Homemade Dinner Rolls

Yumna Jawad

Updated Sep 29, 2025

5 from 168 votes

Classic homemade dinner rolls are made from scratch with instant yeast and come out light and fluffy, simple, and easy to make with pantry ingredients.

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Prep Time 40 minutes
Servings 15 rolls
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Easy homemade dinner rolls in a baking dish brush with olive oil with butter and flaky salt nearby.
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my homemade dinner rolls are so good

When I first learned how to cook, making anything with yeast was so intimidating. So when I finally worked up the courage to try baking, dinner rolls were the very first bread I made! They turned out pretty good, too (good enough I wanted to keep learning how to bake).

My Homemade Dinner Rolls are what I dreamed of making back then: They’re light, fluffy, and just a little sweet. I don’t think there’s anything better than one of these warm, soft dinner rolls slathered with butter. I want to eat them right now, just writing this!

Happy Cooking!
– Yumna

Homemade Dinner Rolls Ingredients

Ingredients for dinner roll recipe in individual dishes: flour, yeast, egg, salt, honey, olive oil, and milk.
  • Dry ingredients: You’ll need flour, yeast, and salt! Make sure to use instant yeast, which can be mixed with the other dry ingredients and doesn’t need to bloom first. If you want to use active dry yeast, just mix it with the milk and honey to activate the yeast for 10 minutes and then add the other ingredients.
  • Wet ingredients: These yeast dinner rolls call for milk, olive oil, an egg, and honey! I use whole milk, but you can use oat or almond milk if you’re dairy-free.

How to Make Homemade Dinner Rolls

Flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl before combining.
Step 1: In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, and instant yeast. Whisk to mix together.
Milk, honey and a whole egg in a bowl before whisking together.
Step 2: In a small bowl, combine the milk, olive oil, egg, and honey.
Dry ingredients in a bowl with wet mixture added on top before mixing.
Step 3: Add wet ingredients to the dry.
A bowl with a shaggy dough from combining the wet and dry ingredients for dinner roll recipe.
Step 4: Stir with a spoon until all of the flour is incorporated. Cover and allow to sit.
Roll dough on a lightly floured surface and kneading in a soft dough ball.
Step 5: Scrape dough onto a smooth, lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and stretchy 
A risen dough in a large oiled bowl.
Step 6: Place dough in an oiled bowl or container. Cover with plastic wrap or a tight cover and allow to rise in a warm area until more than doubled in size.
Dinner roll dough cut into 15 even pieces.
Step 7: Scrape dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Cut into 15 even pieces.
A baking dish with dough rolled into balls before rising.
Step 8: Taking one piece at a time, fold the edges into the center, pinch them closed, and then roll the ball in your hands. Place the dough seam side down in a baking dish and repeat with the remaining pieces.
Puffed dough balls for dinner roll recipe in a baking dish after final rise before baking.
Step 9: Cover the dough balls loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled in size.
Dinner rolls after baking with oil being brushed on top before serving.
Step 10: Uncover the rolls and bake until golden brown. Remove from the oven and, while hot, brush with olive oil.
Homemade dinner rolls recipe in a baking dish.

Homemade Dinner Roll Recipe

Author: Yumna Jawad
5 from 168 votes
These classic homemade dinner rolls are made from scratch with instant yeast and come out light and fluffy, simple, and easy to make with pantry ingredients.
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Prep Time40 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Resting time2 hours
Total Time3 hours
Servings15 rolls

