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You are here: Home / Bread / The Best Homemade Dinner Rolls Recipe

The Best Homemade Dinner Rolls Recipe

Last updated on September 2, 2020. Originally published October 28, 2018 166 Comments

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This Best Homemade Dinner Rolls recipe turns out perfectly every time. These easy, soft & fluffy dinner rolls are, slightly sweet and salty, irresistibly buttery and made from scratch.

overhead front view of 8 Best Homemade Dinner Rolls stacked on each other in a basket after baking

No holiday is complete in my house without these homemade dinner rolls. They are the best dinner rolls EVER (and I mean ever). 

These fluffy dinner rolls are easy to make and turn out perfectly every single time. Every bite is the perfect combination of sweetness and buttery saltiness, and they are soft and fluffy but still substantial and dense (if that makes sense). 

It took me six years of testing and tasting to finally land on this recipe for the best dinner rolls EVER. I promise you will love them as much as we do!

up close overhead view of a Best Homemade Dinner Roll in the pan with other rolls surrounding it after baking

 

How do you make homemade dinner rolls?

These dinner rolls are SO amazingly flawless, that I want to ensure your success when making this homemade dinner rolls recipe! So let’s walk through it step-by-step and don’t forget to watch the video!

Make the homemade dinner roll dough:

A common question when it comes to making dinner rolls is, “how do you make dinner roll dough?” Well let me tell you! This recipe yields the dreamiest, smoothest, easiest to work with dough on the planet! I like to use my standing mixer to stir and knead the dough. But doing it by hand is just as easy (which is the method I used in this video)! Here are a few notes about making the dough:

  • Be sure you completely cool the butter/milk mixture so you do not kill the yeast. That’s really the only “tricky’ part of this recipe! If any part of the recipe is too warm (over 105 degrees F), the yeast won’t proof and then the rolls won’t rise!
  • Start with 3 cups of flour. It’s important not to add too much flour to the dough. So start with 3 cups and gradually knead in more as needed!overhead view of a bowl of risen dinner rolls dough

Let the dough rise. 

This recipe has two rises. One with the dough in a large ball, and another after the dough has been divided into rolls! When the dough is rising, always cover it with a warm, damp towel!

How do you make dough rise faster: 

To help the dinner roll dough rise faster simply boil some water and put it in a bowl or measuring dish next to the bread that’s rising. Cover the bread AND the vessel containing the boiling water with a damp towel and let the magic happen! This creates a warm, moist environment that yeast loves. 

I also recommend putting the dough/boiling water/damp cloth apparatus in your oven with the lights turned on. This creates a warm moist environment that the yeast loves, which speeds up the rising process.

photo showing how to make homemade dinner rolls

Weigh the homemade dinner roll dough!

In order to ensure that all your rolls are exactly the same size, so they baked evenly, I highly recommend weighing the dough.

Start by weighing the entire batch of dough, then divide its weight divide by 12. Remember that answer and make sure it is the weight of each dough ball. This particular batch of dough weighed 35 oz, so each dough ball weighed approximately 2.9 oz.

If you don’t have a food scale (I seriously recommend getting one, the one linked here is only $9!) you will have to use your own judgement/feeling to make the rolls as close to equal in size as possible!

Divide the dinner roll dough into rolls & shape

Once you have all your math done (phew), weight out the portions of dinner rolls dough you need and make them into smooth balls. I recommend using a well-floured surface to avoid sticking!

photo showing how to make homemade dinner rolls

Place the rolls in a lined & greased baking pan

As you form the rolls, place them in a 9×13″ baking pan, spaced evenly apart. I always use parchment paper to line my baking pan to ensure that the rolls are easy to remove from the pan to serve.

overhead view of a pan of 12 dinner rolls dough balls before rising

Let the dinner rolls rise a second time.

Once the homemade dinner rolls are formed and placed in the baking sheet, let them rise again until they are doubled in size (30-60 minutes). The same rules apply at this step for speeding up the rising process as did in the first step.

Be sure not to let the damp towel touch the tops of the rolls, otherwise the dough might stick to the towel, resulting a quite a mess!

The unbaked dinner rolls will touch. As you see in the photo below (and the video), the dinner rolls will touch each other after they have risen. That is good and normal, and exactly what is supposed to happen!

overhead view of a pan of dinner roll dough after it has risen

 Bake the homemade dinner rolls

While the dough is rising a second time, preheat your oven. After the dough is risen fully, bake int he preheated oven until the tops are golden brown and the rolls sound hollow when you gently hit them with a wooden spoon.

