This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
My favorite 1-Hour Soft and Buttery Dinner Rolls recipe is easy to make by hand or with a stand mixer and absolutely heavenly served warm out of the oven.
Is there anything better than a freshly-baked pan of homemade dinner rolls?
Actually, yes — this easy dinner rolls recipe that can be ready to go in just one hour!
This recipe has been my go-to for years and always yields the most perfectly soft, fluffy, buttery rolls. But I especially love it because the ingredient list is simple, the rise times are minimal, and the dough can be easily made either by hand or with the help of a stand mixer. And everything can come together quickly in just an hour or so, which makes this recipe more do-able on busy weeknights when you’re craving some homemade bread, and also super-helpful on holidays when you’re trying to multi-task all the things.
Many of you have also asked about make-ahead options with this recipe over the years, so I have updated the post with instructions for how to make the bread dough in advance. And I have also included some fun variations if you would like to make your rolls more garlicky, herb-y, cheesy, or whatever other add-ins sound fun.
Bottom line, this dinner rolls recipe is a keeper and never lets me down. So if you are looking for a good one to add to your repertoire, bookmark this one and give it a try!
1-Hour Dinner Rolls Recipe | 1-Minute Video
Homemade Dinner Rolls Ingredients:
Before we get to the full recipe below, here are a few notes about the ingredients that you will need to make this homemade dinner rolls recipe:
Water and milk: These will serve as our base liquids for the bread dough. I used dairy milk, but you are welcome to sub in a plain plant-based milk (such as oat milk or almond milk) instead.
Melted butter: Which we will both bake into the rolls and brush on top.
Honey: To add just a hint of sweetness.
Active dry yeast: This recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of yeast. So if you are purchasing your yeast in 0.25-ounce packets, you will need slightly more than one packet.
Flour: I have only tested this recipe with all-purpose flour. But if you try out different flours, please let us know how it goes in the comment section below!
Salt: Which we will mix into the rolls to bring out all of those delicious buttery flavors. Feel free to sprinkle a bit of flaky salt on top of the warm rolls just before serving too!
Tips For How To Make Dinner Rolls:
The full recipe is included below for how to make these dinner rolls, but here are a few helpful tips to keep in mind too:
Be sure that your yeast has not expired. This is one of the most common reasons for why a batch of bread dough does not rise. Double-check the expiration date on any yeast that may be hanging out in your pantry. And if the yeast does not begin to puff and bubble up after 5 minutes once it has been added to the wet ingredients, toss out the batch and start over with new yeast.
Double-check the temperature of the liquid ingredients. When heating the liquid ingredients (water, melted butter, milk and honey), it’s essential that they be within the temperature range of 100-110°F. If the mixture is too hot, it can kill the yeast. If it is too cool, the yeast may not activate. The mixture should feel warm and not hot to the touch, but I always recommend testing the mixture with a cooking thermometer just to be sure.
Don’t skip the rise times. They are essential to helping the dough rise and create that soft and fluffy texture we’re going for.
No worries about perfection. When portioning the dough into 12 rolls, don’t worry about them all being perfectly equal in size. They will all bake up together in the pan, and if some are slightly larger or smaller, hakuna matata. :)
Possible Recipe Variations:
Here are a few other possible variations that you could make to this dinner rolls recipe:
Make-ahead option: For make-ahead dinner rolls, follow the recipe through the step that you shape the individual rolls and place them in the baking dish. Then tightly cover the baking dish and refrigerate for up to 48 hours. Transfer the dish to the counter and let it warm up to room temperature for 2 hours before baking, and then bake as directed.
Make it vegan: Use plant-based milk and butter and your preferred sweetener in place of honey.
Add garlic: Add in 1 teaspoon of garlic powder to the bread dough to make the rolls more garlicky, and/or you could also simmer some minced garlic with butter to brush on top of the rolls after baking.
