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This Ultimate Dinner Roll recipe is the most delicious dinner roll recipe you and your family will ever try!
There’s no need to be intimidated by homemade yeast bread baking – especially with a practically foolproof recipe like this one for the best-ever Ultimate Dinner Rolls.
I promise this dinner roll recipe is way easier than it may seem. These will become the surprise star of your Thanksgiving dinner table, Easter brunch, or just your Sunday night family dinners!
I actually originally developed this recipe in 2013 after testing tons of tweaks on dinner rolls for my Ultimate Dinner Roll Guide post here. I learned exactly what made homemade dinner rolls fluffy or hard, tender or crusty, and compiled my favorite tweaks to create this recipe for Ultimate Dinner Rolls!
Over the years, I’ve continued to tweak and improve the recipe to make it even more soft, fluffy, and flavorful.
I hope you give this dinner roll recipe a shot soon. If you’re still nervous about working with yeast, get my *free* Beginner’s Quick Guide to Bread here.
How to Make the Ultimate Dinner Rolls
Top Tips for Fluffy, Soft Dinner Rolls
- Avoid adding too much extra flour to the dough. This dough is enriched with milk, butter, and sugar. These ingredients slow down gluten development and can make the dough a little sticky. Your instinct might be to add extra flour; however, any extra flour will create a denser, tougher roll instead of the light, fluffy, soft dinner roll we want.
- Measure your flour correctly. I highly recommend using a digital kitchen scale for accuracy, but if you don’t have one, be sure to use the spoon and level method to ensure you’re not accidentally compacting too much flour in your measuring cups. Learn more about that here.
- Don’t skip the sugar. There’s just a touch in these dinner rolls, to help make the rolls tender and golden brown. Learn more about sugar’s role in baking here (spoiler alert: it does SO much more than simply sweetening!)
Do I Have to Use Bread Flour?
Bread flour has a higher level of protein content than all-purpose flour, which helps create tall dinner rolls with a nice chewy, fluffy texture. If you don’t have bread flour, use the same amount of all-purpose flour – but your rolls may just be slightly shorter and less chewy, and may take longer to knead and rise.
Which Yeast Is Best to Use For Dinner Rolls?
- This dinner roll recipe utilizes a shortcut ingredient: instant yeast, also called rapid-rise or quick-rise yeast.
- One of the three should be available at most grocery stores or you can buy my all-time favorite yeast on Amazon.
- These types of yeast are specifically formulated to allow you to skip proofing (aka the step where you combine the yeast with warm liquid for 5 minutes). You can add instant yeast directly into the mix with all of the ingredients.
- If you don’t have or can’t find instant yeast, you can easily use active dry yeast instead. Add it right in with the dry ingredients like instant yeast – just know the dough will take about 20% more time to rise.
- Or, to speed up that rise time slightly, simply combine it with the warm water and milk called for in the recipe and allow it to proof for 5 minutes before adding into the bowl with the other ingredients.
What Type of Milk Should I Use?
Whole milk produces the absolute best flavor and texture. I don’t recommend using a non-dairy or low-fat milk unless you absolutely must.
What Type of Salt for Dinner Rolls?
I recommend using fine sea salt inside the dinner rolls, and I also love sprinkling flaky sea salt on top of the freshly baked and buttered rolls, for even more flavor. Learn more about different types of salt here.
Can I Knead the Dough By Hand?
Yes! I call for a stand mixer to make easy work of kneading in this dinner roll recipe, but you can also knead by hand. Be sure to knead the dough properly, until the dough is smooth and elastic, to get rolls that hold their shape and bake up nice and fluffy. You can see my full tutorial on how to knead dough here.
How to Tell When Dough Is Risen
After kneading, shape the dough into a ball. Place in a lightly oiled mixing bowl. I like to use glass so I can see how much it’s rising. I’ll even snap an iPhone picture of the dough before rising so I can compare later. The dough should be turned over to oil the top so that it doesn’t dry out. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, foil, or a clean kitchen towel. Let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free location. Ideal rise temperatures are between 80°F and 90°F. Lower temperatures will require more rising time; warmer temperatures will mean a shorter rising time.