A note about oven variation and baking time. 

Please note, every single oven bakes a little differently. I bake exclusively in an electric, convection oven, which bakes more evenly than other models. Please watch your dinner rolls carefully and check them at the beginning of the recommended baking window to avoid over-baked rolls!

front view of a pan of Best Homemade Dinner Rolls after being baked

Top the dinner rolls with melted butter and salt

This step is KEY! Every bite of these homemade dinner rolls contains a little bit of sweet and salty goodness, which is due in large part to this extra special finalizing step.  

As soon as the dinner rolls are removed from the oven, brush them with melted butter and add a sprinkle of  coarse sea salt.

This is the final touch that makes the rolls extra special! There’s something about biting into a delicious salty roll that just can’t be beat.

overhead view of a pan of 12 Best Homemade Dinner Rolls recipe after being baked

Serve warm

I recommend serving these homemade dinner rolls fresh from the oven! They stand alone perfectly because they are just that good! They also make amazing leftover turkey & cranberry sandwiches after Thanksgiving.

How do you reheat dinner rolls? 

If you need to reheat these dinner rolls to serve to company, just cover the baking pan with tin foil and place them in your oven turned on to warm (about 200 degrees F).

front view of a hand removing one Best Homemade Dinner Rolls from the pan

FAQs about homemade dinner rolls:

Can you freeze these homemade dinner rolls? 

You can make these homemade dinner rolls ahead and freeze them for up to 3 weeks. Simply cover them tightly with plastic wrap and aluminum foil or a lid after you have placed the divided rolls onto a prepared baking dish (before they have risen the second time).

To bake: Remove the dinner rolls from the freezer, cover and let them come to room temperature and rise fully before baking.

Can you bake dinner rolls from frozen? 

If you don’t have time to let them come to room temperature and rise, you can bake these best dinner rolls from frozen by baking at 325 degrees F for 25 minutes, then increasing the baking temperature to 375 and baking for 10 minutes more.

How do you make soft dinner rolls? 

There are a few factors that make these soft dinner rolls so irresistible!

  • Fat in in the dough. Both the fat from the whole milk and butter preserve the freshness of these soft dinner rolls and keeps them soft for a days. The fat keeps the rolls from drying out!
  • Butter brushed tops. The butter on the top of the dinner rolls also helps seal the rolls and keep them nice and soft.
  • Baking close together. This lowers the amount of browned “crust” on the rolls, which yields an overall softer texture!

How do you make yeast rolls light and fluffy? 

These light and fluffy dinner rolls are that way because they rise twice. You absolutely do not want to rush either rise, as that is what gives them such a light and fluffy texture.

They do rise a tad more in the oven after the second rise, but you don’t want to risk them being too dense by being hasty and not letting them rise.

overhead/front view of a Best Homemade Dinner Roll cut in half with a square of butter

Homemade Dinner Rolls: Ingredients & Substitutions

Let’s chat about the ingredients and possible substitutions that can be made in this best dinner rolls recipe!

  • Milk. Any percentage of milk works well! My favorite is whole milk because it yields a beautifully rich roll. However, most of the time I use 2% milk!
  • All-purpose flour. You can substitute up to 1/2 of the flour with whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour. However, as someone who usually makes this substitution as often as possible, I do not recommend it in this recipe. These rolls are so special and are truly the best when made with a good all-purpose flour.
  • Granulated sugar. I love that these homemade rolls are the perfect combination of sweet and salty. The sugar is also important in getting the yeast to rise. I don’t recommend making substitutions for the sugar in this dinner roll recipe.
  • Butter. There is NO substitute for butter in this dinner roll recipe. It is the essence of these rolls and not an ingredient to shy away from!

front view of a basket with 5 Best Homemade Dinner Rolls stacked on top of each other

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Homemade Dinner Rolls

The Best Homemade Dinner Rolls Recipe

Laura
This Best Homemade Dinner Rolls recipe turns out perfectly every time. These easy, soft & fluffy dinner rolls are, slightly sweet and salty, irresistibly buttery and made from scratch!! 
5 from 51 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 30 mins
Rising time 2 hrs
Total Time 2 hrs 40 mins
Course bread, Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 12 dinner rolls
Calories 181.9 kcal

Equipment

  • KitchenAid Mixer
  • measuring spoons
  • measuring cups
  • spatula
  • glass batter bowl
  • Parchment Paper
  • 9x13" baking dish

Ingredients
 
 

  • ½ cup warm water about 105 degrees F
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 TBS active dry yeast
  • 6 TBS butter melted and cooled
  • 1 cup milk 2% or whole
  • 1 egg room temperature, lightly beaten.
  • ½ TBS sea salt
  • 3-4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1-2 TBS melted butter
  • Coarse Sea Salt (for sprinkling)

Instructions
 

  • Line a 9x13” baking pan with parchment paper, set aside.

