Homemade Dinner Rolls

This homemade dinner rolls recipe is perfect for a family meal, during the week, or during the holidays!

There are certain dinners that just are not complete without a dinner roll. You know the dinners I’m talking about. The kinds that have gravy and sauces and all kinds of good stuff to sop up. I mean, who in their right mind would leave those fabulous liquids behind on their plate??!!

A basket filled with dinner rolls sits ready to serve. This Dinner Rolls Recipe is perfect for a weeknight dinner or your holiday table!

HOMEMADE DINNER ROLLS RECIPE

Few things beat a good homemade dinner roll. And nothing store-bought will ever make your kitchen smell as wonderful as homemade bread baking in the oven.

A good dinner roll should feel satisfying and easily pick up any sauce left behind on your plate. These accomplish both of those things on top of being really tasty!

Yeast Bread

Don’t be intimidated by the yeast process. It’s super simple. The only thing you want to make sure of is that you have fresh/new yeast. Don’t use yeast that’s been in the back of your pantry for the last decade. Beyond that, it’s a very simple process.

If you can let a bowl of water sit on your counter without too much effort, you can deal with yeast. I promise!

How Do You Make Rolls Taste Better?

If your dinner rolls are bland, you have a couple of options. Add fat, and add seasoning. This recipe does both, and as a result, they have great flavor.

You can also mix in dry or fresh herbs, garlic powder, or even grated parmesan cheese. Rosemary is a favorite around here.

What Makes Bread Moist And Fluffy?

The easy answer is fat. Fat makes bread moist and fluffy. The more you use (within reason), the fluffier your bread will be. (Note that I’m talking about homemade bread. Not pillow-soft Wonder bread that is made with chemicals galore.)

Tips For Making The Best Dinner Rolls

Making the best homemade dinner rolls isn’t complicated if you keep a few things in mind.

  • Kneading the dough enough to activate the gluten in the flour is important. Don’t skimp on the kneading.
  • If your dough is really sticky, you can continue to knead it on a lightly floured surface, adding small amounts of flour and kneading well in between each addition.
  • For extra fluffiness, you can add 1 large egg yolk to the dough.
Several Homemade Dinner Rolls in a towel-lined basket.

What Are Dinner Rolls Eaten With?

There are so many ways to enjoy dinner rolls!

  • Use them as slider buns
  • Enjoy them with sausage and eggs for breakfast
  • Make kid-sized sandwiches for school lunchboxes
  • Sop up all that sauce on your plate (these are great for Thanksgiving!)
  • Plain with butter or melted butter

Ingredients Checklist

3 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour – You can also use white whole wheat flour if it’s easier to find.

1 packet rapid-rise, highly active yeast

1 tbsp. honey – You can also use pure maple syrup.

¾ cups warm water – Between 105-115 F.

1 tsp. sea salt – I used pink Himalayan salt. Use whatever salt you normally cook or bake with.

2 tsp. onion powder – Onion granules work too.

¾ cup almond milk – dairy milk or rice milk work too.

2 tbsp. olive oil + extra for coating dough ball. You can also use butter if you prefer.

How To Make Homemade Dinner Rolls

Preheat oven to 350° F.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the honey and water and stir until honey is dissolved.

Add yeast to water/honey mixture and let stand until foamy (about 10 minutes)

In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, onion powder, and salt.

Once the yeast mixture is foamy, add the oil and milk and stir briefly.

Add the flour to the liquid mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until it gets thick enough to knead with your hands (if you have a mixer, you can add all of this to the bowl of a stand mixer and knead with a dough hook on medium speed).

Knead for about 5 minutes. The dough should be slightly sticky, but firm and smooth. If it’s too sticky, add a bit more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time.

For the first rise, coat the ball of dough in oil (do not use cooking spray.), cover the bowl with a towel, and allow the dough to rise for 1 hour in a warm place.

Once the dough rises, break it into 12 equal pieces and roll them into balls.

Place on an oiled cookie sheet, cover with a towel, and let the dough proof for 1 more hour in a warm place

Brush the rolls with a small amount of milk (whichever type you used), using a basting brush.

Bake rolls for approximately 40-50 minutes. They should have a nice golden brown crust when done.

Remove from oven and cool on a cooling rack (if you can wait that long. Mine were half gone before they got cool enough to put in storage).

