Made with just a few simple ingredients, these vegan dinner rolls are fabulous and golden brown. You're going to love this easy bread recipe because it's made from scratch and simple.
I love making bread from scratch and dinner rolls are a pretty big hit around here whenever I whip up a fresh batch. These are the BEST vegan dinner rolls because they're tall, fluffy, soft, and slightly chewy. Everything you could want in a perfect dinner roll.
Fall in love with the warm, yeasty aroma filling the kitchen as they bake to golden perfection. These soft, fluffy rolls are the epitome of comfort and taste, providing a heavenly experience as you tear into their tender, layers.
Also, if you're not vegan and don't mind some butter spread on your fresh baked rolls, check out my Copycat Texas Roadhouse Butter recipe, it pairs wonderfully with these!
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🍯 Why This Recipe Works
- They're allergen friendly. What makes them better is that because they're vegan yeast rolls, this means by default that they are dairy free and eggless dinner rolls too. Perfect for those with allergies or simply those who don't want to run to the store for another dozen eggs.
- They taste like regular dinner rolls. Serve these tasty vegan rolls to friends and family, and I bet no one will notice the few missing ingredients either. My family hasn't noticed yet. 😉
- We only need 5 ingredients! Flour, yeast, sugar, salt, and oil. If you count water as an added ingredient, then we actually need 6 ingredients.
🥘 Ingredients
Ingredient Notes:
Flour- You will need all-purpose flour or bread flour for the gluten structure and base in this recipe. Bread flour will give it a softer texture, stronger crumb, and a slightly better flavor as well, but all purpose flour works just fine.
Yeast- Use some yeast to get the dough to expand and rise. I like to use active dry yeast, but instant will work fine. Make sure that your yeast is not expired.
Water- Use warm water that is about 110F to activate the yeast. If your water is too cold, the yeast won't activate and if it is too hot, it will kill the yeast.
For specific ingredients and measurements, please see the recipe card below.
🔪 Instructions
Step 1: In a bowl, whisk together the flour, yeast, and salt.
Step 2: Make a well in the center and add to it the sugar, oil, and water.
Step 3: Stir to combine.
Step 4: Knead the dough on a floured surface for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Feed it more flour as needed to get it no longer sticky. You will need about 1 additional cup of flour but this amount will vary.
Step 5: Place in a greased bowl and cover. Let rise until doubled, about 1 hour in a warm place.
Step 6: Punch down and divide into 9 equal sized rolls. Shape them out into smooth topped balls and place them into a greased 8x8 or 9x9 square baking dish.
Step 7: Cover again and let rise until doubled in size. About another hour.
Step 8: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and bake your dinner rolls for 15 minutes or until tops are lightly golden.
Step 9: Brush top with vegan butter spread or olive oil immediately after removing from the oven for that nice golden color.
🍴 Recipe Tips
Because we make this vegan dinner rolls recipe with active dry yeast you should make sure that a few things happen to make this recipe go more smoothly.
- Do not use old or expired yeast. We will not be proofing the yeast in this recipe in the traditional way (letting it bloom in water) so if you have any reservations about your yeast being good or old, buy a new packet with a far-out expiration date just to be safe.
- Do not use too hot or too cold of water. The ideal temperature is 110 degrees F which is a roughly the warmth used when washing your hands. Any warmer and you will kill the yeast before it ever got a chance to work and any colder and the yeast won't proof the dough correctly and you may have dense bread. A food thermometer is great for checking the temp when in doubt.
While the recipe card states that it may take an hour for the dough to proof and double in size please keep in mind that this is a rough estimate and it can truly vary depending on many different things. My dough has often doubled in size in about 30 minutes thanks to Florida summer weather.
Want to use a bread maker? See the recipe card below for the vegan dinner roll bread machine recipe.
🍞 How to Knead Bread Dough
Kneading your dough with an electric mixer using dough hooks is simple and easy, but my favorite method is to do it by hand because you're far less likely to overwork the dough when doing it this way.
Knead the dough by hand by placing it onto a floured surface and using two hands to roll it out into an oval, pull back half, so it's sandwiched together, and repeat.
Smoosh the dough as you roll it back out into an oval, and bring it back. Every few times, rotate the dough about 90 degrees so that you can get all of the dough worked into the process.
When the dough is smooth and elastic, it's finished. This takes about 10 minutes by hand, faster if you're quick, but there are a few good ways to tell when you are finished.
