Hello, my name is Jessica and I am a butter fanatic. One of my favorite things to slather butter on it a hot, soft roll. If they happen to be 30-minute dinner rolls, then I am in true heaven.
While there are plenty of days that I have several hours to bake artisan breads, there are many more nights that I crave freshly baked bread to serve with dinner, but have limited time and this roll recipe solves the problem.
Why You’ll Love These Quick Dinner Rolls
Light, fluffy rolls are are easy to make and homemade- what’s not to love!
- Quick and easy – From start to finish, only 30 minutes for light and fluffy yeast rolls. It is a misconception that anything using yeast will require hours of rising time.
- Light and fluffy – The texture of these dinner rolls are perfectly light, fluffy and soft- exactly what you want in a roll.
- Serve with anything – Is there a dinner that doesn’t pair well with rolls? Not in my book. You can pair these rolls with anything you desire. If you need some inspiration, check out my complete list of dinner ideas!
Ingredients for This Easy Roll Recipe
Beyond maybe yeast, these are all pantry staples.
- Warm water – The key word here is warm. Warm water is what allows the yeast to bloom properly. If it is too hot, it can kill the yeast, too cold and it won’t activate.
- Rapid Rise Active Dry Yeast – You’ll want to make sure it is rapid rise. Rapid rise (aka quick rise or fast rising yeast) has smaller grains. This helps the instant yeast activate quicker than traditional yeast and will only require one rise.
- Sugar – While sugar isn’t necessary, it is helpful when allowing yeast to bloom. Plus it adds a touch of sweetness to our quick rolls.
- Vegetable oil– Some sort of fat helps them stay moist and soft, while also adding flavor. Other neutral oils can be used.
- Egg – When baking, it is always good practice to use a room temperature egg. It blends better with the other ingredients. Egg will also provides hearty flavor and loft.
- Salt – Salt helps to bring out the natural flavors of baked goods. I like to use sea salt for this recipe.
- Flour – All purpose flour is perfect for making these easy dinner rolls. No special flour needed.
- Butter – You will want cold butter to grease the pan and also melted butter to brush onto the tops of the baked rolls.
How to Make 30 Minute Rolls
You won’t believe how easy it is to make homemade dinner rolls!
- Let yeast bloom. In a large mixing bowl or a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine the sugar and yeast, giving a quick stir to combine. Add the warm water and allow to bloom. The mixture should be frothy and fragrant. If it is not, then the yeast is no good and you need to start again.
Learning Moment:
The concept of “proofing yeast” is to make sure that the yeast is good before you continue. Old yeast or yeast exposed with hot water can die and not rise. This step allows you to make a new batch if your yeast is no good.
- Prepare oven and baking pan. Preheat the oven and grease a 9×13 baking dish with a cold stick of butter.
- Add remaining ingredients. Add the oil, egg and salt to yeast mixture, stir to combine. Add flour, half cup at a time, mixing between each addition. Do not over mix or it will over activate the gluten, making your rolls dense and chewy.
- Knead. Knead dinner roll dough until bread comes together and slaps against the side of the bowl.
- Divide dough. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into equally sized dough balls and place into baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap or clean kitchen towel and allow to rise in a warm place. This aids in the yeast blooming.
- Bake until tops are golden brown. When you remove rolls from oven, baste the tops with melted butter. Serve warm.
Tips for Working with Yeast
Making homemade bread with yeast can sometimes be intimidating. Follow these easy tips to ensure you get the perfect bread every time.
- Check the expiration date. Make sure your yeast isn’t expired and it’s been kept in good storage conditions- not too hot or humid. Some folks like to keep their yeast in the refrigerator or freezer.
- Water temperature can’t be too hot or cold. The optimal temperature is 100°F and is just fairly hot tap water. No need to microwave or heat in a kettle.
- Store in the fridge. Store yeast in the refrigerator for best results.
- Sugar isn’t needed, but helpful. Yeast doesn’t have to have sugar, but it can be helpful. It sees it as food and can activate faster… don’t we all when we are hungry?
