Look no further for the best gluten-free rolls recipe. These fluffy, airy, soft dinner rolls not only have a superior texture, but are easy to make, and ready to serve in one hour! Learn the secret trick to making the best gluten-free yeast rolls ever.
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Best Recipe for Gluten-Free Dinner Rolls
Making soft gluten-free rolls has earned a special place in my GF bread Hall of Fame (right up there rivaling copycat Olive Garden gluten-free breadsticks). Not only were there delectable oohs and ahhs from me, enjoying these buttery, golden pillows, but my non-gluten-free family couldn’t stop singing the praises as well!
These easy gluten-free yeast rolls meet an unprecedented taste and texture standard, similar to this 5-Star viral gluten-free bread recipe. To meet that level, it had to incorporate all these criteria:
- Easy to make! It mixes together in one bowl, has one short rise, and bake.
- Simple ingredients I have stocked and ready at all times
- Quick and effortless – No one wants to spend all day making yeast rolls. These are ready to enjoy in one hour.
- Most important – Tastes BETTER than any gluten-free roll recipe out there. Seriously.
These homemade rolls have not only won me over, but have earned hundreds of raving reviews and testimonials across the website and Pinterest. They are going up there with one my proudest moments of creating gluten-free bread recipes that fool the toughest critic. 😎
My daughter was diagnosed with Celiac a year ago, and I have been attempting to make edible gluten-free bread for this entire year. As an experienced baker, it has been humbling to see (and taste…blech) the abject failures I have created during this time. Then I discovered this recipe, and EUREKA!!! Everyone at the table raved–even the gluten eaters! We couldn’t believe how spongy and delicious these rolls were! The texture was just like regular bread, and for the first time, there was no gritty aftermath. Just wonderful, comforting bread.
—Kate
These were absolutely amazing. My little family loved them and they were super easy to make. I have tried tons of different recipes from lots of the other popular gluten free websites and these were by far the softest and fluffiest rolls I’ve made.
—Lisa
Free Guide! 5 easy tips for baking like a gluten-free pro!
Simple hacks for fail-proof gluten-free dishes every time!
Ingredient Tid Bits
- Gluten-free flour – Using a good gluten free flour makes or breaks the quality of dinner rolls. Cup4Cup gluten-free flour is what I recommend in my GF cookbook and for for all my baking.
- Potato Starch (not flour) – Secret ingredient to making rolls soft and fluffy. Instead of relying on additional flour to structure the dough, I substituted another gluten-free starch. Use for best results, but tapioca starch or additional GF flour may be substituted.
- Psyllium Husk Powder – Helps maintain moisture and prevents the rolls from becoming crumbly. It also mimics gluten, allowing pull-apart rolls to be shaped. I recommended the linked brand because it will keep the rolls light colored instead of dark or even purple. Weird, I know…
- Instant (Rapid Rise) Yeast – I would suggest buying this is bulk and storing in your refrigerator. It doesn’t require mixing with warm liquids to proof and can be mixed right into dry ingredients.
- Butter – Melted butter flavors the dough and is brushed on before and after baking. I typically buy unsalted butter, so I add salt to the butter before brushing.
- Milk – Used to elevate taste, especially when mixed with butter and salt. For dairy-free dinner rolls, substitute non-dairy milk, such as almond or soy milk.
Let’s Make This Together!
(Below shows step-by-step photos and modified instructions. For the complete recipe, along with ingredient amounts, scroll down to the recipe card.)
How a roux (AKA tangzhong) changes everything!
Since GF flours do not absorb liquids as well, the roux helps pre-saturate some of the flour, helping absorb more liquid. This makes the texture soft and fluffy, rather than dense and gummy.
Even though the word sounds fancy, it’s easy to make. Combine 2 tablespoons flour with milk and water in a small saucepan. Whisk constantly over medium heat, until a trail separation appears at the bottom of the pan. That’s it. It takes a minute of your life.