Proof the yeast:

  • Add sugar, water and yeast to the bowl of your standing mixer fitted with the dough hook. Let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes until foamy.

Make the dough:

  • Melt butter completely. Mix in milk and warm the mixture in the microwave or on the stovetop until it’s combined and not lumpy (but just slightly warm). Set aside to cool comepletely!
  • Once yeast is foamy (proofed) and butter/milk is cool, pour butter/milk mixture into the bowl of your standing mixer. Mix on low-speed until combined.
  • Add egg and mix until combined.
  • Add 3 cups of flour and ½ TBS salt and knead with dough hook. Add more flour a little bit at a time until a slightly-sticky ball forms.
  • Grease a large bowl and transfer dough to the bowl. Cover with a damp cloth and set in a warm place to rise for about 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
  • Once dough has doubled, flour your hands and squeeze it to remove the gas.
  • With floured hands, form 12, equally-sized dough balls. (use a food scale to weight full batch of dough, then divide that number by 12 and make sure every dough ball is close to that answer to make even-sized rolls)
  • Roll them until they’re smooth balls.
  • Place them into your prepared baking sheet evenly spaced into 4 rows of 3.
  • Cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about 30-60 minutes).
  • When you notice your rolls have risen about halfway, Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
  • Place fully-risen rolls into preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, until the rolls are golden-brown on the top and sound hollow when tapped with a wooden spoon.
  • Remove rolls from oven and immediately brush them with melted butter and sprinkle with sea salt.
  • Serve warm!

Video

Notes

To make ahead & freeze:

 You can make these rolls ahead and freeze them for up to 3 weeks. Simply cover them tightly with plastic wrap and aluminum foil or a lid after you have placed the divided dinner rolls onto a prepared baking sheet. Remove from freezer and let the rolls come to room temperature and rise fully before baking. Or you can bake from frozen by baking at 325 degrees F for 25 minutes, then increasing the baking temperature to 375 and baking for 10 minutes more. 

Ingredient Substituions

  • Milk. Any percentage of milk works well! My favorite is whole milk because it yields a beautifully rich roll. However, most of the time I use 2% milk!
  • All-purpose flour. You can substitute up to 1/2 of the flour with whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour. However, as someone who usually makes this substitution as often as possible, I do not recommend it in this recipe. These rolls are so special and are truly the best when made with a good all-purpose flour.
  • Granulated sugar. I love that these homemade rolls are the perfect combination of sweet and salty. The sugar is also important in getting the yeast to rise. I don't recommend making substitutions for the sugar in this dinner roll recipe.
  • Butter. There is NO substitute for butter in this dinner roll recipe! However you can use unsalted butter if desired. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1rollCalories: 181.9kcalCarbohydrates: 24gProtein: 4.8gFat: 7.6gCholesterol: 35.3mgSodium: 357.9mgPotassium: 113.4mgFiber: 1.4gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 270IUCalcium: 27mgIron: 1.2mg
Keyword dinner rolls, fluffy dinner rolls, homemade dinner rolls, homemade dinner rolls recipe, soft dinner rolls, the best homemade dinner rolls
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

 

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase a product through a link you clicked on here, I receive a portion of the sale. Thank you for supporting JoyFoodSunshine! 

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Filed Under: Bread, Homemade Holidays, Popular Recipes, Recipe Videos, Recipes, Side Dish Tagged With: bread, rolls, side dish, thanksgiving

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Alice

    February 26, 2021 at 7:05 am

    5 stars
    Delicious have been making dinner rolls for years but these are the best and so easy to make. Thank you for sharing

    Reply
  2. Lori

    January 16, 2021 at 1:07 pm

    5 stars
    Best recipe for rolls. I wonder if it would make a good bread loaf/loaves?

    Reply
  3. Theresa Lyons

    January 1, 2021 at 3:15 pm

    5 stars
    Wow! Melt-in-your-mouth wonderful ❤️. I made them for my family’s New Years meal and we all loved them. I will definitely be making these again.

