These Quick Dinner Rolls are light as a feather, soft as a cloud and fragrant. The yeast buns don't require pre-ferment which is quite a time saver. In three hours you can drive your entire family crazy with the heady bread aroma coming from the oven. Watch them run to the kitchen to sample the soft delicious bread waiting for them.
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Background Story
"I forgot the dinner rolls!" says my friend Laura before I even have a chance to say hello on my end of the phone.
"How could I overlook bread? I thought of everything else and it's ready to go: the pork loin, the Brussel sprouts, the tossed salad, the tart for dessert. I wanted this dinner to be special for Tony's new partner and wife."
"Weren't you supposed to go out to eat with them?" I ask the minute Laura takes a breath.
"We were," says Laura. "But Tony felt sorry for them, they've been here two weeks, stuck in a hotel, and they've been eating out every meal. Tony thought they might enjoy a home meal."
"It's not a problem," I say. "I'll just bring over some of the Italian dinner rolls we have in the freezer. You can thaw them out and pop them in the oven right before dinner. Problem solved."
Find a quick yeast bread recipe
"I appreciate the offer, truly I do," says Laura. "But I can't take your dinner rolls. Tony bragged to his new partner that I'm a good cook. You know Tony, he eats everything. It doesn't take anything fancy to make him happy. He promised his partner that he and his wife would get a delicious homemade meal made entirely by me. It's noon. I don't have time to make your Italian hard rolls."
"Yes, you do," I say. "Not the hard buns but a quick Italian dinner rolls recipe that takes only a few hours to make. When are they due over?"
"Around 6:30."
"Then you have plenty of time to make these dinner rolls."
Easy instructions for yeast dinner rolls
"E-mail me the recipe, I hope there aren't a lot of steps.," says Laura, sounding just a bit unsure. "I'm confident with cakes and cookies; it's the live yeast that intimidates me."
"Don't worry. It's mostly a waiting game," I say. "You mix the yeast dough together and watch for it to double. You form the dough into little balls, wait for them to rise, and then you bake."
"That's it for the dinner rolls?" asks Laura.
3-Hour Italian dinner rolls start to finish
"Yes! Well, you do have to make an egg white wash and brush it on top of the dinner rolls before baking."
"Okay," says Laura. "I think I can handle that. This dinner is putting me under a lot of pressure. I don't mind cooking for people I know, but these strangers are expecting a lot. I'm a nervous wreck."
"You'll do great! If you have a question I'm just a phone call away," I say. "Do you want me to come over and help?"
"No. That's okay. You've got lots to do before this weekend. Just send me the dinner rolls recipe, and I'll get started. I'll call you tomorrow and fill you in on how the dinner went."
Easy yeast buns fragrant and soft
The phone rings. I pick it up it but before I can say hello, Laura is talking a mile a minute. "The dinner rolls were a huge success! I couldn't believe how easy they were to put together and how fast they rose. Everything turned out perfectly!"
"I'm glad," I say. "See, I told you; you had absolutely nothing to worry about."
"That recipe is a keeper! Tony wants me to make some more dinner rolls tonight. We're having his favorite for dinner, pasta with Bolognese Sauce Antica. It looks like I better stock up on yeast; he's going to want those rolls on a regular basis."
A Versatile bread recipe
This recipe makes 12 rolls or 8 sandwich buns. The rolls make delicious slider buns for pulled pork or Italian beef. The sandwich size rolls make a perfect bun for hamburgers or spicy tuna salad.
This recipe would also be ideal for sliders. Think of Game days or picnics. Use the yeast buns recipe year round.
It's fun making challenging bread such as Pugliese Bread or Ciabatta, but sometimes a quick and easy yeast rolls recipe is exactly what you need.
Tutti a tavola è pronto!
Un caro saluto e alla prossima.
You May Need...
Everyone who bakes needs a heavy duty baking tray like this one. This one also includes a rack. We have several and they bake evenly and don't warp.
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Easy Three Hour Quick Dinner Rolls Recipe
These quick dinner rolls are soft and fluffy and definitely not sweet. We enjoy them with our holiday meals but also make them as sandwich buns or use them as slider rolls. Brush the top with butter or egg wash and add your favorite toppings such as sesame or poppy seeds. Your family will love them - guaranteed.
