This is a fantastic yeasted potato dinner rolls recipe for your next dinner. They're super-soft thanks to a boiled potato and loaded with chives. If you're new to baking bread, this is an easy recipe with step-by-step instructions.
This is a great way to use leftover mashed potatoes. You don't need much, so don't throw them away!
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These were supposed to be Potato Rolls with Rosemary. But at the last minute, I realized I didn't actually have any fresh rosemary, and was concerned dried rosemary might be a little coarse and gritty in these soft potato rolls.
But I had a small container of partly dried chives and went with those instead. Recipes need to be flexible in my opinion, to accommodate what we have on hand.
And this recipe, based on one I saw in the New York Times, was a home run with chive butter. These potato rolls need to be on your Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter table this year.
And they're also great for an Irish-themed St. Patrick's Day dinner you might be planning since they have potatoes in them. For more Irish vegetarian recipes, go check out this round-up of dinner ideas. It's one of my most popular posts!
Another easy and wonderful yeasted bread that's a favorite at our house is oatmeal dinner rolls made with a little molasses. There's a little simple shaping, but not difficult to do.
๐คทโโ๏ธ Are Potato Rolls Made with Real Potatoes?
Yes! Potato rolls or any kind of potato bread are essentially a wheat bread that's enriched with mashed potato, potato flour or dehydrated potato flakes. When using either potato flour or flakes, a portion of the wheat flour is swapped out for the potato.
๐ฉโ๐ณ Why Are Potato Dinner Rolls Better Than Other Rolls?
There are several reasons why you should add a potato to your breads.
#1. They make bread healthier.
Potatoes are a great source of potassium, which we all need in our diets. In fact, potato bread has 3 times the potassium (generally) provided in whole wheat bread, and 7 times that of white bread. Potatoes also provide a big fiber boost when incorporated in breads.
#2. Potatoes promote a faster rise.
The potassium also contributes a faster rise of the bread, which is a time saver. Yay!!!
#3. Potatoes make the bread moister.
When you boil the potatoes, and yes they must be boiled when using them in breads, the starch molecules expand and absorb more water. This makes potato bread beautifully moist, for the same reason tangzhong worked to make these Cinnamon Rolls so moist. It's all about getting moisture absorbed as completely as possible before baking.
#4. The starches develop a lighter bread with lower gluten.
The starches in the potatoes when boiled, make it difficult for the protein in wheat flour to develop gluten. This promotes a light, airy dinner roll.
(Additionally, this recipe calls for all-purpose wheat flour, which has lower protein than bread flour.)
#5. Potato starch keeps bread fresher longer.
Potato starch provides a final big benefit by keeping breads fresher longer. There's some science behind it, this is baking after all, but essentially the potato starch molecules prevent the wheat starch molecules from crystallizing.
๐ง Main Ingredients + Notes
The secret to faster and easier meals often lies in the ingredients. For example, store-bought items and ingredients you make ahead and store in the refrigerator (or freezer) can turn a 60-minute recipe into a 30-minutes meal or less.
For all of the ingredients, measurements, and directions for these homemade dinner rolls, go to the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post.
- Russet potato - I prefer Idaho russets if I my market has them. Yukon potatoes will be too waxy and moist, and will affect the texture.
- Active dry yeastโI recommend Fleischmann's Active Dry Yeast. I purchase it in a jar and keep it refrigerated, but you can also purchase individual packets.
- Sugar
- Unsalted butter
- Egg
- Chives - I used partly dried chives by Gourmet Garden.
- All-purpose flourโThis recipe uses all-purpose unbleached wheat flour, not bread flour. Bread flour will make the roll more chewy (= gluten-y). I prefer King Arthur, as they have very tight, consistent parameters for making flour.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links to products and foods I use in my kitchen. This means that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. To view my entire storefront of recommended kitchen tools and equipment, check out my shop on Amazon.
๐ช Recommended Equipment
This dough is very easy to knead and does not require a standing mixer fitted with a dough hook. Nor will you need a rolling pin.
- Kitchen scales - this has VIP status in my kitchen, as it allows far more accuracy in baking.
- Strainer
- Instant-read thermometer
- 8" X 8" baking dish
- Cooling rack
๐ Instructions Overview
Detailed instructions for making these easy potato dinner rolls are in the recipe card below, but here's an overview!
Step 1
Cook the potatoes. Peel and dice the potatoes, and simmer in water until tender. Scoop out ยฝ cup of the water, set it aside, and strain the potatoes.
Mash the potato thoroughly.
