So incredibly easy to make and wonderfully delicious, these 30-Minute Dinner Rolls are the perfect addition to any meal!
There is truly no smell as amazing as fresh warm bread or rolls coming out of the oven! I remember coming home from school to the smell of freshly baked buns or bread, ready and waiting as the perfect after school snack! To this day when I smell fresh baking, I am immediately transported to that happy time and place of my childhood.
Fast forward to today with busy work schedules, running to kids activities and trying to simply keep up with life, it is difficult to put together a meal – let alone add on the extras!
This 30-Minute Dinner Roll recipe is wonderful because it is truly so easy to prepare, the buns take a short time to rise and the result is such a delicious treat that it is worth the extra effort! What a great side to enjoy with a hot and tasty bowl of soup or chili!
I love the convenience of buying dinner rolls from the store and the quality is very nice. In most cases however, store bought items have additives or preservatives in order to keep a longer shelf life. Making these homemade dinner rolls from scratch ensures that nothing is added except wholesome goodness! And these tasty little buns never last long enough to have to worry about shelf life!
If you are lucky enough to have any left over the next day, they do stay fresh and are so wonderful served with butter and jam in the morning! I love to enjoy this special treat with my morning coffee – it is comfort food at it’s best!
Our sense of smell is one of the most highly acute of all our senses and tends to influence our mood. It is no small wonder that when we smell freshly baked dinner rolls, it makes us feel happy and excited in anticipation of these tender, tasty treats!
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter softened
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 to 4 cups all-purpose flour I use closer to 3
- ⅛ cup milk room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400*F.
- In a large bowl, combine 1 cup water, oil, sugar, and yeast. Let sit until yeast is bubbly (about 8 minutes). Stir in beaten egg, softened butter, and salt.
- With a stand mixer or by hand, add flour, one cup at a time until you have a soft dough that isn’t sticky. Knead by hand 10 minutes or 5 minutes with a stand mixer.
- Divide dough into 18 even pieces, and form into balls. Place in a greased pan and cover with parchment paper and a kitchen towel.
- Let rise 10 minutes in a warm place. (You can allow them to rise up to an additional 30 minutes if time allows).
- Lightly brush with milk and bake on the middle rack for 10-12 minutes or just until browned.
Video
Notes
- Combine 2 cups of flour with 2 packets of instant yeast (about 4½ teaspoons), sugar, and salt in a large bowl or stand mixer.
- In a large measuring cup, whisk together warm water, vegetable oil, melted butter, and egg. Add to the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
- Add the remaining 1 to 2 cups of flour, half a cup at a time, until you have a soft dough that isn’t sticky (you may not need all of it). Knead by hand for 10 minutes or 5 minutes with a stand mixer.
- Form dough into balls. Place in a greased pan and cover with parchment paper and a kitchen towel. Let rise for 30-40 minutes or until dough is double in size.
- Brush tops with milk and bake as directed.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Side Dish
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Whether it’s a special occasion or you simply want a delicious addition to your weeknight meal, 30-Minute Dinner Rolls are perfect! Absolutely delicate, delicious and simple to make, you will want to bake them often. And your family will ask for them even more!
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I make these so often it’s fast, easy and so so tasty
Hi Holly, I tried this recipe and the buns turn off great but they had too much of a yeast taste to my liking. I used quick rise infants yeast(2tablespoons) per recipe.Could that be the problem, should I have less yeast?
I think either type of yeast would work. This recipe does have a lot of yeast (which helps with the quick rise) so you will taste it more than a traditional recipe that needs a longer rise time.
Just made these to go with some homemade soup and they are perfect. They took no time at all and came out really well especially for my first time baking bread. Thank you so much for such a simple and fool proof recipe!
Hi..I am getting ready to try these rolls but was wondering what kind of oil to use…I cannot see where you specifies the oil..
Vegetable oil works well.
I don’t make rolls often cause I have no confidence when making them. These were easy but I was confused with what type of yeast to use— active or dry and I used active 1 pkg which is 2 teaspoons instead of tablespoons. They were perfect and I let them rise 45 minutes to an hour. DELICIOUS!!!
