If you've got an air fryer you know it's great for fries and nuggets but if you're not using it for more you're missing out!
Jump to:
❤️ Why I love this recipe
- Great if your oven's full, broken, or you don't have use of one
- Way better than frozen yeast rolls and almost as simple... almost...
- Perfect side for everything from a quick soup lunch to a holiday dinner
These easy air fryer dinner rolls are truly a breeze to make but still deliver that old-fashioned, homemade bread sensation.
Golden brown and shiny on the outside while fluffy and warm in the middle, the whole family will be impressed with the results of this simple recipe.
🧾 Ingredients
This is an "at a glance" list of ingredients. You'll find the list and the measurements in the printable recipe card below.
🔪 Instructions
- Combine the warm water, yeast, and sugar, and let sit for a few minutes.
- Stir in the oil, salt, and all-purpose flour.
- Mix until tacky dough forms—first with a dough whisk, then your hands.
- Let the bread dough rise in a warm place.
5. Portion into eight equal pieces and let the dough proof once more in the air fryer. Turn the air fryer on to finish "baking" the rolls.
🥫 Storage
Homemade dinner rolls store easily, but they're best consumed fresh and warm. You know—with a pat of melted butter and steam still wafting out.
To keep leftover dinner rolls, let them cool to room temperature. Then, place them in an airtight container—a bag actually works best. Place the rolls inside and squeeze out as much air as possible.
Leave leftover rolls on the counter and enjoy within one or two days. However, you can store the homemade rolls in the fridge and they'll keep for three days.
The best way to reheat air fryer rolls is at 320 degrees F for two to three minutes—in the air fryer again, of course! Pair it with your favorite delicious food for an unbeatable meal.
🧑🏻🍳 Baker's notes
⭐ Expert Tip: Use a bench scraper or a long piece of unscented dental floss to easily and quickly cut dough into portions.
- Don't add the salt in step one while the yeast activates. It can harm the yeast and prevent it from getting foamy.
- If you don't have a thermometer to check the temperature of the water, judge it as best you can. It should feel like warm bath water. Not too hot, but definitely warm.
- You can use a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, or a large mixing bowl and either a dough whisk or wooden spoon.
- Don't attempt to combine the flour mixture with an electric hand mixer. The dough is too thick and can burn out the motor.
- In the recipe, please note that the rolls rise a second time in the air fryer. At this point, the air fryer should still be turned off.
- Parchment paper will burn if heated alone in the air fryer. Don't add it to the bottom of the air fryer basket during the preheating process.
- You can also cook the rolls in an aluminum foil baking pan (instead of on parchment paper.) It makes fluffy dinner rolls that are more of a pull-apart bread style.
- If you don't eat eggs or don't have any, use a pastry brush to spread some milk (or a non-dairy milk alternative) on top of the rolls, instead.
💡Great Idea: After applying the egg wash, feel free to add some seasoning or light toppings. Salt and garlic powder make great garlic rolls. Sesame seeds are a nice touch. We also enjoy Italian herbs and Parmesan cheese!
✨ FAQs
Sure! Use a clean kitchen towel to keep the bowl of dough covered while it rises. However, I recommend dampening the towel a bit so that the dough doesn't dry out.
Air fryer bread rolls are easier to check for doneness than other types of bread. Flip over a roll and make sure it is set on the bottom. If it's still doughy, keep cooking for 1-2 minutes more and check again.
It doesn't matter whether you're using a regular oven, an air fryer, or making a bread loaf—dough gets fluffier after rising. In this recipe, the dough rises twice, for almost two hours combined. By following these simple steps exactly as written, you'll end up with deliciously fluffy rolls.
I haven't tested these rolls to know their cooking time in the oven. If you'd like a traditional baking-sheet-and-oven style recipe, try these dinner rolls. They use bread flour so they're extra soft and are done in just 30 minutes!
🫶 We recommend
The following are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
These are the tools and products I use in this recipe.
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Easy Dinner Rolls in the Air Fryer
Author: Marye Audet-White
Equipment
- air fryer
Ingredients
- ¾ cup warm water water must be between 95 to 105 degrees F which is the perfect temperature to activate the yeast
- 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast 1 envelope
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ¼ cup olive oil or any light vegetable oil
- 2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour unbleached works better for bread
- 1 teaspoon salt
Egg wash (optional)
- 1 egg room temperature
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine water, yeast, and sugar.
- Let it sit for 4 to 5 minutes until the yeast is activated and foamy.
- Add oil, flour, and salt.
- Mix until all ingredients are combined, and no more dry flour is visible. The dough will form a ball. It will be tacky (the dough will feel cool, but when pressing in it will feel wet but not leave any dough residue on your finger), but not sticky (sticky will leave some dough on your finger when pressing on it).
- Once the flour is almost combined, you can use your hand to finish incorporating the flour into the dough.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm, draft-free environment for 1 hour.
- On a clean surface, lightly flour, (I like to use a baking mat) and place the dough.
- Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces.
- Roll each piece into a ball.
- Line the bottom of the air fryer basket with parchment paper
- Place the dough balls in the air fryer basket on top of the parchment paper.
- Place the basket back in the air fryer, don’t turn the air fryer on, and let it rise for another 45 minutes.
- After 25 minutes into the second rise, brush the eggwash (beat 1 egg in a bowl and add water) on the rolls.
- Place back into the air fryer OFF for another 20 minutes.
- Start the air fryer at 320 degrees F for 10 minutes
- The dinner rolls are done when the internal temperature has reached 190 degrees F.
- Cool for a few minutes. Serve and Enjoy!
Notes
- Use a bench scraper or a long piece of unscented dental floss to easily and quickly cut dough into portions.
- Don't add the salt in step one while the yeast activates. It can harm the yeast and prevent it from getting foamy.
- If you don't have a thermometer to check the temperature of the water, judge it as best you can. It should feel like warm bath water. Not too hot, but definitely warm.
- You can use a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, or a large mixing bowl and either a dough whisk or wooden spoon.
- Don't attempt to combine the flour mixture with an electric hand mixer. The dough is too thick and can burn out the motor.
- In the recipe, please note that the rolls rise a second time in the air fryer. At this point, the air fryer should still be turned off.
- Make sure the parchment paper covers the bottom of the basket and the side. Not too high as you don’t want the parchment paper to catch in the element. DO NOT preheat the air fryer with only the parchment in it.
- Parchment paper will burn if heated alone in the air fryer. Don't add it to the bottom of the air fryer basket during the preheating process.
- You can also cook the rolls in an aluminum foil baking pan (instead of on parchment paper.) It makes fluffy dinner rolls that are more of a pull-apart bread style.
- If you don't eat eggs or don't have any, use a pastry brush to spread some milk (or a non-dairy milk alternative) on top of the rolls, instead.
Leave a Reply