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Soft and fluffy vegan dinner rolls are the perfect addition to any dinner. You're just 6 ingredients away from everyone's favorite side dish. Enjoy warm with dairy-free butter, or have leftover rolls with jam for breakfast.
Dinner rolls are always in season, but they really shine during autumn and winter holidays. I can't recall a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner without a few yeast rolls in the side. Yes, I said a few - I love my carbs and I'll shout it from the rooftops.
Especially when those carbs are slathered in vegan butter or used to sop up the leftover gravy on my plate.
When I stopped eating animal products, I had to learn how to make dinner rolls vegan, and it was easier than I thought. You just need a few basic substitutions.
Vegan dinner rolls go great with a special occasion dish like Whole Roasted Cauliflower or a simple dinner like Chicken Noodle Soup.
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🧂 Ingredients
6 simple ingredients make these magnificent rolls. See the recipe card for quantities.
- Non-Dairy Milk: Use your favorite unsweetened, plain variety. I prefer oat milk.
- Vegan Butter: I like using Earth Balance Buttery Sticks for ease of measurement, but any brand will do.
- Sugar: White, granulated sugar.
- Yeast: Active dry yeast is best for this recipe. Make sure it's fresh yeast. If you aren't sure if the yeast you have is still good, mix together a teaspoon of sugar, 2 teaspoons of yeast, and ¼ cup of warm (not hot) water. After 10 minutes, check the mixture. If it is bubbly or looks foamy, the yeast is good.
- Salt
- Flour: This recipe calls for all-purpose flour.
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⏲️ Instructions
Combine the warm milk, melted butter, yeast, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl.
Mix in 4 cups of flour. If needed, add more flour 1-2 tablespoons at a time, until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl.
Knead the dough for about 3 minutes. Place in a greased bowl.
Cover with a towel and let rise for 90 minutes.
Punch down the dough.
Form the dough into balls and place in a 9x13 baking dish.
Cover and let rise for 1 hour.
Bake until golden brown. Let cool slightly before removing from the pan and serving.
🥄 Substitutions
- Sugar: Instead of granulated sugar, you can use 1 tablespoon of maple syrup or agave. You can also substitute with 2 teaspoons of stevia.
I have not tested a gluten-free substitution for this recipe.
🧀 Variations
Add some extra flavor to your yeast rolls!
- Garlic rosemary: Mix 1 tablespoon of rosemary and 2 teaspoons of garlic powder into the wet ingredients.
- Cheesy: Into the dough, mix 1 cup of shredded vegan cheddar. Add at the same time you add the flour.
🥣 Equipment
I recommend using a stand mixer for this recipe. If you don't have one, you can use a mixing bowl with a wooden spoon and your hands to knead the dough. A hand mixer is not ideal for this recipe unless yours is equipped with a dough hook.
A large bowl and clean kitchen towel are required for the dough rise.
Lastly, you will need a glass 9x13 baking dish. A metal pan may cause uneven cooking.
Bonus: A kitchen scale is useful for ensuring the dough balls are the same size.
Storage
Store any leftover rolls in an airtight storage bag at room temperature for up to 3 days.
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💭 Tip
For equally-sized homemade rolls, get out your kitchen scale. Weigh the dough, then divide that amount by 20 to see how much each dough ball needs to weigh.
Form a ball, weigh it, and add or remove dough as needed.
Roll up each ball so the top is smooth. Pinch any edges together at the bottom of the roll and place them in the baking dish.
💬 FAQ
Line a basket or dish with large a clean kitchen towel. Place your rolls inside, then cover up with the towel to keep warm.
Ideally, make 2 rolls per person. If you're serving 8-10 people, this recipe is perfect as written.
Absolutely. If you have a large stand mixer, you can double the recipe and still make the dough in a single batch. You will need two 9x13 baking dishes. If you have a smaller or standard stand mixer, I recommend making the dough in two batches so you do not overload the mixer.
Yes. Make as directed, using half of each ingredient. Instead of using a 9x13 pan, use an 8x8 pan.
- Half of 1¾ cup of non-dairy milk is ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons.
- Half of ⅓ cup melted vegan butter is about 2½ tablespoons.
Recipe
Easy Vegan Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- 1¾ cup warm non-dairy milk
- ⅓ cup melted vegan butter
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1½ tablespoons active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 5 cups all-purpose flour divided
Instructions
- Combine the warm milk, melted butter, yeast, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl. You can either mix by hand or use a stand mixer.
- Mix in 4 cups of the flour. If needed, add more flour 1-2 tablespoons at a time, until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl. The dough should be soft and slightly sticky, but leave no residue on your finger. Wet dough will need more flour added.
- Knead the dough for about 3 minutes, by hand or using the dough hook on your stand mixer.
- Transfer the dough to a large, lightly greased bowl. Cover with a clean towel and let the dough rise for 90 minutes.
- Grease a 9x13 glass dish.
- Punch the dough down to let the air out, and form into 20-24 equally (or equal-ish) sized balls. Arrange the dough balls to your baking dish (I can typically fit 5 rows of 4 rolls.)
- Cover with a towel and let rise for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350°F and bake for 22-25 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Optional: Brush with melted vegan butter. Let rolls cool for about 10 minutes before serving warm.
Jane says
Making these for a second time. Delicious, but my first batch was a little dense. Gonna give the rolls a little extra time to rise this time. Will freeze them to take camping for Vegan sausage breakfast sandwiches. Thank you for the recipe and instructions. I'm a novice bread baker in Florida.