Instant gratification! These buttery yeast breads are delicious and so quick and easy you can make them often.
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❤️ Why you'll love it
- Easy dinner rolls are the perfect addition to any Southern meal.
- Soft and fluffy on the inside, while golden brown and buttery outside!
- A great recipe that's simple to follow—even if it's your first time working with bread dough or yeast.
There is just something so special about homemade rolls, warm and fragrant out of the oven, with a soft pat of melted butter glistening over the top. It adds a little bit of homemade love to your meal—without adding a lot of time or effort.
🧾 Ingredients
This is an overview of the ingredients. You'll find the full measurements and instructions in the green recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.
🔪 Instructions
This is an overview of the instructions. Full instructions are in the green recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, add the sugar, yeast, buttermilk, and egg. Mix.
- Blend in 1 cup of the flour.
- Add remaining flour until the dough pulls away from the bowl.
- Form in round rolls and cover with a tea towel. Let rest while you are preheating the oven to 400F. Bake.
🥫 Storage
This quick dinner roll recipe usually doesn't leave any leftovers—at my kitchen table, they almost become the star of the meal!
However, you can store leftover quick rolls in an airtight container. Leave them at room temperature and they'll last for a few days.
You can also freeze baked and cooled rolls for around one month. Cover the rolls tightly in some plastic wrap to protect them from any funky freezer flavors.
The best part? You can defrost frozen rolls in the microwave for an extra tasty side in only a few extra minutes!
📖 Variations
- Bread flour is best in yeast rolls, but you can use other types like whole wheat flour or gluten free. Read these flour tips before susbtituting.
- Any vegetable oil swap will work: canola oil, olive oil, even avocado oil.
- You can cook these in a ceramic/glass dish if you don't have a baking sheet. Space the dough balls evenly in the prepared baking dish. However, you may need to increase the baking time slightly if they're snuggled up closely together.
There are plenty of delicious ways to flavor these quick yeast rolls, too:
- Brush them with honey butter.
- Use an herb-infused butter, or garnish with fresh herbs.
- Sprinkle the tops with garlic powder after buttering.
- Garnish with sesame seeds.
- Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
- Drizzle with a hot honey or pepper-infused oil.
💭 Things to know
Expert Tip: The ideal water temperature for blooming yeast is around 100 degrees F. It should feel very warm, but not so hot that you wouldn't wash your face with it. Too cold or hot and the yeast won't do it's job!
- Active dry yeast requires blooming, or activating. If you're using rapid rise or instant yeast, you can skip the blooming step.
- Salt can harm the yeast. While some recipes urge you to mix salt into the water/sugar/yeast mixture, it's best to do so at the end with the flour.
- When using just a handful of simple ingredients, they all need to be fresh and in good condition. For best results, be sure your yeast and flour are not close to expiration.
- Read the recipe before getting started so you know exactly what items need to be at room temperature or warmer. The temp is important!
- More kneading rather than less is prefered for homemade bread and rolls. Unlike cakes, which you want tender and crumby, the best dinner rolls are worked thoroughly to create a nice, bready structure inside.
- Often, hand mixers will come with dough hooks. However, the motors usually aren't strong enough to handle a dense bread dough, so I don't recommend using one for these quick dinner rolls.
- On the other hand, don't knead too much, or your bread can be tough. If you pull a piece off of the dough with two fingers, it should hold it's shape, rather than flopping immediately on either side of your fingers.
- Don't use too much flour! It's okay if your dough is a little sticky. You want to be able to handle it, but too much flour can turn fluffy rolls into dry lumps.
- Some people like to use a kitchen scale to make sure each round ball of dough is exactly the same size. It's not necessary by any means, but if you're a perfectionist, you can try this method!
- Using a bench scraper is an easy way to cut through the dough. You can also use a large knife.
- Try to portion the dough out evenly without smashing it down too much. I like to cut the dough in half a few times, cutting each section into smaller, even pieces, until I have 24 rolls.
- Let the dough rise in a warm place. If your oven is preheating, you can set the dough next to the oven, as long as it's not too hot.
- 75-80 degrees F is perfect for porch sittin' and letting dough rise, so if it's a warm afternoon where you live, set the dough out on your patio!
- You can increase the rise time up to a half hour if you aren't in as much of a hurry. It won't hold you to the 30-minute dinner roll time line, but I don't think anyone will hold it against you!
👩🍳 FAQs
Yep! All-purpose is just fine for, well, all purposes—and that includes these easy rolls! However, you might not need to knead the dough quite as long.
I wouldn't! Those seemingly basic ingredients are two keys to making tasty yeast rolls in such a short amount of time.
I found this trick after reading through some of my very old cookbooks. This was one of the ways the older generation sped things up to make dinner more quickly. After all, those pioneer women were busier than we are!