I made these rolls last week and they were amazing. I kept everything in the recipe as written. I ended up using about 3 cups of flour and the only change I made was to substitute the sugar for honey- 1:1. I’m so glad that I decided not to reduce the amount of honey. These were the BEST rolls I’ve ever had! I sent a picture to a friend and she made them a few nights later with the same success. Thank you so much for sharing!!
For lactose intolerant folks, what do you suggest in place of butter and milk?
The milk is used as a brush on top, you could do an eggwash instead. As for the butter you can use oil.
I came across your 30 minute recipe last year. Skeptical, I tucked it away. Last night I wanted soft dinner buns to serve with supper FAST. I dug out your recipe and followed your instructions to the letter. I used SAF Instant Yeast, did the 10 minute rise plus the additional 30 minutes. I weighed my flour, as always. I appreciated the option of 15 rolls or 18 depending on pan size. The milk wash produced a nice light golden bake. I baked the entire 12 minutes, checked the color, and opted to bake a couple more minutes. Wonderful results! Lovely fast tender bun recipe— still excellent on day two—that I will include among my time tested collection of long ferment and 3-4 hour bakes. Thank you, Holly!
I followed directions exactly. My oven is very accurate. These were dense dry balls never actually browned.
Sorry this didn’t work out for you Renee. I can’t say for sure what went wrong as most readers have had great success. Is your yeast fresh (and not expired). Did you brush the tops with milk?
These sound great! Is there a substitute for the eggs, however?
We’ve only made this as written so I can’t say for sure.
Based on the comments, I reduced the yeast to 2 tsp, reduced the sugar to two tablespoons, and increased the salt to 1 tsp. I think they could have used more salt – at least 1 1/2 tsp. The smaller amount of sugar definitely worked. They took probably 20 minutes to get to the right temp inside. As promised, they were very easy and quick, which I appreciated.
Holly, when you say 2 Tbsp of yeast, are you referring to Quick-Rise or Traditional?
Hi Lori, I use traditional Active Dry Yeast for this recipe.
I was impressed by the quick proving time of these rolls, but they came out sickly sweet! Not sure if the sugar is needed to help with the yeast?
Delicious but needs salt, seriously!
½ teaspoon salt is added to the recipe but you could certainly add more to taste if you’d like.
Quick and delicious homemade recipe. Thank you
Fantastic! I totally forgot dinner rolls for Thanksgiving and needed a quick recipe. I tried these and they turned out great! Thanks for an awesome easy recipe!
Thanksgiving Day hit! Due to social distancing with my daughter, I got a little behind on the rolls for dinner. Found this recipe and figured I would give it a shot.
Rolls are soft, tender with a ” it took hours to make” taste. This will go on my make ( at least) once a week list.
Glad we came to the rescue with these quick rolls Melissa!
Found this on Sunday night, made two batches and they were gone Monday. My husband said, “you can make those again. Maybe for Thanksgiving to have with the meal and then leftover sandwiches.???”
Needles to say I’m making another double batch for tomorrow. Guess they liked them. I did have problems with the time. Mine needed more time. Delicious.
Want to make the dough ahead for a friend for her Thanksgiving. Is that even possible? If so, how would I go about it? Make the dough, shape, rise and then refrigerate?
Hi Juli, we have never tried preparing this dough ahead of time. But if you were to try this, I would suggest making the dough, then refrigerating, and bringing iit out of the refrigerator to rise the next day before baking. Let us know how it turns out!
I read on the back of the package of yeast that you can make the dough and even in the middle of rising stick them in the refrigerator cover loosely and then take back out and continue rising so evidently yes you can make them the night before Mine are rising now so I haven’t gotten to try them yet
I made these yesterday for early Thanksgiving. I’ve never baked bread before. Even though Iforgot to let the dough rise or to do the milk wash, they turned out golden an tasty. Next time I’ll let them rise and see how I do.