Video

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Ingredients
  

Instructions

  • In a large bowl, combine flour, salt and instant yeast. Whisk to evenly distribute everything.
  • In a small bowl, combine the milk, olive oil, egg and honey.
  • Add wet ingredients to the dry. Stir with a spoon until all of the flour is incorporated. Cover and allow to sit for 10-15 minutes.
  • Scrape dough onto a smooth, lightly floured surface. Knead for 8-10 minutes or until smooth and stretchy using a folding motion, adding more flour when needed. The dough is a bit wet so constant motion will help prevent it from sticking.
  • Place dough in an oiled bowl or container. Cover with plastic wrap or a tight cover and allow to rise in a warm area until 2.5 times the size, about 90 minutes.
  • Scrape dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Cut into 15 even pieces (about 55 grams each).
  • Taking one piece at a time, fold the edges into the center, pinch them closed, and then roll the ball in your hands. Place the dough seam side down a 9×13 baking dish and repeat with the remaining pieces.
  • Cover the dough balls loosely with plastic wrap. Allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
  • While the dough is rising the second time, preheat oven to 375° F. Once doubled in size, uncover the dough and place in the oven on a middle rack.
  • Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
  • Remove from the oven and while still hot, brush with olive oil, if desired. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before enjoying.

Equipment

Notes

  1. Pay attention to the temperature of your kitchen. It will drastically impact the rising time of your dough. When it is warmer, the dough rises faster.
  2. Weigh the rolls. For this dinner roll recipe, I like using a scale to weigh the rolls when I’m making them! That way, they’re all the same size.
Storage: Store the rolls in an airtight container at room temperature and they will keep well for 4 to 5 days.
Freezing: Let the rolls cool completely and then wrap them individually in foil before placing them in a freezer bag. The frozen rolls can be thawed at room temperature. Loosen the foil around each roll, then place it in an oven at 300°F until it is hot to the touch and warmed all the way through.
Substitutes: For best results, follow the recipe as is. However here are some common substitutes that would work well in this recipe.
  • Instead of whole milk, try almond milk, which is what I use in the recipe video! I recommend against coconut milk or rice milk.

Nutrition

Serving: 1roll, Calories: 163kcal, Carbohydrates: 25g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 5g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3g, Trans Fat: 0.001g, Cholesterol: 14mg, Sodium: 167mg, Potassium: 64mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 3g, Vitamin A: 45IU, Vitamin C: 0.01mg, Calcium: 27mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.

Did You Make This Recipe?
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RECIPE VIDEO TUTORIAL

Recipe Variations

  • Add herbs. You can try mixing ¼ cup of chopped, fresh herbs into these easy homemade dinner rolls! I think parsley, basil, or chives would be good.
  • Make them cheesy. I mean, who can say no to cheese?! Knead ¼ to ½ cup of grated cheddar, parmesan, or mozzarella into the dough!
  • Bagel them. Before baking, sprinkle the tops of the quick dinner rolls with everything bagel seasoning! I usually make my own spice blend because it takes just 5 minutes and keeps for a long time!

Recipe Tips

  1. Don’t skip the resting time after mixing the wet and dry ingredients together.  This will make the bread easier to knead and give the flour time to absorb the liquid.
  2. Use any kind of plant-based milk or regular whole milk will work. However, I recommend against coconut milk or rice milk. Make sure the milk is not too hot (above 115°F) or it will kill the yeast.
  3. Use a stand mixer if you have one. You can mix and knead the dough in one with a dough hook. You may have to add an additional tbsp of flour and work the dough for up to 15 minutes to get the right consistency with a dough hook!
  4. Pay attention to the temperature of your kitchen. It will drastically impact the rising time of your dough. When it is warmer, the dough rises faster.
  5. Weigh the rolls. For this dinner roll recipe, I like using a scale to weigh the rolls when I’m making them! That way, they’re all the same size.

FAQs

Why are my dinner rolls hard?

There a few reasons why your homemade dinner rolls come out of the oven hard instead of light and fluffy! Check to make sure your yeast isn’t old or expired, which could stop it from rising. You should also make sure the milk isn’t hot when you add it, since heat can kill yeast! (You just want to milk to be warm.) Also, give the dough long enough to rise and avoid overcooking the rolls!

A soft homemade dinner roll on a plate brushed with oil.

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Comments

  1. Tina says:

    Hi. Looks easy enough & tasty! Will be trying it tonight. Quick question: Can I omit the honey / sugar altogether? Thank you. Am a big fan, btw.

    Reply
    1. Yumna J. says:

      Thanks, Tina! Since the recipe uses Instant Yeast you don’t need to use sugar or honey, but I do find it helps with the overall final taste. That said, I think they will work out perfectly fine without it!

      Reply

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