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These soft, homemade gluten free dinner rolls are easy enough for a weeknight, and special enough for any holiday table. They bake up golden, tender, and fluffy every time.
Why this recipe works
These dinner rolls bake up soft and fluffy inside with a beautiful golden brown crust outside that's still squishy, never tough. The dough comes together with just about 20 minutes of hands-on time and a fast rise, so you can have fresh rolls on the table quickly.
The dough itself is easy to handle and shape, making the process smooth from start to finish. Even if you’re new to baking bread, you’ll find this straight-forward recipe do-able, especially with our step by step photos below.
You can also parbake, or partially bake, them, and freeze, so you defrost and finish baking them right when you're ready. And if you’re avoiding dairy, simple ingredient swaps make it easy to keep these rolls completely dairy-free without losing their soft texture or buttery flavor.
Recipe ingredients
These few ingredients come together to make the softest, most tender gluten free rolls you’ve ever had:
- Gluten free flour: Use a high-quality all purpose gluten free flour blend made with finely ground rice flour. It should be designed for yeast baking. My favorite blends are Better Batter's original blend which already contains xanthan gum, and Nicole's Best with added xanthan gum. King Arthur Flour gluten free bread flour should also work (try adding 1 to 2 tablespoons extra milk), but avoid their multipurpose blends, which KAF itself says are not designed for yeast breads.
- Tapioca starch: Even though your blend almost certainly already includes this flour, this extra tapioca starch gives the dough stretch and flexibility.
- Instant yeast: Gives the rolls their rise. Also called rapid-rise or breadmaker yeast. Be sure yours is fresh.
- Sugar: Feeds the yeast and adds a subtle sweetness.
- Milk: Warm milk activates the yeast, moistens the dough, and adds richness.
- Butter: Adds moisture and flavor, keeping the rolls soft and tender.
- Egg whites: Provide structure, help bind the dough together, and help the rolls keep their shape as they cool.
How to make gluten free dinner rolls (step by step photos)
This visual overview should help you envision making these rolls at home, with an explanation of the role of each step as support for my reasoning. For the precise ingredient amounts, see the recipe card below.
Step 1: Mix the dry ingredients
In the bowl of a stand mixer, if possible, whisk together the gluten free flour, xanthan gum (if needed), tapioca starch, yeast, and sugar until well combined. Whisk in salt next. This is how we keep the salt from clumping with the yeast and creating an uneven rise.
Step 2: Add wet ingredients and beat the dough
Pour in the warm milk, melted butter, and egg whites. Using the paddle attachment, beat the mixture until it comes together and begins to look whipped (about 6 minutes total) to introduce air into the dough and help create fluffy rolls.
Step 3: First rise/chill
Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled container with a tight-fitting lid. Let the unshaped dough rest at room temperature for about 2 hours, then refrigerate it for 30 minutes, or refrigerate it for up to 2 days. Either resting period will help the dough develop some yeasty flavor and allow it to absorb some of the liquid.
Chilling the dough for about 30 minutes will make it easier to handle. If you've chilled the unshaped dough for longer than 1 hour, let the dough warm up a bit at room temperature before shaping or the cold butter in the dough may make it hard to shape without visible seams.
Step 4: Divide and shape
Turn the dough onto a very lightly floured surface and divide it in half, then each half into 8 equal pieces. Gently roll each piece into a ball by cupping your hand around the dough and moving it in a circular motion. This is the way to gently shape the dough into a round without compressing it and making the rolls dense.
Step 5: Arrange and rise again
Place the rolls into a greased and lined baking pan. You can crowd them slightly for pull-apart rolls or leave space for individual ones. Cover with plastic wrap and let them rise in a warm, draft-free spot until at least 150% of their original size (they won't double).
Step 6: Bake
Once risen, brush the tops with melted butter. Bake at 375°F until the rolls are golden and an instant-read thermometer reads around 190°F in the center—about 20 minutes. If the rolls are touching, reduce the oven temp to 350°F after 18 minutes and bake a bit longer, since keeping them close together means there's less room for the warm oven air to circulate.
Step 7: Serve warm
Brush the hot rolls with more melted butter for extra flavor, and serve while warm and soft.
Expert tips
Use a stand mixer if you can
A stand mixer with the paddle attachment creates the smooth, whipped dough that gives these rolls their signature texture. If needed, a food processor with a plastic blade can work—just pulse carefully and don’t overmix. Avoid hand mixing.
Create a warm, steady rise
Place your dough in a draft-free spot with gentle warmth—like on top of a warm oven, never inside. If the environment is too hot, you risk killing the yeast. Too cool, and the dough will rise very, very slowly. Too dry, and it won't rise.
Adjust for dry climates
If you live in a dry environment and your dough isn’t rising well, try adding 1 extra tablespoon of warm milk or water. But don’t overdo it—too much liquid can cause overproofing and gummy rolls.
Shape gently
Don’t press or knead the dough aggressively. On a lightly floured surface, cup your hand around the dough ball and gently move it in a tight circle on a very lightly floured surface to create a smooth round shape.