Add herbs: Add in 1 to 2 tablespoons of finely-chopped fresh herbs (such as rosemary or parsley) to the bread dough to add flavor to the rolls, and/or you could also mix some fresh herbs in with the melted butter to brush on top of the rolls after baking.
Add cheese: You can also mix in 1/3 to 1/2 cup of freshly-grated cheddar cheese to make cheesy rolls. (Or I also love mixing in some freshly-grated Parmesan, and then sprinkling some on top of the rolls during the final 5 minutes of baking.)
More Favorite Bread Recipes:
Looking for more easy bread recipes to add to your repertoire? Here are a few of my faves…
My favorite 1-Hour Soft and Buttery Dinner Rolls recipe is easy to make by hand or with a stand mixer and absolutely heavenly served warm out of the oven.
Prep your oven and baking dish. Heat the oven to 400°F. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray, and set aside.
Heat the liquids. In a microwave-safe bowl (or saucepan, see below), stir together the water and melted butter, then add in the milk and honey and stir until combined. Microwave the mixture for 1 minute and give it a stir. Continue microwaving the mixture in 15 second intervals, until it reaches 110°F. It will be warm but not hot to the touch. (*Alternately, you can heat the mixture over medium-low heat in a saucepan until it reaches 110°F.)
Add yeast. Pour the liquid mixture into the large bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle the yeast evenly on top, give it a quick stir with a fork to combine, and let the yeast activate for 5 minutes until it is foamy.
Add dry ingredients. Add in 3 1/2 cups of flour (not all of the flour) and the salt.
Mix. (See alternate instructions in the notes below for how to knead the dough by hand.) Use the dough-hook to mix in the dry ingredients on medium-low speed until combined. If the dough is sticking to the sides of the bowl, add in 1/4 cup more flour at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and is only slightly sticky to the touch. (Only use up to 4 cups of flour total.) Continue mixing on low speed for 4-5 minutes until the dough is smooth. Then form the dough into a ball with your hands and transfer it to a greased bowl.
Let the dough rise. Cover the bowl with a damp towel or paper towel, and let it rise briefly for 15 minutes.
Form the rolls. Gently punch the dough down and divide into 15 equal-sized pieces. Form each piece into a ball and place the dough balls in the greased baking dish. Cover the dish again with a damp towel or paper towel and let the dough balls rise for an additional 15-20 minutes.
Bake. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes, or until the rolls are lightly golden brown on top and cooked through.
Brush with more butter. Transfer the baking dish to a wire cooling rack and brush the tops of the rolls with melted butter.
Yeast: I typically purchase my yeast in bulk. But if you are using the 0.25-ounce packets, they each contain 2.25 teaspoons of yeast. So you will need slightly more than one packet to yield 1 tablespoon.
How to knead the dough by hand: If you do not have a stand mixer, no prob! For step 5 (mixing the dough), simply stir the dry ingredients into the dough as much as possible. Then turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead by hand for 5 to 7 minutes until smooth, adding up to 1/4 cup of extra flour if the dough is too sticky.
I was exactly the same as you! I loved dinner rolls so much – and bland, plain food in general. I only ate the bread of Chinese BBQ pork buns and plain mantous without sauce when I was young. (And I still am like that)
What kind of milk do you use? Whole, 1%, 2%, buttermilk, skim? Want to get it right!
Hayley @ Gimme Some Oven —
Hi Leslie — we use 2% or whole milk, but you could use 1% or buttermilk if you wanted (the higher the fat percentage, the more flavor these will have)! We hope you enjoy! :)
Wendy —
I’ve never rated a recipe. I’ve never commented after having made a recipe. After making this recipe, I had to comment! These are the best dinner rolls I’ve made in a LONG time! No lying! I moved and lost all my recipes 20 years ago. These are the first rolls that have been worth bragging about since I made rolls all those years ago. Thank you for posting the perfect recipe. I didn’t change a thing. I used real butter, whole milk, and sea salt.
Ali – these look SO good. I love how quick and easy these are! Although I’m probably not going to make them for Christmas in my opinion they can be made any time of the year!
