One Hour Dinner Rolls
Published Oct 28, 2020•Updated Jul 04, 2025
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Got an hour? That’s all you need to make these incredibly light, fluffy one hour dinner rolls. I first created this recipe in 2012 and it has earned itself many super-fans over the years. You can be next! Just read on for more about this easy dinner roll method.
Amber says: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Awesome recipe! Followed the recipe exactly but made 12 larger sized rolls instead of 24. They turned out perfect.
These classic dinner rolls have been a staple around our table since I first published them back in 2012 (!). Check out the comments to hear from many fans of these soft, light, buttery rolls. And even if you’ve never made homemade dinner rolls, give this one a try. You just need one bowl. They’re easy and turn out great every time.
I love to serve them with everything from Thanksgiving favorites (my spatchcock turkey and favorite Thanksgiving sides beg for these homemade dinner rolls). Throughout the year I pair them with Creamy Tomato Basil Soup, Lemon Chicken and Orzo Soup, or Tuscan Kale and White Bean Soup.
Ingredients
- Fast-Acting or “Instant” Yeast – This dough rises quickly and requires yeast labeled as Fast Acting, Instant, Quick-Rise, Bread Machine, or RapidRise. Do NOT use “Active Dry Yeast” for this recipe; it needs to be dissolved in water before using.
- Unsalted Butter – Butter shows up in this recipe in two places. Mix some softened butter into the dough and brush melted butter over the tops before and after cooking.
- Warm Water – Use water that is warm to the touch. Check the label on your brand of yeast for the recommended water temperature to get the best results.
- Sugar, Flour, Kosher Salt – Standard pantry ingredients for bread-baking.
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How to Make Dinner Rolls Ahead
To make the dinner rolls ahead, bake them as written and allow them to cool completely. Cover tightly and store at room temperature for up to 24 hours.
To Reheat: To reheat the rolls place a piece of foil on a sheet pan. Add the rolls and brush them with some melted butter. Enclose the rolls tightly with foil, sealing the edges. Warm the rolls in foil in a 350°F / 177°C oven for about 15 minutes. Serve immediately.
To Freeze and Reheat Dinner Rolls
To Freeze: After testing many different methods, I have found that the best way to prepare and freeze these dinner rolls is to bake them completely as directed. Allow them to cool and then freeze flat on a baking sheet until solid, 2 to 3 hours. Transfer to a freezer-safe bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
To Reheat: Take the rolls out of the freezer about 3 hours before baking and let fully defrost at room temperature. Place them on a sheet pan and cover tightly with foil. Bake, covered, in a 350°F / 177°C oven until warmed through, 20 to 25 minutes. Brush generously with melted butter.
Printable Freezer Label
Print and attach the label below so cooking instructions are ready when you are!
More Homemade Bread Recipes
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One Hour Dinner Rolls
Equipment
- Stand Mixer
- 9×13 Baking Dish
- Serrated Knife
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups Warm Water (110°F / 43°C)
- 1 Tablespoons Instant or “Fast-Acting” Yeast
- 2 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, softened to room temperature (2 Tbsp = 28g)
- 4 cups All-Purpose Flour, divided (4 cups flour = 500g)
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
For topping:
- 3 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, melted (3 Tbsp = 40g)
- 1 teaspoon Sea Salt or Kosher Salt
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, stir together warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand until creamy, about 5 minutes.
- Lightly grease a 9×13 baking pan.
- To the yeast mixture, add 2 Tablespoons softened butter, 2 cups of flour, and salt (making sure that the salt is added on top of the flour and doesn't come in contact with the yeast until you begin mixing). Mix on low until the ingredients begin to come together.
- Add remaining 2 cups of flour and mix again on low until flour is fully incorporated.
- Increase the speed to medium and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. (You will know it is ready when the dough starts to make a slapping sound as it hits the sides of the bowl.)
- Remove the bowl from the mixer and cover it with a dish towel. Let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 20 minutes. (Note: I like to turn on the oven's light and let the dough rise inside the oven. The light produces just enough heat to help the dough rise quickly.)
