No stand mixer, no knead, no special equipment required. These No Knead Dinner Rolls are perfectly soft and fluffy and are astonishingly effortless to make. Just combine the ingredients in a bowl and mix with a wooden spoon – that’s it! It’s the easiest recipe for bread rolls in the whole world!
This recipe for bread rolls will blow your mind!
These dinner rolls are:
made without kneading;
without a stand mixer or any other electric appliance;
take 2 minutes of active effort to mix the dough;
have golden tops and are soft and fluffy on the inside.
Every single time I make these, I am in utter awe of how effortless they are, and how amazing they taste. They are in every way just as good as classic dinner rolls, made by kneading the dough by hand (tired arms, tired arms!) or using a stand mixer.
I truly believe to my very core that only those with a refined palette and/or baking experts can tell the difference between these No Knead Dinner Rolls and traditional kneaded-tired-arms dinner rolls!
See how soft and fluffy they are??
Kneaded vs No Knead Dinner Rolls
In the interest of being completely open and honest, here are the differences that I notice between kneaded dinner rolls and these No Knead Dinner Rolls:
The kneaded rolls stay a wee bit more moist for longer. ie. they are slightly better the next day compared to the No Knead ones. But actually, homemade bread, muffins etc, being preservative free that they are, are always best consumed fresh so I don’t see this as a major disadvantage. Neither the kneaded nor No Knead rolls are great the next day. They lose their moisture and both need to be warmed up before serving to make them moist again. It is just that with the kneaded ones you could possibly get away with not warming up (but they aren’t great), whereas the No Knead ones definitely need warming up;
Kneaded rolls rise a wee bit more. Not noticeable for normal people, and you’d never say the No Knead ones aren’t soft and fluffy. They are, they really are. It’s just that the kneaded ones rise a touch more with the same amount of yeast.
I’m so convinced of the merits of no-knead breads however, that I have since posted No-knead Artisan Bread and Focaccia – both spectacular loaves in their own right that don’t require single minute of kneading!
Dump-and-mix NO KNEAD Dough
In terms of the prep, the batter is literally a dump-and-mix job. There is a major difference in rise time compared to kneaded dough which can rise in 30 – 45 minutes for the 1st rise, then around the same for the 2nd rise after forming the rolls. For these No Knead Dinner Rolls, the dough is much wetter than kneaded dough, so it takes longer to rise. 1.5 – 2 hours, depending on how warm it is where you are. If you use my ridiculous-but-effective tip of rising the dough in your (empty! warm!) dryer, it takes 1.5 hours. 🙂 (See recipes notes for details)
You can see in these photos how different the dough is compared to traditional bread dough. It’s not knead-able, it’s way too sticky. It’s almost more like a muffin batter!
Quick little tip: To get a beautiful golden surface, the dough needs to be rolled tightly and smoothly into balls. With sticky dough, this is tough to do. So here’s my work around: Press the dough down lightly, then bundle it up like a money-bag (mmm…Thai Money Bags…). Flip it over and you have a nice smooth surface with the dough stretched tightly = smooth golden surface. I demo this in the recipe video too (below recipe).
Make-ahead and bake on demand
Another big bonus for these rolls: you can roll the dough into rolls then refrigerate overnight (uncooked) and bake them fresh when you’re ready to serve! It’s quite amazing actually, I wasn’t sure it would work but it does.
Easter is coming up! That’s why I decided to squeeze these in so soon after sharing Hot Cross Buns (which you can make using this No Knead technique, the recipe is in that post). I know some people think baking with yeast is daunting. But I swear to you, watch the video. See how soft and irresistible these rolls come out. And be prepared to be blown away by how easy these are to make!
Carb Monsters unite! – Nagi xx
More No Knead Breads & Flavour variation options!
Cheese and Bacon Rolls (use this no knead dough for that recipe)
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
No Knead Dinner Rolls recipe video! No laughing at the Baby Hands – you’ll cop a serious eyeful in this video!
