Pav Recipe | Ladi Pav | Soft Dinner Rolls These SOFT, LIGHT, PILLOWY Dinner rolls are just too good to resist. With just 6 Ingredients, these BEST Eggless Dinner Rolls are a great accompaniment to any meal! I really love this easy dinner roll recipe with my Pav Bhaji or this Creamy Tortellini Soup!
I also love using my Instant Pot for proofing the dough!!!
Learn how to make this Soft Homemade Dinner Rolls Recipe with detailed step-by-step instructions. { Video Tutorial included }
Don’t have Yeast, try this No Yeast Bread!

SOFT DINNER ROLLS RECIPE
I grew up in India devouring freshly baked buttery dinner rolls from the bakery to accompany all the delicious Indian street food – Pressure Cooker Pav Bhaji, Masala Pav, and Mumbai’s Vada Pav too! After moving to the UK nearly 15 years ago, I was craving for this ladi pav from a bakery near me and they were not available locally.
As much as you love this homemade ladi pav, you will love these No Knead Bread ,Easy peasy GARLIC KNOTS recipe too!
To satisfy our craving, I started baking this homemade Pav at home. All I wanted to have was an easy straightforward recipe with no frills, something that is eggless, a handful of ingredients, and can be made in simple steps.
Alas I finally mastered my recipe for Easy Soft Dinner Rolls recipe with subtle tweaks over the years.
Yes, this recipe is literally dump, knead, proof and bake to make delicious homemade dinner rolls. How easy is that!!
I have a super easy Naan Bread recipe too and it’s pretty much made in a similar way. Serve with your favourite curries.
WATCH A QUICK VIDEO ON HOW TO MAKE SOFT DINNER ROLLS
To make dinner roll, I use my kitchen aid stand mixer and let the dough hook do all the hard work with kneading for me. Since I am using Instant Yeast, it is literally like adding the ingredients together in a bread machine for a bread recipe.
By Using Instant Fast Actioned Dried Yeast, you don’t have to activate the yeast separately and wait for it get frothy. But do check the expiry date on the Yeast packet.

Tips for Making Quick & Easy Homemade Dinner Rolls perfectly
Measure out the ingredients in a large bowl, so you can speed up the process at the time of making the recipe.Since this recipe is literally dump and knead , you don’t need many bowls.
Keep in mind, the quantity of flour will vary depending upon the location and weather. You might even need to add more flour or less flour depending upon the humidity and altitude.
Check for the expiry for the Yeast. Yeast plays a core role in our bread recipe, so it is utmost important in having valid date yeast.
Delayed Fat Method We add butter at a later stage in the recipe. Fats tends to inhibit the development of gluten, which is absolutely essential for the structure of the bread { dinner roll }.
Proofing the Dough is an essential step. You can do it in the Instant Pot or in a Greased Bowl. Both the methods work really well. However Instant Pot proofing speeds up the process.
I am soon going to share with you a recipe for Instant Pot No Knead Dinner Rolls. They are just too good too!
Second Rising is equally important. Once the first rise of the soft dough has completed, punch it back and shape the dough into nearly equal weight dinner rolls and allow them to rise for the second time.

Weighing the Dinner Roll dough or Eyeballing the dough – I quite like to trust my eyeballing measurement. They are somewhat perfect. But occasionally I do use a method of measuring the entire dough ball for weight by grams. Depending upon the time I have got in hand, I decide on what works for me.
Brushing the Dinners Rolls is a key step too. This will lend the top of the dinner rolls with a gorgeous sheen – too good to resist.
Check the rolls between 12 -14 minutes. If you find the rolls getting dark at 12 minutes, cover them with a foil and bake for 2 more minutes. Always check for the centre rolls for the doneness. I find the outer rolls cook quicker than the centre ones.
Position the baking tray in the lower rack as this will prevent the dinner roll from burning.


