Hands Down the BEST Homemade Dinner Rolls Recipe (2024)

The BEST homemade dinner rolls ever. They’re buttery soft and perfect with any soup, salad or main dish.

Introducing our treasured family recipe for Homemade Dinner Rolls. These buttery soft rolls are easy to make and perfect for any meal, including Christmas and Thanksgiving. Learn step-by-step how to create the softest, most delicious dinner rolls with golden brown tops.

With their irresistible buttery warmth and perfect touch of sweetness, our homemade rolls have earned their place at our dinner table for over 25 years. Now, we’re sharing our secret with you, so you can create your own memories around the best homemade yeast rolls recipe.

Ingredients

One thing I love about this recipe is that I always have ingredients on hand. No special ingredients needed.

• Bread flour makes the rolls chewier and sturdier. All-purpose flour will work as well, the rolls may end up slightly smaller and a little softer. Bread flour is a high gluten flour so it gives rolls great texture.
• I prefer to use instant yeast (rapid rise yeast). Active dry yeast will work as well. For either one, I prefer to activate the yeast in warm milk to ensure the bread will rise.

How to Make Homemade Dinner Rolls

Make the dough.

• Put the milk (115º Fahrenheit) in the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle the yeast over the milk. Allow the yeast to activate for 3-4 minutes. Use a thermometer to test the milk temperature. This is the key to making sure your dough rises.
• Add the butter, sugar and eggs. Use the beater blade on low speed to mix this just until combined. About 30 seconds.
• Add in 2 cups of flour and the salt. Mix about 30 seconds until combined. Then add in the remaining 2 cups of flour. Mix just until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Allow the mixture to rest for 5 minutes.
• Remove the beater blade and place the dough hook attachment on the stand mixer. Knead the dough for 5-7 minutes on low speed. Add more flour a tablespoon at a time as needed during kneading. The dough should still feel sticky and tacky to the touch, but it should not be so wet that it sticks all over your hands. As the dough turns in the stand mixer bowl, it will pull away from the sides, but may stick to the bottom slightly. This is ok and shows the dough is not too dry.

Let the dough rise.

Place the dough in a greased large bowl and cover it with plastic wrap or a towel. Allow the dough to rise in a warm place until it has almost doubled, about 30 minutes.

The key to this is to place the dough in a warm place. This could be next to a sunlit window. It could be in the oven with the oven light on. You can even allow your bread dough to rise in a slow cooker. Read our tips on how to get bread dough to rise.

Whichever way you choose, just remember to be patient. Humidity and temperature can affect your bread making. So be patient and give the yeast time to do its work.

Shape the rolls.

Divide and roll dough into 12 balls. Place in a greased 9×13″ baking dish. Cover and rise for 15-20 minutes while the oven is heating.

Wondering how to get those shiny, golden brown tops on your rolls? In a small bowl, whisk together 1 egg and 1 tablespoon of water. Brush the egg mixture lightly on top of the unbaked rolls. This gives a shiny brown top. See our guide to bread washes. There’s so many different looks you can go for.

Bake the rolls.

Bake at 375ºF for 18-22 minutes. The exact baking time will depend on your oven, the type of pan you use (I use a glass pan) and the size of the rolls you made.The internal temperature of the rolls should be 190ºF. Test them with an internal probe thermometer.

When the rolls come out of the oven, brush melted butter over the tops. Or for an extra special touch, brush with honey butter. This makes them look absolutely irresistible.

These quick dinner rolls are excellent with turkey, green bean casserole and garlic mashed potatoes.

Recipe From Taste of Home