If you like this recipe please give it a 5-star rating.
📖 Recipe
Easy 3 Hour Quick Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups distilled water divided at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 3 teaspoons instant yeast
- 3 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour will need more for dough board
- 1 ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 egg white beaten with 1 Tablespoon water
Instructions
- Put the kneader attachment onto the stand mixer.
- In the stainless steel bowl of a stand mixer, dissolve the yeast with 1 teaspoon sugar and ¾ cup distilled water, at room temperature.
- In another bowl whisk together the 3 ½ cups flour, salt, 1 Tablespoon sugar.
- Add the dry ingredients on top of the yeast mixture.
- Start the mixer on low speed and start to pour about ½ up of the remaining distilled water into the bowl as it is kneading. Save the remaining ¼ cup water in case the dough is too dry.
- Add the butter and the olive oil to the dough as the mixer is kneading.
- If dough seems too dry, add water 1 Tablespoon at a time.
- Total kneading time should take about 8 minutes. when finished kneading the dough, it should feel soft but semi-sticky and smooth. It should only slightly stick to you hands when removing from the bowl.
- Do not add too much flour or the buns will be heavy.
- Remove the dough to a very lightly floured surface; cover with a clean tea towel (not terrycloth) and let rest 5 minutes.
- Shape into a ball (the dough will come together nicely after resting).
- Place into a large greased deep container.
- Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 60-90 minutes.
- To check if the dough is ready to be punched down, very gently stick two fingers about ½-inch into the dough, the dough is ready when the finger marks remain.
- Punch down dough and slice in half.
- Slice each half into 6 even pieces. (12 total)
- Shape each piece into a round ball.
- Place balls spacing well apart onto a large oiled parchment lined baking sheet.
- Cover and let rise 30-40 minutes.
- Right before placing in oven, lightly brush with beaten egg white.
- Bake at 375 F. for about 22 minutes or until light golden brown.
Notes
Nutrition
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Erin
Hello. Is this recipe more sweet like Easter bread, or is the sugar just enough to react the yeast? I am wanting a soft roll but not too sweet this time, or if I can leave out some sugar therefore more like Italian bread. I want for Thanksgiving!
Thanks!
🙂
Marisa Franca
Hi, Erin! The sugar is just enough to feed the yeast. We serve them at Thanksgiving and Christmas with our dinner and they are perfect with our savory meals. Hope that helps! Happy baking!
Erin Onda Lutz
Merry Christmas! This was a great recipe! I did use egg yoke and half and half for a brown shining crust though. But, my question today....have you put all the dough in a loaf pan before by chance?
Marisa Franca
Merry Christmas to you too AND a Happy New Year. I haven't tried putting the dough in a loaf pan. I suppose the main reason is because we have several loaf pan recipes we usually make. But if you do decide to try it -- let us know. Happy Baking. xoxo
Erin Onda Lutz
Marisa, what would you say your lightest, fluffiest loaf is, but not overly sweet. Those rolls were fluffy and not dense so not filling. I would like a loaf like that. 😊 Saving time and not prepping rolls for a special visit is my goal.
Debra
Perfect for Thanksgiving....actually I am going to make them the day after. This is exactly the kind of roll my kids like to use for their leftover turkey sammies the next day. No store bought rolls for us this year!
Chef Dennis
I love homemade dinner rolls and yours look like little puffy clouds of deliciousness! I can imagine the butter melting on them now....sigh
Linda Cicero
Ok these looked so easy and delicious I am making a batch now! However I cook for one (just me!) Could you offer more details on the freezing and baking? I want to freeze half of this for another night. I love your website!!!!!
Marisa Franca
Hello, Linda! I will include more details in the recipe. But for you, right now, I'll tell you how we do it. Once they rolls are cool, wrap them up in your serving portions with plastic wrap. Then we place them in freezer bags. Thaw and enjoy them.xoxo
Jo
Homemade dinner rolls are the best! I love those dinner rolls. It's perfect!
Amanda
These rolls came out beautifully! They were so soft and fluffy, and everyone loved them. I'll definitely make them again!
Leslie
I remember the days when the only thing my daughter would eat at a family gathering was the dinner roll! haha. It's a staple to have dinner rolls! Great recipe!
Tammy
Homemade dinner rolls are an absolute must for the holidays and yours look so perfect! I'm ready to go make a batch now!