HOW TO MAKE DINNER ROLLS?
To make the BEST Homemade Ladi Pav, You will need the following
- Measuring Cup
- Baking sheet
- Stand mixer
- Instant pot (optional)
- Kitchen scale (optional)
- Plastic Wrap | Cling Film
- Greased bowl
INGREDIENTS TO MAKE DINNER ROLLS
To make Soft Pillowy Dinner Rolls, you will need 6 ingredients that are easily available in your pantry
Plain Flour or All Purpose Flour or Maida
Warm Milk – Measure out the milk and heat it in the microwave briefly until it’s warm enough to touch.
Instant Yeast – I like to use Instant Fast Action Dried Yeast in my recipe. This will save us additional time for activating and foaming.
Salt
Sugar
Softened Butter – Room temperature butter will work best!
HOW TO MAKE SOFT DINNER ROLLS STEP BY STEP?
Sift the Flour and set it aside. Add all the ingredients in a large bowl.
Add warm milk in two instances and knead the dough.

KNEADING THE DOUGH
I like to use my Kitchen Aid Stand mixer to knead the dough, which cuts the process time by 1/4. You can knead the dough by hand too.

PROOFING THE DOUGH
Before we get to the recipe for ultimate dinner roll, I would like to share how to proof the bread dough. Allowing the roll dough to rise twice is a key step for pillowy rolls.
Sometimes this can be daunting too! A lot of factors play around in rising. Sometimes there can be too much humidity, too much chillness and what not.
Proofing in the Instant Pot works well in all conditions. If you do not have an Instant Pot, use the second method, which is universally known.
HOW TO PROOF DOUGH IN INSTANT POT?
Grease the Inner Pot of the Instant Pot with butter/ oil.
Place the dough in the greased pot. Close the lid and leave the knob in venting.
Select the Yogurt Setting and set the external timer for 40 mins. I always use my Google Home for a 40 minutes reminder. When the timer beeps, cancel the yogurt setting. Open the lid to see the raised dinner roll dough.
Deflate the dough by punching down lightly.

HOW TO PROOF THE DOUGH with greased bowl?
If you don’t have an Instant Pot or your Instant Pot does not have a Yogurt button, use this method.
Grease a large bowl and transfer the kneaded dough to the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or damp towel. The dough rises double the size in a warm place for 1 – 1 1/2 hour.
Remove the cling film/ plastic wrap. Deflate the dough by punching down lightly.

DIVIDE THE DOUGH & SECOND RISE
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Pinch pieces of the dough and Divide them into 12 equal sized portions. Roll and shape to smooth top for each of the portion.
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Transfer all the rolls to a greased baking sheet. Cover with soft towel or plastic and allow for a second rise. This can take anywhere from 30 minutes – 45 minutes depending upon the weather and altitude.
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Brush the rolls with milk or egg wash.

BAKE THE DINNER ROLLS
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Preheat oven to 200 C. Position the Tray into the lower shelf of the oven and bake the rolls for 12 to 15 minutes until cooked through or until the top is golden brown.
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If the rolls are getting a bit brown, cover them with a foil sheet and continue to cook.
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Remove the rolls from the oven and brush the hot rolls with melted butter. Serve them immediately or store up to 3 days in an airtight container.

HAVE YOU MADE THIS RECIPE ?
Be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a ★ rating!
Post a photo of your creation on my Facebook page, share it on Instagram, or save it to Pinterest with the tag #sandhyaskitchen. I would love to see your pictures of this cushion-like, pillowy pav to serve with Pav Bhaji.