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and form it into an even ball.
- Using a serrated knife, cut the dough into quarters. Slice each quarter of dough into 6 even slices (you should have 24 even pieces of dough). With lightly floured hands, roll each piece of dough into a ball.
- Place rolled dough in even rows in prepared pan.
- Heat oven to 400°F / 200°C. Cover the rolls with a dish towel and put them near the warm oven to rise for 20 minutes.
- Lightly brush the rolls with half of the melted butter (reserve the other half).
- Bake until golden brown, 18 to 22 minutes.
- Immediately after removing the rolls from the oven, brush them with the remaining melted butter and sprinkle with salt.
- Flip the pan over to remove the rolls.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I love cooking and baking, but I’ve always been afraid of yeast. I made these for Thanksgiving and they were so easy and sooooo good! I will be making these a lot!
Susan – I’m so glad to hear it!
What a wonderful pick for this months SRC! Going to keep these in mind for Thanksgiving, for sure =)
Wow! these look amazing! I would love to try them!
i just made these and they came out extraordinarily soft and fluffy!
Valerie – I’m so glad to hear it!
I have tried and failed so many times to make homemade dinner rolls. Can not wait to try this recipe!
One question, can i make the dough in the morning and then bake later?
Kerin – I was curious about that myself, but didn’t have a chance to try it. I think they might rise quite a bit because they use so much yeast, but if you put them straight in the fridge after rolling the dough into balls, I still think they would be good if they rested in the fridge for a few hours. If you try it – please let me know how it goes!
I made the dough and let it rise…after cutting and making the rolls, I let the pan sit on the counter covered for a few hours…no issues at all, everyone absolutely loved them!
Kerin – that’s great to know! I’m going to make these again on Thanksgiving, and was worried about the rise time being different than the first time I made them. It’s good to know that they’re not too temperamental. 😉
Probably goes without saying, but don’t make these with whole wheat without major adjustments. I should have had a second rise, but was in a time crunch. Major flop, but of no fault of this recipe.
Flavor was good, but dense. For whole wheat, you’ll need more water and more proofing time. Milk would probably help.
4 stars as I would suggest a 2nd proof (even if using white flour), but I didn’t use recipe as written.
Gunther – thanks so much for your notes on this. I have it in my plans to develop a whole wheat version of these rolls, but as you know, changing from all purpose to whole wheat flour requires many adjustments to the recipe. There will be lots more testing involved before the whole wheat version goes live!
Is there a better accompaniment to any meal with sauce or gravy than a soft buttery roll to mop it up? Beautiful rolls!
These look wonderful! I love that they only take 1 hour!
You would never know it by how tasty they are, but the speed of these is certainly their best feature!
Jess – BEAUTIFUL rolls.. Simply exquisite. I love your photos. I draw so much inspiration from them! I plan to make my first bread EVER sometime soon 🙂
I love butter rolls! Like, I literally DREAM about them in my sleep! And it’s great, because they are good all year round… thanks! ~ nerdwithtaste.wordpress.com
lovely! just saw them on FG and I have been on a big bread making kick too! I want one of these next!
Averie – you’ve got some awesome bread on your site – a number of them have been officially bookmarked for my holiday baking purposes!
Would it hurt for these rolls to proof a little longer?
Hi Aly – sorry for the delayed response. Perhaps you’ve already given this a try, but I don’t think a little longer to proof would hurt the rolls. I’ve tried both putting them the fridge for a longer proof of a couple hours (I bring them out about 15 min before baking) and leaving them at room temp for about 30 minutes longer than the recipe calls for. Both have worked well. The recipe is fairly forgiving, so I think they’ll turn out well even if they over-proof.
Do you think i could make and or them in the pan in the evening and put them in the fridge to cook them in the morning?
Hi Sherine – since these use fast acting yeast, I couldn’t let them rise in the fridge overnight because they might over-rise and get too puffy. Instead, I’d put the pan in the freezer at night and let them defrost / come to room temp for about 2 hours before baking.