Mixing the dough
Now we just dump everything in and mix. First, add the dry ingredients to the bowl. Use a paddle attachment to combine. Follow up with the wet ingredients – the slightly cooled roux, warm milk, egg, and melted butter. Mix on low speed to combine, then increase speed and beat for 5 minutes, stopping to scrape down the bowl once or twice. The dough will be stiff, but still sticky.
Time to shape the rolls
This is where rolls made with gluten-free flour have a massive advantage! They are really easy to shape. If you want to get technical about it, you could portion out the dough into 2 ounce portions using a food scale with a greased piece of plastic wrap on top. However, I just spray a 1/4 measuring cup with non-stick spray and scoop out slightly less than the cup size.
Quick shape and rise
Take the scooped dough and dump it out onto slightly greased hands. Smooth into a ball and then place in a greased 8X8-inch baking pan.
The rolls only need 30 minutes to rise because first they are placed in a slightly warmed oven for 10 minutes, then taken out to rise at room temp for 20 minutes while the oven preheats. Also, the baking powder in the recipe helps give them a nice loftiness while baking.
The pictures below show what they will look like before rising and after. Brush them with salted butter (Parker house rolls vibes!) and then more when they come out. Enjoy the most seriously heavenly GF recipe ever!
Trick To Shaping GF Yeast Rolls
When making gluten-free rolls, there is a balance between adding enough GF flour blend to make the dough elastic and easy to shape, yet still a yield fluffy, airy texture.
As to not toughen crumb, I add less flour than other gluten free dinner rolls recipe and rely on nonstick cooking spray and a measuring cup to shape the buns. This is similar to the technique used in some of my most popular recipes, like gluten-free hamburger buns and these soft gluten-free slider buns.
Spray a measuring cup liberally with cooking spray, along with your hands. Scoop out a little less than 1/4 cup, which yields about a 2 ounce dough portion. Dump the dough into greased hands and roll into a smooth ball.
Alternatively, use a greased silicone baking mat or parchment paper to dump the dough onto, flatten, then pinch up into a ball. Smooth the top and place pinched ends down in a greased baking pan.
Which GF All Purpose Flour Works Best?
I had already rigorously tested the best-performing gluten-free flour blend through many baking and bread recipes. Therefore, when making dinner rolls I reached for my preferred brand, Cup4Cup.
As far as taste, Cup4Cup was the clear winner. There was nothing “gluten free” tasting about the bread. It was soft, squishy, and slightly sweet. (By the way, it works with their new formula too.)
Although a lot of gluten-free bakers work with Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 GF Flour, I find it to have an unpleasing aftertaste and a denser crumb. If you are wondering about another brand, read through the comments below and see what others have used. This recipe has had success across a variety of brands!
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Did you make this recipe? I love hearing from you! Leave a star rating and comment below the recipe card. It helps others when searching for recipes and I appreciate feedback from our community. You will always hear back from me! -Melissa
Squishy Soft Gluten-Free Rolls Recipe (1 Hour)
Ingredients
Roux
- 2 tablespoons (18 g) gluten free all purpose flour, I recommend Cup4Cup brand
- 3 tablespoons (45 g) water
- 3 tablespoons (45 g) milk
Rolls
- 1 ½ cups (214 g) gluten free all purpose flour, Cup4Cup gluten free flour highly recommended – see recipe notes for optional milk powder addition
- 3 tablespoons (31 g) potato starch
- 3 tablespoons (38 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon (11 g) psyllium husk powder, (what is psyllium husk?)