- The dough should not tear easily. This means that if you stretch a chunk of the dough between your fingers, it doesn't tear apart like paper and creates jagged edges.
- The dough should be elastic. You should be able to poke the ball of kneaded dough with your finger and watch the dough quickly try to bounce back and fill in the hole you made.
🥖 How Long to Proof Dough
The time needed to proof dough truly varies from person to person. It depends upon the weather, climate, wind drafts, temperature of ingredients, age of the yeast, and more.
On average, it can take anywhere between 1 hour to 3 hours for the dough to proof properly, but some people can see it happen in as little as 30 minutes.
The goal is not waiting to a specific time but instead looking for a specific response from the dough. We want the dough to be doubled in size, and whether that takes one hour or more, we shouldn't jump straight into the next step before completing this one.
You should expect that it will take about 1 hour for your dough to double in size and proof, but here are some tips for getting it there.
- Cover the bowl of dough with greased plastic wrap. This helps to prevent the dough from drying out and helps to trap the heat. The cooking spray on the plastic wrap helps to prevent it from sticking to the dough.
- Store it in a warm location. I like to preheat my oven to 200 degrees F for 2 minutes and then turn it off. Then I place the bowl in the oven and let it rise until doubled.
Other locations to place your dough include:
- Inside your closed microwave
- Inside a closed oven with just the oven light turned on
- On a hot and sunny day, your kitchen's countertop can work well too
💭 FAQs
A dinner roll is a type of small, round, soft bread that is typically served with dinner, particularly in Western cuisines. Dinner rolls are characterized by their fluffy and tender texture and mild, slightly sweet flavor. They are a staple at many family gatherings, holiday feasts, and formal dinners.
When bread comes straight out of the oven the tops should be hard and sound hollow when tapped. Allowing it a few minutes to cool down will help it to soften. Brushing the tops with butter or oil will also help. If your bread texture is tough and chewy, it can be a result of overmixing. Allowing your dough to rest and proof can help to solve some overmixed issues as it gives the gluten a chance to relax.
If you didn't knead your bread dough well enough you will not have created the gluten elasticity needed for a fluffy texture. Make sure to knead your dough well and to give it that much-needed tension so that the texture is perfect.
❤️ More Delicious Vegan Recipes
If you tried these Easy Yeast Rolls for Beginners, please leave a ⭐️ star rating and share your feedback in the 📝 comments section below. I would truly appreciate it!
📖 Recipe
Easy Yeast Rolls for Beginners (Vegan)
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups All-purpose flour or bread flour ($0.20)
- 2 ¼ teaspoons Yeast (one packet) ($0.51)
- 1 ½ teaspoons Salt ($0.15)
- 1 cup Warm water (about 110 degrees F) ($0.00)
- 3 Tablespoons Vegetable or olive oil ($0.09)
- 2 Tablespoons Granulated sugar ($0.02)
Instructions
- In a bowl whisk together the flour, yeast, and salt.
- Make a well in the center and add to it the sugar, oil, and water.
- Stir to combine.
- Knead the dough on floured surface for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Feed it more flour as needed to get it no longer sticky. You will need about 1 additional cup of flour but this amount will vary.
- Place in a greased bowl and cover. Let rise until doubled, about 1 hour in a warm place.
- Punch down and divide into 9 equal sized rolls. Shape them out into smooth topped balls and place into a greased 8x8 or 9x9 square baking dish.
- Cover again and let rise until doubled in size. About another hour.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and bake your dinner rolls for 15 minutes or until tops are lightly golden.
- Brush top with a vegan butter spread or olive oil immediately after removing from oven for that nice golden color.
Bread machine option
- Place ingredients in order of owner manual for your specific bread machine.
- Turn the machine to "dough cycle" and close the lid. Waiting for the beep.
- Take the dough and turn it onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for just a minute and divide into 9 rolls. Continue with the steps above starting with dividing the dough, shaping the rolls, and placing them into a square baking dish.
Notes
- Make sure your yeast is fresh; expired yeast can lead to poor results.
- Use water at the right temperature, around 110 degrees F.
- A food thermometer can help verify the water temperature.
- Proofing time may vary but usually takes about an hour; environmental factors can affect it.
- Properly knead the dough until it's smooth, elastic, and non-sticky.
- Freshly baked bread will have hard tops that sound hollow when tapped; letting it cool slightly can help.
- Tough, chewy bread may result from overmixing; allowing the dough to rest and proof can resolve this issue.
- Ensure thorough kneading to create the needed gluten elasticity for a fluffy texture.
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