During the rising process, the yeast feeds on the sugar and, as a reuslt, releases carbon dioxide. This is what creates the fluffy dinner roll texture that you crave!
Oh my heavens, yes! Sunday dinners with the family, special occasions, even at the holidays, these easy homemade dinner rolls hit the spot every single time! Here's a hint: just don't mention the words "quick" or "easy" and everyone will be impressed!
📚 Related recipes
- Another one of my favorite easy bread recipes, Honey Oatmeal Sandwich Bread is full of good 'ol country flavor. Plus, you can also use the dough for rolls!
- Crusty Cornmeal Sandwich Rolls are a family favorite for sandwiches, burgers, BBQs, and more! They hold up great against your favorite messy toppings, too!
- Warm dinner rolls make a great side dish, but these Homemade Potato Rolls are so tasty, they just might steal the show. Soft, fluffy, sweet perfection—mmm, mmm good!
- Cloverleaf rolls are definitely one of our favorites.
🍽️ Serve with...
- Homemade Meatloaf
- Stuffed Pepper Soup
- Bottom Round Roast
- One Pan Southern Smothered Chicken
- Baked Garlic Parmesan Chicken
📞 The last word
Getting homemade dinner rolls on the table any night is nothing short of miraculous but when they are this quick and easy?
No reason why you shouldn't! Let everyone think you've been hiding some magic pixie dust in your pocket...
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need. Don't forget that you can click on "add to collection" to save it to your own, private recipe box!
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Quick Dinner Rolls in 30 Minutes
Print Pin Recipe SaveEquipment Needed
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons instant yeast
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¼ cup butter , divided use
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 egg , room temperature
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 cups bread flour , you may need a bit more
Instructions
- Place parchment on a 13x9-inch rimmed baking sheet.
- Melt butter and set aside to let cool.
- Heat buttermilk to 110F.
- Add sugar and yeast to to the bowl of your mixer.
- Add 2 tablespoons of the butter, buttermilk, and egg to the yeast mixture.
- Add the paddle and mix on low speed until combined.
- Slowly add 1 cup of the flour.
- With mixer on medium speed add the remaining flour a little at a time, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
- Dough will be sticky but won't cling to your fingers.
- Shape into 12 round rolls and place on the parchment.
- Set the oven on preheat and preheat to 400F.
- Cover with a tea towel and let rest for 10 minutes while the oven preheats.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until rolls are golden brown and interior temperature is 190F when you check with an instant read thermometer.
- Remove from the oven and brush with reserved butter.
Notes
- Active dry yeast requires blooming, or activating. If you're using rapid rise or instant yeast, you can skip the blooming step.
- Salt can harm the yeast. While some recipes urge you to mix salt into the water/sugar/yeast mixture, it's best to do so at the end with the flour.
- When using just a handful of simple ingredients, they all need to be fresh and in good condition. For best results, be sure your yeast and flour are not close to expiration.
- Read the recipe before getting started so you know exactly what items need to be at room temperature or warmer. The temp is important!
- More kneading rather than less is preferred for homemade bread and rolls. Unlike cakes, which you want tender and crumby, the best dinner rolls are worked thoroughly to create a nice, bready structure inside.
- Often, hand mixers will come with dough hooks. However, the motors usually aren't strong enough to handle a dense bread dough, so I don't recommend using one for these quick dinner rolls.
- On the other hand, don't knead too much, or your bread can be tough. If you pull a piece off of the dough with two fingers, it should hold it's shape, rather than flopping immediately on either side of your fingers.
- Don't use too much flour! It's okay if your dough is a little sticky. You want to be able to handle it, but too much flour can turn fluffy rolls into dry lumps.
- Some people like to use a kitchen scale to make sure each round ball of dough is exactly the same size. It's not necessary by any means, but if you're a perfectionist, you can try this method!
- Try to portion the dough out evenly without smashing it down too much. I like to cut the dough in half a few times, cutting each section into smaller, even pieces, until I have 24 rolls.
- Let the dough rise in a warm place. If your oven is preheating, you can set the dough next to the oven, as long as it's not too hot.
- 75-80 degrees F is perfect for porch sittin' and letting dough rise, so if it's a warm afternoon where you live, set the dough out on your patio!
- You can increase the rise time up to a half hour if you aren't in as much of a hurry. It won't hold you to the 30-minute dinner roll time line, but I don't think anyone will hold it against you!
Nutrition Facts
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Tell that old, clunky bread machine to hit the road. You'll only need the following items to make this easy recipe:
- Stand mixer with a dough hook
- Baking sheet
(You can still enjoy quick dinner rolls without an electric mixer, but it'll add a bit more time kneading the dough by hand.)
First published November 24, 2014. Last updated November 19,2022 for better images.
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