Step 2
Yeast. When the potato water cools to 105-110หF, stir in the yeast and some of the sugar. Loosely cover and set in a warm place until the yeast is all foamy.
Step 3
Potato mixture. Combine the remaining sugar, melted butter, egg, chives, and salt with โ cup of the mashed potato and thoroughly mix.
Stir in the foamy yeast and potato water.
Step 4
Dough. Weigh the flour in a large bowl and create a well in the middle. Pour the potato mixture into the well. Using a fork, mix the flour into the potato yeast mixture until it comes together as a shaggy, dry dough.
Step 5
Knead. Dump everything onto a clean work surface and knead the dough until smooth. This should take no more than 5 - 7 minutes. Form it into a ball.
Step 6
First rise. Lightly oil a large bowl and the ball of dough. Set the dough in the bowl and lightly cover it with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel. Place the bowl in a warm area of your kitchen, free of drafts, until the dough doubles in size.
Step 7
Form the dough. Butter a baking dish and divide the dough into 9 equal pieces. Using your fingers, flatten each ball into a square. Then, fold each corner of the square into the middle, and pinch the dough together. Place the dough with the pinched area facing down on your work surface, and gently roll the dough into a ball. Place in the buttered baking dish.
Repeat with all of the dough.
Step 8
Second rise. Lightly cover the formed balls of dough and set the baking dish in a warm area of your kitchen, free of drafts, until the dough almost doubles again. The
Step 9
Bake. Remove the cover from the dough, sprinkle lightly with salt flakes, and bake.
๐ฉโ๐ณ Ways to Use Potato Rolls
Use these dinner rolls for a side dish or sliders, for example with these vegetarian Sloppy Joe's.
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Potato Dinner Rolls Recipe with Chives
Equipment
- fine mesh strainer
Ingredients
- 1 russet potato, peeled and chopped into cubes about 6 ounces or 170 grams
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 4 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 4 tablespoons (plus more for greasing) unsalted butter, melted and cooled (add ยฝ Tablespoon for high altitude baking)
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- ยพ teaspoon kosher salt, or ยฝ teaspoon table salt
- 1 tablespoon dried chives
- 320 grams (2 ยฝ cups) all-purpose flour,
- 1 teaspoon Maldon salt flakes, or kosher salt
Instructions
- Potato. Put the potato cubes in a medium pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer until the potato pieces are very tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Reserve ยฝ cup of the potato broth in a liquid measuring cup or bowl, set it aside to cool, and strain the potatoes.Transfer the potato to a medium shallow bowl and thoroughly mash using a fork.
- Yeast. When the potato broth cools to around 105-110หF, stir in the yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar and loosely cover with a kitchen towel or plastic. Set the container in a warm area of the kitchen that's free of drafts until the yeast is foamy, about 10 minutes.
- Potato Mixture. Measure โ cup of mashed potato and save the rest for another use. Using a fork, stir in the remaining 3 teaspoons of sugar, the melted butter, egg, chives, and salt into the mashed potatoes until it's well-combined. (The butter should be cooled a bit in order to prevent the egg from scrambling.)Stir in the foamy yeast.
- Dough. Weigh the flour in a large bowl. Using your hand, form a well in the middle of the flour and pour the potato-yeast mixture into the well. Use a fork to fold the flour into the well with the liquid until a shaggy, dry dough begins to form.
- Knead. Dump everything onto a clean work surface, including any loose flour remaining in the bowl. There will likely be quite a bit. Knead the dough, incorporating the flour until it is smooth. You may need a lightly floured surface to work on once the loose flour is incorporated. But try to minimize the amount of flour you use. This should take around 5 - 7 minutes.
- Pro-tip: Don't knead the dough past when it becomes smooth, as this can toughen the bread when baked. More is not better.
- First Rise. Pat the dough into a large ball, and place it in a clean, oiled bowl. Lightly rub the surface of the dough with a bit of oil. (I use olive oil, but any neutral oil will work too.) Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel, and set in a warm area of the kitchen that's free of drafts. Let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 1 - 2 hours.
- Form. Butter an 8-inch square ceramic baking dish. Divide the dough into nine equal pieces. For the best accuracy, weigh the dough, and divide the total number of ounces by 9. Then begin separating pieces of dough, weighing them, to end up with nine equal pieces. Mine ranged from 72 - 74 grams each. Cover the dough loosely with plastic while you work with each piece. Take one piece of dough and flatten it into a square using your fingers. Fold each corner into the center, and pinch the corners together. Then, place it with the pinched side facing down on your work surface, roll the dough into a smooth ball, and place in the buttered baking dish. Cover loosely with plastic while you complete all of the balls of dough.
