These vegan dinner rolls are light, fluffy, and packed with buttery flavor! The perfect accompaniment to all kinds of special dinners. You'd never guess these rolls were dairy-free!
When it comes to special just about all dinners, I'm all about the bread. Bread is the side dish that goes with just about everything. I don't care if I'm eating pasta and piling carbs on carbs, this girl loves her bread!
So it's no surprise that I'm quite fond of dinner rolls, and pretty discriminating in my taste for them. Well let me tell you, these are not only the best vegan dinner rolls in the whole world, they're the best dinner rolls period!
These soft vegan rolls are also pretty darn easy to make! A little mixing, a little kneading, and bake them up to fluffy perfection.
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What You'll Need
- Non-dairy milk. Use any variety that's unflavored and unsweetened — try soy milk, almond milk, or cashew milk.
- Maple syrup. I like maple syrup for the flavor that it adds to this recipe, but you could absolutely substitute another sweetener such as agave or granulated sugar (make sure your sugar is organic to keep the recipe vegan).
- Active dry yeast.
- Flour. We're using regular old all-purpose wheat flour. Bread flour can be used but will give you a crustier roll. Spelt or whole wheat pastry flour can also be substituted.
- Salt.
- Vegan butter. Look for brands like Earth Balance and Miyoko's near where the regular butter is sold at your store.
How to Make Vegan Dinner Rolls
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
- Heat up your milk to between 100°F and 110°F. Use a thermometer to make sure it's within that range — milk that's too hot can kill your yeast. Whisk in the maple syrup and yeast, then let the mixture sit for a few minutes until it becomes frothy. Meanwhile, bring your butter to just melting (again, not too hot for the yeast's sake).
- Whisk 2 cups of your flour and salt together in a large mixing bowl.
- Pour the butter and milk mixture into the flour mixture and whisk everything together. Whisk in another cup of flour to make a soft dough.
- Knead your dough for a few minutes on a floured surface, just until it becomes smooth and elastic.
- Place your dough into an oiled mixing bowl, cover it with a damp towel, and place it in a warm spot to rise, letting it double in size.
- Tip: The time it takes to rise will depend on the air temperature. If I use the bread proofing setting on my oven (which heats it to 95°F) it takes about an hour. At normal room temperature (around 72°F) it can take two hours.
- Once the dough has finished rising, punch it down, then divide it into 15 equal(ish) pieces. As you can see, my rolls are never exactly the same size, and that's fine with me. My strategy for dividing the dough is to dump it onto the counter so it makes a circle. Cut the circle into thirds, then cut each third into fifths. Not perfect, but it gets the job done!
- Roll your dough pieces into round balls, then arrange them in a 9 x 13 baking dish.
- Cover the dish and place it back in a warm spot for a second rise, until the rolls are puffy and in contact with each other. This should take 30 to 60 minutes, depending on the temperature.
- Bake your vegan rolls for about 20 minutes, until the tops are lightly browned and feeling a little crusty.
- Place the baking dish on a cooling rack. Brush the rolls with some melted butter and let them cool a bit before removing them from the pan and serving.
Everyone at your table will love these vegan yeast rolls! Serve them alone, with some vegan butter, olive oil, or vegan gravy!
Leftovers & Storage
Vegan dinner rolls are best served the day they're made, but if you have leftovers you can store them in a sealed container or bag. They'll keep at room temperature for about 3 days, or in the freezer for about 3 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
I haven't tested a gluten-free version of the recipe so I'm not sure. If you'd like to give it a try I'd recommend using an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend such as that made by Bob's Red Mill or King Arthur.
You sure can! Simply use the whisk attachment to combine the flour and salt, then switch to the paddle or dough hook when adding the liquid ingredients.
Usually this is a result of adding too much flour (measure carefully and refer to this guide if you need a refresher) and be careful of adding too much when kneading. It could also be that you didn't let your dough rise fully or that your yeast was dead (or killed by milk that's too hot).
More Vegan Yeast Breads
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📖 Recipe
Soft & Buttery Vegan Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsweetened and unflavored non-dairy milk, warmed to 100°F to 110°F
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 (¼ ounce or 2 ¼ teaspoon) package active dry yeast
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, divided (plus up to ½ cup for kneading)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup vegan butter, melted and cooled to below 110°F, plus more for brushing
Instructions
- Whisk the milk, maple syrup, and yeast together in a small container or liquid measuring cup. Set it aside for a few minutes, until frothy.
- While the yeast mixture sits, whisk 2 cups of the flour together with the salt in a large mixing bowl.
- Whisk in the butter and milk mixture into the flour mixture, then whisk in the remaining cup of flour to form a soft dough.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead it for 4 to 5 minutes, just until smooth and elastic.
- Place the dough into a lightly oiled mixing bowl, cover it with a damp towel, and place it in a warm spot to rise until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.
- After the dough has risen, lightly oil a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Punch the dough down and divide it into 15 equal pieces.
- Arrange the dough balls in the baking dish (in 5 rows, each having 3 dough balls) and cover it with a damp tea towel. Place the dish in a warm spot and allow the rolls to rise until puffy and touching each other, 30 to 60 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Once the oven is hot, place the baking dish inside and bake the rolls until lightly browned and crusty on top, about 20 minutes.
- Transfer the baking dish to a cooling rack and let the rolls cool for a bit before brushing the tops with butter.
- Use a knife to cut the rolls apart. Serve.
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These came out perfect! So soft and fluffy, and very easy to make. I used them for veggie burger sliders and the meal came out delicious. Will definitely make this recipe again soon.
can you explain how to do the day ahead, to have them ready to go into oven the next day.. should I go ahead and form the rolls; or leave in bowl?
Sure! Form the rolls and place them in the baking dish the evening before, then cover the dish tightly with plastic and place it in the fridge. The next day you'll want to take the dish out of the fridge about 3 hours before baking - this should give the dough balls plenty of time to come up to room temperature and then rise before you bake them
Can you substitute baking powder instead of yeast? I haven't had great luck in working with yeast.
I'm afraid baking powder wouldn't work in this recipe. Have you thought of making biscuits instead? They're generally leavened with baking powder or soda. Here's my recipe if you'd like to give it a try: https://www.connoisseurusveg.com/vegan-buttermilk-biscuits/
Thank you for all the great recipe ideas. I have transitioned to plant-based nutrition with help from you and other bloggers and YouTubers.
Today I got around to reading your bio, and was reminded of my reasons for not working for lawyers anymore.
I was also left wondering why you haven’t published more tort recipes…
Richard