- 1 packet (7 g) (2 ¼ tsp) instant rapid rise yeast, see recipe notes for active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup (184 g) warm milk (110°F), microwaved for 30-45 seconds
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons (28 g) melted butter, slightly cooled
Instructions
- Before you begin making the roux, turn oven to 200ºF. Start to make the roux, but turn it off once it reaches temperature. This will serve as an extra warm place for the rolls to initially rise. Grease a 8X8-inch baking pan. Set aside.2 tablespoons gluten free all purpose flour, 3 tablespoons water, 3 tablespoons milk
- As the oven is preheats, make the roux. Combine 2 tablespoons flour with milk and water in a small saucepan. Whisk constantly over medium heat, until a trail separation appears at the bottom of the pan. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl of a stand mixer, combine the GF flour, potato starch, sugar, psyllium, yeast, baking powder and salt using a paddle attachment on low speed.1 ½ cups gluten free all purpose flour, 3 tablespoons potato starch, 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon psyllium husk powder, 1 packet (2 ¼ tsp) instant rapid rise yeast, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt
- Add the warm milk, egg, melted butter, and roux. Combine on low speed until well blended. Increase to high speed and beat for 5 minutes, stopping to scrape down the bowl once or twice. The dough will be stiff, but still sticky.¾ cup warm milk (110°F), 1 large egg, 2 tablespoons melted butter
- Grease a silicone baking mat or parchment paper with cooking spray. Liberally spray ¼ measuring cup with cooking spray, along with your hands. Scoop out a little less than ¼ cup, which yields about a 2 ounce dough portion. Dump the dough onto greased hands and roll into a smooth ball. Alternatively, dump the dough onto the baking mat, flatten with fingers, then pinch up into a ball. Smooth the top and place pinched ends down in prepared baking pan.
- Cover with plastic wrap and place in the warmed, turned off oven for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and let sit at room temperature for 20 more minutes while the oven preheats to 350°F.
- Melt the additional 2 tablespoons butter with salt. Remove the plastic and gently brush the tops with the salted butter mixture. Reserve the remaining butter for after baking.2 tablespoons butter, ¼ teaspoon salt
- Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until tops are lightly browned and internal temp measured with an instant read thermometer reaches 195-200ºF. Immediately brush tops with remaining butter and serve warm.
Notes
Adding Milk Powder
This is a new addition to the recipe, so it’s completely optional, but adds moisture to the bread. Recently Cup4Cup removed milk powder from their formulation, so now I remove 1 ½ tablespoons GF flour and replace it with 1 ½ tablespoons gluten-free certified milk powder. You can do this with any GF flour blend, it doesn’t have to be C4C.Important Note About Serving
If pulling from the freezer and serving at room temp, thoroughly defrost the rolls first. If they are chilled slightly they will become crumbly when eating. For best taste and texture, warm slightly in the microwave before enjoying again!Using Active Dry Yeast
If you only have active dry yeast on hand, activate it by mixing in the warm milk (110ºF) and letting it sit for 5 minutes before adding to the dry ingredients.Dairy-free modification
You will need to make substitutions for the milk and butter. Substitute non-dairy milk, such as almond or soy milk. For the butter, use plant-based vegan butter. Since dairy-free butter contains more salt, cut the amount of salt in the dough and used for brushing in half.Expert tips to remember
- If you forget to warm the eggs to room temperature, place the whole egg in a bowl of hot water for 5 minutes.
- To make a double recipe, double all the ingredients and place the dough balls in a 9X13-inch pan to rise.
- An instant read thermometer is helpful for measuring the correct temp of the milk to activate yeast and take out the guesswork of when the rolls are done. The interior should ready 195-200ºF when ready to be pulled from the oven.
Serving, storing, and freezing tips
They may be wrapped tightly and left at room temperature up to 24 hours, but will lose optimal taste and texture quickly. For best results, freeze rolls after they completely cooled (at least 2 hours). Pull from the freezer to defrost at room temperature.This post contains affiliate links. My opinions are always my own. If you purchase a product through an affiliate link, I make a small commission – at no cost to you. Read full disclosure policy here.
I really love this recipe, so I decided to double it when making it the second time. The grams for the flour stayed at 214 g when choosing x2. It shows the change from 1 1/2 cups of flour to 3 cups. I didn’t realize it until it was too late. Is there any way that can be corrected on the website? I will definitely try again!
