Soft, buttery, tender and warm, straight out of the oven – these are the best dinner rolls! Once you try this dinner rolls recipe you’ll never want to go back to store bought dinner rolls!
I try to avoid adding “the best” in front of my recipes, actually I’ve never done it since every person has a different opinion of what’s “the best” but these dinner rolls are the best! There’s absolutely nothing you can do to improve the taste. They are PERFECT! Soft, tender and warm, straight out of the oven while the butter is still running on the sides – this is what I call dinner!
I’ve been working on this dinner rolls recipe for a couple of months now and I’m pretty sure I’ve made them 10 times so far. My family asks for them at least once a week when dinner time comes around. Before I developed this recipe we always relied on the buttery dinner rolls I’ve shared the recipe with you in the past, which it’s still the quick version to great dinner rolls.
Today’s dinner rolls takes a little bit of time, it’s a little more work involved, but the results are so worth it! 
When I first cam up with this idea I wanted to make a buttery, brioche-like soft loaf of bread but somehow I had a hard time finding the right pan size for it. It was too much for a standard 9X5 inch loaf pan and too small for two 8×4 inch pan loaves. After a few more trials, I decided to shape the dough into small dinner rolls instead of one loaf. Best decision ever!
And you know what’s even better? You can freeze the rolls just after shaping and bake them as needed. Isn’t that great? I make two batches of dough, shape and place them on baking sheets, cover well in plastic wrap and freeze. When I’m in the mood for fresh-baked dinner rolls (it happens more than I should admit) I just take the baking sheet out of the oven, unwrap the plastic and leave at room temperature for about 1 1/2 hours and bake as fresh.
These dinner rolls have a little twist. Of course, they need flour, yeast (afraid of baking with yeast? Read Bread Baking 101- baking with yeast) , water, eggs and butter but also a secret ingredient: Greek Yogurt! Yes, you read that right, I’ve added some to increase the richness of the dough without adding additional eggs or butter, not that eggs and butter are a bad thing when it comes to baking, no, no, no! I just wanted to see if adding yogurt to the dough will keep the final results moist longer, as it does for cakes or cupcakes.
I can honestly say that these are the softest dinner rolls I’ve ever had or made, but can’t guarantee how long they stay soft since they disappear in no time. The longest we had some were for two days and they were still soft. If you manage to keep them longer, please let me know if they are still soft.
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If you enjoyed these dinner rolls, you might also like
Foolproof 30 minutes dinner rolls
Sending love your way,
Roxana
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Roxana – these dinner rolls looks amazing – Love the texture and great clicks as always 🙂
They were lovely rolls 2nd time I put SR flour gluten free inplace of the all purpose flour it was quiet nice more softer plus fluffy
Beautiful! Cant wait to try these!
These are stunning rolls! I HAVE to try them!!!
Dinner rolls are the best, especially for holiday dinners with the family!
These look mouth-watering!
I old love to try making these rolls but I do not have dough hooks. Can I use my regular beaters?
Hi Sherry,
When you say regular beaters you’re referring to paddle attachment or to whisk-like beaters?
Roxana
I guess they’re whisy like. The one’s that came with my beater which I use for mostly for cookies and whip cream.
Those beaters are not going to work. They are mostly used to incorporate air into the batter. You can use your beaters until you have to add the flour.
The yeast dough needs kneading that’s why the dough hook comes to the rescue. You could make the rolls by hand but it’s going to need a lot of kneading to reach that smooth soft, lightly sticky consistency.
Roxana
Thanks so much Roxana. I love your website!
Hi Roxana, I don’t have a dough hook either, but I do have the paddle attachment to my stand mixer. Will that work? Thanks!
Not really, you’ll have to do the kneading by hand. The paddle attachment will only help you until most of the flour is added, after that will be too firm for the paddle.
Roxana
I used gluten free SR flour
I would love to try making these rolls but I do not have dough hooks. Can I use my regular beaters?