Variations for Easy Yeast Rolls
There are plenty of ways you can make these buttery dinner rolls your own. Here are a few suggestions.
- Small batch – You can half the recipe and just make 6 dinner rolls. Use a heaping teaspoon of yeast instead of the whole packet.
- Fresh herbs and flavor – For added flavor, throw in fresh herbs, garlic or sun dried tomatoes.
- Butters – Instead of traditional butter, try a fun compound butter. Some of my favorites are Texas Roadhouse Butter, Chile Lime Butter and Orange Sage Butter.
- Garlic knots – Turn them into garlic rolls by brushing the tops of the dinner rolls dough with garlic butter or even black truffle butter.
Storage & Freezing
How to Store Leftover Dinner Rolls
Store any leftover rolls in an airtight container. Bake them whenever you have time and eat them at room temperature or warm slightly before serving. Just like the ones from the store. They are best within 1-2 days of baking since they do not have any additives or preservatives.
Can I Freeze Dinner Rolls?
Homemade dinner rolls are freezer friendly. Allow to thaw at room temperature. Do not defrost in the microwave, this makes bread rubbery.
Dinners to Serve with Rolls
Is there a dinner that doesn’t pair well with rolls? Not in my book. But here are some of our favorites.
Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms
Does you partake in meatless Monday? These EASY Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms are so tasty and filling that you won't miss the meat at all! The BEST appetizer!
See The Recipe!
Ranch Salmon
Looking for an simple weeknight meal with minimal ingredients? This easy Ranch Salmon is it!
See The Recipe!
Baked Chicken Thighs in Oven
Flavorful and crispy baked chicken thighs basted with a garlic lemon butter sauce. An easy chicken dinner in the oven.
See The Recipe!
30-Minute Dinner Rolls
Soft, easy dinner rolls are easier to make than you think! Check out my speedy yeast rolls that you can make ahead and freeze.
Servings: rolls
Ingredients
- 1 packet rapid rise dry yeast
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3 1/2 cups flour
- 2 tablespoons salted butter, melted, plus a cold stick for greasing the pan
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl or a stand mixer fitted with the bread hook, combine the sugar and yeast, giving a quick stir to combine. Add the warm water and allow to bloom for 10 minutes. The mixture should be frothy and fragrant.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and grease a 9×13 baking dish with a cold stick of butter.
- Stir in the the oil, egg and salt to the yeast mixture. Add the flour, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing between each addition until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Knead until the bread dough comes together and slaps against the side of the bowl.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured cutting board or work surface. Divide the dough into 12 equally sized balls and place them into a 9×13 baking dish. They might not touch now, but will come close when they rise. Cover and allow to rise for 10 minutes.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the tops are lightly browned. When you remove the rolls from oven, baste the tops with the melted butter. Serve warm.
- If you've tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was in the comments or star ratings.
Notes
For added flavor, throw in fresh herbs, garlic or sun dried tomatoes.
You can half the recipe by using a heaping teaspoon of yeast instead of the whole packet.
Dinner rolls also freeze well.
Nutrition
Calories: 223 kcal, Carbohydrates: 32 g, Protein: 4 g, Fat: 8 g, Saturated Fat: 6 g, Cholesterol: 18 mg, Sodium: 119 mg, Potassium: 44 mg, Sugar: 4 g, Vitamin A: 80 IU, Calcium: 8 mg, Iron: 1.8 mg
Did you make this recipe?I’d love to see your recipes – snap a picture and mention @savoryexperiments or tag #savoryexperiments!
These are great rolls. I’ve made them several times and my family loves them. But I will say my rolls have never risen in 10 min. I always have to let them rise a lot longer. So it hasn’t been 30 minute rolls in my case. But still very good 😊
My 5 yr old granddaughter helped me make these tonight. They came so soft. Will be making these again.
Fantastic! This is a great recipe when I don’t have time to make bread. So darn easy and my family loves them! Thank you!
This was great. My family devoured them! I didn’t have time to make an artesian loaf so I looked for a dinner roll recipe.
I was worried about it because the dough kept sticking to the bowl so I added some more flour. Any advice?
