Dozens of people agree, these are hands down the best vegan homemade dinner rolls recipe. Just 7 Ingredients and one bowl, this simple recipe will give you baked dinner rolls to soft and fluffy perfection every single time!
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Yeasted dough can be intimidating, but these vegan rolls are not. We worked for years to create a simplistic recipe that needs just a few ingredients and is pretty foolproof.
The key is warmed vegan milk and sugar to create a soft and fluffy texture with steps that when followed are easy to have weekly! Truly, they aren’t just for the holidays.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Barbara says : These rolls deserve the title of best rolls! This has become my go-to recipe for rolls and they are throughly enjoyed by the vegans and omnivores in my life. 💞
I remember these giant rolls a friend of the family used to make every holiday season. Everyone couldn’t get over how soft and fluffy they were.
When I was in my 20s, I started trying to replicate them and after (*ahem*) a few decades, I did, when we became vegan 8 years ago, I wanted to make sure that we made equally as delicious rolls, because if you ask me it’s not a holiday gathering unless there’s dinner rolls and the results are nothing less than perfect.
Jump to:
Why these are the perfect Vegan Rolls
Texture
These come out so soft and fluffy! You will shock yourself and others that you made these and didn’t get them from the bakery. Just sit back and laugh as they search for the roll packaging that they’ll never be able to find.
Easy
Dinner rolls aren’t supposed to be complicated. In fact, you only need 7 total ingredients to make these and they are so quick to assemble in just one bowl.
Prep Ahead
We know, especially at holiday times, that life can feel overwhelming, even more so if you’re hosting or in charge of multiple things. The great news is these dinner rolls can be prepped a day or two ahead of time and still have a deliciously fluffy texture for your gathering.
Just want to make ahead in general, they are freezer safe too!
Vegan Dinner Rolls Ingredients
Flour
You can use bread flour (recommended) or all-purpose flour for this recipe. We do not recommend gluten free flour for this; however, you can use our gluten free vegan dinner roll recipe instead.
Yeast
We are using an instant yeast because we find that it’s easier to use for the everyday home cook; however, you can also use active dry yeast if you are more familiar with that instead with no other changes made.
Sugar
We are using vegan cane sugar. This adds some sweetness to our recipe; however, you can omit, reduce, or replace with something like agave, maple syrup, or coconut sugar if you’d prefer. For liquid sugar, add when add the other liquids.
Salt
Salt not only helps with the flavor but also with the gluten structure of the rolls.
Non-Dairy Milk
We prefer using a higher protein non-dairy milk with recipes, like soy. However, any non-dairy milk will work with this recipe. Alternatively, you can also use water.
Non-Dairy Butter
We’re using this in the recipe for the fat. It helps the softness of the rolls when finished and adds moisture to the recipe for the perfect texture.
Maple Syrup
This is adding some sweetness to the tops of the dinner rolls, but more importantly, this is giving us a perfect golden brown hue to the tops of our rolls.
How to make vegan dinner rolls
1. In a large bowl, add flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Whisk the ingredients together. Make a small well (just indent the middle of the flour with the back of a spoon) in the flour mixture and then pour in warmed milk and melted butter.
2. Use a rubber scraper to slowly mix the wet and dry ingredients together. Run the scraper around the bottom and edges of the bowl to pull the dry ingredients into the wet. Continue mixing until a cohesive dough forms.
- Note: dough will be sticky but together.
3. Next, knead the dough for five minutes. You can do this by repeatedly, folding your dough in the bowl using your spatula or turn the dough out onto a floured surface to do it by hand. Kneading this by hand, may require a little bit more flour added to keep the dough from sticking to your hands.
After needing for five minutes, shape the dough into a ball and place it into a lightly greased bowl. The cover and let rest for 15 minutes.
- Tip: For taller, tastier, lighter, softer and chewier dough, let the rest for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until doubled in size.
4. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. We like to use a scale for accuracy by taking the total number of grams and dividing it by 12. Shape into round balls. Add into a greased 9×13 baking pan, seam side down. Cover and let rise in a warm location for 35-40 minutes or until doubled in size. While waiting for the rise, preheat the oven to 375˚F (190˚C).
- Tip: Doubling in size here is more important than the time. Take note of what the rolls looked like when adding the to the dish and allow them to sit until they are double that. Depending on the temperature in your home, it may be less or more that 35 minutes.