Ugh, I’m so sorry, Linda! I’m actively trying to rectify this right now. I think I’ve figured out the issue, but it will take me a week or two to get all the recipes fixed. My sincere apologies for any wasted ingredients and time.
Best,
Melissa
You call for instant rapid rise yeast, and I have instant dry yeast. Google says these are similar but different. Do you know if it will cause any changes?
Hi Danielle,
It’s the same thing so you are all good!
Best,
Melissa
I love all of your recipes!!! They are amazing! My daughter was was 10 when diagnosed celiac in March of 2025 and has been missing all of favorites as she is a bread, pasta, and pizza lover. Your recipes have hit the mark EVERY SINGLE TIME. I made a handful of different roll recipes before thanksgiving trying to find the right one for her and yours were by far the best! Last weekend we had a birthday dinner party and we said we would bring rolls because there were several people who were gluten free but also dairy free, so I tried the substitutions to be dairy free and they were still amazing!!! I made a 4x batch and there wasn’t a single roll left over and everyone was raving about them. I use the Namaste allergen and gluten free flour from Costco. It is quite a bit denser so I go by weight on the scale not cup sizes or I would go way over the weight. Thank you so much for sharing your recipes!
Wow, thank you so much for this, Katie. This makes me immensely happy. And I really appreciate when readers write in what flours they used. It’s impossible for me to test them all with the recipes. There are so many options out there and they all are made up of different starches, so your feedback is so helpful!
Best,
Melissa
Has anyone tried using GF sourdough starter in this recipe?
Hi Linda,
I personally haven’t tried it, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Getting my sourdough started this week so I can start experimenting with this!
Best,
Melissa
I had forgotten what dinner rolls tasted like!
These were amazing and I’m already looking forward to making them again.
My husband, who can and does eat gluten all the time, loved them also.
Love hearing this, Rose! Thank you for sharing.
Best,
Melissa
Total flop. Measured everything precisely in grams. Batter was so wet and sloppy – the mixture all moulded together, then sunk after baking even though internal temperature was as per recipe. End up with a dense square loaf
Hi Sally,
I’m so sorry to hear the recipe was not a success for you. If the batter was wet it definitely sounds like something went wrong with ingredient amounts. Which GF flour blend did you use?
Best,
Melissa
So easy to make and tastes fantastic. Great texture too
Thank you, Patricia!
Best,
Melissa
I have tried several of dinner roll recipes in the past year. This one is tastier and easier. It is now my go to dinner roll recipe. Yummy!
Thank you so much for letting me know, Susan! I appreciate it!
Best,
Melissa
I’ve made these several times and they are amazing! My husband prefers these over gluten rolls.
I was wondering, can the dough be frozen before baking? Would that be before or after proofing? I want to cook them on vacation, but will only have access to the oven.
Hi Danielle,
I’ve tried this before and they are OK this way, but not as great as proofing and rising. I would bake them, cool completely, wrap and freeze. Then on vacation I would thaw, cover with foil and rewarm in the oven for about 10 minutes in a 325 oven.
Best,
Melissa
How come the weight measurements don’t change when you increase the number of rolls but the cup measurements do???
Gluten free baking works best when you use weights! If someone isn’t paying attention they would not make them correctly!!
Ugh, I know. This is something I have been struggling with. I like to manually put in the weights because I don’t trust the automated conversions. But then if you use the auto scaler it doesn’t convert. I can turn off the auto scaler, but sometimes I like to use that feature. Any thoughts?
Best,
Melissa
That’s frustrating, you’d think they’d make a converter that does both.
Maybe a disclaimer at the top of the recipes saying that the weight measurements won’t change if you increase or decrease the recipe size?
At least that way people will have a heads up and can do some quick math before they start?
Yes, I think that’s a great idea. I will make a note to do that!
Best,
Melissa
I am a GF novice, but have a GF daughter-in-law we cook for a few times a year. We wanted to test your recipe before making it at Christmas. It couldn’t have been easier, and the rolls were tasty.