How to Store Homemade Dinner Rolls

Store these in an airtight container or food-grade bag with a tight closure. Keep in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Can You Freeze Homemade Dinner Rolls?

You can! Pack them in an airtight container and store them in a freezer for up to 4 months.

More Healthy Bread Recipes

Homemade Dinner Roll Recipe

Copyright Information For The Gracious Pantry
Several Homemade Dinner Rolls in a towel-lined basket.

Homemade Dinner Rolls

A delicious dinner roll that is perfect for sopping up gravy and other sauces.
No ratings yet
Print Pin Rate Add to Collection
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Rise Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 12 rolls
Calories: 151kcal

Ingredients

  • 3 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1 packet rapid-rise, highly active yeast
  • 1 tbsp. honey
  • ¾ cups warm water (105-115 F.)
  • 1 tsp. sea salt
  • 2 tsp. onion powder
  • ¾ cup almond milk (diary milk or rice milk work too)
  • 2 tbsp. olive oil (+ extra for coating dough ball)

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350° F.
  • In a large mixing bowl, combine the honey and water and stir until honey is dissolved.
  • Add yeast to water/honey mixture and let stand until foamy (about 10 minutes)
  • In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, onion powder and salt.
  • Once the yeast mixture is foamy, add the oil and milk and stir briefly.
  • Add the flour to the liquid mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until it gets thick enough to knead with your hands (if you have a mixer, you can do this all in one bowl with a dough hook).
  • Knead for about 5 minutes. The dough should be slightly sticky, but firm and smooth. If it’s too sticky, add a bit more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time.
  • Coat the ball of dough in olive oil, cover the bowl with a towel and allow the dough to rise for 1 hour.
  • Now break the dough into 12 equal pieces and roll into balls.
  • Place on an oiled cookie sheet, cover with a towel and let rise for 1 more hour.
  • Brush the rolls with a small amount of milk (whichever type you used), using a basting brush.
  • Bake rolls for approximately 40-50 minutes. They should have a nice golden brown crust when done.
  • Remove from oven and cool on a cooling rack (if you can wait that long. Mine were half gone before they got cool enough to put in storage).

Notes

Please note that the nutrition data below is a ballpark figure. Exact data is not possible.

Nutrition

Serving: 1roll | Calories: 151kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 3g | Sodium: 181mg | Potassium: 140mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 34mg | Iron: 1.3mg

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply to Merna Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

39 Comments

  1. Kelsey @ Clean Teen Kelsey says:

    These sound so good! Thank you for the recipe; I look forward to making them. Do you think they would work as bread too, or not so much?

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Kelsey – I think it might, but you would have to adjust the baking time and temp for a larger, thicker loaf. Hope you enjoy it!

  2. Recipe looks good! I will have to try it. But, I don’t have pastry flour. Is there much of a difference between pastry flour and regular whole wheat flour?

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Shari – Whole wheat is fine, but it’s far more coarse which means your rolls will be more coarse as well.

  3. What oven temp do you use?
    This would be a good recipe to make with white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour-more gluten than the pastry flour (which is better for things like pie crust, cakes or cookies, things you mix only lightly because you don’t want to develop the gluten)
    The healthy bread in 5 min recipe (any one with whole grain) can also be made into dinner rolls.
    I’ve also made rolls with a whole wheat bread recipe I got from a bag of flour in the ’70s. Yeah, I’m old.

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Jodi – Thanks for the suggestion! (bake at 350)

  4. Janetha G - meals & moves says:

    What a great recipe! I think I need to try these out for Thanksgiving. Someone else is bringing the rolls, but I would rather have these ones. Thanks 🙂

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Janetha – You’re welcome! Let me know how you like them. They are great to add herbs and/or garlic to as well!

  5. This recipe sounds wonderful. Can’t wait to try it. Hoping our grocery carries the whole wheat pastry flour, or do you get it at a health foods store?

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Jenny – I get it at the health food store. Most regular grocers don’t carry it.

  6. Tami@nutmegnotebook says:

    I love the smell of freshly baked bread. I love bread and eat sprouted grain breads with no guilt!

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Tami – There’s no reason to feel guilty about bread as long as it’s clean. It’s a great way to get whole grains!

  7. janetha g @ meals & moves says:

    I couldn’t wait for Thanksgiving and I am making these today. It is the first time I have ever used yeast in the kitchen! How much are they supposed to rise before baking? It’s been an hour and they are still quite dense.

