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    Herby Rhodes Rolls

    Updated October 27, 2025 / By Holly Erickson

    Dinner rolls don’t get easier than these! My trick for easy dinner roles is to dress up a bag of frozen Rhodes rolls with butter and herbs for a homemade roll vibe, without the work. 

    freshly baked dressed up rhodes rolls being brushed with melted herby butter and sprinkled with flaky salt
    Photography by Gayle McLeod

    Easy Dinner Rolls

    Holiday meals like Thanksgiving must have dinner rolls, but on the busiest cooking days of the year, I don’t have time to make rolls from scratch. I first learned about using frozen Rhodes rolls as a dinner roll shortcut when I was a young nanny. I helped the grandma of the girls I nannied for with hosting holiday parties, and she always served ‘cheater’ rolls using Rhodes. I still make them for almost every holiday! Read on for exactly how to make Rhodes rolls taste homemade.

    3 Freshly baked Rhodes rolls brushed with golden herby butter stacked on a plate

    P.S. This is NOT a sponsored post! I just happen to be a huge fan of Rhodes rolls. There are lots of brands of frozen dinner rolls out there, and if you have a different fave, that’s fine to use. This recipe for dressing them up a bit will work with any frozen dinner roll you’ve got. 

    ingredients laid out to dress up rhodes rolls with garlic and herb butter

    Everything You’ll Need To Make Rhodes Rolls

    Frozen Rhodes rolls are good all on their own: Just rise and bake. But, if you can take 10 minutes to spruce them up a little, you can take these simple dinner rolls from yummy to legendary. 

    • Rhodes rolls: Find them in the freezer aisle. I usually buy enough to have about two rolls per person. ANY brand is OK. I’ve used Rhodes, Bridgford, or store brands. The key is using rolls that need to rise, NOT the "ready to bake" type. Note that different brands may have slightly different rise times.
    • Butter: I like to use salted butter for this recipe, but unsalted butter is OK. 
    • Dried herbs: Rosemary, oregano, thyme.
    • Fresh garlic: Just a hint of garlic is so delicious with the butter. 
    butter and herbs melting in a saucepan to make dressed up rhodes rolls
    raw rhodes rolls being rolled in homemade garlic and herb butter

    Instructions: How to Cook Rhodes Rolls 

    If you’ve got 10 minutes, you’ve got warm dinner rolls! 

    1. Because of the rise time, either start in the morning OR the night before. 
    2. Melt the butter with the garlic and herbs.
    3. One by one, roll the frozen Rhodes rolls in melted butter.
    4. Put the frozen rolls in a pan.
    5. RISE. You don’t have to do anything, but it will take about 4 to 5 hours for them to double in size. If you have a proofing drawer, you may be able to make it happen faster.
    6. Bake! 15 minutes at 350°F and you’re done. 
    raw rhodes rolls covered with garlic and herb butter on a pan to thaw and rise before baking
    raw rhodes rolls covered with garlic and herb butter on a pan rising before baking

    Tips For Perfect Dinner Rolls

    • To prep these the night before a big holiday dinner: Coat the rolls in butter, place them in your pan, cover, and pop it in the fridge overnight. They will rise a bit overnight, so the morning of your big dinner, you can get away with a shorter room temperature rise time! 2-3 hours at room temp before baking should be enough. The best litmus is to see if the rolls have doubled in size from frozen. 
    • If you use your proofing drawer to speed up the rise time, take care not to go too warm. 85-90°F should be fine, but any warmer could kill the yeast. 
    • If the rolls haven’t doubled after 5 hours: It is possible (especially around the holidays) that your kitchen is too cold. Do you have the pan near an external wall? Could you move it to a warmer place? 
    • The rolls are ready to go in the oven when they’re visibly puffy and jiggle slightly when you shake the pan. 
    freshly baked dressed up rhodes rolls covered with melted herby butter and flaky salt

    Variations 

    • For a French vibe: Instead of thyme and oregano, try Herbes de Provence, fresh or dried tarragon, dried chives, or parsley. 
    • I have made these cheater Rhodes rolls with dairy free butter and they worked well. 
    • Dress up these rolls with compound butters for a fancy-feeling dinner roll that’s ready fast.
    freshly baked dressed up rhodes rolls being brushed with melted herby butter and sprinkled with flaky salt

    Freezing

    So it might sound funny, because Rhodes rolls are already frozen, but you can actually do the herb butter step and then freeze them again if you want to prep them ahead. When you’re ready, just thaw the herb butter rolls like the directions say to do. You can also freeze them after they are baked for up to 2 months.

    2 Freshly baked Rhodes rolls brushed with golden herby butter on a plate

    More Bread Basket Fodder For Your Holiday Table

    Did You Make These Dressed Up Rhodes Rolls

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    freshly baked dressed up rhodes rolls being brushed with melted herby butter and sprinkled with flaky salt

    Herby Rhodes Rolls Recipe

    Updated October 27, 2025

    By Holly Erickson

    • Serves:  20
    • Yields:  20 rolls
    • Prep Time:  5 hrs
    • Cook Time:  20 min

    Description

    Dinner rolls don’t get easier than these! My trick for easy dinner roles is to dress up a bag of frozen Rhodes rolls with butter and herbs for a homemade roll vibe, without the work. 

