Gluten Free Dairy Free Soft Dinner Rolls Recipe
Updated Mar 30, 2026, Published Nov 18, 2011
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Soft, Fluffy, and Finally Worth the Effort
Let’s be honest, finding truly soft gluten-free dinner rolls can feel like chasing a unicorn. Too often, they’re dense, crumbly, or just not quite satisfying. That’s exactly why this recipe is such a game-changer.
These rolls are everything you’ve been missing: light, tender, slightly sweet, and perfectly fluffy—even without gluten or dairy. And yes, they actually taste like the classic dinner rolls you remember.
Table of Contents
- Soft, Fluffy, and Finally Worth the Effort
- Why These Gluten-Free Rolls Actually Work
- A Balanced, Tried-and-Tested Approach
- Why You’ll Love These Dinner Rolls
- What You’ll Need
- The Secret to Soft Gluten-Free Bread
- Tips for Perfect Gluten-Free Dinner Rolls
- Make-Ahead Friendly (A Holiday Lifesaver)
- When to Serve These Rolls
- The Last Bite
- Gluten Free Dairy Free Soft Dinner Rolls Recipe
Why These Gluten-Free Rolls Actually Work
The Texture Everyone Misses
Traditional rolls rely on gluten to create structure and softness. Without it, things can fall apart, literally. That’s why gluten-free baking requires a thoughtful combination of flours, starches, and binders to recreate that same soft, cohesive texture.
This recipe does exactly that, resulting in rolls that are:
- Soft and pillowy inside
- Lightly golden on the outside
- Sturdy enough to hold together beautifully
A Balanced, Tried-and-Tested Approach
Instead of relying on just one flour, this recipe uses a blend of rice flours and starches to mimic the structure gluten would normally provide. Combined with eggs for stability and yeast for lift, the result is a dough that behaves much more like traditional bread.
If you do not want to mix flours, you can substitute the flours and starches for THIS GLUTEN FREE FLOUR
Why You’ll Love These Dinner Rolls
Soft, Yeasty, and Comforting
These rolls bring back that classic “warm bread basket” experience, something many people miss when going gluten-free.
Dairy-Free Without Compromise
Even without butter or milk, these rolls are incredibly tender and flavorful. In fact, many testers found the dairy-free version actually let the natural sweetness shine through more clearly.
Perfect for Holidays or Everyday Meals
While they’re especially popular for holiday tables (hello, Thanksgiving!), they’re just as perfect alongside soups, salads, or weeknight dinners.
What You’ll Need
To make these soft gluten-free dinner rolls, you’ll need:
Active dry yeast
Sugar
Warm dairy-free milk (such as rice milk)
Gluten-free flours (white rice flour and sweet rice flour)
Potato starch and tapioca starch
Xanthan gum
Salt
Baking powder
Eggs
Dairy-free butter substitute
Honey
Apple cider vinegar
These ingredients work together to create the perfect balance of structure, softness, and flavor.
The Secret to Soft Gluten-Free Bread
Structure Without Gluten
Since gluten acts like a “glue” in traditional baking, gluten-free recipes rely on starches and gums to hold everything together.
Eggs for Stability and Lift
Eggs play a key role in giving these rolls structure and helping them rise properly, preventing that dense or gummy texture that can happen in gluten-free baking.
Yeast for That Classic Flavor
There’s nothing quite like the aroma of yeast baking in the oven. It gives these rolls that nostalgic, bakery-style flavor and airy texture.
Tips for Perfect Gluten-Free Dinner Rolls
Use Finely Milled Rice Flour
A smoother flour helps avoid the gritty texture sometimes associated with gluten-free baking.
Let the Yeast Fully Activate
If your yeast doesn’t foam during proofing, it won’t give you the rise you need, so don’t skip this step.
Bake in Muffin Tins for Best Shape
Gluten-free dough benefits from extra support while rising and baking, which helps create taller, more uniform rolls.
Make-Ahead Friendly (A Holiday Lifesaver)
One of the best things about this recipe? You can make the rolls ahead of time.
They can be:
- Baked in advance
- Stored in the refrigerator for a couple of days
- Reheated just before serving
And they still taste just as soft and delicious, maybe even better the next day.