Best dinner rolls I have ever made. I let them rise much longer and I didn’t regret it one bit! They were OUTSTANDING
So glad you loved them and thanks for coming back to let us know!
Everyone ❤️ this when I make it. I have referred those interested to this site. I plan on trying it with almond or rice flour soon.
I made them, delicious 😋
Thanks!
Do you just grease the bottom of the pan with the stick of cold butter or do you let the whole stick stay in pan before putting in the dough?
You grease the bottom, so just open the stick of butter and rub a generous amount on the bottom and sides and that’s it! Don’t use the whole stick, just enough to coat the pan. 🙂
I made the recipe but there was no way it would rise in 10 minutes. After 10 or 15 minutes nothing had happened so I let it go for an hour and a half and finally it was ready for baking. I made sure that the yeast was not expired I made sure my water was the right temperature, I did everything as perfect as I could. They were very tasty and I was very pleased the way they came out they looked picture perfect but it just didn’t rise like you said in 10 or 15 minutes. And my yeast was that quick kind. I wonder if I used a double package of yeast if that would’ve helped . Comments please thank you
Hi Alice- this sounds like a yeast issue if it didn’t bloom at all. Unfortunately, even if they aren’t expired, sometimes they are still no good. The process of blooming is to make sure that the yeast is good. If it doesn’t bloom, you need to start over. I can add a little info on that into the post for ya.
Awesome easy recipe, a new family favorite!
Woohoo! Thanks for much for taking the time to come back and let us know!
Easy Dinner Rolls –
I looked up “quick dinner rolls”
your recipe popped up. Reading over your directions made it seem easy and quick. I gave it a shot. They were Lovely rolls!
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed them!
I came across this recipe today and figured why not
I often try new recipes but have never found a dinner roll that worked out or was good, I had no expectations due to previous tries
Well I was so happy when I took them out of the oven not only did my house smell amazing but they looked amazing, so far so good so next the taste test … they were light and fluffy and tasted so good even plain but with butter WOW 😳
I brought half the buns to my neighbour still warm and they loved them too 💜
Thanks so much for sharing
Thank you so much, Jo! I’m glad you loved them, and also your neighbor.
I made the easy rolls last night and my boys loved them❣️ My son told me I need to make these more often. Thank you for a great and easy recipe!
Yay! We love to hear that, Linda. And thank you for taking the time to come back and let us know.
They really were easy to make! The family loved them. I will definitely be making these again!!
Came out wonderful. Had to cook a little longer though to get them to brown. Fabulous recipe, hand mixed them and kneaded.
Nice! Thanks for letting us know. Just curious- how long did you bake them?
The yeast rolls turned out perfect!
Awesome! That is what we like to hear!
I have tried these twice now. The first time they were dense. My kitchen is a little cool so they didn’t rise well. To remedy this, I turned my oven on 200 degrees, and after it heated up, I turned off the oven and let the rolls rise there. Worked like a charm! Also, I only used 2 cups of flour. The second time, they turned out much better. Thank you for this awesome recipe!
Thanks for letting us know, Gingie! I find that the majority of the time I have trouble with bread, it has to do with the yeast and rising. Glad you liked them!
Hello, so nice to meet you or should I say communicate with you. I have wasted and hour and a half trying to send you a message on face book before I looked further.
I just wanted to tell you your recipe for yeast dinner rolls looked so good and easy. I have been trying for over two years to get an tasty, light and fairly easy yeast roll recipe. I keep failing. I have made rolls that had to rise 2 or 3 times (time consuming) and the taste still was not wher4e I would like it to be. I very much want to try your recipe this weekend. Is there any hints you could give me to ensure my rolls come out tasting like heaven. It could all be the simple fact that I have had bad recipes.
I was about to give up when I saw your recipe. So my question to you is there anything I need to do that I may have missed in my prior attempts? Also should I use bread flour or regular flour as I have both.
Thank you so much for your time and thanks for posting the recipe for so many of us to enjoy. Please respond on my email. I so look forward to hearing from you. With much gratitude, JoAnn Stewart