These Crusty Sourdough Dinner Rolls are amazing. They are perfectly crusty without being tough, and the crumb is soft and fluffy. Best of all, they are no-knead! Tear one apart to dunk into soup or stew, or use it to cradle a veggie burger. Or just slather on some vegan butter and take a bite. A vegan, soy-free and nut-free recipe.
My sourdough starter had been sitting for a while in the refrigerator because it's been crazy-busy at work these past few weeks, and I have had no time to bake bread. So when I pulled the starter out to take a look at it this week I was a little worried. It was rather dry, but otherwise looked okay.
Warm weather is a good time to get anything yeasted going, and once I'd poured some distilled water into the dry starter and gotten it back to workable consistency, I was pretty confident that the unfed starter would make some great, crusty sourdough dinner rolls.
These sourdough dinner rolls are incredibly simple: you need three ingredients, really -- salt, sourdough, and flour. And since sourdough is just flour and water, make that two ingredients. There is an overnight rise involved, so that you get amazingly flavorful rolls, but other than that you don't need to do much work or any heavy-duty kneading. Mix your ingredients, punch down the dough and shape after the first rise, and bake after the second rise. Easy peasy.
There is no need to add any yeast to this recipe. The yeast in the sourdough is quite enough, thank you. Be careful when you score the rolls after the second rise-- this is the only part of this recipe that requires some care, or you could deflate your rolls. I use a serrated knife and I've seen others use razor blades. Whatever you use, make sure it is sharp.
On to the Crusty Sourdough Dinner Rolls now. If you make them, be sure to let me know.
Looking for more vegan sourdough recipes made with a sourdough starter?
- No-knead Sourdough Bread
- The Best Sourdough Sandwich Bread, no yeast
- Vegan Sourdough Biscuits
- Vegan Sourdough English Muffins
Crusty Sourdough Dinner Rolls, No Knead, No Added Yeast
Crusty Sourdough Dinner Rolls, no-knead and no added yeast
Ingredients
- 3 ½ cups bread flour
- 1 ¼ cups warm filtered or distilled water
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup sourdough starter (made using my recipe-- link below. If using sourdough with a different hydration, you will need to adjust the amount of water)
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients in a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix until a consistent dough forms.
- Cover with cling wrap or a tight lid and let it stand overnight on the countertop, if warm, or in a cold oven with the light on.
- In the morning, punch down the dough and shape the dough into 12 equal-sized balls. Use flour on your palms to roll, if the dough feels sticky. Place the rolls 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Sprinkle some flour on top of the rolls, cover with a kitchen towel, and set aside to rise for 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 425° F.
- When the rolls have risen, score the top of each roll using a sharp knife. Make the cut fast, to prevent the roll from deflating. Scoring gives the gases that form in the bread escape while baking and helps the rolls rise.
- Place the rolls in the hot oven and bake 25-28 minutes or until the rolls are a light golden-brown. Remove from the oven and continue cooling on a rack.
Recipe notes
Nutrition
Love these crusty sourdough rolls? Check out more vegan sourdough bread recipes on Holy Cow!
Cristine
These look amazing! I assume you use unfed starter since you did not state otherwise. and should the starter be room temperature or okay cold from the refrigerator? thank you
Rebekah
So easy and delicious! I sprayed the top with avocado oil and sprinkled everything but the bagel seasoning on them. Most of the seasonings came off when you picked them up. I’ll figure it how to keep the seasonings on. Also, next time I’ll make 16 rolls. The bigger ones didn’t stay in nice balls but the smaller ones were perfect.
Vaishali
Love that you used the bagel seasoning. Sounds delicious!
Bryan
I have a 100% hydration rye flour based starter I used to make this recipe. Its the first time I have made bread using "cups" as the measure...I had always weighed things to the gram. I noticed while the ingredients were mixing in my stand mixer that it seemed too dry. I ended up having to add more water (maybe 1/8 cup total?) to get all the flour combined into a ball. It all worked out to produce great rolls! Much easier than breaking out the big heavy cast iron dutch oven to make a single boule.
Sharon B
First time making these and very pleased with how they came out. A bit tricky working with sticky dough and they seemed flatish after the second rise. However, they puffed up beautifully in the oven.
Rebekah
I do think the amount of starter is more than needed. I doubled this recipe but kept the amount of starter at 3/4 cup (and next time will actually drop it down to 2/3 cup) and let it bulk ferment overnight and it was perfect. I do love how easy this recipe was, the dough consistency was easy to work with, the flavour is great, and it was quick to roll up the buns even with 24 of them. I’ll definitely be saving this recipe for another time!
Merber
Made these this evening. Kts hot here, so made the dough this morning and baked this evening (shaped from 7, baked at 8.45). They weren't very big and very crusty. Tasted amazing though. Much easier than doing a loaf so will definitely bake again.
Maria
Hi, Vaishali! Can seeds be added to the dough? When would you recommend doing so, when mixing everything? How much? 10% of the dough weight? I was thinking sunflower and pumpkin, would they work?
Vaishali
Hi Maria, sure, seeds would be great. Brush on some water just before putting the rolls in the oven and add the seeds.
