This Easy Potato Roll Recipe makes a soft and slightly sweet bread roll that’s perfect for dinner or slider buns. Even the beginner baker is going to love making them.
This recipe was updated from 2017 to improve user experience.
Potato Roll recipes are a must for St. Patricks Day. The good thing about this recipe is that it’s so versatile that you’ll love making them all year long.
We know that baking bread can be intimidating for people that have never tried it before or tried it unsuccessfully and are scarred for life.
To some people, yeast is a scary ingredient. If you are one of those people, this Super Easy Potato Roll Recipe is for you!
What is a Potato Roll?
Potato rolls have cooked potatoes in the ingredients which make them moist and tender.
This recipe uses very simple ingredients and in uncomplicated steps. Let’s break it down.
Potato roll ingredients
- Mashed potatoes – peeled and boiled potato before any cream or butter is added. We used one medium-sized potato.
- Potato water – we retained one cup. You can also use plain water if you don’t have the potato water.
- Instant yeast – Yeast may also be labeled as rapid-rise.
- Flour – All-purpose flour
- Sugar – White granular sugar
- Shortening – makes these rolls soft and tender. We always use the Crisco brand.
- Salt – We use Kosher salt in this recipe.
How to make potato rolls
This recipe can be hand mixed and kneaded. However, we’ve found that it works better with an electric stand mixer.
The dough is soft and buttery but not overly sticky. When we put the dough hook on the mixer it comes away from the sides of the bowl and forms a ball.
When we mix by hand, sometimes we have to add extra flour to prevent it from sticking to our hands.
You use what you have. We’ve done it both ways and it works regardless.
- Boil a medium-sized peeled and diced potato. Pour the potato water into a glass measuring cup. Mash the potato until fairly smooth.
- Combine all of the ingredients into the bowl of an electric stand mixer fit with the paddle attachment. Mix until the ingredients are well combined.
- Change the attachment on the mixer to the dough hook and allow the mixer to knead the bread for 7 minutes. The dough should come away from the sides of the bowl and form a ball.
- Put the dough in a bowl that’s been oiled or sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Cover the bowl and let it rise for 90 minutes.
- Shape the dough into rolls and place them on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Cover them with oiled plastic wrap and let them rest for 1 hour.
- Remove the plastic wrap. If you want to top with seeds or grains such as caraway, sesame, poppyseeds, or oats, brush with melted butter and apply your garnish.
- Bake. Brush with melted butter if desired.
Tips for the perfect Potato Dinner Roll
- If you’re making mashed potatoes for dinner, just make them earlier in the day. Scoop out a cup before adding the cream and butter for Potato Rolls!
- You can either finish making your mashed potatoes and warm them up or finish making them right before dinner.
- We often keep mashed potatoes warm in a slow cooker for holidays and that would work well here too.
- You can use instant mashed potatoes (not just the flakes). You’ll need 1 cup.
- It doesn’t matter if the mashed potatoes are cool or warm but they blend better if they’re at room temperature or slightly warm. You can mash the potatoes ahead of time and let them cool. Don’t forget to reserve the water.
- We like our rolls approximately the same size so they bake at the same rate.
- Using a kitchen scale, weigh the entire piece of dough and then divide that number by the number of rolls that you want.
- I’ve made this recipe into 24 rolls which are perfect for a dinner roll and 34 rolls for sliders.
- If you want your rolls to be individual round rolls place them a little further apart on the baking sheet so they don’t touch once they’ve risen. For a tear-apart dinner roll, you can place them closer together so they’re touching once they rise.
- If you want to garnish the rolls with seeds or grains, we brush the dough with melted butter and apply the garnish right away so it will stick. For ungarnished rolls, you don’t need to brush the dough with the butter.
- We do brush our ungarnished baked rolls with butter because it keeps the crust soft.
These are dinner roll-sized but I could easily have made them into 12 hamburger-sized potato buns. I’ve made this recipe into 24 dinner rolls and even 34 smaller rolls for sliders.
That’s exactly what we do when we make Brioche buns too.
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Storing + Freezing
Storing
Baked potato rolls can be stored at room temperature for up to three days.