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SOFT NO KNEAD Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
Buns:
- 1 tbsp dry yeast (Note 1)
- 1/4 cup caster/superfine sugar , or sub with normal white sugar
- 1/2 cup warm water (Note 2)
- 4 cups bread flour + extra for dusting (Note 3)
- 1 1/2 tsp salt , cooking/kosher salt
- 1 cup milk, lukewarm, whole or low fat, (Note 2)
- 50g / 3 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter , melted and cooled
- 2 eggs , at room temperature, beaten with fork
Brushing:
- 1 tbsp butter , melted
Instructions
- Place the yeast and 2 teaspoons of the sugar in a medium bowl, then pour in water. Leave for 5 minutes until it froths.
- Place flour, remaining sugar and salt in a bowl. Mix to combine.
- Make a well in the centre. Add milk, butter, eggs and pour in the yeast liquid, including all froth.
- Mix until combined with wooden spoon – it will be like a thick muffin batter. Not pourable, but thick and sticky.
Rise #1:
- Leave dough in the bowl, cover with a wet (clean) tea towel and place in a warm place (25C/77F+) to rise for around 1 1/2 – 2 hours or until almost tripled in volume. See Note 4 for how I do this (you will laugh – but it works every time!). Dough surface should be bubbly (see video or photos in post).
Forming Balls (watch video, it’s helpful):
- Line a 31.5 x 23.5 cm / 9 x 13″ tray with baking paper with overhang.
- Remove tea towel and punch dough to deflate, then mix briefly in the bowl to get rid of the bubbles in the dough.
- Dust work surface with flour, scrape dough on work surface. Dust top of dough then shape into a log. Cut log into 4 pieces, then cut each piece into 3 pieces (12 in total).
- Take one piece and press down with palm, then use your fingers to gather into a ball, flip (so smooth side is up) then roll the dough briefly to form a ball. This stretches the dough on one side and that’s how I get a nice smooth surface on my roll. (For this step, use as much flour as needed to handle dough and avoid piercing inside into the wet dough)
- Place the ball with the smooth side up on the tray. Repeat with remaining dough. Line them up 3 x 4.
Rise # 2:
- Spray surface of rolls (or cling wrap) with oil (any), then place cling wrap over the tray.
- Return tray to warm place and leave for 30 – 45 min, until the dough has risen by about 75% (less than double in size).
- Partway through Rise #2, preheat oven to 200C/390F (standard) or 180C/350F (fan/convection).
- Bake for 15 – 18 minutes, or until the surface is a golden brown and the roll in the centre sounds hollow when tapped. The surface colour is the best test for this recipe.
- Remove rolls from oven. Brush with melted butter.
- Use overhang to lift rolls onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool to warm before serving.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
When he got sent to the naughty corner and he was wondering whether he was allowed back in….
Just tried this recipe, so easy!
Mine came out a bit flat and the inside is a bit too fluffy/crumbly. Is that how it’s meant to be?
I like it a bit more chewy
Hi this recipe is great. I have an old wind a knob dryer and used your tip, heated it up, opened the door, in with the bowl, closed the door and…..wallop! dryer was still on. Tea towel saved the contents though so still got gorgeous bread rolls, and the best giggle since lockdown….thanks for it all!
I just made them and omg came out huge and so so soft. I love how simple and idiot Proof this is.
Super soft and fluffy. Thank you very much for the recipe.
Amazingly soft and fluffy bread! It was my first attempt at making bread and this recipe was super easy to follow and I love all the extra notes and tips. Will definitely be making again.
Ps. I followed your advise and used the dryer 😂. Worked a treat.
Nailed is Lina!! N x
Love your website and the photo of your cheerful smiling face. Rarely do I come across bloggers who take such great lengths to write down tips and details. Kudos to you!