The dough is done rising when it’s about doubled in size and passes the “ripe” test: gently stick two fingers in the risen dough up to the second knuckle and then take them out. If the finger marks remain, the dough is ready for shaping into balls. If not, cover and let the dough rise longer until it is.
The same finger test can be done again when the rolls are shaped before baking. Here’s what my dough looked like before and after rising:
How to Shape Bread Rolls
- Once the dough is risen, press it down to gently deflate.
- Place the dough onto a clean surface (not a floured surface).
- Use a bench scraper to section the dough into 12 equal pieces. Don’t worry if they’re not perfectly equal in size. However, if you’re a perfectionist, you can weigh the entire mass of dough, divide that number by 12, and then portion each piece perfectly by weight.
- As you’re shaping each piece into a round, make sure to pinch the dough into one central point to create a tight ball. This will help the rolls rise beautifully. Don’t flour your work surface when shaping the rolls because you want some resistance to roll them into taut balls.
You can also get creative with shaping this dinner roll recipe! Check out my article for 5 Ways to Shape Bread Rolls here.
What Type of Pan for Dinner Rolls?
This recipe was written to use a 9×13-inch baking pan. While I usually prefer metal baking pans over glass or ceramic (metal conducts heat more efficiently), I actually prefer the table presentation ceramic pans offer when making dinner rolls. Also, because ceramic (and glass) conduct heat more slowly than metal, it allows these rolls to stay soft in the centers.
How to Make Dinner Rolls Ahead of Time
Most yeasted doughs can be made ahead of time and baked off later by simply chilling the dough. Refrigerating basically stunts the rise time and can actually allow more flavor to develop!
For this dinner roll recipe, here’s my recommended method:
- Make the dough all the way through to rising once and shaping into rolls.
- Once the rolls are shaped, cover the pan well with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.
- When ready to bake, bring to room temperature as the oven preheats before baking as the recipe directs.
- If the rolls haven’t doubled in size yet, allow to sit at room temperature until they do.
- The rolls are best served the day they’re baked. However, you can easily reheat the rolls briefly in the oven or toaster oven at 300°F until warmed through to refresh before serving.
If you need to prep these rolls further in advance, see the freezing instructions just below.
How to Freeze Dinner Rolls
- Freeze the dough after it has risen for the first time and been shaped.
- Place the rolls in a baking dish, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and store in the freezer for up to 2 months.
- When ready to bake, loosen the plastic wrap and thaw to room temperature.
- Let rise until an indentation made with your finger into the dough remains.
- Proceed with the recipe as written.
More Dinner Roll Recipes You’ll Love:
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1/4
cup
lukewarm water
-
1
cup
warm milk (100 to 110°F)
-
1
tablespoon
unsalted butter,
melted plus more for greasing
-
2
large eggs,
lightly beaten
-
2
tablespoons
granulated sugar
-
1 1/2
teaspoons
fine salt
-
2 1/4
teaspoons
(1 packet) instant yeast
-
4 1/2
cups
(572 grams) bread flour
For egg wash & finishing
-
1
egg,
lightly beaten
-
Melted butter
-
Flaky sea salt,
for sprinkling
-
Combine the water, milk, 1 tablespoon of the melted butter, eggs, sugar, salt, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add 2 cups of the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until the dough forms a rough, shaggy mass. Attach the dough hook to the mixer, turn to medium-low speed, and gradually add the remaining flour, kneading until a mass of dough begins to form. Continue kneading on medium-high speed for 4 to 5 minutes until a soft, smooth ball of dough is formed. The dough should feel elastic and slightly tacky to the touch.
-
Lightly spray a large clean bowl with cooking spray and place the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl lightly with plastic wrap. Let rise for about 1 hour to 90 minutes at room temperature or until the dough is big, puffy, and about doubled in size.
-
Grease a 9x13-inch or similarly shaped baking pan with butter. Gently deflate the dough. Use a bench scraper, knife, or pizza wheel to divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a ball and place in the prepared pan. Lightly cover the dough with plastic wrap and let the rolls rise for about 1 hour, or until about doubled in size.