- Pro-tip: Use a very light dusting of flour, if necessary, to keep the dough from sticking to your work surface. But use as little as possible.
- Second Rise. Keep the dough balls covered in the baking dish and place the dish in a warm area of the kitchen that's free of drafts. Allow the dough to rise until almost doubled, about 1 hour. The balls of dough will be puffy, and touching each other.
- Preheat. Preheat the oven to 350หF while the dough goes through its second rise.
- Bake. Remove the plastic, sprinkle lightly with Maldon salt flakes, and bake on the middle rack for 20 - 25 minutes, or until the rolls are golden brown and reach an internal temperature of 200หF. Use an instant temperature probe to check.
- Cool. Place the baking dish on a cooling rack for 5 - 10 minutes before removing the dinner rolls. If needed, run a sharp knife around the outside edges of the baking dish before flipping the bread rolls out of the dish all in one piece. Serve warm.
Kelly
Love potatoes in bread but did not know the potassium helped with the rise! And love the flexibility of the herb choices!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I learned a lot about this in my research. Thanks so much!
Wendy Klik
I love potato bread. Such a great way to use up leftovers too. You give a great, comprehensive explanation of the benefits of the potatoes.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Me too, whether it's with white or sweet potatoes! Thanks so much!
Karen
Great information about potatoes! Justice for potatoes!!!! I love using them in bread. I have a chive plant that needs some pruning too!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Sounds like you need to make some potato bread with chives!!! And I'm with you - I love potatoes in breads.
Radha
These rolls look and sound the best! Thanks for the informational tips, helps in understanding bread baking better. Excellent rolls!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks so much. I'm making them again tomorrow as a gift for a friend ๐
Stacy
Potato rolls are my daughters' favorite but I usually make them with a slightly sweet dough. I'm sure I'd prefer your savory version, Susan. They look wonderful!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I've not made a sweet version, but I know I'd love that too. Thanks so much!
Amanda Dixon
These rolls were a hit! They're so soft and fluffy, and the chives added such a nice fresh flavor. The perfect accompaniment to any meal!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I'm so excited you made these, Amanda! And so happy you and your family liked them!
Cathleen
Why is this the first time that I have ever heard of potato rolls??
I am obsessed with potatoes, so these rolls are so perfect to make over the holidays. Thanks so much for the recipe!! ๐
The Wimpy Vegetarian
They are PERFECT for the holidays!! Thanks so much!
Patti
Your introduction to the recipe sounds like many of the things I cook at my house. "I was going to make ____, but I was out of ____, so I substituted _____." is how I serve many of our meals. This bread is very delicious, and you're right about potatoes and bread making.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Exactly! I often my substitutions so I don't have to make another trip to the market!
Veronika Sykorova
The potatoes really do make the rolls better and lighter. Chives are my favorite herb too so I'll definitely be making these again!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
It's amazing the difference potatoes make to a bread dough.
Tammy
These look so soft and light! I love homemade dinner rolls and they are must for the holidays. Perfect recipe!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I've been making them every couple weeks for awhile now, because I crave soft, warm dinner rolls at dinner ๐
Veronika
I made these potato rolls yesterday and they came out perfect! Was very easy to follow the instructions. Going to make this recipe for family Thanksgiving dinner.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Oh I'm so happy to hear that!!! They'll be perfect for Thanksgiving!
Jacqueline Debono
I've never had potato bread or rolls but I'm obviously missing out on something good! And am really curious about how they taste. Definitely on my to-make list. Pinning for later!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
The potato doesn't affect the flavor so much as the texture. It makes a huge difference IMHO on that, and the rolls stay fresher longer too!
Annie
The addition of potato in bread is genius! The bread turned out to be so soft and delicious!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Yay!!! I'm so happy you liked it!!
Moop Brown
I've never tried or heard of potato rolls but am really intrigued to try these. Thank you for sharing!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
You're so welcome! It's such a great way to make bread.
Michele
Love potato bread. This recipe was perfect. Thanks for sharing.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks so much! Isn't potato bread the best!?
Patricia Jones
Thanks for sharing the recipe. so i will use Rosemary when i will cook i hope it will give great taste as i am expecting.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Rosemary will work beautifully in these rolls!
Farrukh Aziz
I am in love with these potato rolls! These are definitely a must on the dinner table. Thank you so much!