HOMEMADE LADI PAV RECIPE BELOW

Ladi Pav Recipe – How to make Soft Eggless DINNER ROLLS at home?
Print Pin RateIngredients
- 3 1/2 Cup Flour
- 21/4 tsp or 7g Yeast
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 Tbsp Sugar
- 3 Tbsp Butter
- 1 1/2 Cup Warm Milk
Instructions
KNEAD THE DOUGH
- Sift the flour and set it aside.
- Add flour, salt, sugar, yeast, milk to the mixing bowl of the stand mixer.
- Attach the dough hook and turn the mixer on to medium speed and mix until flour is incorporated. Increase the speed and allow the the hook to knead for two more minutes.
- Add the softened butter to the dough and knead for another 2 minutes until well incorporated.
- If the dough is a little too sticky, add additional flour as necessary – may be 2 – 3 tbsp flour at a time. The dough should be soft and pull away from the edge of the mixing bowl.
- Alternatively to knead by hand, add all the ingredients in a bowl and knead until soft. This can take up to 20 minutes.
HOW TO PROOF THE DOUGH ?
- Grease a large bowl and transfer the kneaded dough to the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or damp towel. Allow the it rise for 1 hour at room temperature or until it doubles the size.
- Remove the cling film/ plastic wrap. Deflate the dough by punching down lightly.
HOW TO PROOF DOUGH IN INSTANT POT?
- Grease the Inner Pot of the Instant Pot with butter/ oil.
- Place the dough in the greased pot. Close the lid and leave the knob in venting.
- Select the Yogurt Setting and set the external timer for 40 mins. I always use my Google Home for a 40 minutes reminder. When the timer beeps, cancel the yogurt setting. Open the lid to see the raised dinner roll dough.
- Deflate the dough by punching down lightly.
DIVIDE THE DOUGH & SECOND RISE
- Pinch pieces of the dough and Divide them into 12 equal sized portions. Roll and shape to smooth top for each of the portion.
- Transfer all the rolls to a greased baking sheet. Cover with soft towel or plastic and allow for a second rise. This can take anywhere from 30 minutes – 45 minutes depending upon the weather and altitude.
- Brush the rolls with milk or egg wash.
BAKE THE DINNER ROLLS
- Preheat oven to 200 C. Position the Tray into the lower shelf of the oven and bake the rolls for 12 to 15 minutes until cooked through or until the top is golden brown.
- If the rolls are getting a bit brown, cover them with a foil sheet and continue to cook.
- Remove the rolls from the oven and brush the hot rolls with melted butter. Serve them immediately or store up to 3 days in an airtight container.
There’s nothing better than the smell of fresh bread baking. I can’t wait to make these, thank you so much for all the helpful tips!
You are most welcome Emily. I am so glad you found the tips so handy.
We are always trying new recipes as a family to make meal time ..a family time! This recipe was delicious! Next time I need to make a double batch!
Thank you Cindy. I am so happy you family loved these Dinner Rolls. I cannot wait to see your pictures.
MMM, yum! You cant go wrong with a homemade dinner roll! They look so soft and fluffy, I cant wait to try them out!
Yay, I am glad you have found your perfect recipe here.
These dinner rolls look so soft and fluffy. I love that they sound pretty easy to make. Going to try them out at the weekend!
These Dinner Rolls are one of the easiest.
These dinner rolls are amazing!! I love that they are eggless, and all of your step-by-step tips are so helpful!
Thank you Marlynn. I am so glad the tips are handy!
What size is the tray you used? It appears to be “deep” sided as well. Thanks so much!
I made two batches back to back and both are deep as well. The glass dish is a pyrex serving dish. Tray is a square one.
I don’t have a yogurt button. How do I adjust the proofing.
I am curious. I noticed in the home page of Pinterest under ingredients it says 5 1/4 tsp yeast but in recipe it says 2 1/4 tsp. You might want to correct that. I’m assuming it’s the 2 1/4?
Thank you for bringing to my notice PAM. Sometimes Pinterest pulls out the ingredients funnily and the measurements are wrong.
Have made these 2 days in a row. My boys and I are BIG fans. Will end up sing even bigger fans if I keep making these everyday.
So good! Thanks for sharing.
Sorry. End up being bigger fans.
Omg…This is fabulous news!! Don’t forget to share pics next time with us.
Hi Sandhya,
Can you please tell the exact time to knead the dough in kitchen aid before adding butter and after adding it. Like how many minutes on slow/medium/fast. Same says, too much kneading is not gonna work.
