Pillowy soft garlic bread dinner rolls are the perfect pairing for spaghetti or a holiday dinner! My recipe can be prepped and baked the same day or chilled overnight to bake the next day.
Garlic Bread Rolls
A cross between garlic knots, breadsticks, and dinner rolls, my garlic bread dinner rolls are everything you could dream of in a homemade roll. They check every box: golden, fluffy, garlicky and completely irresistible. I pair mine with everything from spaghetti meat sauce to beef ragu, my favorite pot roast recipe, and more.
Why This Recipe WORKS
- Approachable (even if you’re new to baking bread). In essence, this is mostly just a jazzed up dinner roll recipe. If you’ve made those before, you can absolutely handle these (and even if you haven’t, this is a fairly straightforward starter recipe!).
- Flexible timeline. You can prep and bake the same day or chill overnight and bake the next day. Either works great and I’ve include instructions for both options.
- Perfect weeknight pairing! Perfect with shepherds pie or a plate full of meatballs. Sometimes I’ll even use them to make mini meatball sliders – so good!
- Garlic flavor is present but not harsh. And no, you don’t have to worry about the garlic affecting the yeast in the dough–I talk more about this in the FAQ section below.
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What You Need
Here’s what you need for amazing garlic bread dinner rolls! I won’t review every ingredient here–just a few that make a big difference.
- Bread flour. I really prefer bread flour here for the best texture; it yields soft and tender rolls with just the right amount of chew. I don’t give an exact amount in the recipe because the amount you need will vary. You’ll know you’ve added enough when your dough is tacky (not sticky!) and starts to cling to itself and away from the bowl.
- Yeast. You can use either active dry yeast or instant (rapid rise) yeast; the amounts will be the same. I haven’t noticed much of a difference in rising time with instant yeast.
- Garlic. We’ll be using fresh garlic and garlic powder in these rolls. You may have heard about garlic inhibiting yeast, but you don’t need to worry about that here. I talk more about this in the recipe notes below.
- Sugar. Just enough to enrich the dough and make it flavorful, but not so much that the rolls will be sweet. The eggs and milk also enrich the dough, making for super tender, pillowy rolls.
- Butter. Enriching the dough with butter gives them a pillowy and light texture (think cinnamon rolls but not as sweet) with just the right amount of chew.
- Parsley + parmesan. Both of these will be added last as a garnish; parsley will go in the garlic butter we brush on after baking and the parmesan will melt overtop of the rolls just before serving. Use fresh for both for best results!
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
SAM’S TIP: Room temperature eggs will incorporate most easily into the dough. If you forget to set yours out ahead of time, you can use my trick to quickly bring eggs to room temperature.
How to Make Garlic Bread Dinner Rolls
- Step 1: Prep the garlic butter. Sauté the garlic in melted butter until fragrant (don’t let it toast or burn!), then pour into a heatproof dish to cool.
- Step 2: Activate the yeast. Heat your milk and water to 115F, then pour into your mixing bowl. Stir in the yeast and a teaspoon of sugar; let this mixture sit until foamy, about 5-10 minutes. If your yeast doesn’t foam, you will need to pour it out and start this step over.
- Step 3: Make the dough. Stir in the sugar, eggs, salt, garlic powder, and about half of your flour. Drizzle in the cooled garlic butter, then add remaining flour as needed until the dough starts to form a ball. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.
- Step 4: First rise. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled in size. This can take anywhere from 1-2 hours, depending on how warm your kitchen is.
- Step 5: Shape into rolls. Divide the dough into 24 equal pieces. Roll into a smooth balls, using your fingers to create some surface tension on each roll.
- Step 6: Second rise. Place the rolls in a buttered baking dish, spacing evenly apart. Cover and let rise again until increased in size by about 50%.
- Step 7: Bake & brush with garlic butter. Remove the plastic wrap and bake until golden brown or until the rolls have an internal temp of 185F. Brush with garlic butter while still warm, and enjoy!
SAM’S TIP: An instant read thermometer eliminates all the guesswork when checking for doneness. I used to poke around with a sharp knife or toothpick looking for doughiness or just guess based on appearance, and I usually ended up with overdone rolls. Not anymore! Check the center of a mid-line roll and look for an internal temperature of 185F (87C).
Frequently Asked Questions
No. If it were raw and/or we were adding it in extremely large quantities, it could potentially inhibit the yeast and prevent the dough from rising properly. But we are lightly cooking it first and using just enough to give the rolls a light, lovely, and distinct garlic flavor.
Yes! I actually include instructions for this in the recipe notes below. If overnight rolls are your thing, also try my make-ahead dinner rolls and overnight cinnamon rolls!