When to Serve These Rolls
These soft gluten-free dinner rolls are perfect for:
- Holiday meals like Thanksgiving or Christmas
- Sunday dinners
- Pairing with soups and stews
- Making leftover sandwiches
They’re versatile, comforting, and always a welcome addition to the table.
The Last Bite
These Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Soft Dinner Rolls prove that you don’t have to settle when it comes to gluten-free baking. With the right combination of ingredients and a little know-how, you can recreate that soft, fluffy texture that makes dinner rolls so irresistible.
Whether you’re serving them for a holiday feast or a simple family dinner, these rolls bring back something many people miss, and they do it beautifully.
Gluten Free Dairy Free Soft Dinner Rolls Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons dry active yeast
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 cups rice milk or milk, (warm but not hot)
- 1½ cups superfine or Asian White Rice Flour*
- ½ cup superfine or Asian Sweet Rice Flour, (also called glutinous rice flour)*
- ¾ cup potato starch, (not potato flour)*
- ½ cup tapioca starch*
- 3 teaspoons xanthan gum
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher or fine sea salt
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 3 large eggs, divided
- ¼ cup butter or non-dairy butter substitute (Earth Balance recommended), (plus more for brushing the pans)
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Combine the yeast, sugar and warmed milk in a small bowl and whisk to dissolve the sugar. Let sit for 6-8 minutes or until the mixture is foamy and has increased in volume.
- Combine the flours, starches (or all-purpose gluten free flour blend), xanthan gum, salt and baking powder in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix for 30 seconds on medium-low to combine and break up any lumps in the potato starch.
- Add the yeast mixture, 2 eggs, melted butter substitute (or butter), honey and vinegar. Mix on medium low until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, turn the mixer on high and mix for 3 minutes. You should have a very thick, smooth batter.
- Brush 2 standard muffin pans with melted butter (or butter substitute) or spray with gluten free, non-stick cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pans, filling about ¾ full. Alternately, you can use a small (#60) ice cream scoop and place 3 scoops in each muffin tin (like a clover leaf). Cover with a clean kitchen towel and place in a warm, draft free place to rise. Let rise for 35 minutes or until the dough has almost doubled in size.
- Beat the remaining egg with 1 teaspoon of water very well with a fork. Gently brush the tops of each roll with the beaten egg.
- Bake for 17-18 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool in the pans for 15 minutes.
- The rolls can be made ahead – bake them, let them cool in the pans, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Warm for a few minutes in a 350 degree oven.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I offered to make rolls this year for Thanksgiving, and my boyfriend’s uncle is gluten intolerant. I just gave your recipe a try, using a mixture of all purpose gluten free flour and white rice flour I got at my local health food store. The AP flour contains xanthan gum, and I used 3 teaspoons as the recipe stated. The only real complaint I have is that they taste somewhat gummy (granted, they are still warm from the oven). Anything I could do to remedy that? Also, I used rice milk, but real butter, since we’re not dairy intolerant. Would it change the texture if I tried regular milk? Also, instead of the egg on top, could I use add butter on halfway through cooking or so, maybe with a bit of sugar mixed in? I appreciate your help (if you get this before tomorrow)! Today was my trial run. :)
Probably the gumminess is that there is from the xanthan gum in the flour – if there is a way to figure out the precentage then you could cut back – otherwise my best guess is to cut the xanthan gum to 2 teaspoons. I made these with my flour which does contain a little bit of xanthan gum and didn’t need to adjust but I can’t tell you about other brands. Of you are going to brush with melted butter, do it after rising, before baking for the best result and of course you can sprinkle with some sugar! I make mine with rice milk and real butter too when I don’t have anyone around who is dairy free. It is totally fine with regular milk – it was a very subtle difference and not in the texture. Good luck!