The only question I have is mine turned out “not white.” My pre-baked dough looked like yours. But the finished product looked more like a whole wheat color. We used Bob’s 1 for 1 because that’s what we had. And I substituted corn starch for potato starch because that’s what we had.
Any thoughts? Thanks for the easy yummy recipe!
Hi Scott,
Oh, I’m so glad! That is always a goal of mine – to make gluten-free baking accessible to everyone. 🙂 It sounds like the color came from the psyllium husk powder. The one linked in the recipe card is the one I prefer. Unfortunately most brands are a darker color, and even though you use such a small amount, it will turn baked goods dark, almost purplish. It doesn’t affect the taste, but it is a little weird. Hope this helps and you find many more successes here!
Best,
Melissa
Easy to make, easy to use large scoop to place in pan, baked up great with a bready texture you don’t normally see with GF. Great addition to Thanksgiving. Excited to try other recipes by this poster.
Thanks, Sarah! I’m glad you’re here!
Best,
Melissa
Made these for Thanksgiving and they were GREAT! The taste was wonderful, and the smell when they were baking… Oh my. Heaven!
The only issue I had was they were just a little (and only a little!) denser than I think they should’ve been. But I think if I had let them rise a bit longer than what was called for, everything would’ve been perfect! And if these hadn’t been the last item on the menu keeping us from a long awaited dinner, I would’ve taken the extra time, haha. Either way, I highly recommend! It’s so hard to find good GF yeast rolls!!
Hi Em,
So glad you enjoyed them! Yep, you can try a couple things next time. I’m not sure what GF flour you used, but if it wasn’t Cup4Cup, perhaps that blend was a little heavier and you can cut back 2-3 tablespoons. But, yes, letting them rise longer would help them get more loft too. If you didn’t do the milk powder option listed in the recipe notes, that might be a good thing to try next time too!
Best,
Melissa
Everyone raved about these rolls! They were very surprised to have a gluten free roll taste so delicious. These will be a staple at our house now.
Love hearing this! Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know.
Best,
Melissa
Thank you so much! This is the best bread product I’ve had in five years.
I substituted the potato starch for tapioca starch, since I wasn’t able to get any before Thanksgiving (: it worked beautifully.
So happy to hear, Eliza! This makes me immensely happy.
Best,
Melissa
If I made these in the morning and let them rise in the fridge for a few hours instead of the 20 minutes in a warm place, do you think they would turn out ok? Wanting to bake them fresh for Thanksgiving supper, but the kitchen will be too busy for making them at that time.
Hi Jamie,
Are you asking if they can stay in the fridge overnight until Thanksgiving tomorrow? I haven’t tried letting them rise overnight, but if you do have them in the fridge I would let them sit out long enough they come to room temp before baking. Let me know how it works out!
Best,
Melissa
I made a test batch before Thanksgiving and these were delicious. I used Kings Arthur bread flour. Mine took a little longer to rise than the recipe called for. It was such a treat to have fresh baked rolls again! Thank you!
You’re so welcome, Theresa! Happy Thanksgiving!
Best,
Melissa
I was planning to make these for Thanksgiving, then my oven died. We have a toaster oven though, would it be possible to make these in that? Are there any adjustments to time or temperature?
This is the fourth yeast roll recipe I’ve tried this year and it will be the last! It is absolutely perfect. My family has requested it over and over again since I first made it 2 weeks ago. I use the active dry yeast method with substituting more flour in the place of potato starch. Thank you so much!!!!
Amazing, Alexandria! This makes me so happy to hear. My non-GF family loves these rolls as well. You should try my Hawaiian rolls version of this recipe next!
Best,
Melissa
Let me start off by saying I have been gluten free for about 12 years so I have a lot of experience cooking and baking gf. I say that because with this recipe I finally found a recipe that worked out how I have only imagined it could be one day. I made this recipe for the first time a few days ago. I already had King Arthur’s flour so I used it. I used it to make cabbage burgers (dough stuffed with fried burger, cabbage and onion). I have tried so many and this is the first one that actually worked out and was soft and pillowy and chewy. For once I didn’t take off half the bread and leave it on the plate because it was too dry or tough. Because of what I was making, I used parchment paper and greased the parchment paper and then also made sure my hands were greased as well.
