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….
I’m definitely sharing rhis recipe with all my friends
Sorry, I forgot to give the rating.It’s too bad.There aren’t six stars because they deserve at least six.
I’ve made the no need dinner rolls and the no need cinnamon rolls.I love it , it’s so easy and they taste wonderful. I’m trying to teach my granddaughter a little bit of baking, and I would like for her to do some that takes needing.Can you possibly explain how I woud use the same dough?But with slight amount , with some kneading? Thank you for all the great recipes.My daughter uses them now as well.
So good for hosting!! I was a bit worried that they wouldn’t be as fluffy since I did the second rise in the fridge and that they would be too yeasty since I 1.5x the recipe- but they turned out so amazing!! So good not having to knead them.
Praying for Dozer during his time at SASH, that he will recover and go home soon 🙏🐕
I have done this recipe several times with wholemeal flour, white flour and strong wholemeal flour, Every single time the bread is DELICIOUS, soft, and I have frozen the buns and when defrosted are soft and full of flavour, Very grateful with you who shared this recipe with us,
Best dinner rolls ever!
These are amazing, I wasn’t sure i I got them right at first, but so good,
I made these for a family dinner last weekend and they were perfect. This is my go to recipe for rolls now. Quick, easy, foolproof.
I make these buns on repeat. Delicious! I giggled when you suggested to rise dough in the dryer, however it works great.
This recipe is fantastic! I’ve made it a few times with great results. Could you knead this dough? And if so what do you think the results would be?
Best soft roll recipe but try it as a sandwich loaf….it makes the best sandwich bread ever and even better toast.
So so good, will be definately be making these regularly, no more store brought!
My husband told me about these perfect rolls that his grandmother made when he was a child and lo and behold here’s this super ez and fast recipe. When they came out of the oven my husband was so excited. I mean what are the odds. He says they’re exactly like he remembers and I actually think I saw a tear or two, so thank you. The best full proof recipe. I love you Nagi. I found this website looking for a lentil soup recipe and it is very true – the best lentil soup recipe; not to mention the rustic no fuss crusty loaf of your no-yeast bread created especially for buttery, chewy dunks of pure love. My hubby is a huge fan of the soup and bread as well. So thank you so much for your in depth notes to make sure all bases are covered for every recipe. Very inspiring so Happy Thanksgiving. Keep up the good work. I think you may be the best, Meow Nagi.
These rolls were delicious, soft, fluffy, and incredibly easy to make. I only had AP flour on hand, and they turned out perfectly. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
I haven’t made anything with yeast in probably 30 years.
My bread doesn’t rise well. Was skeptical to try anything
BUT..this recipe, rose beautifully with the dryer truck.
Light airy dough, easy to work with.
I did use bread dough, which I never used before.
I am wondering, if I could use this dough to make cinnamon rolls?
I made these today and they are amazing- fluffy & soft on the inside and a nice golden brown outside. I followed the instructions – 41/2 cups flour as I live in Canada :).
I will definitely be making these again
Thank you Nagi!!!
I made these today and they are amazing- fluffy & soft on the inside and a nice golden brown outside. I followed the instructions – 41/2 cups flour as I live in Canada 🙂
I will definitely be making these again
Thank you Nagi!!!
They turned out great! I used white wheat and they were still very soft and delicious.
OMG!!!! These are sooooo soft and delicious. I couldn’t wait for cooling so had one straight out oven…. With butter of course! 😋
Amazingly easy & top notch recipe. I made this for Thanksgiving dinner alongside Nagi’s roasted chicken. These rolls didn’t need any butter to spread on them when eating with the feast. This recipe is a keeper.
I first tried out these with a big family gathering, and they were gone before I even buttered them! I love these and have some rising right now!