Want to make them ahead? Try parbaking
To prep rolls in advance, bake the shaped rolls at 300°F for 15 minutes to 20 minutes—just until puffed and set but not browned. Cool completely, then freeze. They may sink a bit as they cool. When ready to serve, defrost at room temp, then finish baking at 375°F until golden and fully cooked (190°F inside). This method gives you fresh-baked rolls in less time.
Ingredient substitutions
Dairy free
Replace the melted butter with a block-style dairy-free butter alternative. Melt and Miyoko’s Kitchen brands both work well. For the milk, use an unsweetened nondairy variety with some fat and a texture that mimics cow's milk Avoid fat-free options, since richness matters here, and anything with unwanted texture, like oat milk.
Egg free
You should be able to replace the 2 egg whites with 50 grams of aquafaba (the liquid from a can of unsalted chickpeas).
Yeast
You can’t make these rolls without yeast, but you can swap instant yeast for active dry yeast. Use 15 grams of active dry yeast and be sure to proof it first in some of the warm milk.
Tapioca starch
Even though most good gluten free flour blends already include tapioca starch, this recipe needs extra. If you don’t have it, try replacing it with an equal amount of superfine glutinous rice flour or sweet white rice flour.
Storing & freezing the rolls
Best when fresh
Like all yeast rolls, these are at their best the day they’re baked. But you can still store and reheat them with great results.
Room temperature
Store leftover rolls in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 2 days. To refresh before serving, sprinkle lightly with lukewarm water and warm in a 300°F toaster oven for about 5 minutes.
Freezer storage
Once cooled, place baked and cooled rolls in a freezer-safe zip-top bag and press out as much air as possible. Freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature and reheat as above. For parbaking instructions, see the Expert Tips section above.
Gluten Free Dinner Rolls Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 ¼ cups (455 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend, (See Recipe Notes)
- 3 ¼ teaspoons xanthan gum, omit if your blend already contains it
- ⅞ cup (105 g) tapioca starch/flour, plus more for sprinkling
- 4 teaspoons (12 g) instant yeast, See Recipe Notes
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ⅝ cup (13 fluid ounces) warm milk (about 90°F)
- 8 tablespoons (112 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled (plus more for brushing)
- 2 (50 g) egg whites, at room temperature
Instructions
Make the dough
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (See Recipe Notes), place the flour, xanthan gum, tapioca starch/flour, instant yeast, and granulated sugar, and whisk to combine well. Add the salt, and whisk again to combine.
- Add the milk, melted butter, and egg whites. Using the paddle attachment, beat vigorously. The mixture will come together in a clump and clear the sides of the bowl. Keep beating until it begins to look whipped, and sticks to the side of the mixing bowl again (about 6 minutes total).
- Transfer the mixture to a lightly oiled bucket or bowl with a very tight-fitting lid. The container should be large enough for the dough to nearly double (although it won’t double fully).
Let the dough rest/chill it
- At this point, you can let the unshaped dough rest in the bucket at room temperature for 2 hours, and then refrigerate it for 30 minutes, or refrigerate it for up to 2 days. Do not let the dough rest/rise for much longer than that, or your rolls will rise much more irregularly after shaping.
- If your dough has been refrigerated for more than 1 hour, allow it to sit at room temperature until no longer very cold to the touch before working with it.
Shape the rolls
- Grease a quarter sheet pan or 2 8-inch round cake pans for baking, and set them aside. You will later decide if you’d like to crowd the rolls, and have them rise then bake touching, or have them separate.
- Flour a clean, dry work surface very lightly with tapioca starch. Divide the dough in half, then each half into 8 equal portions, for 16 pieces, each about 2 1/2 ounces in weight.
- Working with one piece of dough at a time, cup your fingers around the dough, keep the side of your palm on the surface, and move your hand in tight circles to coax the dough into a round.
- Place the shaped rounds of dough in your chosen baking pan(s) either touching (they will rise mostly up), or a bit more than 1-inch apart, taking care not to crowd them (the will rise up and out).
Let rise
- Cover the pan(s) with lightly greased plastic wrap, place in a warm, draft-free location, and allow to rise until about 150% of their original size (they won't quite double).
- This rise can take anywhere from 45 minutes to hours, depending upon the ambient temperature in your kitchen. Overproofing is not very likely, and can be detected when the surface of the rolls begins to look pockmarked.
- When the rolls are nearing the end of their rise, preheat your oven to 375°F. Once the rolls are properly risen, remove the plastic wrap from the pan(s), and brush generously on all exposed sides with melted butter.
Bake
- Bake until an instant read thermometer inserted into the center of each roll reads about 190°F.
- If there is any space between the rolls after they’ve risen, they will take around 20 minutes until fully baked.
- If the rolls are touching one another, lower the oven temperature to about 350°F at 18 minutes and continue to bake for about another 5 minutes or until the center reaches 190°F.
- Remove the pan from the oven, and with the rolls still in the hot pan, brush again with melted butter and serve warm.