Hi, I am new to your site & would like to try out the dinner rolls. I live in the U.K. & was wondering if dry yeast is the same as fast action dried yeast, would appreciate your response. If not how much of the fast action dried yeast would I have to use. Thank you
Hi Annie – I imagine it’s the same thing 🙂 N x
Thanks so much Ngai; I enjoyed making these dinner rolls; watched your video and when my husband said something about your baby hands I was very quick to scold him (hehe.) Following your recipe exactly they came out absolutely perfect! Got a really good rise, soft and delicious. I’ll be making another batch today to freeze. You are awesome 🙂
I just baked them this morning, not dinner rolls but loaf bread. I halve the ingredients and leave the dough overnight in my pullman bread tin (size 450g, 18cmx11cmx11cm) in the refrigerator for 2nd rise. Leave it at room temperature for 40 mins, during which I pre-heated the oven at 200 degree Celsius. Then, bread is baked for 35 mins at 190 degree Celsius. It turns out fluffy and soft, hopefully will remain soft for the rest of the day =)
That’s great to know Michelle!! N x
Hi! I made this to bake immediately but had to go out and put the balls in the fridge AFTER letting them rise the second time. They now look rather sticky. I’m guessing I’ll have to reform them in the morning when I want to bake them? They’ve stuck to the cling film despite the oil so they won’t be smooth… thanks!
I just made half a batch of these, cutting all the ingredients in half . They turned out great! Nagi, is it possible to turn these into wholemeal dinner rolls? Is there a way to substitute some of the bread flour for wholemeal flour?
Hi Mashy, I’ve tried with wholemeal but they just aren’t as fluffy and light unfortunately! N x
These buns were amazing….soft and delicious.
Have you got a whole wheat bun/bread recipe that is as light and fluffy as this one with white flour ?
I saw a recipe using tangzhong ….without egg and milk. Which is better…to use tangzhong or an egg and milk recipe ?
Thx.
Hi Pat, I have tried with whole flour and the result is a more dense bun with a different texture unfortunately. You can definitely get away with a small amount of wholewheat flour in place of the white flour though. N x
hi Nagi, what’s the procedure if I actually want to use a mixer for this?
But… there’s no knead to Ces (see what I did there??). Just dump and mix with a spoon rather than dirtying your mixer for 30 seconds of work 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi. Good day to you. Another recipe of yours which I tried. Love how it tasted and happily shared among family members. Only one minor thing, the bread was not as soft as you have illustrated and shown in the video. Followed every single steps accordingly. Buy i kept my dough overnight in the fridge. If I want to get softer version, what could I add more, or reduce or done a bit differently? Please advice, as I do want to keep trying till I hit the spot. Baking with your recipes keeps me content and happy.
This recipe is PERFECT! I was super nervous at first cus the dough is very sticky. I followed the video and instructions and was super impressed. Thank you, Nagi!!! This is awesome. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
Hello! I made this yesterday and they turned out perfectly soft in the inside and nice and golden on the outside, I followed all your steps but I didn’t have bread flour and used All-Purpose, it was still a hit! I’ll definitely be reaching for this recipe for bread. Also haha kind of making it my mission to use your website for more recipes!! You got my trust with this delicious bread. bless you !! send you positive vibes
I make this bread at least once a week and I don’t know how but it comes out better every time I make it! I make loaves not rolls. Light as a feather and so so tasty. I don’t think I could do store bought bread after this! I have tried every recipe out there and none did any good at all!!! ToI hard too sweet just terrible! This one perfect! Thank you!!!
Hi. Great idea on making a loaf out of it. Gonna try it. As the sticky dough really needs patients in handling it.
That’s great to hear Elaine, I’m so glad you love it! N x
Nagi, we love all your recipes. Made these bread rolls a few times but today they turned out cakey… seemed to have collapsed in the oven whilst baking. I made them jus the same as usual… what could have gone wrong?
Hi Jing, can I ask what type of flour and yeast you’re using? N x
Nagi, I used white flour and Lowan whole food instant yeast. The dough would rise beautifully like in your video. After the second rise, they would look fat and gorgeous but seem to sink in the oven whilst baking. I could actually watch them sink in there as my heart sink….
Thank you for this lovely recipe! I was a little nervous as it’s my first time baking dinner rolls. I followed the recipe and it was successful. So fluffy and delicious. Amazing! My family loved it.
Wahoo!! N x
Hi Nagi, can I use this recipe to make buns with fillings like tuna or chicken mushroom etc?
I haven’t tried with fillings like that – would love to know how you go if you try it! N x