These are the most beautifully golden dinner rolls I’ve ever seen! In my opinion, that certainly makes them the best. 🙂
they sure do look like the BEST dinner rolls 🙂
Roxana, these rolls look FASCINATING! I’m just tempted by their photos and how you described them. I’m intrigued by adding greek yogurt to the dough. Pinning it to try next weekend!
These are simply stunning, Roxanna! I love homemade rolls!
I’m afraid these wouldn’t make it to dinner. They would be gone as soon as they came out of the oven! Thanks for all the tips.
We’re having a party at Tumbleweed Contessa and I’d love it of you would share these. http://www.tumbleweedcontessa.com/blog/whatd-you-do-this-weekend-3/#
Have a wonderful week,
Linda
Hi Roxana!! loved your dinner rolls…will definately try out this recipe…
I collect cookbooks and always looking for good baking recipes.
I love to bake!
Delicious dinner rolls!! Such an easy recipe 🙂
Beautiful buns, Roxana! I mean, your dinner rolls!!! I have wonderful childhood memories with these kinds of dinner rolls. It reminds me of the steak house dinners my dad used to take me to as a child. these buns always come on the side with butter – and I was usually too busy stuffing myself with these! I know they are delicious!!!
These look fantastic! I adore a good quality dinner roll and this looks like that might be it!
When you say the best, I believe you! I simply love how they look and I can almost smell the aroma coming from the oven when they are baking. Wonderful recipe and gorgeous pictures Roxy! Have a lovely week!!!
Oh my these look gorgeous!!! I need to make these stat.
You should just stand outside your house with a roll cart and you could mop up. I wish I had some of these in the freezer, I’d bake myself one for breakfast. I don’t think you should be shy here, I’ll trust you on best, lol.
-Gina-
I loved my mom’s homemade rolls, and I cannot wait to try your recipe. The smell of bread baking in the oven is heavenly!
Gorgeous rolls! I am in the mood to make more bread this week!
homemade dinner rolls are the best! There is quite nothing like them. I have a drawer FULL of yeast packets that were sent to me… now I have no excuse to keep baking with it. 😉 LOVING the greek yogurt here!
i cant wait to try these! They look buttery and yummy and perfect
Gorgeous rolls, Roxy. I would say they look like the best to me and now I can’t wait to try them one night this week. I think they also won’t last too long here. xx
Hi, How long can you keep these so the taste dont change and they are all fresh?
Prabhanthi, mine never lasted longer than two days and they were still fresh 🙂
Roxana
Oh Roxana these are really the best dinner rolls. I have never come across something so appetizing like these. I am bookmarking this one. Great pictures too.. makes me crave for some right away. Do you think fat free greek yogurt wud work ? I just have them handy so checking with you. Please let me know.
These are absolutely stunning! I love their golden hue and can only imagine how moist and flavorful they are.
Roxana, I feel like I would eat the entire batch of these soft and delicious bread rolls!
I need your bread baking patience and abilities! 🙂
Homemade rolls are SO good. Love love love them!
Do you know how much I would give for one of these rolls right now!!! These are heavenly, Roxana!
These rolls are so beautiful – I love their golden coloured, shiny tops. I have a tub of Greek yogurt at home just crying out to be used in this recipe. Thanks for sharing, Roxana!
Oh my gosh, Roxana….these are like…picture perfect! (Actually your pictures usually are perfect….and beautiful!) Now these dinner rolls look so good…I’d also love to have them in the morning with a bit of jam! And I would call them the best breakfast rolls! ;- }
So golden and beautiful!
Roxana-I made these last night for dinner! They are truly the best rolls ever!
Roxana, I featured these rolls on my Weekly Rays of Sunshine as one of my favorite pins of the week. Hope you can drop by and take a look.
Have a great weekend. Linda
http://www.tumbleweedcontessa.com/blog/weekly-rays-of-sunshine-17/
These rolls look so amazing, I love that you added Greek yogurt!
These look delicious. I am stopping by from the Tumbleweed Contessa.