    Looking forward to eating these!

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Janetha – Yay! I’m so happy you’re trying it!

      They should double in size (approximately). Some of the rise may depend on how warm or cold it is in your kitchen. If it’s very cold, the dough won’t rise as well.

  8. janetha g @ meals & moves says:

    Awe, nuts. They turned out HARD. Like.. hard as a rock! What do you think I did wrong? Does altitude play into it at all? I have never used yeast so I wouldn’t know why they turned out this way.. but they really didn’t rise much 🙁 However, they still TASTE awesome. The outside is hard as a rock and the inside is doughy. Better luck next time. I had some backup (Rhodes) rolls rising just in case these didn’t turn out. They rose as they usually do so I don’t think the kitchen temperature was off. If you have any idea what I may have done wrong, let me know!

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Janetha – Yes, altitude can play a big part. Did you get foam on the yeast when you dissolved it in water?

  9. janetha g @ meals & moves says:

    It was kind of foamy. I have a photo. I will post it on your FB!

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Janetha – Great! I’ll take a look.

  10. I just found your web site. So am going to try your whole
    wheat rolls. I copy a lot of recipes off of different web sites
    as do a lot of cooking. On the other sites the recipes can
    be reduced so they can be printed on just one piece of paper.
    Would you be able to do this with yours. Thank you.

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Katie – My printing option is something I’ve been working on for a while. I hope to have it fixed soon. Thanks for your patience!

  11. Anonymous says:

    Dr. Cla – Yes. 🙂

  12. graciouspantry says:

    I have not. But bread usually freezes pretty well.

  13. So, I’m in the process now of making these for thanksgiving dinner tonight but I wanted you to be aware that onion powder is on the ingredients list it is not specified when to add it. I skipped it accidentally which I dont think will make a huge difference but just wanted to make a note of it for you!

    1. graciouspantry says:

      Thanks! I’ll fix it!

  14. Who doesn’t love a good dinner roll! Now, thanks to you, I can eat a “clean” roll!

  15. graciouspantry says:

    That’s a really great question that, unfortunately, I don’t know the answer to. I would imagine you could freeze the dough just fine. But I’m not sure what the defrost will be like. You may want to make a batch ahead of time and test it in your own kitchen. Sorry, wish I could be more help. I’ll have try it next time I make them.

  16. Tried this recipe and I must say it’s an absolute ripper!! I added some herbs to my bread and a bit more salt to enhance its flavor!

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Merna – Ripper? Is that a good thing? I hope so…

  17. I made these and they were SO good. Even better then next day. I toasted and served some for breakfast with cinnamon & butter. My son said they were better than donuts.

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Jennifer – Awesome!!!

  18. I just made these for thanksgiving and frozen them. Do you have any tips on re-heating them?

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Ashley – I would just thaw on the counter and then warm slightly in the oven before serving.

  19. Franchesca says:

    Hello! They look (and sound) delicious. Just wondering if I’d be able to sub the yeast in this recipe for nutritional yeast?

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Franchesca – No, sorry. You’d end up with a very dense flat bread.

  20. First of all, thank you so much for putting these recipes on the internet. I am so excited to have a completely CLEAN Thanksgiving dinner with my family. I love your blog and have used many of your recipes. GO YOU!

    Anyways, I am trying to prep/cook as many dishes as I can before the day of the dinner. I was considering making these early and then maybe freezing them or something? I really want them to be as fresh as possible. What do you suggest? (Just a side note: We are celebrating on Friday and I was planning on preparing the meals on Wednesday- so two days ahead of time). I am also going to make your pumpkin pie recipe, whipped coconut cream recipe, corn bread recipe and cranberry sauce recipe ahead of time.

    Thanks again!

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Larissa – Out of all of those, the ones you can prep ahead of time would be the pumpkin pie, corn bread and cranberry sauce. You can prep the rolls ahead of time as well, but I would bake them and then just leave them in the fridge in a well sealed container. I would not freeze them for that short amount of time. The whip cream you’ll need to do the same day. It won’t hold up for that long. Happy Thanksgiving!

  21. Hi. Pretty new here just wanted to make sure that yeast is clean?

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Becca – As far as I know it should be just fine. I use it all the time when I bake bread.