Beth
These rolls look wonderful! I'm going to make a batch for my son, who likes what he calls "real" bread when the rest of us are eating gluten-free. And I want to try these with gluten-free flour, too.
Valerie Skinner
I love the idea of starting these rolls ahead of time on the day of Thanksgiving. It'll leave me time in the kitchen to get everything else done while I know my family will enjoy delicious dinner rolls.
Bernice Hill
Sounds like these rolls are a lifesaver! Question: Have you ever mixed up the dough, formed the buns and then froze them before baking? I'm just curious. It would be handy to have 'ready to bake' buns in the freezer!
Marisa Franca
It's an interesting question -- Hubby and I will have to experiment. For us, it's just as easy to bake off and then freeze. In the end it's just a matter of popping them briefly in the oven to warm.
Bella
okay these looks amazing. I cant eat gluten but my boyfriend would LOVE these so much.
Debra C.
I love the idea of making these ahead and freezing. Do you bake them first and then freeze or freeze the dough? Just want to be sure, these sound incredible!
Marisa Franca
Hi, Deb!! You bake them first, then double wrap them in plastic wrap and put them in a big ziplock bag. Day of -- pop them in the oven to warm without all the plastic. If you have other things in the oven that's okay -- just stick them on another rack. One thing we don't do -- microwave bread. We find it turns out rubbery.
Lauren Vavala @ DeliciousLittleBites
I don't make homemade bread and roll recipes like this very often. I really need to change that - these look so much better than store bought and who doesn't love warm rolls right out of the oven - yum!
Veena Azmanov
I love making dinner rolls at home. These look so good. My kids love such soft squishy bread to eat. So this would be a big hit in our home.
Dan Zehr
An interesting recipe for these dinner rolls. I bet those flavors are amazing! Cannot wait to try this! Love! Thank you for sharing this great recipe.
Dianna
This Italian dinner roll recipe looks great. My family loves a good roll recipe.
Claudia Lamascolo
Italian dinner rolls are so delicious I love the soft dough and such a unique flavor out of other. You are amazing to be able to make them in 3 hours wow , I sure am going to try these during the holiday!
Sourav
Wow nice article keep it up
Marisa Franca
Thank you, Sourav! Hope you're having a nice weekend.
Jovina
Happy Easter
Sasha @ Eat Love Eat
You can't beat the smell of fresh bread baking! I love how simple these are.
Marisa Franca
Thank you, Sasha. During the holidays we got carried away by making so many dozens! The house smelled wonderful 🙂
Michelle Ferrand
I love that you can freeze these and then have them ready whenever you nee them!
Marisa Franca
Hello, Michelle! They taste just like the fresh ones. Delicious!
Carol Borchardt
Oh man, Marisa! I can almost smell these baking! Reminds me so much of the fresh rolls my mother used to make.
Marisa Franca
Happy New Year, Carol! Yes they do smell good. Toss out the perfumey candles -- the bread smell so much better 🙂
Elaine @ Dishes Delish
One of my all time favorite things to eat at either a restaurant or a holiday is the rolls! These look simply divine!! Thanks for sharing.
Marisa Franca
Hi, Elaine! The rolls are easy to mix up at the last minute. Now you don't have to go to a restaurant for the rolls 🙂
Chiara
I've never ate rolls but they look so delicious and easy to make ! I wish you a Merry Christmas to you and your family, un abbraccio !
Elizabeth| Ellie & Elizabeth
Ugh I think my autocorrect took over my comment lol, it looks like I've been hitting the sauce. I've never made rolls...I certainly have eaten plenty lol...Merry Christmas!
Marisa Franca
That's okay! I think I sound better after the sauce 🙂
Kushigalu
These dinner rolls looks so perfect. What a great recipe to try for holidays. Thanks for sharing. Pinned to try this soon.
Elizabeth| Ellie & Elizabeth
Yaaaaassss! Just in time for Christmas dinner.ive never ate rolls (yikes) but I think I'll try these. With garlic butter ??.Meery Christmas my friend! Love the stories!
Marisa Franca
Merry Christmas, to you too Elizabeth! The rolls are super easy -- you've got to try them. The problem is they are so good the family will insist you make then all the time. 🙂 Do we get to see Ellie's Christmas outfit?