Hey Payal, Approximately 3-4 minutes before adding the butter. Just 1 minute max after adding the butter. I always prefer to use medium speed 4-6 on my kitchen aid, so I have a control on the dough.
Yes,you are right – over kneading can cause the pav buns to turn out too hard.
Next time I make it again, I am going to estimate the exact time needed on my stand mixer!
This looks awesome. How to find out if the pav is cooked properly? Can I insert toothpick to check? Or the color on the top is the only indicator?
Thank you Aarti! Bun will pull away from the sides of the pan and will feel firm to the touch. When you tap the top of the bun lightly, it will sound hollow.
These dinner rolls are so easy and SO yummy!!! They pair perfect with some Texas Roadhouse like butter. They are so light and fluffy.
I was absolutely delighted to see your dinner rolls. Thanks for sharing!
Awesome tasting for so little effort!
So fab to hear!! Your dinner rolls looked amazing.
I did try the recipe out. It turned out awesome. Thanks for the recipe. I served pav bhaji with it. Next time I want to try making it with wheat flour. Do I make any changes to the recipe?
I am in US. Are our oven in C? Do we need to convert 200C to Farenheit?
Yes, you need to convert the oven temp to F. 200 C is 392F. You can set them to 400F.
Thank you for the recipe! We had left over pau bhaji, but no buns, so I decided to make my own. This recipe is super easy to follow. My kids LOVED the bread! It’s best eaten fresh from the oven.
Thats so wonderful to hear Bhumi. I am so glad it turned out so well and your family loved it.
Hi Sandhya, Followed your recipe for the ladi-pav today and they came our perfect. Thank you for sharing the detailed steps and pictures, made it easy to follow along.
Thanks
Dipti
So pleased Dipti that your ladi pav has come out well!! Don’t forget to tag me with #sandhyaskitchen, so I can see your creation too.
Absolutely delicious! I made these today and they turned out sooo delicious a proper traditional Indian pav recipe. Loved it.
Did you use the dry yeast or instant yeast.
Hi Pushpa, I have used Instant dried yeast.
Awesome. Tried them and they came out perfect. Everyone just gobbled them.
Thank you Manisha for sharing the pictures with us.Your homemade Ladi Pav looked fabulous.
Hi, i tried your recipe and it came out good and tasty. But at the bottom my pav become little darker, can you please let me know, how to prevent that.
Hi Sandya, can I substitute sugar with splenda or stevia? Would I use the same measurement? Thank you.
Hi Nirmala, If you are using Instant Yeast, then I think it should be okay. But if you are using Active Yeast that needs to bubble and activate, it will needs sugar to feed it. So ideally I will not recommend to miss the ingredient or substitute it.
I have seen recipes that have used honey if that helps?
Thanks Sandhya. If I make it with instant yeast then can I skip sugar (or substitute) altogether? My husband can detect even a little sugar and prefers if there is no sugar at all.
One more question – can this be made without sugar? My husband can detect even a little sugar in food and prefers if there is no sugar. Thank you.
Ok your search for perfect better than market pavs end here.. this recipe is beyond perfect.. followed it to the T .. the pavs were to die for .. polished away in a jiffy .. it’s the best.. thanks for this Sandhya .. I am going to make this again and again and again ❤️❤️
Thank you so much Deepanjali!! Your homemade pav pictures looked so decandent.
Thank you for this recipe. Pav turned out really soft and delicious.
Thats fabulous to know Shital. Thank you for trying our recipe.
Can I use wholewheat or half all purpose flour and half wholewheat for this recipe
Yes you can use half and half – please note – the texture will be different. Adjust the amount of water needed accordingly.
You utter legend. Even me as a fairly clueless bloke managed to get this to come out really well.
Thank you again. Worth updating your recipe to indicate whether it is 200C Fan or not? I used fan which worked out ok but it may save someone else some confusion
– Happy bloke in NW London
Can I use margarine instead of butter?
I may not be able to advise on that as I have not tried using margarine in the recipe.
I followed your recipe step by step. The pav turned out soft, yummy. The texture was beautiful. Thank you so much for the recipe.
I used bread flour instead of AP flour.
Thats so wonderful to know Rohini. Lovely to see your Ladi Pav pictures on Instagram.
