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Home Baking

Soft No Knead Dinner Rolls

By:Nagi
Published:5 Apr '17Updated:30 Apr '23
1,776 Comments
Recipe v Video v Dozer v

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!

Soft no knead dinner rolls, fresh out of the oven, ready to be eaten.

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!

Soft no knead dinner rolls on a rack, fresh out of the oven, ready to be eaten.

See how soft and fluffy they are??

Hand squeezing no knead dinner rolls to show 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:

  1. 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;

  2. 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!

These No Knead Dinner Rolls are like magic! Astonishingly easy, no stand mixer, just mix the ingredients in a bowl! recipetineats.com

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).

These No Knead Dinner Rolls are like magic! Astonishingly easy, no stand mixer, just mix the ingredients in a bowl! recipetineats.com

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

Soft no knead dinner rolls in a baking pan, fresh out of the oven.

More No Knead Breads & Flavour variation options!

  • No Knead Cinnamon Rolls

  • No Knead Hot Cross Buns

  • Irish Soda Bread

  • 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!

Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.

These No Knead Dinner Rolls are like magic! Astonishingly easy, no stand mixer, just mix the ingredients in a bowl! recipetineats.com

SOFT NO KNEAD Dinner Rolls

Author: Nagi
Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 15 mins
Total: 25 mins
Side
Western
4.97 from 461 votes
Servings12
Tap or hover to scale
Print
  • 45845
Recipe video above. These soft dinner rolls are like magic! Just mix the ingredients in a bowl – no kneading, no stand mixer, no special ingredients required. These are soft, fluffy and moist, nicely salted with a touch of sweet. This requires 2 hrs 15 minutes+ rise time. 

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:

1. 1 tbsp dry yeast = 9 grams. I use Lowan Dried Instant Yeast (red tube, sold at Woolies/Coles baking aisle) which technically doesn’t need to be frothed before using but there’s no harm in doing it, and I do it out of habit + also because then the same steps apply to any dried yeast.
If you are using the packets, you can just use 2 x 7 g sachets, that is 4 1/2 tsp which is slightly more than 1 tablespoon but it works just fine. Doesn’t taste yeasty and makes it rise a touch more. Otherwise, measure out 1 tablespoon.
If your yeast doesn’t go frothy, sorry to say it’s not active so your buns won’t rise. 
To use fresh yeast (comes in a block that crumbles, not powder like dry yeast), use 27g/ 0.9 oz. You don’t actually need to dissolve it in liquid like I do with the dry, but there’s no harm in doing it and so for the sake of consistency, crumble it in and let stand until it foams up, same as using dry yeast.
2. Scalding hot milk and hot water kills the yeast. I heat milk for 45 seconds on high in the microwave, and use warm tap water. The test is this: stick your finger in. If it was a bath, would it be pleasant? Good. It’s not too hot or too cold!
3. Breads are fluffier and slightly more tender if made with bread flour rather than normal flour (plain or all purpose). However, this recipe works great with normal white flour too.
Cups around the world differ in size. If you don’t have scales to weight the flour, please use the relevant cup size. For US/Canada, use 4 1/2 cups (they are slightly different, but close enough). For rest of world other than Japan, use 4 cups of flour. For Japan, please weigh the flour.
4. WARM PLACE for dough: This is what I do all year round – use my dryer. Laugh – but try it! Run the (empty) dryer for 1 – 2 minutes, then place the bowl inside. If you do that, the dough will rise in 1.5 hours. Even if it’s snowing outside!
5. SUGAR: This is not a sweet roll (I’d use 1/2 cup+ for that) but there is a touch of sweet. 1/4 cup of sugar across 12 rolls = 1 tsp per roll. You can reduce it to 2 tablespoons of sugar.
6a. MAKE AHEAD: Follow recipe up to rolling balls and cover with cling wrap. Then refrigerate for 4 hours – 24 hours (this is the 2nd rise), take them out 30 minutes before then bake!
6b. STORING: As with all homemade bread, it is best served on the day it’s made. Things made using this No-Knead version doesn’t keep as well as the kneaded version – dries out more. For the day after, reheating makes all the difference to make them soft and moist again – 15 sec in the microwave! These freeze great cooked, then just defrost. The dough can be frozen too but it won’t rise as well (but still fluffy). To reheat batches, I pop them on a tray and cover with foil (to avoid the surface getting too crisp), then reheat at 160C/320F for 8 minutes or so. Or cut in half and toast.
6c. DOUBLING: Make double the batter in one large bowl, then divide the batter into 2 bowls for the first rise (if double the dough is in one giant bowl, may struggle to rise). Proceed with recipe and place rolls on a large tray or 2 trays, and bake them all on the same shelf in the oven.
6d. EXTREME HUMIDITY (eg. South East Asia) can make the dough stickier after the 1st rise and makes it a bit harder to form into balls. Just be generous sprinkling with flour with forming into log, cutting, rolling into balls – don’t knead the flour in, use it on the surface for handling purposes only. The dough is stickier than usual kneaded dough, so the technique I demo in the video to make the rolls is specifically to minimise making contact with the sticky dough.
7. SOURCE: This recipe is adapted from various no-knead bread recipes I’ve come across over the years. I probably first saw it on Martha Stewart or New York Times. The recipe has been tweaked and now I firmly consider this version to be “mine”! 🙂 
8. HIGH ALTITUDE: Multiple readers have now reported that this recipe worked out great! Also, varying reports on the dough seeming too dry or too wet then adjusted with more flour compared to that demonstrated in the video have all also worked out fine, proving that this recipe is actually very forgiving!
9. GLUTEN FREE: This also works with gluten free flour, though the rolls are not quite as fluffy as is usually the case when substituting GF flour. However, they are still definitely fluffy! I think you’ll be amazed how well these turn out!
10. No Knead Dinner Rolls nutrition per roll. This makes 12 fairly large rolls, about the size of a baseball.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 99.6gCalories: 255cal (13%)
Keywords: Soft no knead dinner rolls
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @recipe_tin.