    Print Recipe

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      Ingredients

      • 1 cup salted butter (2 sticks), plus more for greasing
      • 1 tablespoon dried rosemary, crushed
      • 1 tablespoon dried oregano
      • 1 tablespoon dried thyme
      • 6 garlic cloves, minced
      • 20 frozen dinner rolls, (thaw rise and bake)
      • Flaky salt, for serving

      Method

      1. To a small saucepan, add the butter, rosemary, oregano, thyme, and garlic and cook over low heat until the butter melts and the herbs are fragrant. Transfer the butter mixture to a bowl. 

        butter and herbs melting in a saucepan to make dressed up rhodes rolls

      2. Meanwhile prepare a 9x13 baking dish by greasing with butter or spraying with cooking spray (see Note).

        ingredients laid out to dress up rhodes rolls with garlic and herb butter

      3. Working with one roll at a time, roll the frozen rolls in the herb butter and place in the prepared baking dish about 1½ inches apart. Let the rolls rise at room temperature for 4 to 5 hours, or until doubled in size. 

        raw rhodes rolls being rolled in homemade garlic and herb butter

      4. Preheat the oven to 350°F. 

        raw rhodes rolls covered with garlic and herb butter on a pan rising before baking

      5. Bake the rolls until golden brown, 15-20 minutes.

        freshly baked dressed up rhodes rolls covered with melted herby butter and flaky salt

      6. Remove the rolls from the oven. Melt and remaining butter in the microwave or over low heat in a small saucepan. Using a pastry brush, brush the warm rolls. Sprinkle them with flaky salt and serve warm.

        freshly baked dressed up rhodes rolls being brushed with melted herby butter and sprinkled with flaky salt

      Notes

      You can bake these rolls in any ovenproof baking dish or sheet pan. The rolls need to be spaced 1½-inches apart. The size of the baking vessel will depend on how many rolls you are planning to bake.   

      Related Recipes

      Nutrition Info

      • Per Serving
      • Amount
      • Calories 191
      • Protein 2 g
      • Carbohydrates 19 g
      • Total Fat 11 g
      • Dietary Fiber 1 g
      • Cholesterol 27 mg
      • Sodium 130 mg
      • Total Sugars 2 g

      Herby Rhodes Rolls

      Questions & Reviews

      Rated 5 stars by 5 readers

      or
      • How

        How much potassium and phosphate

        Sorry, we don't currently include those on our nutrition information.

      • Lynn

        what are the best frozen dinner rolls for Rhodes dinner rolls?

        We prefer the Rhodes brand. Hope you enjoy Lynn!

      • Makaela

        Can I use fresh herbs instead of the dried herbs?

        That should work fine!

      • Patti

        Could these be made on a cookie sheet? Trying to make a lot of them and thinking a baking sheet could be a good idea to get a lot made

        Yes! A rimmed baking sheet should work!

      • Dawn

        Can you do this the day ahead and refrigerate before pulling out for rolls to rise?

        I have never tested this recipe with the refrigerated thaw method. Let us know if it works!

      • Karen

        I was wondering how these would turn out if they were made in a bundt pan.

        I've never tried it that way. I think they would definitely rise better in a baking dish or pie pan.

      • crystal

        Do the rolls have to be kept frozen when putting them into the herb butter?

        Yep! You simply roll the frozen rolls in the herb butter.

      • Stephanie

        5-star rating

        Perfect!

        Thanks Stephanie, so glad you loved these!

      • N

        5-star rating

        Followed recipe and came out pretty good. Only thing Id change, and this is solely due to preference, is less rosemary. It was a pretty overpowering taste but I also used ground rosemary instead of fresh so maybe thats why

        Thanks Lucille, we are so happy you enjoyed these! For future reference ground rosemary is much more potent. So if you are using ground use half the amount that we have listed.

      • Dee

        5-star rating

        I have used your Herb butter over store-bought
        pre-made heat and serve dinner rolls. I heated the rolls in a 350 oven for 12-15 min. Such a huge hit! Delicious. I'm thinking turkey sliders. I'm sure your Herb butter will make them extraordinary. Thank you for sharing.

        Thansk Dee, so glad you love it!

      • Angelina

        5-star rating

        These rolls are amazing. My family loved them and could not stop raving about them.

        Yay! So happy everyone enjoyed them! Thanks Angelina!

      • April

        5-star rating

        These came out great for me. I'd previously just been popping dough balls/rolls in my muffin pan, but this way they came out way tastier. For some reason Rhodes rolls never want to rise for me. I had them out all day in 75 degree kitchen and they never really rose much at all. But they baked up just fine, so as long as they thaw long enough I guess it's fine. They were delicious for our Thanksgiving dinner!

        Great, so happy to hear they came out great!

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