The poke test is great for testing if your dough is properly proofed/ready to be baked. I’ve demonstrated this a few times on videos for my sourdough dinner rolls and sourdough donuts. The Perfect Loaf also has a helpful guide on how to use the poke test.
Serve Your Rolls With
Can’t get enough garlic? Try my garlic mashed potatoes, garlic butter shrimp, or garlic cheese drop biscuits next!
Enjoy!
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Garlic Bread Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup (75 g) unsalted butter melted
- 1 Tablespoon finely minced garlic
- ¾ cup (177 ml) whole milk
- ⅓ cup (79 ml) water
- 2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast (see note for instant)
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar (for activating the yeast)
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar (for the dough)
- 2 large eggs room temperature preferred
- 1 ½ teaspoons table salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 4-5 cups (500-625 g) bread flour plus additional as needed
- 3 Tablespoons butter (for greasing baking dish)
Garlic Butter
- 4 Tablespoons (57 g) salted butter
- 1 ½ Tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 ½ Tablespoons minced fresh parsley
- 3 Tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
Recommended Equipment
- 13×9 glass or ceramic baking dish
- Instant read thermometer (optional but very helpful!)
Instructions
- Prepare garlic butter for dough: Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add minced garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until garlic is fragrant (about 30-60 seconds) but not toasted. Pour butter into a heat-proof dish and set aside to cool.⅓ cup (75 g) unsalted butter, 1 Tablespoon finely minced garlic
- Activate the yeast: In a small microwave-safe bowl or measuring cup, combine milk and water and heat to 115F (46C). Pour milk mixture into a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with dough hook attachment), add yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar and stir together. Let sit until foamy, about 5-10 minutes.¾ cup (177 ml) whole milk, ⅓ cup (79 ml) water, 2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast
- Once foamy, add remaining sugar, eggs, salt, garlic powder, and about 2 cups (250g) of flour. Stir until well combined.½ teaspoon garlic powder, ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar, 2 large eggs, 1 ½ teaspoons table salt
- While mixing, gradually drizzle in the garlic butter from above and stir until well incorporated.
- Gradually add the remaining flour, as needed, until dough clings to itself and pulls away from the sides of the bowl while mixing (either by hand or with dough hook attachment).
- Knead the dough: If using a stand mixer, knead with the dough hook about 5-8 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic, or, if kneading by hand, transfer to a clean, lightly floured surface and knead by hand until smooth and elastic, adding flour sparingly if/as needed if dough is too sticky (about 10 minutes).
- First rise: Lightly grease a large bowl with oil, place the dough in the bowl and turn to lightly coat the dough all over with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place to rise until doubled in size (about 1-2 hours).
- Preheat oven/prepare baking dish: Once dough has doubled, preheat oven to 375F (190C). Place 3 tablespoons of butter in a 13×9” (33x23cm) glass or ceramic baking dish and place in the oven until the butter melts. Once melted, carefully swirl the dish around so butter covers the whole bottom, and set aside.3 Tablespoons butter
- Shape rolls: Gently punch down your dough and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Divide into 24 equal pieces (this will be around 45g each). Shape each piece into a ball, rolling each slightly and pinching the bottoms to create tension in the surface. Place shaped dough into your prepared baking dish, spacing evenly (the rolls will be barely touching each other).
- Second rise: Cover dish with plastic wrap and set in a warm place until increased in size by about 50% (this could take up to an hour).
- Bake: Once increased in size, remove plastic wrap and transfer dish to center rack of 375F (190C) oven and bake for 22-24 minutes, until rolls are starting to turn golden brown on top (internal temperature should be 185-190F (87C) it checked with an instant read thermometer). While the rolls bake, prepare the garlic butter.
Garlic butter
- In a small saucepan over low heat, combine butter and garlic until butter is melted completely and garlic is fragrant.4 Tablespoons (57 g) salted butter, 1 ½ Tablespoons minced garlic
- Remove from heat and add parsley, stir to combine.1 ½ Tablespoons minced fresh parsley
- Brush garlic butter sauce generously over the warm rolls. Sprinkle grated parmesan cheese over top. Serve warm and enjoy!3 Tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
Notes
Baking pan
Glass or ceramic is best, metal will also work but bake time will likely be reduced, check the rolls sooner.Instant yeast
To use instant yeast, you would use the same amount. I find even when using the instant yeast the rising time is generally not reduced very much.Flour
Bread flour is best for chewiest/best textured rolls, but all-purpose will absolutely work in a pinch. Use the same amount.Make ahead (overnight option)
Prepare the dough through shaping the rolls, place in the baking dish, cover tightly and immediately refrigerate overnight and up to 18 hours. When ready to bake, remove from the refrigerator and leave covered, allow to proof as indicated (this typically takes about 2 hours) and then bake as indicated.Storing
Cover tightly and store at room temperature for up to 2 days.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
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