Thanks so much for your speedy reply! The flour is by Swan Bakery, which I think is probably somewhat local (Bellingham, WA), and the ingredients are brown rice flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, xanthan gum. In that order. Following the advice that you gave to another poster in an earlier comment, I cut the AP flour with white rice flour. I also halved the recipe, and ended up using 1 3/8 cup AP and 1/4 cup white rice, if memory serves. The taste and texture improved each time I sampled it, but the outer crust was still a bit chewy, gummy, elastic? Not sure how to describe it. I will try decreasing the xanthan gum to 2.5 or 2 teaspoons, and hope is doesn’t destroy my structural integrity. Also, is the dough supposed to be really sticky, or should I add a bit more flour in so I can shape it better into balls? My boyfriend’s main comment was that they looked funny. =/ Thank you so much! Happy Thanksgiving!
Haha – I struggled so much with trying to make them look more like regular rolls that were shaped instead of scooped so I do understand your boyfriends comment :)
These are absolutely amazing! They are definitely the best bread product I’ve had since going gluten free! I’m excited. I have another batch cooling now. I’ll definitely be trying additional recipes on your blog. Thank you so much!
My pleasure Kim!
Thank you so much for this recipe. I was craving the fresh dinner rolls with our gluten free Thanksgiving dinner and feared a “cheat” coming on. I am very thankful for you and your web site. I hope you have had a blest day
So glad you didn’t have to cheat! It is never ever good to cheat on your gf diet. Thank YOU!
Thank you for this recipe! My rolls are cooling now, soon to be on the table for Thanksgiving dinner. I’ve never seen a GF bread bake up so airy. My dad, who has been to culinary school, was jealous. :)
Yay! I really hope you all enjoyed!
I have tried making these rolls 3 times and every time they raise and look beautyful when they come out of the oven then I look back and they fall. can you give me a hint what I am doing wrong. I gring my own rice flowr and make other bread and no trouble but this has me stumped.
Hmmm, I am not sure – did you add the starches to the rice flour your ground? I made these so many way but I always used superfine rice flour and the starches I listed – they held up best with addition of the potato starch – I had tried without and they fell as well. Need a little more info from you to de-bug. I can imagine how dissappointing!
These were fabulous! The only problem was my own mistake – in my excitement to sink my teeth into some soft pillowy rolls, I forgot to put my muffin tins on a baking sheet. The tops of the dinner rolls looked perfectly golden, but the sides and bottom were all burnt (how disappointing!). Even so, I’ve had quite a few slathered with some Earth Balance or jam. Guess it means I just have to make them again!
Ha ha – I guess so! :)
Elsie,
I am going to make these next week for my Celiac son. I am so excited that I can hardly wait. He really misses regular bread, but at 10 years old, he is a trooper !!!!
Thanks,
Melissa
Glad to hear your son is a tropper – good for him! I hope he ejoys the rolls.
My 17 yo daughter has recently discovered she feels much, much better gluten free. I want to support her health so we’ve been experimenting with gluten free cooking but as Thanksgiving approached she was a little sad that some of her favorite things would be off limits. Fortunately, thanks to sites like yours I was able to make gluten free versions of the things she wanted. In fact, everything that I brought to our family dinner was gluten free and I made her a small amount of GF gravy and these dinner rolls. These rolls were so good that we ate half of them before we ever got to the dinner! My sister made wheat rolls (that are admittedly good) but even with that my non-gf mother was sneaking our rolls into her ziploc baggie to take home! Thank you so much for this recipe. My family being newly GF realized we won’t have to sacrifice the things we love to feel better. :)
Dear Fran, thank you so much for letting me know – I am glad you were able to give your daughter a lovely Thanksgiving! Love it that your Mom was sneaking the rolls into her ziplock :)
any suggestions on where to find the Asian rice flours (superfine). These look great!
I buy it at my local Asian market – if you have one in your area check with them or you can buy it on line – here is one place that carries the rice flour, sweet rice flour and tapioca starch – https://www.philamfood.com/ERAWAN-RICE-FLOUR-RED-16OZ.html
Carol, could you use coconut milk instead of the rice milk? Thanks.These look so good!!
Hi Sherry I see no reason why coconut milk wouldn’t work just fine. Enjoy!
I used coconut milk, worked great. Has anyone tried freezing these?
Good to know! They should freeze well. I haven’t tried it because we always eat them up too fast but I see no reason why they wouldn’t freeze perfectly well.