This is a recipe that I will 100% use going forward. I am so excited to make rolls for the holidays. I am going to swing for Cup for Cup to see what the difference is. It is hard to imagine it can be better than what already is, but I can’t wait to find out.
Thank you for a great recipe and one that isn’t time consuming! Even my non-gf eating family thought these were great. So glad I found you on YouTube! Can’t wait to try your other recipes.
Jennifer! Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed and thoughtful comment. I’m so glad you found my YouTube channel and this recipe – it’s good to have you here!
Best,
Melissa
I don’t have Psyllium Husk Powder, is there a substitute for this?
Hello,
You can try just leaving it out. The rolls will be a little softer and stickier when shaping, so you will have to have well greased hands. Some readers have swapped out ground flaxseed for the psyllium too.
Best,
Melissa
These were so delicious! Thank you!! I read the directions ‘wrong’ and made smaller rolls, but they are just delicious and the texture was amazing, just as you said!! Can’t wait to make them for Thanksgiving!!
Lovely to hear, KayCee. We all mistakes! I’m glad they still turned out delicious for you.
Best,
Melissa
When you freeze the whole batch of rolls do you leave them in the glass pan or do you take them out and wrap them individually before freezing.
Hi Kay,
I’ve done both (it depends if I need the pan or not). If you want to reheat the whole pan, i would use a spatula to lift out the whole pan of rolls and let them cool on a wire rack. Wrap well before freezing. Then transfer them back to the pan to reheat. I’ll wrap individual ones if I want rolls for grab and go, like if my gluten family is having soup and I want a gluten free roll for myself.
Best,
Melissa
I’ve tried several other GF roll recipes with no success, but I’m very eager to try these for Thanksgiving this year (I’ve already ordered the Psyllium powder), because your tips and tricks sound amazing! I have a couple of questions, though, if you don’t mind. One, the recipe calls for “1 packet of yeast”, which you noted would be 9g, but all the yeast packets I can find are only 7g. Would that be enough? Or do I need to get a bottled version and measure it out? Would the teaspoons be just as accurate as the grams? And two, which isn’t as important, but I’m curious, have you tried this recipe with the Pillsbury GF All Purpose Flour Blend? I plan to buy the Cup4Cup, but I already have quite a bit of the Pillsbury on hand, so I was just wondering if it would work, too.
Thanks in advance!
Hello!
I’d be happy to help. I buy yeast in bulk and that is the measurement I got, but the packet would be perfectly fine. Don’t worry about wasting another packet to get 9g. I have not tested the recipe with Pillsbury, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. My only suggestion would be to use the picture and word clues for how the dough should look and feel. Different GF flour blends absorb moisture at different rates and some end up with a drier or wetter dough. I would hold back some of the liquid and add it in until you get the desired dough. If you’ve add in all the liquid and the dough is still stiff, add a touch more until it loosens up. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Best,
Melissa
Any adjustments for 4500 elevation ? Want to make these for Thanksgiving
I don’t bake at higher elevations, but I would set the oven to 360℉ and add an extra tablespoon or two of milk to the recipe. Hope this helps!
Best,
Melissa
New to gluten-free plus dairy and egg free. I’ve tried 6 different recipes and all were terrible terrible fails. Just made these and they are perfect! I used cup4cup, Bob’s Red Mill egg replacer, almond milk and dairy free butter. I did sub the potato starch with potato flakes(16g) since I didn’t have potato starch. I think next time I’ll try a little more to see how they do. I was nervous to add to much in fear they would absorb too much moisture. I will need to find a different psyllium husk the rolls may have been a bit purple LOL I don’t mind since this is the first batch of rolls I can enjoy!!
Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Love reading this, Morgan! Thanks for taking the time to share your experience.
Best,
Melissa