Hayley @ Gimme Some Oven —
Thank you, Ashley — we hope you enjoyed these if you made them! :)
Several in my family need/wish gluten free. Have you tried to make gluten free? I find most “all-purpose gluten free flour” to not work the same as regular all purpose flour. Your suggestions and experience would be helpful. Thanks
Hayley @ Gimme Some Oven —
Hi Jim! We have not experimented yet with making these gluten free. You’re welcome to give these a whirl with a gluten-free ap flour blend though. If you do, definitely let us know how they turn out!
Fellow reformed picky eater here, my Thanksgiving plate was just like yours! Although I may not have even taken any turkey ? these rolls look pretty amazing, can’t wait to try them!
Hi Monica! We haven’t tried these with skim milk, so it’s hard to say. You could definitely try it (it should work fine), but we think 2% or whole milk works best because there’s more fat and flavor. Either way, we hope you enjoy these!
These are getting baked right now for a family dinner. Thinking I’ll have to double the recipe from now on. Can they be frozen before second rise?
Hayley @ Gimme Some Oven —
Awesome, we hope you and your family enjoyed these, Donna! :) And yes, we think you would be fine to do that. Here are some guidelines for how best to do that:
Whoa!! I wish I found this pre-christmas… If I made them a bit larger, say double the size (for game-day sandwich rolls), is there a certain amount or % that I am looking for them to rise before baking?
Looks delicious! Does this recipe work without a stand mixer?
Hayley @ Gimme Some Oven —
Hi Jocelyn! Yes, you could definitely still do this without a stand mixer. You can knead by hand, it’ll just take a little more doing. :) We hope you enjoy these!
These rolls are the best! They turned out so light and fluffy at the end! I love that this uses honey as the sugar! I used some GloryBee Raw Montana Honey to make mine. Also, we don’t keep cow’s milk in my household, but we do use Almond Breeze Original Unsweetened Almond Milk; which I substituted for the half cup of milk required in the recipe. I used unsalted butter in the water/milk/honey mixture. I used about a tablespoon of salted butter to run over the tops of the freshly baked buns once out of the oven. You don’t really need to melt the butter first. Just take a room temperature stick of butter, and then run it over the tops. After running them with butter I covered them with a basic cotton kitchen towel while they cooled. We had them tonight fresh from the oven with spaghetti. I can’t wait to make hot ham and Swiss Cheese sandwiches with the leftovers! Thank you for sharing this recipe. <3
Hayley @ Gimme Some Oven —
Thank you for your sweet words, Rebecca — we’re so thrilled you loved these and the you were able to make them work with the almond milk! :)
these look SO good! how would the recipe be altered if you didn’t have a stand mixer?
Hayley @ Gimme Some Oven —
Thanks, Michelle, we hope you can give them a try! And you can most definitely do these without a stand mixer, it’ll just require you to hand-knead the dough and will just take a bit longer.
Made these a few times now and we love them! I would love to learn how to prepare the dough and then freeze it to take out to bake another time. Could you help me with some guidelines for that? Thanks!!
Hayley @ Gimme Some Oven —
Hi Libby, we’re so glad you guys enjoy these! For freezing, when making your dough, make sure your melted butter is completely cooled, and use cool water instead of warm (so don’t microwave in step 2). Then after you mix your dough, skip the last direction in step 3 (no need to let this rise). Then you can shape your dough into rolls, and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover it with plastic wrap, and freeze. Once the rolls are completely frozen, you can transfer them to a well-sealed freezer-safe bag (they will be good frozen for two weeks, but no longer). When you’re ready to bake, allow around 4-5 hours for them to thaw and then rise at room temperature. Then you can bake! We hope this helps! :)
I’ve made these twice in a row and they are to die for delicious! I’ve been testing different recipes for Thanksgiving and this is the winner. My kids inhaled them all yesterday so I made another batch today for dinner tonight. Great easy recipe for those of us who are just starting to dabble in the art of bread making :)
These are absurd – absurdly easy, and absurdly delicious! We just devoured half the pan. With how quick these are, a rarity in yeast goods usually, I think they’ll become a staple. Thanks for this awesome recipe!