-
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
-
Brush the rolls gently with the beaten egg. Bake the rolls for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with salt. Serve warm. Store leftovers in an airtight container or ziptop bag for up to 3 days.
If you’re interested in improving your bread baking skills, check out my FREE guide:
This recipe was originally published in 2013 and has been updated with new photos and more baking tips. Photos by Joanie Simon.
November Baking Challenge
This recipe was the November 2021 selection for our monthly baking challenge! Every month you can join the challenge by baking the recipe and snapping a photo for a chance to win prizes! Learn more about my monthly baking challenges here. Check out everyone’s dinner rolls:
I am usually too lazy to make my own rolls, but these were so easy to make. So good! The addition of eggs makes such a tasty roll. I will be making these again! Yum.
This is my second time I ever made rolls. I saw this recipe and decided to give it a try since the one before I tried was blah! Let me tell you: this is a winner! Everyone loved them. They were soft, pillowy and so darn tasty. I felt like a true seasoned baker! Thanks for sharing!
Awesome, quick recipe. Great for a beginner!
Yummy dinner rolls
I made these for Thanksgiving and they went well with cinnamon butter. The rolls came out a little on the dense side but perhaps I overworked the dough. Will make this again.
Super easy recipe to follow. I made them up to the rolling process the day before we were going to eat them. Baked them on day two and they were incredible. So soft and fluffy. Everyone loved them.
I’ve made these rolls twice, once baking right away and once with the overnight proof. This recipe is amazing and one of the easiest bread recipes I have followed! They come out super fluffy and have gotten rave reviews from my family. 10/10
These were delicious! I made them for thanksgiving and my family loved them <3
Best dinner rolls ever!
Great rolls. I’d make them again.
This dough was a dream To work with and came together so quickly. I choose to top it with garlic oil which was delicious and guest approved!
Super simple and very delicious. Will probably use this recipe for every family dinner!
This recipe was easy and delicious!
I love a good roll or biscuit recipe. Made these dinner rolls for Thanksgiving! This recipe is simple, yummy, and a perfect addition to a nice dinner.
This is a very easy recipe to follow, and the rolls are delicious.
I made this recipe once before but this time around it tastes so much better. This is definitely my go-to dinner rolls. I even had some dough leftover.
First time trying this recipe and they were so good! They were so light and fluffy and perfectly golden brown. They are also a nice big roll. Very easy recipe to follow. These are now going to be my “go to” roll!
So happy to hear they’ve become your go to roll!
So good and easy!
Did the over night proof on this recipe and they were perfect for baking the next morning. Delicious addition to my Thanksgiving meal. Thank you.
These are perfect to make the day before and bake the day off! They are so fluffy and delicious. Such an easy recipe and I appreciate the guide on how to knead dough! Thank you!
Glad to hear the guide helped, Naria! Thanks so much for the comment, thrilled you love this recipe 🙂
I was terrified to work with yeast but so glad I tried! These dinner rolls came out so beautiful! Thanks for the tips and tricks.
Yay!! So happy to show you that yeast isn’t an ingredient to be afraid of, I’m glad to hear your rolls turned out perfectly! 🙂
This recipe was quite easy and didn’t take much time to make. I did make them the night before Thanksgiving and had them set out for the second rise before baking. Were delicious and pretty!
So glad to hear that, Shelley!
Delicious fluffy rolls! Huge hit for the holidays
These yeast rolls are awesome. They are ao eaay to make…I have never made them before either. They were enjoyed by all.
Seriously, SO fluffy! Simple to make, but a massive crowd pleaser
Delicious and very easy to make!
Excellent dinner rolls and really very easy to make. Thanks for the great recipe.
So tasty and fun!
These were SO simple to make and absolutely delicious! I followed the recipe through shaping the day before Thanksgiving, then left them in the fridge overnight. Baked them the next day with an additional 5 minutes because they were still a bit cool from the fridge. Came out fluffy, rich, and perfect!
Wonderful! So happy you enjoyed this recipe, Ellen!
