully. And taste amazing! A Keeper and family is excited with fancy butter ready to greet the rest of them on Thanksgiving day!
Can I just roll these into 24 little balls, or do they have to be flattened and rolled up?
These rolls are amazing! I usually have trouble with rolls/biscuits and these were simple and delicious. Hubby is not a bread person and he asked me to save this recipe and make it often. He has dreams of Italian sandwiches, but I’m thrilled just putting butter on them.
Made these rolls last night and everyone raved. This recipe is officially replacing my grandma’s dinner roll recipe I have used for 30 years. I really can’t recall having eaten a better roll made by a professional baker or at a high end restaurant! Froze half the batch after rolling them out and can’t wait to see how they turn out, though I doubt they will stay in the freezer long. Beware – these rolls could be dangerously addictive!
I meant to add a note for people not to be afraid to add more flour, but wait til after the first rise to be safe if you aren’t comfortable making bread by touch. The dough was VERY soft and bubbly after it rose once, so I added another cup and kneaded that in and then used another cup or so while rolling it out. They were still very soft and flaky with a light crust. Just delicious and a very forgiving dough.
So easy to make, family loves them.
These rolls turn out perfect every time. They are definitely our favorite. We’ve added sausage a couple times to make kolaches and they turned out great like that, too. A really good recipe!
These rolls turn out perfect every time. They are definitely our favorite. We’ve added sausage a couple times to make kolaches and they turned out great like that, too. A really good recipe!
I have tried this recipe 3 times and cannot get it to be less sticky and gooey. I don’t want to add any more flour, I don’t want rolls to be tough. I love the taste of these rolls but to knead is difficult and to create the “snail” effect is difficult. Is it the humidity in my area?
If they are overly stick you do need to add more flour.
I always have to use 5-5.5 cups of flour. I kneed the dough in my stand mixer until window pane. They come out perfect every time. Don’t be afraid of more flour.
Best rolls I’ve ever made. They were easy to make and delicious. They were nice and fluffy on the inside, with a golden and slightly crusty exterior. Best part is they freeze so well. I froze a batch stored in a Ziploc bag, and pulled them out as needed. I defrosted them in the oven at 350 degrees for just a few minutes. They were as scrumptious reheated two weeks later as they were the day they were made. This recipe is a definite keeper.