An easy, homemade sub roll recipe, which produces soft and light buns that are also sturdy enough to hold any fillings. Quick and easy and freeze well, too!
Why you’ll love this sub rolls recipe!
- These sub rolls are soft and light, but also sturdy enough to hold anything you’d like to put in them!
- These rolls are quick and easy to make! Using extra yeast means these rise quickly and are ready in less than 2 hours.
- These buns freeze beautifully, so stock up the freezer and you’ll have sub rolls at the ready any time.
Step-by-Step Photos
- Mix together the dough ingredients. The dough will be very moist at this point.
- Cover the bowl and let the dough rest 15 minutes.
- Remove to a floured work surface.
- Knead briefly, adding a bit more flour only if it is sticking to your hands or the work surface.
- Weight the dough ball and divide by 4 (for 4 buns).
- Weigh out 4 pieces of dough.
- Form each piece into a ball by pinching together underneath.
- Flip over with the smooth side up.
- Repeat with the remaining dough pieces.
- Roll a dough ball into an 8×8-inch square.
- Roll up jelly-roll style.
- Pinch the seam together.
- Using the palm of your hand, roll and gently stretch the dough.
- Roll until the dough is even and is 11-12 inches long.
- Place on a baking sheet and brush lightly with water.
- Repeat with remaining dough pieces.
- Cover the rolls and allow to rise 20-30 minutes.
- Brush rolls with water again.
- Close up of risen rolls.
- Sprinkle with seeds, herbs and/or cheese, if using. Bake.
Baking Tips
- If you have a kitchen scale (and you should!), be sure to weigh the flour amount, for best accuracy. If you don’t, be sure to measure the flour using the stir, spoon and level method.
- The mixed dough is very wet. It will absorb some of the liquid as it rests for the 15 minutes at the start, so resist the urge to add anymore flour at the start. If necessary, add a bit more flour on the work surface if the dough is sticking.
Making ahead, storing and Freezing
These are best enjoyed within 24 hours of baking. Freeze for longer storage.
These buns freeze beautifully! I like to wrap individually, first in plastic wrap and then tightly in foil. The will keep well in the freezer up to 3 months.
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Get the Recipe: Easy Homemade Sub Rolls
An easy, homemade sub roll recipe, which produces soft and light buns that are also sturdy enough to hold any fillings. Quick and easy and freeze well, too! Makes four 12-inch long sub rolls.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) water, lukewarm about 105F
- 2 Tablespoons active dry or Instant yeast
- 3 1/2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fine salt
- 3 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- 4 cups (500 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and levelled
Instructions
- Add lukewarm water to a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the kneading hook. Add the yeast and 1/2 teaspoon of the sugar. Let stand 5 minutes, then add the remaining sugar, salt and vegetable oil. Mix briefly to combine.
- Add the flour, one cup at a time, mixing between additions. When all the flour has been added, continue mixing for a 3-4 minutes, to develop the dough. The dough may be quite wet and sticky. That's fine. It will tighten up as it rests and you can add additional flour later, if needed. If using a mixer, remove the kneading hook and cover the top of the bowl with a clean tea towel. Let stand 15 minutes.
- Remove dough to a floured work surface. Knead dough a couple of minutes, adding additional flour as needed, only if the dough is sticking to your hands or the work surface. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces. *I like to weigh the entire piece of dough, then divide that amount by 4, to weigh out identically sized pieces.
- Form each piece of dough into a ball, cover with a clean tea towel and let rest 15 minutes.
- Roll each piece of dough into an 8x8-inch square. Starting with the edge closest to you, tightly roll the dough up, jelly-roll style and pinch the seam together. Using your palms, roll the dough log on a work surface, gently and evenly stretching it out longer, until it is 11 to 12-inch long. Be sure that the dough is even thickness along the length of the dough. Remove the dough to a large, un-greased baking sheet. *You can lightly dust the baking sheet with a bit of flour or line the baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper, if your baking sheet is prone to sticking.
- Repeat with the remaining dough pieces.
- Brush the top of the rolls with water, cover and let rise 20-30 minutes, until puffy.
- As the rolls are rising, preheat the oven to 375F (regular bake/not fan-assisted), so the oven will be hot and ready when your rolls are ready.
- Brush the dough with water again and sprinkle with any toppings at this point (seeds, cheese, dried herbs etc.)
- Bake 18-22 minutes, or until deep golden. Remove from the oven and immediately transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Wrap and store at room temperature or in the fridge, to extend the freshness time. For longer storage, wrap well and freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
Recipe can be doubled to make more, but do note that it makes a large amount of dough, so be sure your mixer can handle that much dough at one time!