A yeast dough that worked out so well! My house smells so yummy. I can’t wait to share them with family this Thanksgiving day. I could not find flaky salt locally. I used fine sea salt to try to mimic the flavor.
Glad you loved this recipe, Marguerite! I hope your family enjoyed them as well 🙂
Great recipe. The rolls were delicious. For some reason, they weren’t light and fluffy but a bit dense, like pretzels. What did I do wrong? I would still make them again because, well, I love pretzels too.
Hi Diane! So happy you loved this recipe (and speaking of pretzels, have you tried our Bavarian-style pretzels yet? I think you’d love them!). The most important steps in creating light and fluffy rolls are to use a digital scale to measure your ingredients (or check out this article here on How to Measure Flour) and to ensure that your dough doubles in size for each rise time. I recommend taking photos of your dough before rising and after to compare as it’s hard to tell sometimes 🙂 I hope that helps! Please give this recipe another try, and let us know how it goes!
Any suggestion/tips for rolls that rose well and are fluffy on the inside, but get a harder crust on the outside? Still taste delicious!
Hi AnnKate! Unfortunately, that would require revamping the entire recipe. These rolls have too much fat to product a crunchy crust (think about a baguette recipe or artisan loaf recipe which is basically just flour + water + yeast + salt and no eggs or butter). I’m glad you enjoyed these rolls still 🙂
I let my husband pick what roll recipe he wanted for Thanksgiving dinner and he opted for this one, Which is saying a lot because he doesn’t like trying new things. We all LOVED it! It’s his favorite new roll recipe because of the flaky salt I added to the top and the egg wash was different & really good!
I agree 100% with your husband, the flaky sea salt just perfects the rolls 🙂 So happy you both loved them!
These rolls were so easy to make! An absolute family favourite in our house ☺️
So so so good! Worked out amazing and turned out so nice and fluffy!
Amazing smell, oh so fluffy and tasty and just beautiful! Perfect for Thanksgiving!
So easy to make and absolutely delicious! Haven’t anyways had the best luck with Brad rolls but these are AMAZING! We sampled one before Thanksgiving because they looked and smelt so good! Didn’t disappoint!
Any recommendations for adjustments if I use a bread machine to mix/knead & only have active dry yeast? Thanks for the recipe, excited to try it.
Hi Stephanie! There shouldn’t be any adjustment needed as long as you’re only using the knead function on your bread machine and not letting the rolls rise in the machine. I hope that helps!
Easy to make and rolls look gorgeous straight out of oven. Kept the formed dough in the fridge overnight and it worked great!
If I make these ahead of time, how long do you think it would take for the rolls to come to room temperature or double in size after being in the fridge overnight?
Hi Maddie! It completely depends on the temperature of your kitchen, but typically about 1-2 hours. To be safe, you could lean towards taking them out 3 hours before you need them to ensure you have plenty of time for them to rise and bake. Let us know how it goes!
Made these today to prep for Thanksgiving but was in between two different recipes and doubled the yeast while following this recipe. They are huge and delicious. Tonight we will use as hamburger buns.I’ve made another batch for Thanksgiving following this recipe and so far they are perfect!
Oh no haha! Glad you’re able to use them for dinner tonight, they would taste incredible with burgers! Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving 🙂
Can you substitute all purpose flour for bread flour? I have trouble getting bread flour.
Hi Betsy! You can, just keep in mind that your rolls may be slightly shorter and a little less chewy (still delicious though!). You can find out more details as to why we prefer bread flour in this recipe in the pink tip box above the recipe.
This recipe is super easy. I will admit my first attempt failed as I wasn’t paying attention. But second attempt was great. I didn’t have sea salt flakes but did add kosher salt on top. Making two batches for Thanksgiving.
Mow I know why my granddaughter lives your recipes.
Yay! I’m so happy your second attempt went perfectly 🙂 Please tell your granddaughter thanks from us for sharing our recipes with you!
Okay, so my husband was drooling over these! They are amazing! I used half whole wheat flour, and they came out wonderful! They freeze beautifully and make wonderful rolls for sandwiches. We had them with soup initially, and I froze the rest and then made pulled pork/coleslaw sandwiches with them. Delicious! Thank you for the recipe!