Video
Notes
I recommend Better Batter’s original blend or my Nicole’s Best multipurpose blend (with 3 teaspoons added xanthan gum). King Arthur's gluten free bread flour can work but makes denser rolls, so consider adding 2 tablespoons more milk. To make your own blend using one of my “mock” recipes, please see the all purpose gluten free flour blends page. No stand mixer?
A food processor with the plastic blade works in a pinch. Don’t use a hand mixer or mix by hand; the dough needs vigorous mixing to whip up properly and create a smooth shaped roll.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
FAQs
No, you still need the additional tapioca starch listed in the recipe. All gluten free blends include some tapioca, but this recipe relies on a larger amount to give the dough its flexibility and the rolls their soft, stretchy texture.
No, this dough won’t hold its shape that long after shaping. It’s best to refrigerate the dough before shaping, then bring it to room temperature and shape right before the second rise.
Not recommended. It's best to bake and freeze the rolls, or use the parbake method above.
Yes, but they won’t have the same pull-apart quality. Bake time may be slightly shorter.
Yes, just cut all ingredients in half. I do this all the time! Rise and bake times stay the same.
Can u change things to Australian standards please to make things easier. Thanks.
No, I can’t do that. I live in the U.S., and my readership is primarily here.
The rolls turned out beautifully! I used potato starch instead of tapioca flour, since I was all out. The dough was not sticky, very easy to work with, and proofed quickly. My husband proclaimed that THESE are the rolls I should make for all of our bread needs now. Thank you!
I’m glad you enjoyed the results, Emily. For others’ benefit, potato starch does not have the stretchy properties of tapioca starch and I don’t generally recommend it as a substitute for it.
I was nervous about making a yeasted GF bread for the first time. I did have the recommended flour on hand, I measured everything out on a scale, and gave myself plenty of time. They turned out pretty good! I may have added a little extra yeast (the scale was jumpy) so I’m not sure if the sour flavor was intended or due to 1/4 tsp extra yeast. Since I don’t have a lot of experience I was wondering if adding 1 tsp sugar to the recipe would throw off the process? I also watched the video but was left wondering how much kneading I was supposed to do to the measured out portions? Just enough to shape it? or actually work it as traditional bread is worked for 30 sec-1 min?
This recipe already has 1/4 cup (50 g) of granulated sugar in the ingredients. You aren’t kneading the dough for any reason other than smoothing it out and shaping it. Just follow the instructions on handling combined with the how-to video. The process you’re describing is for gluten development, which of course we don’t have here.
I want to use your gluten free flour blend to make your gluten free dinner rolls, however your flour recipe calls for tapioca flour/starch AND your gluten free dinner roll recipe calls for tapioca flour/starch…please clarify
The recipe calls for both the amount of flour blend stated plus additional tapioca starch as an additional ingredient. Please follow the recipe precisely as written.
I really want to love this recipe! But this is the second time I’ve tried it, and in spite of using the correct flour and other ingredients, measuring perfectly with a kitchen scale, and following the directions as well as I could, they still wouldn’t rise well and turned out dense and yeasty. I can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong! I’m pretty good in the kitchen, but this recipe just seems to go right over my head.
There are many ways in which you could have deviated from the recipe as written, Megan, despite using the correct flour and using a scale. My first guess is that you added flour during shaping which lowered the hydration ratio which will prevent a rise. I’m not able to guess what else might have happened, but that’s my assumption.
Hello,
You should really change the overview at the beginning of the recipe for the rising time and overall time to make this recipe. It is very misleading to have it say 1 hour rising when in the recipe it says 2 hours rising then another 45 minutes when shaped. Very misleading
The recipe states that rising can take anywhere from 45 minutes to hours depending on the rising environment, DZ. That is the only proofing. The first time is a resting period, which I agree should be added to the total time. I’ve done that now. I apologize for the confusion.
My rolls cracked a bunch. Did I not knead enough or let the the dough rest enough?
I imagine you incorporated flour into the rolls during shaping and didn’t shape them smoothly, Kaitlin. I can only guess, but that’s my guess!
I used king aurthur measure to measure flour and I too had sticky/wet results. What advise can you offer other than use your type of flour.
You can’t use that flour blend in any of my recipes, and it works particularly poorly in yeast bread recipes. I discuss that on the all purpose gluten free flour blends page on the blog. I’ve tried working with the flour to make baking with it in yeast bread possible, and I have never once had good results. I’m afraid it simply doesn’t work. The flour blend is the most important part of a recipe, since we are already replacing conventional flour. A bad blend just won’t work to make a good recipe.
When the rolls are rising in the pan, can they sit in refrigerator overnight before baking?
No, they can’t. They’ll over proof.
I am making to take die Thanksgiving dinner. Need to take them cooked so they will likely be cooled for a few hours before we eat. Recommendations? Is that close enough to eat right away?
Please see the text of the post under the heading “Gluten free bread rolls: storage tips.” You can either treat them like leftover rolls and handle them according to those recommendations, or parbake them and finish baking when you get there. A few hours should be fine, though. Just be sure to cover them tightly and not to overbake them.