Serving: 1bun, Calories: 475kcal, Carbohydrates: 100g, Protein: 14g, Fat: 1g, Saturated Fat: 0.2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 0.2g, Sodium: 880mg, Potassium: 153mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugar: 4g, Vitamin C: 0.01mg, Calcium: 23mg, Iron: 6mg
Tried this recipe?Leaving a review! is always helpful and appreciated by fellow cooks!
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
Hi there. I have made these 2 times now and they are delicious. However I am having some issues with them being a little dense. I live in the mountains. I’m wondering if it is the altitude? Should I maybe add a little more yeast?
Hi Briannah, typically you would reduce the yeast by 25% if baking at altitude. So possibly your density issues are arising from another issue. Dense breads are usually either too much flour or underproofed. Is it possible either of those might be an issue?
Hi, I am curious, can I use this recipe to make hamburger buns instead of long rolls, and if so, what would the cook time be like?
Hi Michele and yes, you could use this dough to make hamburger buns. The bake time would probably be in the 15-20 minute range. All that said, I do have a fabulous hamburger bun recipe you could take a look at – Simply Perfect Homemade Hamburger Buns.
I have probably made these rolls a dozen times by now. They are delicious for all sorts of sandwiches, and I’ve even used one as garlic bread when we forgot to get some. We add cheese and other toppings, too. They’re our go-to and very easy to make.
I’m so glad you’re enjoying them Brooke! Thanks so much :)
Can you use olive oil instead of vegetable oil?
Hi Catherine and yes, you can substitute olive oil.
I made this recipe for the first time and it was delish I will be using this again thanks for sharing
Thanks Tammy! So glad you enjoyed them :)
Hi can I use bread flour?
Hi Kimberly, you could use bread flour if that is your only option, but all-purpose flour is perfect for these rolls and is recommended. If you have to use bread flour, note that you will need to use a bit less bread flour overall (less than specified for the all-purpose flour).
Can this dough be made in a bread machine?
I imagine it could Addie, but I don’t have a bread machine so I can’t test it. It is a fairly standard dough, so it should do fine.
Taste good, but can not for the life of me get it to look like the picture when I jelly roll it.
What do your buns look like? It may help me to provide some advice on shaping.
I make these rolls ALL OF THE TIME! I also used this recipe to make footlong hot dog rolls and my friends loved them!! Best rolls EVER!
So glad you are enjoying these, Laura. Thanks so much!
I am currently making my second batch of these rolls (made some yesterday) and I absolutely love your recipe! Thank you for sharing!
So glad you are enjoying them, Sara! Thanks so much :)
Hi! I can’t wait to try these. Do you have a favorite method of defrosting the frozen rolls? Overnight on counter or in fridge? In the microwave or the oven?
Hi Christa, I just set them still wrapped up on the counter. They thaw surprisingly quickly! These sub rolls should be thawed within about an hour and smaller buns/rolls in about 30 minutes. Leaving them well wrapped as they thaw is key, otherwise they dry out as they thaw.
These rolls are fantastic! I’m planning to make a bunch and freeze for vacation. Do I need to change anything if I make them 6” instead of 12”? Thanks!
So glad you enjoyed them! For 6″ rolls all would be the same except the bake time may be a bit less, so watch them closely.
I was concerned about the amount of yeast. Followed the recipe exact. Perfect rolls.
I appreciate words like Tea Towel. My grandmother said that when making bread back in the late 50’s.
So glad to hear, Mike! Thanks. And tea towels is still the most common term here in Canada. It’s so common in fact, I had to actually google to find out what else they are called. Dish towels apparently :)
Perfect bread! Quick to make and super soft with a delicious crust. Will definitely keep using this recipe
So pleased to hear, Isabella. Thanks so much!
Thank you for sharing this recipe. My family absolutely loves them. I make them every week and they’re gone in no time. My first batch looked a little off, but I’ve gotten much better at shaping them.
I’m so glad you’re enjoying them, Kathy! Thanks so much :)
What did I do wrong? I swapped 1:1 gf flour and followed the directions, but my loaves did not rise. So disappointing!
Hi Shannon, I’m afraid what you did wrong was swapping gluten free flour. While 1:1 gluten free flour performs well in some baked goods, it won’t work for a yeast bread like this. It just won’t allow for the proper gluten structure to form. This recipe will need regular all-purpose flour.