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Hi, I'm Nagi!

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1,776 Comments

  1. Sandra Morrison says

    June 8, 2023 at 12:16 am

    Nagi – you really do empower me. I have made these rolls a few times and they turn out fantasticly every time. Everyone is so impressed with my baking skills 😁

    Reply
  2. Deborah Kennedy says

    May 26, 2023 at 5:12 pm

    5 stars
    Awesome, awesome, awesome!!
    The dryer trick works like a dream

    Reply
  3. Sheryl says

    April 25, 2023 at 9:38 am

    4 stars
    Have made these twice now – they turn out/look great. I find them a tad on the sweet side though…

    Reply
  4. Elly says

    April 23, 2023 at 7:19 am

    5 stars
    These buns are soooo addictive! I’ve made these many times now and it seems I’ve become (in)famous for these. “My” buns even made it onto our local radio station! People used to ask me bring dessert for get togethers but now they ask me to bring these buns. Absolutely fabulous and soooo easy!

    Reply
  5. Jim says

    April 2, 2023 at 2:28 am

    5 stars
    Love this recipe. I’ve made two batches, one with white & the other with whole meal flour. Both came out great. Not done any baking in a long while & this recipe has given me the baking bug! Thank you. Xxx

    Reply
  6. renee says

    March 21, 2023 at 3:53 pm

    5 stars
    best bread i’ve ever made… I will try with some bacon for school lunches

    Reply
  7. Kiki says

    March 20, 2023 at 12:03 pm

    I made your no knead dinner rolls and split the recipe in half as only two of us. They turned out AWESOME, I saw the recipe this morning and decided to do them, thanks Nagi

    Reply
  8. Alicia B. says

    February 26, 2023 at 8:32 am

    5 stars
    Have made these a few times, and they are great! Just as soft and fluffy as advertised. I make all kinds of breads, but these are an easy “we need something with dinner that doesn’t take much effort” go-to. I actually made these into small slider sized buns for chicken meatball sandwiches yesterday, and was able to get 45 out of one recipe! They sure aren’t lasting long around here though!

    Reply
  9. Kathy Gameau says

    February 25, 2023 at 2:32 pm

    Made these today, temperature in Tasmania was 31 so not really a bright idea but they rose really well.
    So easy to do, very tasty.

    Reply
  10. Bec says

    February 12, 2023 at 5:03 pm

    I love this recipe, I use it to make cheese & bacon rolls. After rolling into balls, just flatten a bit, then coat with egg wash, raw bacon & grated cheese and leave to prove again. Takes about 30-35min in the oven

    Reply
    • Sheryl says

      April 25, 2023 at 9:40 am

      I reckon that sounds a great idea! As I find them a ‘bit’ sweet and adding those savoury items, should negate the sweetness.

      Reply
  11. Hunakai says

    February 12, 2023 at 1:02 pm

    5 stars
    THE BEST! Easy peasy and so soft and fluffy!

    Reply
  12. Roberta says

    February 3, 2023 at 12:00 pm

    can l use reg white flour?

    Reply
  13. Roberta Pace says

    February 3, 2023 at 11:56 am

    can l use reg white flour?

    Reply
    • Roberta says

      February 3, 2023 at 11:58 am

      can l use reg white flour?

      Reply
  14. Netty says

    January 26, 2023 at 6:18 am

    Hi Nagi I made these but they turned out really dry…..what did I do wrong?

    Reply
    • Dawna says

      February 5, 2023 at 8:27 am

      Netty, you either overcooked them or more than likely used too much flour, for baking you need a scale to weigh ingredients. Heat, dampness and humidity affects flour. I weigh all my ingredients for baked goods. Always use a scale.

      Reply
  15. Tina says

    January 25, 2023 at 12:34 pm

    5 stars
    This was amazing with your Jalapeno dip as a side for our barbeque!

    Reply
  16. Belle says

    January 24, 2023 at 5:30 pm

    Hi Nagi, what brand of bread flour do you use ? I use Lighthouse bread mix but it’s kind of clumpy. I’m in Aus. Cheers, Belle 🙂

    Reply
  17. Belinda Downes says

    January 24, 2023 at 5:28 pm

    Hi Nagi. What brand of bread flour do you use ? I use ‘Lighthouse Bread Mix’ but it’s clumpy and I’m never sure if I should be sieving it. It’s quite a, almost, damp, flour. Cheers, Belle

    Reply
    • Belinda Downes says

      January 24, 2023 at 5:28 pm

      PS I’m in Oz 🙂

      Reply
  18. Tracy Kirk says

    December 25, 2022 at 12:09 am

    Going to try these for Christmas dinner tomorrow. Does it matter if they cook in a glass pan instead of metal?

    Reply
  19. Suzi Lloyd says

    December 24, 2022 at 5:42 pm

    5 stars
    Just going to pop a cheeky 5 stars on all the recipes of yours I have used this Christmas! Thanks again Nagi you are a Wonder Woman and this website is my happy place.

    Reply
  20. Brittani says

    December 21, 2022 at 11:15 am

    Could I add cheese to the inside of these rolls to make them cheesy? Thank tou

    Reply
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