So happy your substitution worked perfectly! You’re making me hungry, pulled pork sandwiches with coleslaw on these rolls?! YUM! Thanks for the rave review, Laurie 🙂
Love these. I made them for family nd friends and they loved them. I’ve made others before but these came out much better.
This is a great recipe! It’s easy to make and the result is amazing!
I was so stressed out to make rolls for the first time!! But they came out beautifully and are so tasty. Loved all the tips and clear instructions! For the first time we will have fresh home baked rolls at Thanksgiving ! Thank you
Woohoo!! Thrilled to hear this, Sandra! There’s nothing better than homemade rolls, especially when you make them yourself! Glad the tips and instructions helped. Happy Thanksgiving! If you’re on Instagram, tag Tessa using #handletheheat so she can see your delicious rolls on your Thanksgiving table 🙂
for some reason I cannot get the video to load. Is there a problem at your endor is it here? I’ve shut down the ad blocker, can’t find any reason why it won’t run. I’d really like to see it. Thx. Jim
Hi Jim! We’ve been having a heck of a time with our videos lately showing up in the wrong section, sorry about that! If you scroll down manually about halfway through the pink tip box, you’ll see our shaping video. It is working ok for me, are you able to try a new browser to see if that helps? Let me know how it goes!
Super easy and delicious rolls!
Loved this easy, but delicious recipe for dinner rolls!
I don’t know. I’ve made these twice now and both times found them a little dense and bland. I work with yeast and make bread enough to know I’m not totally messing them up, but I’m not sure what the issue is. I’ve even made two different recipes in the last week to test for thanksgiving and the other one turned out amazing.
Hi Tara! Sorry you’ve had issues with your rolls being dense and bland! The most important steps in creating light and fluffy rolls are to use a digital scale to measure your ingredients (or check out this article here on How to Measure Flour) and to ensure that your dough doubles in size for each rise time. I recommend taking photos of your dough before rising and after to compare as it’s hard to tell sometimes And feel free to add more salt, I encourage you to sprinkle the tops with flaky sea salt if you hadn’t already, it’s so delicious! Please give this recipe another try and let us know how it goes, I can’t wait for you to enjoy them how they’re meant to be!
I would like to make these for several family members. How far ahead can I make these and freeze? Should I form balls then freeze?
Thank You,
Kimberly
Hi Kimberly! Yes, you can freeze these in advance. Check out our free Make Ahead Baking Guide here for more details:
Easy. Delicious. What’s not to love? I honestly don’t have much else to say but I wrote this recipe down which means I mean business!
haha YAY!! So glad you loved this recipe, Monica!
Great recipe! Bread baking is my forte and this is great for beginners or connoisseurs alike. I’m always on the lookout for new recipes to try and this one hit the mark. Thanks Tessa 🙂
Only one tablespoon of butter in the dough?
Yup!
Run, don’t walk, to make these rolls! They are so delicious, fluffy, buttery, and definitely hits the spot when craving carbs haha. Easy to make and even easier to enjoy!
Turned out great, and I have never made rolls! I did have to let my initial dough rise continue over 2 hrs because it didn’t double yet, but it worked great!
So glad you not only loved this recipe but that you also followed the sensory indications and not just the timing for your rolls to fully double in size 🙂 It’s different for everyone as everyone’s kitchens/location/climate are different. Thanks so much for your comment!
So easy to follow with a delicious result! So light and fluffy! Won’t ever eat store bought roles again!
These are so good! I was short one cup of bread flour so I used one cup of AP flour and still they were so fluffy! Plus, this was a straightforward and easy recipe! I will be making these again!!
Nothing worse than realizing you’re short an ingredient, but I’m so happy it still worked well for you! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
I have a convection oven only. Can I bake rolls in this type of oven? If yes, would time and temperature have to be adjusted?
Hi Lynne! Neither Tessa or I bake with a convection oven, but we don’t recommend using convection for delicate foods like quickbreads as they can develop an a-symmetrical shape due to the windy environment. Are you able to turn off the convection oven setting? More details can be found in this article: Oven 101. I hope that helps!