I made the them tonight but wasn’t too happy with the outcome. They looked good but had to keep them in the oven for an extra 5 minutes because the inside wasn’t completely cooked and I could actually taste the yeast flavor in them. Next time I will add more salt because the flavor just wasn’t there and I’m a pretty good baker so don’t know what happened.
Made these and they were so good! I make my own rolls but they take longer than an hour and this was a great fast alternative and dare i even say I even like it more than my normal roll recipe that i grew up on. ?
These were lovely! I made them tonight for a dinner with some friends. They turned out just as you said — soft and with a lovely texture. And the flavor with nice too.
I usually just take a bread loaf recipe and make them into rolls and am always disappointed at their dense texture. I was much happier with this recipe. It will be printed and saved in my recipes binder.
Andrea Mendoza —
I should also note I was out of honey so I used sugar instead. :-)
I’ve made this recipe multiple times and my family and I LOVE it as a special addition to a delicious meal. Thanks for an amazing recipe yet again. I also will continue experimenting with adding herbs, cheeses, etc. love it!!!
Can’t wait to try these! My husband loooves rolls and I love the fact that these only take about an hour! Perfect for when advance planning hasn’t worked out so well (and what usually nixes yeast rolls from the menu). :)
Oh my!! Good dinner rolls, as well as good bread, are my downfall. I will be making these very soon. Not going to wait for Thanksgiving. They look so good!!! Thank you for posting this!
I cannot wait to try these. Yeast has always intimidated me and every time I’ve tried to use it the recipe just doesn’t turn out great. These look amazing!
Dinner time was fast approaching, and I really wanted to serve rolls. I was skeptical 1. That yeast rolls could be made in an hour and 2. That they would taste good. But I gave it a whirl and was SO pleasantly surprised – these are soft, buttery, and delicious! Everyone enjoyed them very much, and they were extremely quick and easy to make. Dinner saved! :)
I was exactly the same as you! I loved dinner rolls so much – and bland, plain food in general. I only ate the bread of Chinese BBQ pork buns and plain mantous without sauce when I was young. (And I still am like that)
Charmaine Ng
Yum! Those look so soft & fluffy!
Kari
Yum! This looks great!
Love anything easy and quick. I wish you lived near me, lol. Have a wonderful Christmas!
What kind of milk do you use? Whole, 1%, 2%, buttermilk, skim? Want to get it right!
Hi Leslie — we use 2% or whole milk, but you could use 1% or buttermilk if you wanted (the higher the fat percentage, the more flavor these will have)! We hope you enjoy! :)
I’ve never rated a recipe. I’ve never commented after having made a recipe. After making this recipe, I had to comment! These are the best dinner rolls I’ve made in a LONG time! No lying! I moved and lost all my recipes 20 years ago. These are the first rolls that have been worth bragging about since I made rolls all those years ago. Thank you for posting the perfect recipe. I didn’t change a thing. I used real butter, whole milk, and sea salt.
Ali – these look SO good. I love how quick and easy these are! Although I’m probably not going to make them for Christmas in my opinion they can be made any time of the year!
Thank you, Ashley — we hope you enjoyed these if you made them! :)
Several in my family need/wish gluten free. Have you tried to make gluten free? I find most “all-purpose gluten free flour” to not work the same as regular all purpose flour. Your suggestions and experience would be helpful. Thanks
Hi Jim! We have not experimented yet with making these gluten free. You’re welcome to give these a whirl with a gluten-free ap flour blend though. If you do, definitely let us know how they turn out!
Fellow reformed picky eater here, my Thanksgiving plate was just like yours! Although I may not have even taken any turkey ? these rolls look pretty amazing, can’t wait to try them!
