22 Thanksgiving Rolls and More for the Bread Basket
For some of us, the bread is one of the best things about Thanksgiving dinner. But it has to be….right. Soft rolls, harvest flavors, maybe even a pumpkin shape. Here’s a collection of 23 recipes you’ll be proud to serve.
Old-Fashioned Yeast Rolls
If you’ve never made a yeast roll before and Thanksgiving is your deadline, start here. This is the plain, pillowy, butter-brushed roll every basket needs, and the dough can be shaped the night before and pulled out of the fridge on Thursday morning.
Sourdough Dinner Rolls
For the sourdough people who don’t want to serve a dense roll on the holiday. These are soft, and they hold up to a heavy pour of gravy without falling apart. Shape them a day ahead, let them slow rise in the fridge, and bake while the turkey rests.
Garlic Parmesan Dinner Rolls
Butter, garlic, and parmesan are baked right into the top. Good next to turkey, better next to the leftover mashed potatoes you’re eating standing up at the counter.
Super Soft Potato Rolls
Potato in the dough is the old trick for rolls that stay soft two days in. Useful when Thanksgiving leftovers are important. These are the ones the kids reach for first, and the ones that make a decent turkey sandwich on Friday.
Rye Dinner Rolls
If someone in your family loves rye (there’s always one!), add these to the basket, and they will be happy. Earthy and a little tangy, and unexpected enough on a Thanksgiving table to feel special without being fussy.
Snowflake Rolls
The shaping takes a few extra minutes, but these are SO pretty… like something out of a magazine, sitting in a basket on a white tablecloth! Worth doing once a year for the picture alone, and they taste like a proper dinner roll besides.
Flaky Sourdough Biscuits
A good way to use up the discard that’s been staring at you all week, and a good way to have hot biscuits on the table without planning ahead. They’re flaky with a little tang, and they bake while the turkey rests!
Soft Honey Wheat Rolls
A little honey, a little whole wheat, yet still soft enough that no one at the table calls them healthy. These are the rolls for the aunt who says she doesn’t eat white bread but somehow takes three.
Parker House Roll Recipe
These Parker House rolls are the folded, buttery, pull-apart kind your grandma probably made. They look SO pretty all lined up in a baking dish! This version stays soft for a solid two days, which matters when you’re baking Wednesday for a Thursday dinner.
Pumpkin Dinner Rolls
Real pumpkin puree in the dough, not just food coloring. The flavor is subtle and cozy, and the color is beautiful next to a white tablecloth. Yeasted and a bit of a project, so plan them for a morning when you have an hour to putter.
No-Knead Dinner Rolls
No stand mixer, no kneading, no shaping fussy little balls at midnight. Stir it together, let it rise, and scoop it into the pan. This is the recipe for the person who agreed to bring rolls and is now regretting it.
Seeded Sourdough Rolls
Seeds on top, sourdough tang inside, and rustic enough to sit in a linen-lined basket. These are the rolls to bring when your sister-in-law is doing a fancy tablescape and you want to match the energy.
Crusty Sourdough Rolls
Crusty outside, open crumb inside, and no shaping technique required beyond a quick fold. If you already keep a starter going, this is the lowest-effort way to put real bread on the holiday table.
Sweet Potato Biscuits
Sweet potato in a biscuit is a Southern grandmother’s trick and it turns out beautifully orange, tender, and just faintly sweet. If you’re already roasting sweet potatoes for the casserole, bake an extra one and put it to work here.
Italian Sesame Rolls
Chewier than a dinner roll, sturdier than a soft roll, and covered in sesame seeds. This is the kind of bread that holds up to being torn in half and dragged through gravy. Bake them the morning of and they’ll still be good at four o’clock.
4-Ingredient Cream Biscuits
Four ingredients, one bowl, no rolling pin, and they’re in the oven twelve minutes after you decide to make them. It’s perfect for when the rolls didn’t rise or your sister forgot the bread she promised. (It happens!!)
Easy Sourdough Cornbread
Whether it’s a side or a bread at your house, cornbread belongs at Thanksgiving. The sourdough one is my pick to sit next to the stuffing. I bake mine in a cast iron skillet and just bring the whole pan to the table. 
Pumpkin Shaped Dinner Rolls
Shaped to look like little pumpkins with a piece of pecan for the stem. The kids will lose their minds, and the grown-ups will take pictures. Worth the extra ten minutes of shaping.
Easy Cheddar Biscuits
Drop biscuits, meaning no rolling and no cutting, meaning you can have hot cheddar biscuits on the table in under half an hour. Cornbread belongs on the Thanksgiving table, whether your family calls it a side or a bread.
Cheddar Cornmeal Biscuits
Cornmeal makes the outside a little crunchy and there’s cheddar melted through the middle. They’re sort of halfway between a biscuit and cornbread, which is perfect for Thanksgiving. Make the dough ahead and bake them off while the turkey rests.
Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls
Mashed sweet potato worked into a yeast dough gives you rolls that are soft, faintly orange, and taste like fall without being sweet. These are the rolls for the person who wants something a little different in the basket but not weird.
Mixed Nut and Dulce de Leche Brioche Knot
Okay, brioche is a project. But a brioche knot with nuts and dulce de leche folded in? People will be talking about it all night. Save this one for the year you want to bring something no one has seen before.
