Rye Dinner Rolls

These soft, slightly sweet Rye Dinner Rolls are the perfect addition to any meal. Made with a blend of dark rye and all-purpose flour, they’re tender, flavourful, and delicious. Butter them up and serve with homemade soup, stew or as lunchbox sandwiches.

If you love bread, think of this blog as your personal recipe box. From From No Knead Whole Wheat Bread to how to make a sourdough starter, to a quick and simple Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread, there are so many great recipes here on the blog. If you enjoy the bake, feel free to leave a comment in the comment section and share your bake on social media while tagging @dishnthekitchen.

Rye Dinner Rolls

There’s nothing like the aroma of bread baking in the oven. Once these aromatic rye rolls come out of the oven, it’s almost impossible not to eat them immediately. They have such a unique nutty rye flavor, which is perfectly accented by the caraway seeds. Just thinking about them is making my mouth water.

If you haven’t baked rolls before, this is one of the best bread recipes to start with. I’ve done my best to give you precise, easy instructions so you can bake up the best rye bread rolls ever. My test kitchen is your test kitchen!

This recipe contains a combination of all purpose flour and rye flour, along with the usual bread ingredients. You can use either active dry yeast or instant yeast depending on how much time you have for the bake. If you use active dry yeast, simply add 10 minutes to the total time.

I love to serve these Rye Dinner Rolls warm, with a good amount of butter. They make a great addition to any German meal and are delicious stuffed with Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, thousand island dressing, and corned beef, pastrami, or Montreal smoked meat.

What is Rye?

Rye is a cereal grain that is related to wheat. The cold tolerant crop is grown in eastern and northern Europe, where it is popular in yeasted breads and rolls. Rye contains gluten and is also a common ingredient in beer, rye whiskey, and in animal feed.

Caraway seeds are a classic addition to many types of rye bread, particularly in German, Hungarian, and Polish cuisines, and are considered a staple in American Jewish-style deli rye bread. The seeds can be added whole to the dough or sprinkled on top of the loaf before baking. 

Ingredients for Rye Dinner Rolls

Other than the caraway seeds, this dinner roll recipe contains the usual ingredients found in any yeasted bread recipe.

• All Purpose Flour
• Rye Flour
• Sugar
• Yeast
• Salt
• Milk
• Butter
• Eggs
• Caraway Seeds

The bread dough is a combination of all purpose and rye flour. Other dry ingredients include sugar, yeast, and salt. Feel free to use Instant or Active dry yeast and adjust recipe accordingly.

Use salted or unsalted butter. If using unsalted butter add an additional ¼ teaspoon of salt.

If you don’t want to use caraway seeds you can sprinkle some flaky sea salt on top if desired.

How to Make Rye Dinner Rolls

If you use instant yeast, you do not need to activate it before adding to the dough. However, if you use active dry yeast, you will need to use 1/4 teaspoon more and add it to the warm milk (105°F and 115°F (40−46°C) to activate for ten minutes before you mix it in with the other ingredients.

To begin, add 2 cups of all-purpose flour, rye flour, sugar, yeast, and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer. Give the dry ingredients a quick stir with a fork or spoon to combine. Attach a dough hook attachment to the stand mixer.

Next, pour the milk, melted butter, and the eggs into the bowl and mix on a low speed until the dough comes together. Increase the speed to medium and knead for an additional 5-6 minutes until the dough forms a ball and clears the side of the bowl.

Note: If the dough is too sticky and not clearing the sides, sprinkle in ¼ cup more flour at a time until it reaches the right consistency. Mix well and try not to add too much or the dough will become too dry.

Remove the dough briefly and coat with olive oil the inside of the bowl (or spray with cooking spray). Replace the dough in the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. At least 60-90 minutes.

Rub a 9×13 baking dish with olive oil or spray with cooking spray then turn the dough onto a clean workspace (don’t flour) and divide the dough evenly into 15 pieces. Form each piece of dough into a round ball. If you have edges that aren’t sealed, pinch them together to form a seam.

Place the formed rolls into the baking sheet, seam side down as evenly spaced as you can. Cover and let rise in a warm place until the rolls are touching on all sides, about 20-35 more minutes. Preheat oven to 375 F.

Whisk the egg and water together in a small bowl. Brush the top of each roll gently with the egg wash and immediately sprinkle a few caraway seeds on top of each roll if desired.

Bake Rye Dinner Rolls for about 19-23 minutes until the rolls are golden brown on top. Remove from the oven and serve warm with butter.

Storage Instructions

Allow rye rolls to reach room temperature before storing in an airtight container or zip top bag for up to 3-4 days. Rye dinner rolls freeze wonderfully in freezer bags for up to 3 months. 

Hi! I’m Bernice Hill, the heart and soul behind Dish ‘n’ the Kitchen. It is my pleasure to share easy to follow recipes that are delicious, nutritious, and approachable for the whole family.

If you make this Rye Dinner Rolls recipe, I’d love to hear about it in the comments section or in a recipe rating. Be sure to follow me on Facebook and Pinterest for my latest recipes. Also, if you do make this recipe, please share your photos and tag me on Instagram. I hope you like this recipe!