Could I make it without the Greek yogurt?
Hi Diana,
If you leave the Greek yogurt out you’ll have to add more eggs and maybe some butter. I haven’t tried them this way, so I can’t say how to do it.
Roxana
You always amaze me with your bread making prowess! These are beautiful!!!! Perfect for Easter!
I love good yeast rolls & failed to get my mother’s recipe before she passed away. I want let this one slip away. I plan to try it with the yogurt & also try another version, just for contrast, with sour cream… How do you think that might work? 🙂
Hi Carolyn,
Although in most recipes sour cream and greek yogurt are interchangeable, I have not tried using sour cream in this recipe, so I don’t know for sure how they will turn out, but I have the feeling the results will be almost the same.
If you do try them with sour cream, please come back and let us know how they turn out
Roxana
Gorgeous! Really, if I could, I’d stay at home some weekends just so I could make bread…and this dinner roll recipe would be at the top of my list. 🙂
Fabulous, I’m quite crazy about any type of brioche, these look amazing!
Very sticky dough indeed! I started to make the mistake of picking the dough up with my hands to move it from the mixer to the buttered bowl. Very good rolls, thanks.
Thanks Vicky,
The dough is indeed a little sticky, that’s the secret to the softest fluffiest dinner rolls.
Glad you liked them.
Roxana
Oh goodness. Those buttery tops! So yummy looking. And Greek yogurt in rolls?! Whaaat. I have to try these!
What an amazing recipe Roxana! I’d eat all of them by myself…
I was wondering if I could toss the frozen rolls into a ziploc bag for storage instead of keeping them on the baking sheet?
Hi Lacey,
If you don’t want to keep the unbanked rolls in ziploc bags, you’ll have to freeze them first on baking sheets and then place them in the bags, to make sure they keep their shape.
Roxana
I have made these buns twice now, and they really are the best buns that I have ever had or made. My husband loves them, thanks for the recipe!
I made these today and they are yummy! I baked half of them and put the second half in a muffin/cupcake pan to freeze. It’s a good thing I didn’t bake them all. They would be gone tomorrow! Thank you for the wonderful recipe.
Roxana,
Do you need to grease your pans before baking the rolls. Also, when you’re baking bread should the pans be greased (with butter and flour) or just butter? I bake my bread in a cast iron pot. Thanks for your assistance. Love your web-site page.
Hi Tina,
I usually grease my pans just with butter. As for these dinner rolls, you can line it with parchment paper or leave it plain. Your choice.
Happy Baking,
Roxana
How long do I bake from frozen? At the same temp?
Hi Celina,
yes, bake at the same temperature but first let the rolls get to room temperature.
Roxana
Hats off to you! These are very good. My husband praised them highly. Thank you for sharing. I worried there wasn’t enough salt in it, but decided to follow the recipe. Just right. I have some in the freezer for another day.
Since the optional 2 T. butter for brushing the rolls specifies salted butter, should I use unsalted butter for the 4 T. melted and cooled butter? The rolls look delicious, and I can’t wait to make them.Thanks!
You can use unsalted butter if that’s what you have on hand. No need to buy 1 pound for just 2 tbsp.
Roxana
Roxana,
I appreciate your reply, and I agree with you. However, I was hoping to find out if the 4 T. butter (the next-to-last listed ingredient) should be salted or unsalted. Thanks again!
Sorry about that. Unsalted butter. Unless I specify it’s salted, all butter listed in the ingredients is unsalted.
Roxana
This looks amazing! I’m definitely making these soon.
Just wondering, though; is it possible to make this by halving all the ingredients (this would be my first time using yeast, since I’m a newbie and I just wanna make half of these since this my family consists of just mom and me)
Hi Siselmo,
I’m afraid if you use only half of the ingredients your mixer might not have enough dough to knead. I’ve never tried it, it’s just my opinion.
if you do decide to give it a go, please come back and let me know how it works.
Thanks,
Roxana
can you keep this dough In the refrig over night and, bake the next day?
