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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Slider roll perfection in under 40 minutes! We came home from an active day, hungry for burgers. I had ground beef, but no buns!
My 12-yr-old & I followed the recipe exactly, using a mixer. The rolls came out perfectly golden, fluffy & delicious.
I’ve also used this recipe for making hot dog buns & have subbed whole wheat flour for part of the AP floor. All variations turned out well.
Thanks so much!
Turned out ok. Need to rise more than the 13 minutes I had. Also took over 20 minutes to bake in a 400 oven.
This is the second time I have attempted this recipe, both times my rolls rose only a little during the 10min and although the did still rise in baking the end result was less than 4cm high. This second attempt I had a different brand of yeast and flour but I ended up with a very sticky dough that took close to 4 cups of flour.
Of course we still ate them, they were still light and a bit crumbly. It is a very sweet bread.
I just made these rolls. They were quick and yummy. Light, fluffy and golden brown. Amazing for only 30 minutes. I made a few larger to use for sandwiches. Thanks for this great recipe!
This was a beautiful dough to work with and rose really well (even after only the 10 minutes!), however the texture wasn’t what I was expecting. They were somehow a combination of doughy yet soft? Almost so soft it was as if it disintegrated in your mouth the moment you took a bite. I would have liked a roll with more chew to it. That being said, for a 30 minute recipe it was worth it. If I had more time though I would stick to a traditional recipe.
For those questioning the amount of yeast, it’s double because you are rushing the rise time! The smaller the amount of yeast the longer it takes for your bread to rise. Dense bread could be due to several factors, like too much flour (only add flour until the dough no longer sticks!). Make sure you knead your dough to give elasticity to the gluten. That makes for a much fluffier roll. I did personally tweak a few elements, based on preference. I did 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup water. 1 tsp salt vs. 1/2 because I like a saltier bread. I do also have to bake my rolls at 350. I’ve never had luck with 400 degrees; always burned on the outside and doughy on the inside. Sometimes ovens are inconsistent so you have to be aware of whether your oven cooks hotter or not. I have a go to recipe for rolls but it takes about 3 hours total so this is a fantastic recipe when you just don’t have the time! Thank you.
I made these wonderful sweet rolls for the second time this evening. I do think that that brushing them with the milk made them plop down a bit before baking. These are now our favorite! This dough also makes excellent cinnamon rolls. Thanks for this recipe.
Greetings from Johannesburg, South Africa. Thank you so much for this recipe!
I used cake flour and instant yeast, and I halved the amounts and made 9x50g rolls. They came out absolutely (astoundingly) perfect. Having baked breads that needed hours of rest and TLC, I was quite pleasantly surprised at the lightness, fluffiness and rich taste of these 30 minute rolls!
Please note, after making these great tasting sweet rolls, I recommend that they are cooked for at least an extra 6-8 minutes if the rolls are slightly bigger (eg. 8 rolls).
So I made these rolls with out reading the reviews…. I went back to read them right after they came out of the oven and got super nervous bc so many said they came out like scones! But thank goodness mine did not. They were pillowy and I didn’t find the yeast flavor over powering at all. I think next time though I’ll use honey butter instead of milk.
Didn’t rise, too sweet, came out like cakes, would make lovely scones.
Sorry to hear that PK. Did you let them rise in a warm place for at least 10 mins? If they don’t feel like they have risen enough you can leave them an additional 30 minutes!
Easy and delicious. We toasted leftovers the next morning with butter and cinnamon sugar! Just amazing!
These were amazing! Reminded me of the homemade rolls our lunch ladies used to make in the old days. Will definitely make again. Can’t believe how fast they rose.
I made it with success the first time, its very delicious but texture is abit dense. Juat wondering could it be I have melted the butter?
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Am making my second time today, letting it to rise now. But it crossed my mind, can I let it rise first then only shape into bun shape and and baked immediately after?
That could have affected the texture, Sandy as melted butter does create different results than softened butter. It could also be too much flour, you can check out our guide on measuring flour for tips for that. As for rising, I would shape into buns first them allow them to rise for 30 – 40 minutes.
This might be too late to help, but if you bake before the second rise (straight after making the dough balls) they will not rise properly in the oven. The yeast needs a little time to work before going into the oven.
Really quick and easy. Mine rose really nicely. I would add a bit more salt next time though as they were a bit bland. Not sure if I maybe made a mistake somewhere that caused that. All things considered, I’ll definitely make these again! Thank you for the recipe!!!
Blessings from South Africa :)
Followed recipe to a T. Rolls never rose. It was brand new yeast. I’ve never had a recipe say to add the oil to the yeast mix. I feel like that was the issue.
Hi Jeff, I am not sure why your rolls never rose, but the recipe is correct as written. We do add the oil into the yeast mixture with great success on this recipe.
I made here for the first time tonight. I thought maybe my yeast was expired because it didn’t start bubbling for a while but ended up in the end. The buns rose and turned out beautifully but tasted VERY YEASTY. My kiddo wouldn’t eat them and even for me, the eternal bread lover, they were off. Any idea what could cause that? Or what I could do differently next time?
These are a yeast roll so they do have a slight “yeast” flavor to them, Laura. But the longer you let them rise the more the flavor develops, so you could try baking them after the initial 10 min rise (instead of the additional 30 mins indicated in the recipe). Hope that helps!
Great recipe! Easy, quick and turned out perfectly. Will make them again for sure !
I loved these! There are some comments about it being “bland” … honestly for me and my family it is delicious and I have tried many recipes before this one. I made mine into more of a “bun” shaoe and size, so that we could have some prego steak rolls and it was perfect!
Loved that it didn’t need to rise an eternity too! I left mine for about 30min and then baked them without brushing the tops with milk.
I got 6 decent sized buns and enjoyed working with the dough (wasn’t as much kneading needing as other recipes).
Thanks for this one! It’s now my household staple all the way in South Africa
Glad you enjoyed this recipe Din! Thanks for sharing :)