Classic and Best Dinner Rolls Recipe. These homemade yeast rolls are soft and light, fluffy and buttery, easy to make. You need only six ingredients to make these mini dinner rolls. The best rolls to serve for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner and Easter brunch.
Check out some of the best bread, buns and rolls recipes to try for Christmas holiday dinner.
Recipe card
Best Dinner Rolls | Homemade Yeast Rolls
Equipment
- 9 * 13 inch baking pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup Whole Milk
- ½ cup Butter
- 1 tablespoon Sugar
- 2 ¼ teaspoon Active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 3 cups All purpose flour , more if needed
- Egg , for brushing (use milk or cream for vegetarian/vegan version)
- Coarse Salt , to sprinkle (optional)
Instructions
Activate the yeast
- In a pan, combine milk and butter and heat on low flame till the butter melts for about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat.1 cup Whole Milk, ½ cup Butter
- When the mixture is lukewarm, add sugar. Sprinkle yeast.1 tablespoon Sugar, 2 ¼ teaspoon Active dry yeast
- Cover and keep this aside. Let the yeast activate. This may take about 10 to 15 minutes.
Make the dough and knead; let it rise
- Now add flour, salt and mix it using wooden spatula.3 cups All purpose flour, 1 teaspoon Salt
- Transfer this to the working surface and knead it until soft and smooth ball of dough is formed.
- Transfer the dough to greased bowl. Cover and keep it aside for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Shape into rolls and let it rise
- Transfer the dough onto the working surface and shape it into rectangle.
- Divide it into 30 equal portions for mini dinner rolls or 15 big dinner rolls.
- Form each piece into a ball, pinching the seam side down to get a smooth round top.
- Arrange this in a greased 9-inch by 13-inch baking pan with 5 rows of 6, placing close to each other but not touching.
- Cover this and let it rise in warm place for 30 minutes or until doubled.
Bake the best dinner rolls
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Brush the rolls with egg wash and sprinkle coarse salt.Egg, Coarse Salt
- Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown in color.
- Brush the warm rolls with melted butter before serving if desired.
Notes
- The amount of flour required may vary depending on weather conditions and the brand of flour used.
- Dinner rolls are one of the best make-ahead recipes for your Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas dinner, or Easter brunch. Check out the detailed make-ahead, storage, reheat, and freezer instructions on yeast rolls given below in the post.
What to serve with dinner rolls?
Dinner rolls just go well with anything. We love to have it for all three meals with a spread of butter. You can serve it with any pasta, thanksgiving turkey, or Christmas chicken roast to soak up the gravy instead of buttermilk biscuits, with hot chicken wings during your Super Bowl game night.Nutrition
Ingredients
Milk: Full-fat whole milk gives the best flavor and texture. Use non-dairy milk only if you want to make a vegan dinner roll.
Butter: Gives a rich buttery flavor to the bread rolls.
Sugar and salt: a little of both enhances the taste, and sugar makes your rolls tender.
Active dry yeast: Makes the bread rolls rise—key ingredient. See that the yeast is not old else the rolls will not rise.
Flour: I have used regular all-purpose flour. Gives the structure to your yeast rolls.
Egg: Egg wash gives a beautiful golden brown color on top for your buns.
Coarse salt: add extra flavor.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Soft and buttery bread rolls
Activate the yeast
- In a pan, combine milk and butter and heat on low flame till the butter melts for about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat.
- When the mixture is lukewarm, add sugar. Sprinkle yeast.
- Cover and keep this aside. Let the yeast activate. This may take about 10 to 15 minutes.
Make the dough and knead; let it rise
- Now add flour and salt and mix it using a wooden spatula.
- Transfer this to the working surface and knead it until a soft and smooth ball of dough is formed.
- Transfer the dough to a greased bowl. Cover and keep it aside for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Shape into rolls and let it rise
- Transfer the dough onto the working surface and shape it into a rectangle. Divide it into 30 equal portions for mini dinner rolls or 15 big dinner rolls.
- Form each piece into a ball, pinching the seam side down to get a smooth round top.
- Arrange this in a greased 9x13 inch baking pan 5 rows of 6, placing close to each other but not touching.
- Cover this and let it rise in a warm place for 30 minutes or until doubled.
Bake the best dinner rolls
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Brush the rolls with egg wash and sprinkle coarse salt.
- Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown in color.
- Brush the warm rolls with melted butter before serving if desired.
What to serve with dinner rolls?
Dinner rolls just go well with anything. We love to have it for all three meals with a spread of butter. You can serve it with any pasta, thanksgiving turkey, or Christmas chicken roast to soak up the gravy instead of buttermilk biscuits, with hot chicken wings during your Super Bowl game night.
