I Asked 4 Chefs To Name the Best Dinner Rolls, and Here are the Brands You Should Buy

Of course, homemade dinner rolls, straight from the oven, are divine. Smeared with pats of butter, sprinkled with flaky sea salt, ribboned with cheese throughout, or infused with garlic or fresh herbs, they have the power to set the tone for a celebratory meal.

But let's be real—most of us have busy lives, and homemade bread doesn't always make it to the table. Even quick-and-easy recipes can be too much to take on, because rolls demand attention, careful proofing, and hands-on shaping, which can feel like one task too many—especially when hosting a crowd or holiday feast.

When I need to budget my bandwidth, store-bought dinner rolls are my practical pivot. Sometimes, they're even preferable. Curious which rolls chefs and bakers turn to when time is tight but quality matters, I asked four pros to name their favorite store-bought dinner rolls. The results were deliciously divergent.

What Makes a Good Dinner Roll?

There's an undeniable nostalgia factor at play when the bread basket makes its way around the table. Some people crave yeasty flavor and a bit more chew, perfect for generous dollops of butter. Others prefer potato rolls or enriched doughs that are soft, pillowy, and sweet. Maybe you grew up with tender, golden-brown Parker House rolls, with their signature fold for easy pull-apart satisfaction.

Whatever the style, a dinner roll should be mild yet satisfying, with a soft interior that's absorbent enough to mop up sauces and gravy. Bonus points if it can go straight from the freezer to the table with minimal effort.

Roll Call: Our Bread Experts

• Rae Brutvan: Bread Baker at Clear Flour Bread in Brookline, Massachusetts
• Laurel Randolph: Associate Editorial Director for Simply Recipes
• Sophie Frazier: Food Stylist and Pastry Chef Instructor at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education
• Esther Reynolds: Recipe Developer and Food Writer

The Rolls The Pros Recommend

To start, Brutvan offers a dose of realism and reassurance: "First off, there is no shame in buying bread rather than baking it at home. Making good bread is difficult." She explains that there are many variables to take into account—including the type and grind of flour, type of starter, ambient room temperature, and humidity—so it's totally fine to leave rolls to the professionals.

She recommends checking in-house grocery store bakeries first for fresh rolls, which can be frozen ahead of time and reheated for your event. Feeling ambitious? "Use store-bought pizza dough! It will require cutting, shaping, proofing, and baking, but it takes mixing out of the equation," he says, noting that home cooks can add cheese, butter, garlic, fresh herbs, and flaky salt.

Brutvan sums it up beautifully: "Baking bread from scratch is challenging and incredibly rewarding when you get it right, but it can bring undue stress to an already hectic holiday meal prep."

There must be a bread basket at every holiday dinner (and every family dinner, for that matter), Randolph explains in this tribute to her favorite: Sister Schubert's Parker House Style Yeast Rolls. In her family, that usually means "buttery, yeasty, fresh-from-the-oven rolls."

After a few holiday seasons of making potato rolls from scratch, she and her mom realized the juice wasn't worth the squeeze. Sister Schubert's rolls have since become a family tradition. Her aunt wisely advises, "Keep some of those in your freezer... because you never know!” They provide the same warm, fragrant product as a home-crafted one, and the rolls go straight from the freezer to the oven for the lowest lift and highest reward.

Frazier is a classically trained pastry chef with a packed schedule, balancing work and family life. When she can't make homemade happen, she turns to Pillsbury Dinner Roll Style Swirls. She says these rolls strike the right mix of "feels homemade" and "are these actually magic?"

For a little something extra, Frazier likes to brush them with some milk or melted butter to help with browning. You can also sprinkle these rolls with flaky salt to really elevate them. The fun really happens when you get creative, she says, nothing that she uses them as dumpling shortcuts atop stews, flattens them for mini pizzas, and turns them into a pull-apart loaf flavored with sweet or savory toppings. Their versatility is what makes them great—you can make exactly what you want without committing to a full bread project.

On the hunt for the perfect roll, Reynolds seeks yeasty flavor and a tender, fluffy interior. "A crusty exterior is never something I'm after here—I'll leave that to the sourdough boules and crackly baguettes. Instead, I want it as soft and squishy as possible," she explains.

Reynolds reaches for Bridgford's Parkerhouse Style Rolls. "I've made dinner rolls myself in the past and, while they were delicious and well-enjoyed, it wasn't worth the effort when so many other dishes were demanding my attention." With pre-portioned, frozen yeasty rolls at the ready, she can serve classic, buttery Parker House rolls with ease. To keep them warm and moist at the table, she wraps them in a clean kitchen towel and serves them with her favorite salted butter, Kerrygold.