I have made quite a few failed attempts in the past to make ladi pav at home. But for some reason or the other it never turned out the way it should. I gave up trying once we found out that there is an Indian Bakery a few miles from our home..that sells really good Ladi Paav. But I wanted to give it a try again since I had instant yeast handy. I am so glad that I stumbled upon this recipe. I followed the recipe to the T, crossed my fingers and said a little prayer when the pavs when into the oven. To my delight these came out soooooo gooooddd. It was sheer perfection. The result was super soft, spongy and pillowy pavs. Thank you so much Sandhya was this wonderful yet simple recipe. I have bookmarked it and this is going to be my go to recipe from now on. I used Saf instant yeast and the kneading was taken care by my kitchen aid and I proved the dough by following the standard method.
Thank you so much Saumya for your kind words and sharing your pictures with me. Your Ladi Pav Dinner Rolls looked stunning.
hi,
Thanks for this recipe. Should i use measuring scale to measure my ingredients or use the cup? There seem to be difference in measurement while using the cup vs scale as when i measure the flour on measure scale, it seem to be looking more. I used stand mixer for making the dough. it seems little dry and hard dough when i finally made it. Also i had to add extra water that what you mentioned. Should the dough be soft and bit sticky?
Hi Lalitha, The dough should be soft.
Coming to the measurements, I would use a cup to measure the flour. Yes, the measurements on the scale do vary, so I trust my cup measurements. Also what you need to keep in mind is the water needed can vary depending upon the humidity. This is the thumb rule for any dough preparation.
Hello Sandhya, I loved how easy your recipe was to follow. Can I store these pav outside once they have been baked, or do they have to be refrigerated? Can I use them three days later?
You can store them in an airtight container outside for up to 2 days. Usually, I hardly have any left for more than that.
If your pav has a hard crust when it’s baked out of the oven, remember to place a moist warm towel on the pav for 20 minutes or so.
Hi Sandhya, I tried your recipe and the dough rose both the first (1hr rise stored) and second (30 minutes stored) times, but since I did not have a brush, I rubbed milk on them with my hands and the pavs sank. They did not rise back up again and I had deflated pavs. What typically causes deflation?
I made these rolls to have with Christmas day leftovers – lamb raan, daal, pickles etc. Honestly the leftovers were nicer than the original meal. The rolls are super fluffy and moreish. Thank you!
That’s so fabulous Rosie..
Ive tried this recipe twice now! Both a total HIT! This recipe is going into mine and my wife’s joint handwritten cookbook for us to handover to our girls when they’re old enough! Felt like I was eating Ladi Pav on Juhu Beach in Mumbai. Genuinely fantastic! Thank you so much!
I have made this recipe at least 5 or 6 times. It is an authentic as mumbai pav can get. Incredible texture and softness. I have tried it with both pav bhaji and vada pav. Couldn’t be better. Thank you for sharing a great recipe. I’ll never have to resort to store bought pav again.
So happy your Mumbai Ladi Pav turns out perfectly every single time !!! Thank you for a fabulous review – It just made my day!
Your pictures had metal pans and glassware.. I wanted to know if there is temperature change baking in glass and metal bakeware?
Heyy Bhakti, I have made in both the metal pan and glass baking tray, with no change in temperature.
Can I use oat or almond milk instead or regular milk? Thanks
You can use any milk although the taste will be different. How about using water instead?
Awesome recipe !! I was very unsure with this version with milk as the liquid component.
But omg I was pleasantly surprised!!!
Thanks Sandhya!!! The Stand mixer and IP steps were a lifesaver !
It really means a lot to me Nithya. Your comment simply made my day. Stand Mixer and IP speed up the process for making Ladi Pav. Milk adds richness to the dinner rolls.
My bun pav came out bit hard instead of soft and fluffy. I followed all the steps but still couldn’t find the reason of hardness. By any chance can you suggest something
Pav can turn hard due to many reasons!
1. Did you prove the dough twice?
2. Maybe you have over-kneaded the dough.
3. The water to flour ratio may not have been accurate
4. You may have overbaked.