Hi Diana,
Yes, you can leave the rolls in the fridge overnight, but no longer than 8 hours, or they will rise too much.
Am I able to let the dough rise in the fridge overnight and bake the next day?
Hi Sophia,
as long as you don’t leave the rolls more than 8 hours in the fridge, it’s all good. Just make sure they don’t rise too much
Hi Roxana, is it possible to make these without the yogurt? I don’t have any.
Hi Erica,
I haven’t tried them without yogurt, but if you don’t have any, you may wanna try this recipe http://roxanashomebaking.com/butter-dinner-rolls-recipe/
Hi there!! I wanted to let you know that I blogged about these awesome breadrolls. I gave you all the credit, but wanted to let you know… here is the link…
http://www.angiecooksinportland.blogspot.com/2013/12/rosemary-christmas-rolls.html
Thank you for these. Delicious!
Angie
Made these delicious rolls yesterday and I should have doubled the recipe. Came out perfect. But the sticky dough is a challenge. This is a recipe that I will be making many times. I used honey greek yogurt as that was all I had and it tasted great.
Thanks for sharing.
Hi Jeannie,
So happy to hear you love the dinner roll. My family asks for them weekly!!!!
It’s a little bit of a challenge but once you make them right, there’s no going back. They are totally addictive
Roxana
Well I figured it was time to comment. I’ve made these about half a dozen times and they are always DEVOURED! Even after everyone is done with dinner, the rolls just tempt you to eat one more! This is my go to recipe for dinner rolls now, and they turn out gorgeous every time. The only thing I do different is put them together in a baking pan cause I like my rolls very tall and stuck together. 🙂 Thanks for the great recipe!
Hi Vanessa,
You comment made my day! So happy to hear you’ve made the rolls so many times and each time they disappear in no time (the same happens here)
Next time I will have to add them in a pan and see how they turn out. Thanks for the idea
Excellent! I hope they work wonderfully for you! The thing with rising/baking them in a pan is that they tend to rise UP instead of sorta out and up. Makes for huge delicious pillowy rolls! Just like my favorite local bakery!
I dont have any greek yogurt but I believe a substitution of sour cream would also work.
Has anyone tried making these rolls. Everyone says they look good but how does it taste and is the recipe good
Hi Dion,
Some of the previous comments are from readers who have recreated the recipe. Please read them.
Roxana
Hi Roxana,
We are snowed in for at least another day, and I wanted to make these tomorrow, as I have all the ingredients 🙂
My question is about doubling the recipe, I am feding two teenagers, and they will demolish anything fresh baked lol
Can I doubel all the ingredients, instead of making two separate batches?
Thanks.
Hi Berlin,
We’re snowed in as well 🙂 Stay warm.
I haven’t doubled the recipe but you can definitely do it. You’ll just have to allow the dough to rise for a little longer than the time (maybe like 2 hours)
Happy baking,
Roxana
Hi Roxana,
Austin had a bad weather day today that didn’t really materialize. However, the schools were already closed so I got to stay home. One of my favorite things to do on surprise holidays is to bake. In search the web for various recipes, I came across your recipe for Best Dinner Rolss.
I don’t have a heavy-duty mixer, so all my mixing was by hand. I also had vanilla Greek yogurt on hand, so I used that. For others out there without a bread machine or dough hook, I used a whisk to blend the liquid ingredients, including the melted butter, into the yeast mixture. Then I blended the flour (a little at a time) in with the whisk until the dough got too heavy, at which point I switched to my handy-dandy wooden spoon. When it pulled away from the sides of my bowl, I dumped it out onto my floured surface and kneaded it for 5 minutes. It had a lovely texture and feel to it by the time I finished.
I let it rise for about an hour and a half in an oven that I had heated to 100 degrees and then turned off. I also had a bowl of hot water in there to provide some humidity. Then I punched it down and made my rolls. I let them rise for 30 minutes and then baked.