5. While rising, in a small bowl, combine the non-dairy milk and maple syrup for the topping. When doubled in size, use half of the milk mixture and brush each roll. Set the remaining half of the mixture aside. Place rolls in oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
6. Remove from oven. Brush with remaining half of the mixture. Serve warm.
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Soft and Fluffy Vegan Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
For the dough
- 4 cups all purpose flour flour (480g)
- 4 tablespoon cane sugar
- 2 ¼ teaspoon instant yeast (or 1 packet)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups warmed unsweetened dairy free milk, (temp should be 110˚F/43˚C) (360g)
- 2 tablespoon vegan butter, melted, but not hot
For the vegan egg wash topping
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon non-dairy milk
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add 4 cups flour, 4 tablespoon sugar, 2 ¼ teaspoon yeast and 1 teaspoon salt. Whisk the ingredients together. Make a well in the flour mix and then pour in 1 ½ cups warmed milk and 2 tablespoon melted butter. Use a rubber scraper to slowly mix the wet and dry ingredients together. Run the scraper around the bottom and edges of the bowl to pull the dry ingredients into the wet. Continue mixing until a cohesive dough forms. Note: dough will be sticky
- Next, knead the dough for five minutes. You can do this by repeatedly, folding your dough in the bowl using your spatula or turn the dough out onto a floured surface to do it by hand. Kneading this by hand, may require a little bit more flour added to keep the dough from sticking to your hands.
- After needing for five minutes, shape the dough into a ball and place it into a lightly greased bowl. The cover and let rest for 15 minutes. Tip: For taller, tastier, lighter, softer and chewier dough, let the rest for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until doubled in size.
- Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces (use a scale for accuracy). Shape into dough balls. Add into a greased 9×13 baking pan, seam side down. Cover and let rise in a warm location for 35-40 minutes or until doubled in size. While waiting for the rise, preheat the oven to 375˚F (190˚C).
- Meanwhile, In a small bowl, combine the non-dairy milk and maple syrup for the topping. Brush each roll with half this mixture after the rise. Place in oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove from oven. Brush with remaining half of the mixture. Serve warm.
Notes
For the dough
- 4-5 cups flour
- 2 ¼ teaspoon instant yeast (or 1 packet)
- ⅓ cup cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups non dairy milk
- 2 tablespoon vegan butter, melted
For the topping
- ⅔ cup vegan butter, melted, divided
Video
Nutrition
Vegan Rolls FAQs
You can use what you prefer. If you can’t or don’t like to knead by hand, a stand mixer is a great option to use.
Clearly, these are best warm out of the oven the same day; however, these vegan dinner rolls are also great stored in an air tight container for up to 5 days. Warm before serving.
Make sure to use a safe for your allergies non-dairy milk and butter.
If you need to have a gluten free dinner roll, you can use our gluten free vegan dinner roll recipe instead.
Yes! Let cool completely and then store in a freezer safe bag or container for up to 3 months.
This post was originally written on 11/18/2019, update on 11/14/23 and again on 11/17/2024.
OMG! These are so good and gorgeous. They were a hit with everyone in the familly, including the 4 -legged members. One comment – “these are VEGAN??” Thank you this will be part of our holiday and special dinner breads rotation.
OMG right back at you! We are so happy to hear that the Vegan Rolls were such a hit with everyone in the family. That “these are VEGAN??” reaction never gets old and always makes us smile.
These rolls were perfect! They were easy to make and the timing of everything was so forgiving with everything else I had going on for thanksgiving. Thank you!
This is amazing! So happy to hear that they we’re a successful addition to your holiday menu. Thank you for giving the recipe a try!
The best rolls ever. I make them all of the time. Perfect for lunch and dinner!
100% agree!
Really delicious! I’ve been making these constantly. Works great in our bread-maker for kneading and first rise.
Love that!
I would love to make these for Thanksgiving, and I’m wondering if I could make the dough ahead to save myself some time on the big day? Maybe put the dough in the fridge after the first rise. Then take it out the next day and divide into 12, and go from there. Has anyone tried making ahead in this way?
Yup! So you have a few options.
1. Make the dough 3 days in advance. Once mixed together, cover it, don’t like it rise, and place in the fridge. When ready to make it, pull it out and continue with the rest of the recipe.
2. Make the dough 2 days in advance, follow step 1. The next day, Pull it out, allow to rise, then separate and divide and place in baking dish but don’t let rise, then cover and place in fridge and then day off take it out, let rise and bake.
3. follow step two but on the day before you want them, pull out and finish the full recipe through baking. Store in an air tight container once cooled.
This recipe was great! I prepped them the night before and I left them rising overnight and baked then the following afternoon. They were a crowd pleaser and definitely best baked fresh! The following day they were a little harder but still good
Glad it was enjoyable!
New go-to rolls, the maple syrup and milk “egg wash” is amazing!! Everyone loved it and super beginner (with dough) friendly. Love your recipes
yay! so thrilled to hear that!
I’ve never made rolls before, and these really delivered. I could not believe how fluffy and delicious they are. I used date sugar and they came out perfectly. Thank you so much!!
yay!