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.
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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
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Crusty Sourdough Dinner Rolls, No Knead, No Added Yeast
Crusty Sourdough Dinner Rolls, no-knead and no added yeast
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups bread flour
- 1 1/4 cups warm, filtered or distilled water
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 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 degrees 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.
Notes
Nutrition
Honestly I do t leave reviews often but I just got starting using a starter and these were my first shot at Rolls. I am on batch 3 and they are fantastic. I make a few modifications
First I tried the two temp recommendation and found the regular 425 for 25-30 min to be spot on with a pan of water underneath
This is what I changed
For me the rolls were way too sticky and hard to handle so I add 520 G of flour. I use 3% (15.6 g) salt as I felt like they were missing some flavor.
I also make these at night. Prove in the fridge and then before I go to work I get the dough out of the fridge so they are ready to rise and bake when I get home. Find the schedule that’s right for you. 8hrs on the counter is great and 2-3 on the baking sheet is perfect. I also found a razor blade the way to go on scoring them.
Thank you very much for this recipe it truly is awesome
I just baked these this morning after proofing overnight and I am sooooooo pleased with how they came out! I made 8 rolls rather than the 12 because I’m using some for meatball sandwiches tonight. I took another commenter’s suggestion to turn the oven temp down to 375° halfway through baking. 10 mins at 425° then another ~11 mins at 375°. I could have probably baked for another 1-2 minutes but I was afraid of the crust getting too hard. I also had a pan of water in the oven on the lower rack. I got a tiny bit of splitting on the bottoms of my rolls but I think this was due to my scoring not being deep enough on top. 10/10 will bake these again!
Also, for reference I used AP flour and a 100% hydration starter and didn’t need to adjust the original recipe. Only added a very small dusting of flour when shaping the rolls.
I also made 8, using the same method, but found they weren’t big enough to make full-sized sandwiches. Still tasty, though!
I bake alot and also can’t find bread flour anymore, but I did find a huge bag of vital gluten at a reasonable price on Amazon. You can add a tbs of that for every 2-3 cups of AP flour and make your own bread flour. If you end up with a 4lb bag like me, you can also try your hand at making seitan from the gluten.
Started these last night and baked this morning. When I ‘formed’ the rolls this morning and I was really worried because the dough was very sticky – I had to really flour my hands well to make the rolls. Followed comments about placing pan in oven and adding water for steam, lowered the oven temperature to 375 after 15 minutes because I thought they were browning to quickly.
They are beautiful and delicious! Thank you for this recipe! I wanted to add a photo but don’t see how 🙂
I use a 100% hydration starter and can see from your page link that you do not. I am new enough to bread baking that the idea of adjusting how much water or flour to your recipe in order to achieve the same result is daunting, Plus, I suck at math. I’d really appreciate your helping me with the adjustments. I did see on a bread forum that someone with a 100% hydration starter consistently uses your exact recipe, but I’d like to give myself the best chance at success and ask for help directly. We use my starter discard often, the starter itself less often in an effort to bake a variety of breads, so a roll recipe that isn’t a yeasted, enriched dough would be great. Thank you. Stay safe.
I am wondering. Is there any sweetener in this recipe? Or did you forget to add it? Thanks
No.
Can you use all purpose flour instead of bread flour?
what is the purpse of sugar in your reciepes ? And what would happen if you left it our or used less.
I am enjoying you web-site and all the sourdough receipes.. .
Thanks
Hi there, can I use wholemeal flour? And my starter was with different recipe, how do I workout what sort of adjustments to make? My starter is 50gm rye 50gm wholemeal wheat flour and 50gm steerer with 100gm of water.. I’m turning to figure out what adjustments should I make to enjoy these yummy buns.. Thx 😊
Can they be frozen? If so, from freezer to oven for hot rolls to serve.
After mixing the ingredients, how long can the first rise last. Is 8 hours best or can it go for 12? Just trying to find the best option. My starter has been cooking a few weeks and I want to give this a try!
Eight is best. For longer rises refrigerate.
These looks great! How large are they? Are they big enough to slice in half and use for a hamburger bun?
They aren’t as big as hamburger buns. You can try this soft sourdough rolls recipe for that: https://holycowvegan.net/soft-sourdough-rolls/
Hi its not my first time doing it and it is delicious we all love it!!!! Can I freeze it after baked??
Hi! I’ve made your no knead sourdough bread and it is so yummy! I want to make these rolls and wondered if I could freeze the dough after the overnight rise and do the 2 hour rise when thawed and ready to bake at a later date?
Thank you!
Yes, that’s fine!
Thanks Lorrie I will try these buns
Hi! I’m a newbie to bake with starter. Thanks for sharing your recipes, my question is if I can use all purpose flour instead of bread flour (since I can’t find at stores yet) thanks!
Yes!
Thank you so much for replying!! I’ll go ahead and give it a try.😊
I bake alot and also can’t find bread flour anymore, but I did find a huge bag of vital gluten at a reasonable price on Amazon. You can add a tbs of that for every 2-3 cups of AP flour and make your own bread flour. If you end up with a 4lb bag like me, you can also try your hand at making seitan from the gluten.