Variations
These can be added when you add flour to the recipe.
- Garlic and herb dinner rolls: Add 1 teaspoon garlic powder and one herb or combination of herbs like rosemary or basil 1 teaspoon each, or simply add Italian seasoning.
- Garlic cheddar rolls: Add 1 teaspoon of garlic powder and 1 cup of cheddar cheese
- Garlic and parmesan rolls: 1 teaspoon of garlic powder and ½ cup of Parmesan.
- Rosemary dinner rolls: fresh or dried rosemary 1 teaspoon to 2 tsp.
- Jalapeno cheddar rolls 1 jalapeno finely chopped and 1 cup of cheddar.
I can go on with a list of several other flavors - but those listed above are some of my favorites. You can also garnish herbs and cheese on top. Be creative and add flavors you like to make the best dinner rolls for your family this holiday season.
Make ahead instructions
- Once you have shaped the rolls, cover them tightly and refrigerate before the second rise. Leave them in the refrigerator overnight.
- Just about 2 hours before you need them, remove them from the refrigerator and allow them to return back to room temperature before baking.
Dinner rolls are one of the best make-ahead recipes for your Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas dinner, or Easter brunch.
Freeze yeast rolls
Freeze the unbaked rolls
Place the rolls in the freezer instead of refrigerating them overnight once you shape them. Once frozen, they won't stick to each other. Transfer them to a ziplock bag or freezer bag. You will have to thaw it for a little longer time, say 3 to 4 hours, to bring it back to room temperature. You can bake only as much as you need in batches.
Freeze baked rolls
Once the rolls cool down completely, wrap them in aluminum foil and place them in freezer bags. You can keep this for a maximum of up to one month.
Store and reheat instructions
These rolls won't last long for more than 5 to 6 days when refrigerated, as they become stale and dry out. But you can freeze it, as mentioned above.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Arrange it in a baking pan and place it in the middle rack of the oven. Brush with butter if desired and bake for 10 minutes or until it is warm. You can even microwave for 30 to 45 seconds if needed.
Recipe FAQs
To make any roll or bread soft and richer, all you need is a good amount of fat in the dough. Here, I have added milk and butter—no compromise on the amount.
You can shape the rolls any way you want - twisted rolls, knotted rolls, hot dogs, mini-subs, etc. I like the traditional shape. Generally, I divide the dough into 15 equal portions, but today, to make it more festive and attractive, I have shaped them into 30 mini rolls. Form each piece into a ball, pinching the seam side down to get a smooth round top. Immediately place them in a baking tray and cover them with a clean, dry cloth to lock in the moisture.
Wrap the rolls or bun so that the foil covers each bun entirely. If storing in a plastic bag, remove any excess air before you seal it. It is the air that makes it dry early, and moisture leads to mold growth.
I haven't tried preparing a vegan version of these rolls. But you can do it by replacing milk with dairy-free milk like almond milk or coconut milk and butter with vegan butter like earth-balance. The egg wash can be replaced with the dairy-free milk of your choice.
I have never tried baking gluten-free versions of these rolls. Based on my personal experience with other GF recipes and by interacting with my readers and some of my blogger friends - cup-for-cup substitution works. But, from past experiences, one just can't substitute flour with gluten-free flour and expect the end product to taste and feel the same - i.e., you may not get soft and light rolls. But if you are used to GF flour in baking bread, I am sure you will definitely enjoy GF version of these rolls.
More homemade rolls
Try these homemade rolls for Christmas dinner, thanksgiving dinner, Easter brunch, or even during game night or Super Bowl.
Also, don't miss to check out Garlic Knots, Savory Cranberry Pull Apart Bread.
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Note: We originally posted this homemade best dinner rolls recipe in Dec 2019 for the holidays. It has now been modified in Oct 2023 with Expert Chef Tips, FAQs, Storage Instructions, etc.
Julie
What a great recipe for perfect dinner rolls. I'm adding these to my Thanksgiving menu they looked so tasty.
Jacqueline Debono
This was my first time making my own dinner rolls and they turned out perfect! I'm so excited that I managed to do it. Your recipe was so easy to follow. Thank you!
Gail Montero
These dinner rolls look so fluffy and love the vibrant look. Thanks for sharing a must make recipe!
Genevieve | Fitty Foodlicious
Homemade dinner rolls are the best and super easy to make! These look wonderful!
Chef Dennis
I've been looking for a good dinner roll recipe and yours turned out ah-mazing!!