Easy Dinner Roll recipe perfect for procrastinators! Done in just over an hour, these buttery soft dinner rolls are the perfect addition to dinner.
If you love Bread as much as we do, find all of our Best Bread Recipes Here!
Have you noticed yet that I enjoy making bread?! HA! This is a delightfully simple recipe for dinner rolls that I just adore. They’re simple to make and oh my word, don’t even worry about storing leftovers because there won’t be any.
Ingredients needed to make Dinner Rolls
— Warm Water
— Granulated Sugar
— Instant/Active dry yeast
— Canola oil – you can also use vegetable oil or light olive oil
— 1 egg
— Salt
— Flour- you can use all-purpose flour but I prefer bread flour
How to make Easy Dinner Rolls
If you’ve never made bread before, here is the basic formula for making your own at home. It really is an easy process and you’ll be thrilled with the results. Plus your entire house will smell like freshly baked bread which is amazing.
Step 1: Assemble Yeast Roll Ingredients
You’ll need warm water, granulated sugar, instant OR active dry yeast, 1 egg, canola oil, salt and flour. That’s it!
Step 2: Dissolve the yeast and activate it by Proofing
This is a simple process that takes about 5 minutes. You can watch the video above to see what yeast looks like when it’s proofed. It’s possible to kill yeast if you use too hot of water, so aim for slightly warmer than luke-warm, or about 105°F. Combine warm water and the sugar, then stir to dissolve. Add in the yeast, give it a quick stir and then let it sit for 5 minutes. You’ll begin to see the yeast puff up until it covers the entire surface of the water.
Step 3: Add remaining ingredients and mix
Add the egg, the oil, salt and flour, then mix using an electric stand mixer until it’s well combined, about 2 minutes. You can mix by hand but it will take longer & I prefer the uniform mix of an electric mixer.
Step 4: Knead the Dough
Trust me, taking an extra 5 minutes to let your mixer knead the dough is worth it! Going through the process of kneading dough is crucial for dinner rolls with great texture. Kneading dough allows gluten to form which enables dough to rise better, be lighter and fluffier.
You can knead by hand or with a mixer. I use the dough hook on my mixer to knead bread dough. If you knead by hand, you’ll want to knead for 7-8 minutes, depending on how consistent you are.
Step 5: First Rise
Place your lovely smooth, elastic dough in an oiled bowl and cover it with plastic wrap or a clean towel. I think plastic wrap works better because it traps hot air inside and thus, my dough requires a shorter first rise. Be sure to spray the side of the plastic wrap that will touch the dough, so that it doesn’t stick.
If your house is cool, your bread will take longer to rise. In the wintertime when my house is cooler than normal, I like to turn the oven on for 2-3 minutes, then turn it off and let the bowl of dough rise in there. The oven traps the heat for a longtime and it’s the perfect atmosphere for rising dough.
This Easy Dinner Roll recipe only needs to rise for 15 minutes.
Step 6: Punch Dough and Shape it
Punching the dough down quickly releases any air pockets that have developed and helps your bread have a more consistent texture.
Take the dough and divide it into 12 portions. If you want to be really precise you can always use a scale to make sure they’re even.
Shape each ball dough by rolling it gently into a ball and tucking the sides underneath so that the roll looks smooth.
Place in a greased 9×13 pan. The rolls don’t need to be touching the sides of the pan.
I like to brush an egg wash on the top of each roll to give them that smooth, shiny crust. Just whisk together 1 whole egg and 1 teaspoon water, then brush all over the outside of each roll.
Step 7: Second Rise
For the 2nd rise, I just place the pan on the stove near the oven while it preheats. You can even lay a clean kitchen cloth over the top of the rolls to trap more heat.
Step 8: Bake the Rolls
You’re nearly there! These rolls bake for about 10-12 minutes. The tops will be golden brown. Let them cool slightly, then brush the tops with fresh butter and serve. YUM.
Buttery Soft Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- 2 TBSP yeast
- 1 cup warm water
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 3-3 1/2 cups flour
- 1 egg whisked with 1 tsp water for textured top
- 2 TBSP melted butter for brushing
Instructions
- In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Add yeast; let stand for 5 minutes.
- Add the canola oil, egg, salt and enough flour to form a soft dough. Knead for 5 minutes.
- Form dough into a smooth ball. Keeping the dough in the bowl, spray with non-stick spray and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place for 15 minutes.
- Punch down dough. Knead for 1 minute. Take the dough and divide it into 12 portions. Shape each ball dough by rolling it gently into a ball and tucking the sides underneath so that the roll looks smooth.
- Place rolls in a greased 9x13 pan. Brush each with egg wash on the top of each roll to give them that smooth, shiny crust.
- Let rolls rest and rise while oven is preheating to 425 degrees F, or about 10 minutes.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, until rolls are golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes, then brush with butter and serve.
Video
Nutrition
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Instant or Active Dry Yeast for Making Bread
If you use instant yeast, you can add it directly to your other dry ingredients when making bread. If you use active dry yeast, you’ll need to first dissolve it in warm water before using it in a recipe. I buy my yeast in bulk from Costco and it’s active dry yeast.