They were awesome!!! I froze half of them (after baking) to pull out and quickly warm for another meal, and ate a couple for an afternoon snack. 🙂 The rest we’ll have with beef stew tonight.
Thank you for the great recipe. It’s a keeper for sure!
Becky
recipe says sdd 1/2 cup of water to the yeast mixture but then says add reaining 1/4 cup of water to the egg/yogurt mixture. should it be 1/4 cup with the yeast or 1/2? thanks
Hi Debbie,
Water is listed twice in the ingredients list. First time is 1/2 cup when you mix it with flour and yeast, the second time only 1/4 cup is used mixed with eggs, yogurt, salt and sugar.
Let me know if you have other questions,
Roxana
Literacy is a good thing!!!! Sorry for my oversight. I have failed each time making bread so I’m hoping I will succeed with this recipe. (Maybe because i can’t read) Miss my mom’s breads and rolls at easter. Thanks will let u know
No worries. Glad I could clear that out for you.
Happy baking,
Roxana
I just made these and they turned out amazing. Thank you for sharing the recipe. I can’t stop eating them!
The best rolls I’ve made so far. These taste much better (to me) right out the oven. Betty Crocker has been shown up by Roxanna!
This picture caught my attention because I have been looking for a recipe for dinner rolls like my Mother use to make and these “looked the same”. Shes been gone a lot of years, did not leave any recipes because I suppose she didn’t use recipes! Anyway I know without a shadow of a doubt that she did not use yogurt in her dinner rolls, I never seen yogurt in our home when I still lived at home. But she did use a lot of buttermilk for baking. So my question is could buttermilk be substituted for the yogurt? Just trying to replicate my Mom’s………
Hi Theresa,
I have not tried this recipe using buttermilk instead of yogurt so I do not know what to advice you.
I know in most of the recipes (especially in sweets) the two can be substituted, but, I’m not quite sure if it will work in this recipe.
You may wanna give it a try, and if you do, please come back and let us know how it turned out.
Roxana
This is the best bread recipe ever! It tastes like croissants!
I swapped the wheat flour for white spelt flour, used goat yoghurt and olive oil instead of the butter, not because I have anything against butter I <3 IT! But my husband is dairy intolerant so goaty products are the closest thing we can get to it.
I have twisted it (with very oiled hands) into challah and also baked it into a loaf. This recipe is a winner, 100%
Superb recipe. I’ve just made these today and they came out perfectly perfect! Thank you.
These look amazing! I’m in!! Thanks for sharing!
Look yummy!! but how to treat the frozen dough in future? Do I need to defrost them first and then cover with a towel and leave at room temperature for another 30-40 minutes before bake? Thank you.
Hi Cindy,
to bake the frozen rolls, take them out of the freezer and eave at room temperature until thawed. No need to leave them out longer until double in size, they will increase in volume while baking in the oven.
Thanks,
Roxana
I need help, ASAP!! I have used this recipe today to do a test run for the big turkey day tomorrow. The only thing I did not use was the yogurt, but I subbed in an extra egg. The rolls taste great.. but they are super hard on the outside. Not uncomfortable, just a bit crunchy.. but rolls shouldn’t really be crunchy. Is there anything I could do? Like i said, they just flew right out of the kitchen. Made 16 and I think there’s only about two left, but i’m still just not comfortable with the crunchy. Is there anything different i could do tomorrow?
Hi Nicole,
Sorry to hear you had problems with the rolls. Yogurt adds mixture to the dough producing a soft crumb roll. An additional egg adds richness.
My advice would be to brush the crust as soon as you take them out of the oven. brushing the crust with butter, my #1 choice, or milk will reduces the amount of crunch in the crust.
Happy Thanksgiving
Roxana
Decided to try this on a whim for Thanksgiving dinner. Added 3 1/2 cups of flour by mistake, but doesn’t look like it will be a problem. Next time I will put on my glasses! I will let you know how mine turn out, but I have a feeling they are going to be great! Happy Thanksgiving!
How did the rolls turn out, Jennifer?
