My easy recipe makes perfect Mexican bolillo bread rolls, with a golden crust and a soft, airy crumb. Use them for sandwiches, dip into a mole or stew, or eat with a pat of vegan butter!
What is a bolillo?
Bolillo (pronounced bol-eeyo) is a crusty bread roll from Mexico where it's often used to make tortas or sandwiches. It's shaped like a football, tapered at the ends and bursting in the middle, with a golden crust and a soft, airy crumb.
In Mexico, bolillos are the most popular savory bread and they are sold on the streets or in bakeries - panaderias. Tradition has it that they are a remedy for fear. "Un bolillo para el susto," - a bolillo for the scare - and the fear vanishes!
The reduced fear factor is more due to the science of carbs than magic, but bolillos actually are a little bit magia. I've loved these chubby rolls since my first trip to Mexico where I often ate them for breakfast in open-faced sandwiches called molletes. My vegan molletes typically cradled refried beans and salsa - so delicious!
Back home, I quickly learned to recreate some of that magic in my own kitchen. I shared this bolillo recipe with you back in 2011 and I've not changed it a bit except to tweak the oven temperature. It makes fantastic bolillos - golden and crusty, with a buttery, airy crumb. Perfect to cut down the middle and stuff those sandwich fillings into, or to tear with your fingers and stuff in your mouth.
This is a simple bread recipe, very easy to make. If you know how to make bread, any bread but particularly French bread, you should have no difficulty at all making a bolillo. Bolillos are, in fact, just like little baguettes in flavor and texture, and in other Spanish speaking countries they go by the name "pan frances," or French bread.
Like French bread, bolillo dough needs just yeast, bread flour, salt and water. The dough rises fast- about an hour for the first rise and around 45 minutes for the second - so if you start making these bread rolls in the afternoon you can have them on the table well in time for dinner.
The rolls are also shaped like you would shape a French baguette - by flattening the dough and then rolling it up, pressing in the seams and tapering the ends. A clean slit down the middle with a sharp knife or bread lame after the rolls have risen and alla! Beautiful, puffy bolillo bread rolls no one will be able to stop eating!
I just made these tonight and they came out wonderful. I ate 4 of them right off the pan with just vegan butter. Delicious!
-Maria
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Recipe card
Bolillos Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
- 2 cups warm water
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 4 ½ cups bread flour (you might not need all of it)
- 1 teaspoon vegan butter (at room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Make bolillo dough
- Mix the sugar, water and yeast and set aside to make sure your yeast is active. It should froth and bubble within five minutes. You can skip activating the yeast if you are using instant yeast.
- Add the butter, salt and 3 cups of flour to the yeast water mixture. Mix by hand or in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook at a low setting (two on my KitchenAid).
- Add more flour, a little at a time, until the dough comes together. It should be smooth, not sticky. I needed nearly 1 ½ cups more (total 4½ cups) on a humid day. You might need more or less. Continue to knead the dough by hand or in a stand mixer on a low setting for eight minutes. You should have a really soft, smooth, very supple and beautiful dough at the end of it.
First rise
- Turn the dough out on a clean surface and form into a smooth ball. Spray a large bowl with oil. Place the dough in the bowl, turning over once to coat the top with oil.
- Cover the bowl with cling wrap or a tight lid and place in a warm spot (I put it in a cold oven with the light turned on) for about an hour or until it has doubled.
Shaping the rolls and second rise
- Remove the dough to a flat surface. Knead briefly, and then divide into nine equal pieces. Pull the sides of each piece of dough toward the center, then roll it to form a ball. Cover the balls of dough with a kitchen towel and let them relax for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, shape the rolls. Take a ball of dough, turn it upside down, and press with your fingers to form a four-inch disc. Begin rolling the dough over on itself, pressing the seams in with your fingers as you go.
- Seal in the final seam using your fingers or the heel of your hand.
- Roll the bolillo dough with your palms on the surface until it's about six inches long. Taper the edges as you roll. Place the roll, seam side down, on an unoiled baking sheet. Repeat with eight remaining balls of dough.
- Cover the rolls with a kitchen towel and set them in a warm spot to rise, 45 minutes to an hour.
Score and bake
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit/220 degrees Celsius and position a rack in the center of the oven. Before you begin preheating, place a baking pan filled with water on the bottom rack of the oven.
- Use a sharp knife or bread lame to make a vertical score in each role, going almost all the way from one tapered end to the other. The cut should be about ¼ inch deep.
- Place the bolillos on the middle rack and bake the rolls 27 minutes until golden brown. When you tap on the bottom of a roll, it should sound hollow-- that's how you know it's done.
- Remove the baking sheet to a rack and let the rolls cool before serving.
Notes
Nutrition Information
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Bolillos FAQs
Yes. If you have vital wheat gluten, mix two teaspoons into the all purpose flour for puffier bolillos.
Whole wheat flour will result in denser, chewier bolillos. If using whole wheat flour, add a tablespoon of vital wheat gluten along with the flour to improve the texture of the bread.
These bolillos have the perfect crust - golden and crunchy - because they bake in a steamy oven. A water bath placed in the oven before it is preheated creates the steam. For even crustier rolls, also spray some water directly on the rolls just after placing them in the oven.
Use the bolillos to make sandwiches with any of your favorite fillings, like tomatoes, avocados, vegan "egg" salad and vegan pesto. I top them with refried beans and tomato or mango salsa, just like I ate them in Mexico. When I have rolls left over, I warm them up in the oven and serve them with my Mexican black bean casserole or a hearty soup or stew, like Greek fasolada or vegan Irish chili.
First published Nov. 8, 2011. Updated and re-published on October 15, 2025.
Marisol says
Any tips for someone trying to make these gluten free?
Anonymous says
I would also like to know!
Vaishali says
Sorry, guys, I haven't tried a gluten-free version but I will try and come up with one. I do have a bunch of other gf breads on the blog so be sure to check those out.
MARIA says
I just made these tonight and they came out wonderful. I ate 4 of them right off the pan with just vegan butter. Delicious!
Vaishali says
😀 Sounds exactly like what I'd do. So happy you enjoyed them Maria!