Enjoy this bread recipe? Check out our other roll & biscuit recipes to try:
- Parmesan Garlic Dinner Rolls
- Sweet Orange Dinner Rolls
- Easy Homemade Cheesy Breadsticks
- Soft Cornmeal Dinner Rolls
- Best Biscuit Recipe Ever
- Breakfast Rolls
- Cheesy Cornbread Muffins
- One-hour Orange Rolls
- Cinnamon Biscuits with Honey butter
Easy Dinner Roll recipe perfect for procrastinators! Done in just over an hour, these buttery soft dinner rolls are the perfect addition to dinner. Make a double batch and use them for lunch the next day- you’ll be glad you did!
Tanamara says
The rolls looked great when out the oven and smelled great…but they taste bland and really not great at all. It was really disappointing. I do suggest using milk instead of water. Adding 1/4 sugar is not enough I suggest either a half or adding an extra 1/4 of honey. And not 2 tbsp of yeast as you really taste it. Less might result in slower rise and all but good things are worth the wait. Maybe cut the yeast in half.
Kimberly Blackwood says
Can you use instant dry yeast in your recipes for bread and rolls? I love your recipes, my sister bought me 2 pounds of Fleischmanns Instant dry yeast and I would love to use it. Thanks so much.
Jessica says
You can use either type of yeast in all my recipes! I always proof my yeast too, regardless. It’s a habit now, LOL. Happy baking!
D2B2 says
Tried it twice and both times the dough was to wet to form into balls. I had to turn one into focaccia and the other into a loaf.
Jessica says
Did you try adding a bit more flour? That’s why most homemade bread recipes give a range of flour- 3 to 3 1/2 cups for this recipe.
Darius says
Turned out great, everyone in family had multiple servings and this was really easy to make. Exactly what I was looking for last minute to accompany a roast!
Alison says
We love these rolls with a yummy roast! I’m glad to hear that you and your crew enjoyed them!
Elina says
The dinner rolls that I made turned out amazing!! The only downside was that there was a bit of burnt egg that seemed to have pooled under the buns and stuck to it. Even so, I’ll be using this recipe from now on! 😀
Jessica says
So glad you like them! Non-stick spray or lining the pan with parchment will solve that problem!
Inge says
Thank you for this easy recipe! I’ve had issues with dense rolls and bread loaves for such a long time. 2 tablespoons (or two 10g packets of yeast) made it so much better, I usually only use one which I think was the problem. Next time I’ll add a little bit more sugar, but that’s just my preference. Also, the amount of flour the recipe called for was too little, I added a cup and half more which helped. This will definitely be my go-to bread recipe from now on.
Kaylie says
So glad it worked well for you! Thank you, Inge.
Catherine says
Wow these were amazing. I was skeptical with only using 3 cups of flour so as I divided them up I added just a little more to help form them. They were the softest, fluffiest, and best rolls I’ve had and definitely made. Even my husband who compares everything to his grandmothers recipes said this was the best rolls he’s had (a tie to his grandmother 😉). I will be making this again and again!
Kaylie says
Thank you, Catherine!
Sreevidya says
Hi Jessica, I tried homemade bread and oat-honey bread.cam out so well. I want to try the dinner rolls . Is there any way I can avoid using egg. If so what’s the replacement for it as I am vegan/vegetarian. Also do I have to weigh the balls for the dinner rolls? How many rolls can I get with this measurement ? Thank you in advance.
Jessica says
The egg really adds to the feathery texture to the bread. I’d research egg replacements and see what you prefer. I don’t weigh the dough either- but you’d get exact rolls if you did. I just opt for faster processes. 😉
Aaron Coreas says
I haven’t made them yet but I wanted to ask can you leave them to proof in the fridge over night I want to make them for Easter this sunday
Jessica says
I’ve not tried that, but if you opt to, just use 1-2 tsp yeast.
Evelyn Knowles says
First time making these! Easy to make & turned out perfect
Julie Roman Roman says
Incredible! Can’t stop eating them. Thank you for your recipes ladies.
Is it possible to freeze these rolls before the second rise?
Jessica says
I’ve heard you should add an additional tsp of yeast if you plan to freeze the rolls. So glad you like them!
Brenda Bynes says
My husband loves these. He makes his own butters, so this roll is the perfect accompaniment… he just says YUUUUM!
Jessica says
So glad you both enjoyed them! I’m all for homemade butters!
celestefish7@gmail.com says
There is absolutely no way 2 TBSP of yeast is correct. I’m guessing you meant 2tsp which is just under a packet.
Nicole says
Yes, 2 tablespoons of yeast is correct. A lot of our bread recipes on this site actually use about 2 tablespoons of yeast in them and you’ll find it gives wonderfully fluffy results.
La says
I brought this for Thanksgiving and everyone loved it. It was baked on a Traeger.
Jessica says
Such a great idea to bake them on a Traeger!
shirley mason says
have been using this recipe for years turns out perfect every time. use kitchen aid stand mixer for mixing. family requests for all holiday functions
Jessica says
We love this one too Shirley!