They were delicious! I started to reply that day and my computer would not cooperate, so thanks for asking. This was a great recipe that I will definitely use again and again! They would be really delightful with fresh strawberry jam, so I’m eager to try that! Blessings to you and thanks for sharing!
These look great! Should the baking sheet be greased or not? Thank you.
I use parchment paper on my baking sheets, but if you don’t, I suggest lightly greasing the pan.
Dear Roxana, I’m new to your site and I want to thank you for sharing your dinner roll recipe. I made them today and my family and guest loved them. My family and I live in Kazakhstan and everything we cook here is from scratch’ I look forward trying your other recipes.
Thank you again and happy holidays.
Dan
I worked them and I am thrilled, beautiful appearance and taste, when you bite … yummy … beautiful texture. Highly recommended, thanks Roxana!
Hi Roxana, you have the ‘Best Dinner Rolls’ indeed. I made the recipe over the weekend, however, I shaped them into 6 hamburger buns. The rise was beautiful and big with superb structure (I probably could have shaped 8 buns for a more standard size), the crumb buttery, and soft. The burgers were loaded with fixins’ to which the buns held everything together nicely. Thanks for sharing the recipe―it rocks!
So delicious! Thank you for your recipe 🙂
I am very interested in the ingredients for this recipe, especially the yogurt. I will get my husband to make it, as he is a better bread maker than me!
We, in Coventry, England, call bread rolls batches. We are, as far as I am aware, the only area to call them ‘batches’. In other parts of UK they are called buns, cobs, barmcakes, ……
When freezing these do you let them rise first or freeze them when they are still small?
Hi Kirstin,
You place the unbaked dinner rolls in the freezer without letting them rise. They will rise once you take them out of the freezer and leave them at room temperature to thaw.
Roxana
Can I mix this on the dough cycle of my bread machine adding liquids and dry ingredients per bread machine directions? Also, do they do as well if you freeze them first? They sound amazing! Can’t wait to try! Thanks!
Hi Dianne,
I have never used a bread machine so I don’t know what to advise you. Sorry.
And yes, if you freeze them, once you bake the rolls later they are just as good. Just make sure you they don’t get freezer burns and you let the rolls rest at room temperature to thaw and let the yeast do it’s work before baking them.
Thanks Roxana. I just wanted to make them ahead and freeze them for Thanksgiving. Maybe I’ll give them a trial run in the bread machine.
I was wondering if I can use organic whole wheat flour
Hi Courtney
I would not recommend using whole wheat flour instead of the all-purpose flour. Your rolls will not be as soft and fluffy plus whole wheat flour is drier requires more liquid and I don’t know how much more.
If you give it a try, please come back and let me know how it turned out.
Roxana
Roxanne, I am a total newbie in the kitchen and been given the task of hosting and cooking this year. I really want to do this but since I am new, I dont have the gadgets you use. Is it possible to do this all by hand? Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
Hi Diane,
This dinner rolls would be really hard to achieve kneading by hand but I highly recommend this recipe for dinner rolls if you don’t have a mixer
http://roxanashomebaking.com/foolproof-30-minute-dinner-rolls-recipe/
If you don’t have the Platinum Yeast you can use Rapid rise dry yeast and leave 5 more minutes the rolls to rise
Roxana
Thank you for the responding in such a timely manner, Roxanne! I’ve been commenting pinterest worthy articles for a long time and you actually respond plus in a ridicuously fast manner. Huge thanks for that!!!! I am definitely doing that 30 minute dinner roll. Wish me luck.
Can I use my beaters?
Hi Shelly,
I don’t know what you mean? Are you talking about the beaters from a hand-held mixer?
I highly advise to use a stand mixer for this recipe. If you do not have one or are looking for a quick and easy recipe for dinner rolls, you may wanna try these ones
http://roxanashomebaking.com/foolproof-30-minute-dinner-rolls-recipe/
Roxana
I just made them for the first time and they turned out great! They look beautiful and taste delicious!