Those dinner rolls look absolutely perfect! I can relate to being the pickiest person at the table haha. Nothing has changed and I’m 24 :)
Erin
Thank you, Erin — we hope you love them! :)
What? Only one hour? Easy, I have to give it a try. I love simple recipes.
Yes, seriously! We hope you can give these a try sometime soon! :)
Feathery, perfect carbohydrate bliss.
Yes! We hope you can try these soon! :)
Ooooo these sound so yummy and really easy.
I’m gonna make these for Christmas dinner :)
Thanks for the recipe!
Awesome, we hope you enjoyed them, Jennifer!
Do you think these would store well for up to 3 days? I’m thinking of making them in advance and driving with them for Christmas. They look delicious!
Hi Elyssa — we think that would be fine!
Will this work with skim milk?
Hi Monica! We haven’t tried these with skim milk, so it’s hard to say. You could definitely try it (it should work fine), but we think 2% or whole milk works best because there’s more fat and flavor. Either way, we hope you enjoy these!
Your dinner rolls look amazing! Definitely trying making them! Happy Holidays! :)
is it plain old flour or bread flour?
Just regular all purpose flour. We hope you enjoy!
I added some chopped rosemary and roasted garlic…mmmmm. They are divine. Thanks for the recipe!
Awesome, that’s a great idea! And we’re glad you enjoyed these!
These are getting baked right now for a family dinner. Thinking I’ll have to double the recipe from now on. Can they be frozen before second rise?
Awesome, we hope you and your family enjoyed these, Donna! :) And yes, we think you would be fine to do that. Here are some guidelines for how best to do that:
wow! this look yummy. i wanna try to make at home.
Made these on Christmas and that came out flawlessly! HUGE hit. Thank you! I want to make a double batch next time.
Thanks for sharing, Amy — we’re so glad to hear that! :)
Whoa!! I wish I found this pre-christmas… If I made them a bit larger, say double the size (for game-day sandwich rolls), is there a certain amount or % that I am looking for them to rise before baking?
Looks delicious! Does this recipe work without a stand mixer?
Hi Jocelyn! Yes, you could definitely still do this without a stand mixer. You can knead by hand, it’ll just take a little more doing. :) We hope you enjoy these!
These rolls are the best! They turned out so light and fluffy at the end! I love that this uses honey as the sugar! I used some GloryBee Raw Montana Honey to make mine. Also, we don’t keep cow’s milk in my household, but we do use Almond Breeze Original Unsweetened Almond Milk; which I substituted for the half cup of milk required in the recipe. I used unsalted butter in the water/milk/honey mixture. I used about a tablespoon of salted butter to run over the tops of the freshly baked buns once out of the oven. You don’t really need to melt the butter first. Just take a room temperature stick of butter, and then run it over the tops. After running them with butter I covered them with a basic cotton kitchen towel while they cooled. We had them tonight fresh from the oven with spaghetti. I can’t wait to make hot ham and Swiss Cheese sandwiches with the leftovers! Thank you for sharing this recipe. <3
Thank you for your sweet words, Rebecca — we’re so thrilled you loved these and the you were able to make them work with the almond milk! :)
These look so delicious and easy to make. Can they frozen the re-warmed?
Thanks, Sylvia — we hope you enjoy them! And yes, they can definitely be frozen and then re-warmed (we’d recommend re-heating them in the oven).
these look SO good! how would the recipe be altered if you didn’t have a stand mixer?
Thanks, Michelle, we hope you can give them a try! And you can most definitely do these without a stand mixer, it’ll just require you to hand-knead the dough and will just take a bit longer.
Made these a few times now and we love them! I would love to learn how to prepare the dough and then freeze it to take out to bake another time. Could you help me with some guidelines for that? Thanks!!