    Reply
  4. Libby

    December 21, 2020 at 1:02 pm

    5 stars
    Hi! I plan to make these (again) for Christmas, they were so good last year. I want to make ahead this time, do you know how long we should allow for the thawing and second rise, if we freeze? Overnight?

    Reply
  5. Sue

    December 17, 2020 at 7:25 pm

    5 stars
    Made these today to have with dinner. My husband asked Did you put butter on these already? I smiled and said no the butter is in the buns already! They are wonderful and sooo yummy and buttery!

    Reply
  6. Grete Dekleva

    December 10, 2020 at 6:34 pm

    How much salt would I add to the dough if I use unsalted butter and don’t sprinkle salt on top of the rolls?

    Reply
  7. Jenn G

    December 7, 2020 at 11:32 am

    5 stars
    These are the best rolls! Thanks for sharing. My family loves them!

    Reply
  8. Dee Hagen

    November 27, 2020 at 10:07 am

    5 stars
    I’ve tried a few roll recipes over the years and have never found the perfect go-to recipe. I have now. I mixed the dough by hand and kneaded it for about 4-5 minutes. Super easy. The rolls were amazingly beautiful, along with being delish!

    Reply
  9. Karen Peralta

    November 23, 2020 at 9:30 pm

    5 stars
    Best homemade rolls!!! I was looking for a recipe for rolls that were fluffy but still had texture to them. My dear mother who passed away used to make homemade bread but she always used a dash of this and a pinch of that so I never learned her magic recipe.. These rolls are ahhhhmazinggg and reminded me of my mama. Thank you Laura!!!

    Reply
  10. Jan

    November 22, 2020 at 9:58 pm

    I’m a first timer at making yeast rolls. I don’t have a mixer. How long do I need to knead the dough? How do I know when it’s kneaded enough. Thanks for your help.
    (I couldn’t get the answer in your video.

    Reply
    • Laura

      November 23, 2020 at 6:58 am

      Knead the dough by hand until it’s smooth and elastic, about 3-5 minutes.

      Reply
  11. Sherri Barton

    November 19, 2020 at 6:29 pm

    5 stars
    I have never been good at making rolls and bread. These were amazing!! I am so excited to make them at Thanksgiving. Thank you for sharing it. I finally don’t feel like a failure at making rolls. 🙂 I actually put them on top of my refrigerator to rise and it worked wonderful as a nice warm place.

    Reply
  12. Andrew Staples

    November 17, 2020 at 2:22 pm

    5 stars
    These are absolutely delicious!!! Can I double the recipe?

    Reply
    • Laura

      November 17, 2020 at 3:10 pm

      Yes! I often double this recipe!

      Reply
  13. Chie

    October 18, 2020 at 8:10 am

    Hello. Can I substitute regular salt for sea salt?

    Reply
    • Laura

      October 18, 2020 at 2:42 pm

      Yes!

      Reply
  14. Ellen

    September 25, 2020 at 1:10 pm

    5 stars
    First time ever baking bread and these turned out AMAZING!

    Reply
    • Laura

      September 25, 2020 at 6:46 pm

      YAY! I’m so glad Ellen! These are an all-time favorite of ours and it makes me so happy when other people love them too!

      Reply
  15. Lorraine

    August 24, 2020 at 4:04 pm

    5 stars
    Made these for the first time and they were very good. Light and tender. I also had to add up to one more cup flour. I think next time I will add more salt. I also replaced the sugar with honey instead, and might add more next time. Because they were a little bland. Also they were HUGE! Big enough to use as super sized sliders! I will be making these again, thank you.

    Reply
  16. julie

    August 2, 2020 at 2:58 am

    5 stars
    just come across this recipe and made for the first time last night and the rolls came out beautiful, everyone loved them and were impressed i had made them 🙂 I did have to add a little more flour as i was mixing the dough but apart from that i followed everything exactly . i found your instructions easy to follow and have my eye on other things to try so thank you

    Reply
    • Laura

      August 2, 2020 at 7:23 am

      I’m so glad you and your family love them Julie!

      Reply
  17. Harry

    July 5, 2020 at 7:24 am

    5 stars
    I’ve been making this recipe for a while now and it comes right every time. It is one of the most easy and with the best results I try so far.

    Reply
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About Laura

 

Hello I’m Laura! I am a former chemistry teacher turned wife and mom of five beautiful babies with one on the way in 2021! I’m a green smoothie addict, lover of the outdoors, and a peanut butter & nap enthusiast! Click here to read more >>

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