Anne Laloge
I’m having trouble forming my rolls; they seem round but end up misshapen when baked. Any thoughts?
Vaishali
Hi Anne, perhaps there's too much moisture in the dough. You might try reducing it.
Renee
I put sesame, poppy, onion garlic and salt (everything sprinkles) on mine .. smells divine while cooking.
Eboni
I'm making the rolls for Thanksgiving dinner. And a significant portion of my family is vegan. So I am making a vegan version as well. But I want to make them the day before so I don't have to do all of this at dinner. Will these freeze well and reheat well?
Vaishali
If you are making them a day before keep in fridge and reheat.
Chay
Hi! I made the dough now but just unsure the grams to cups isn’t matching up. Which one should I do? 3 and half cups of flour and the 437 grams came out to much more then the 3 and half cups.
Vaishali
Hi Chay, I've noticed that flour from different brands can have different weights. It was a while back but I think I used King Arthur flour for this. Just proceed with 3 1/2 cups of whatever flour you're using.
Arlo
This sounds like a great recipe. Just what I need. You mention that the hydration of the starter should be that of your linked starter recipe. However, those measurements are by volume so it’s hard to determine the hydration level. What starter hydration should I use in this recipe? Thanks!
Jane
Has anyone substituted whole wheat flour for the bread flour? If so do need to change the amount?
James
I did. The rolls came out quite dense and heavy. I think I'll try 50/50 next time and see how they come out.
Hannah Pals
I don't understand the suggested timing assuming I'm making these for dinner. So I'll make the dough and let rise over night. Then if I'm to separate into balls in the morning and proof for 2hr, then I'm about 6hr ahead of my preferred baking time. Mind helping?
Deb
Make the dough early in the morning instead of the night before, then about 3 hours before dinner shape and proof the rolls.
Johanna Bott
Hi,
This is my first time making this recipe and I plan on making it for thanksgiving. We are eating at 1 PM. So my question is, will it be too long to wait and cook the Rolls at noon instead of in the morning?
Vaishali
Hi, yes don’t overproof the rolls. You can reheat them before serving.
Jeb
Or put them in the fridge to slow the rise, that works great, too. They can go in the oven cold, or if they don’t appear to have risen enough, take them out of the fridge an hour or so before baking.
Jennifer
Made these for a work chili cookoff--they were a big hit! I made 2 dozen thinking that would be plenty, and they were gone before the first hour was up. I'm thinking next year I'll have to make 4 dozen, but I'm wondering if the amount of sourdough starter can be reduced and given a longer proofing time instead? 3 cups of sourdough is quite a bit 😉 My starter is also 50% hydration, but I used AP flour so the dough hydration was just fine.
Stephanie
Have been trying different sourdough recipes and this one is probably one of the easiest! No drawn-out kneading or meticulous measuring. Followed the instructions exactly, got good dough rise. Recipe makes 12 medium-large rolls that look professionally made (especially if you score them as instructed). I baked for 25 min and they were perfect.
Vaishali
Hi Stephanie, so happy you loved the recipe. Thanks for the feedback.
Salome
I tried the recipe but had to add a bit more flour the douhg was very sticky. It turned out good, but a bit too sour and not fluffy enough. Could I use less starter? Mine were pretty flat, how do they keep the nice shape. I let them rise for 6 hours, it was fairly warm. Any tips how I can improve?
Vaishali
Hi Salome, it sounds like your dough might have overproofed, which gave it the sourness and deflated the rise. Try feeding the sourdough about six to eight hours before you make the dough and don't let it rise as long if it's warm where you live.
Salome
Thank you so much, I will try that, I will watch the rise better, that helps.
BevThorn
My first batch was kind of wet and a little flat, but very flavor full, I read other comments and tips and proofed the next batch in fridge over night.they were perfect round rolls, but not as flavorful. If I have to choose, I’ll go with the flatter and more flavorful,I. The sour dough sense!
Coral
Hi,
Thanks for the recipe. It turned out great. I loved the fact it does not require kneading.
I used 420g flour of bread flour and 3/4 (approx 178g) starter.
It was a very sticky dough after the first proof, and find it slightly difficult to shape it (tired not get rid of air in the dough) I used about 1/4 cup of flour to flour the surface of the board before transferring the dough to board. Any recommendations:
1. how to shape individual rolls?
2. How to divided/ cut up into individual pieces?
3. In your instructions you mentioned rolling the dough, what exactly did you mean? Rolling it flat?
Thank you.
Vaishali
Hi, happy you loved them. The dough will be a bit sticky--that's what makes the rolls so airy, the high hydration. It is fine to add more flour to help shape the rolls. Apply some flour to your palms which should make it easier. I don't think I mentioned rolling the dough anywhere, so not clear what you are referring to.
Sharon
Same thing happened to me. After the overnight proofing like less than 8 hrs it turned into a sourdough starter like. So i cant roll as its so liquidy. Instead of rolls i transferred it into 2 loaf pan. Added dried cranberries and pine nuts. So still in the 2nd proofing. Lets see if its good later.
Leipuri
Too warm in your kitchen! These might be better if kept in the fridge overnight.