Hi Libby, we’re so glad you guys enjoy these! For freezing, when making your dough, make sure your melted butter is completely cooled, and use cool water instead of warm (so don’t microwave in step 2). Then after you mix your dough, skip the last direction in step 3 (no need to let this rise). Then you can shape your dough into rolls, and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover it with plastic wrap, and freeze. Once the rolls are completely frozen, you can transfer them to a well-sealed freezer-safe bag (they will be good frozen for two weeks, but no longer). When you’re ready to bake, allow around 4-5 hours for them to thaw and then rise at room temperature. Then you can bake! We hope this helps! :)
When i see it, i think its so delicious.. thanks for your sharing, i will be try at my home.
Thank you, we hope you enjoy them!
i agree with you fajar :) i willl be try at my home :D
I am going to try them, thanks.
I’ve made these twice in a row and they are to die for delicious! I’ve been testing different recipes for Thanksgiving and this is the winner. My kids inhaled them all yesterday so I made another batch today for dinner tonight. Great easy recipe for those of us who are just starting to dabble in the art of bread making :)
I made these for my family today. They were wonderful,
And so easy. I would not change a thing…
I made these for breakfast this morning. They turned out really good. Next time I am going to make a garlic butter to put on top.
These are absurd – absurdly easy, and absurdly delicious! We just devoured half the pan. With how quick these are, a rarity in yeast goods usually, I think they’ll become a staple. Thanks for this awesome recipe!
I made the them tonight but wasn’t too happy with the outcome. They looked good but had to keep them in the oven for an extra 5 minutes because the inside wasn’t completely cooked and I could actually taste the yeast flavor in them. Next time I will add more salt because the flavor just wasn’t there and I’m a pretty good baker so don’t know what happened.
Made these and they were so good! I make my own rolls but they take longer than an hour and this was a great fast alternative and dare i even say I even like it more than my normal roll recipe that i grew up on. ?
These were lovely! I made them tonight for a dinner with some friends. They turned out just as you said — soft and with a lovely texture. And the flavor with nice too.
I usually just take a bread loaf recipe and make them into rolls and am always disappointed at their dense texture. I was much happier with this recipe. It will be printed and saved in my recipes binder.
I should also note I was out of honey so I used sugar instead. :-)
Question–How far ahead can I make the dough before putting them in the oven?
This is a great foolproof recipe. I made a smaller square pan of 9 rolls and froze the rest of the dough balls. Beautiful.
I’ve made this recipe multiple times and my family and I LOVE it as a special addition to a delicious meal. Thanks for an amazing recipe yet again. I also will continue experimenting with adding herbs, cheeses, etc. love it!!!
These were great! Only suggestion is that they could use a little more sweetener of some kind.
How there,
Looks yummy!! Do you fast rising yeast or regular traditional yeast?
Amazing dinner rolls and oh so easy to make.
I don’t have a stand mixer, I usually use my bread machine on the dough setting, would that work with these?
Can you make the dough ahead of time and refrigerate? I would love to be able to assemble at my MIL house.
Can’t wait to try these! My husband loooves rolls and I love the fact that these only take about an hour! Perfect for when advance planning hasn’t worked out so well (and what usually nixes yeast rolls from the menu). :)
Any suggestions for using Rapid Rise yeast as opposed to regular yeast? Thanks
Oh my!! Good dinner rolls, as well as good bread, are my downfall. I will be making these very soon. Not going to wait for Thanksgiving. They look so good!!! Thank you for posting this!
These look great! And will go with any meal! I don’ have a stand mixer (tiny kitchen!) – do you think mixing by hand for a few minutes would work?
I just made these a little bit ago. I do not have a stand mixer- I kneaded them for about 6 min. These were great rolls.
Just made these! Kids lovvvvvveeeeedddd them! So easy to make! Thank you!
I cannot wait to try these. Yeast has always intimidated me and every time I’ve tried to use it the recipe just doesn’t turn out great. These look amazing!
Dinner time was fast approaching, and I really wanted to serve rolls. I was skeptical 1. That yeast rolls could be made in an hour and 2. That they would taste good. But I gave it a whirl and was SO pleasantly surprised – these are soft, buttery, and delicious! Everyone enjoyed them very much, and they were extremely quick and easy to make. Dinner saved! :)