They can also be placed in an airtight container and frozen for up to 3 months.
Make Ahead
Potato Bread Rolls can be made ahead of time too. After you mix up the dough cover it with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Slip the bowl into the refrigerator.
To bake them the next day, remove the dough from the refrigerator and shape it into rolls. Allow the rolls to rise until doubled in size. Since the dough is cold, this may take up to 2 hours.
Freeze the dough
We let the dough rise and then shape them. Put the rolls on a parchment-lined baking sheet and slip them into the freezer.
Once they’re frozen, you can put them in an air-tight freezer bag or container and take out the amount you want to bake.
To bake, place the frozen bread on a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet and cover them with plastic wrap sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Let them rise until doubled in size, 3 to 5 hours.
Other bread recipes perfect for St. Patty’s Day
- Soda Bread with Raisins
- Waterford Blaa Bread Rolls
- Molasses Brown Bread
- Dutch oven Soda Bread with Cherries
We LOVE baking bread! You can find all of our bread recipes here!
What you may need
Pin it
My neighbor stopped by and she ate the buttered prop for my photos and said they were like crack, which is a good thing.
I sent her home with a bag for her family and told her to make sure her family got a few!
If you liked this bread recipe you may enjoy these too
I would love it if you enjoy this recipe that you will leave me a comment and rate the recipe with 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Potato Roll Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup potatoes mashed (medium to large)
- 1½ cup potato water
- 1 package instant yeast (2-1/4 tsp)
- 4-1/4 cups all-purpose flour may need an additional 1/2 cup
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup Shortening Crisco
- 1 tsp kosher salt
Optional
- *2 tablespoons melted butter for brushing roll tops prior to baking optional
- Caraway or other seeds optional
Instructions
- Boil a peeled and diced potato in 2 cups of water. Once the potato is cooked, pour the cooking water into a glass measuring cup. Mash the cooked potato and measure out 1 cup.
- Combine all of the ingredients into the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix until the ingredients are well combined. If you don't have enough potato water add lukewarm water.
- Change the paddle attachment to the dough hook attachment and allow the mixer to knead the bread for 7 minutes on medium to medium-high. The dough should come away from the sides of the bowl and form a ball. The dough can also be hand-kneaded.
- Put the dough in a bowl that’s been oiled or sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Cover the bowl and let it rise for 90 minutes.
- Punch the dough down and shape the rolls. I used a scale to get uniformed size rolls. Put the rolls on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, 12 to a pan. Cover and allow the rolls to rise for an additional hour. Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Brush tops with melted butter and seeds. Bake approximately 20-25 minutes or until brown.
- Store at room temperature in an airtight bag or container for up to 3 days.
Notes
- 24 dinner-sized rolls
- 34 slidder buns
- 12 hamburger buns
Nutrition
We teamed up with some of our favorite bread bakers to bring some more Irish bread recipes to you. I found several that are on my must-make list!
- Apple, Beer, and Cheddar Soda Bread by A Baker’s House
- Cheddar and Herbs Soda Bread by Ambrosia
- Cranberry and Poppy Seed Irish Bread by kidsandchic
- Currant Drop Scones by A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Four Leaf Clover Rolls by Cook’s Hideout
- Guinness Bread Rolls by The Bread She Bakes
- Guinness Buckwheat Bread by Baking Sense
- Irish Amber Ale Pretzels by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
- Irish Barmbrack by The Schizo Chef
- Oat and Potato Bread by Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Irish Freckle Bread by Mayuri’s Jikoni
- Irish Freckle Bread by Passion Kneaded
- Potato Roll Recipe by Hostess At Heart
- Irish Multigrain Bread by What Smells So Good?
- Irish Soda Bread by Herbivore Cucina
- Soft Wheat Irish Soda Scones with Raisins (Spotted Dog) by The Wimpy Vegetarian
- Irish Soda Buttermilk Bread by Sizzling Tastebuds
- Irish Soda Farls by Food Lust People Love
- Potato Clover Leaf Rolls by Spiceroots
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for spending some time with me today!
Nikki says
Made these over the weekend and they are all gone! The family loved them and have already requested I make more!
Julie Menghini says
I make these a ton this time of year too. Glad they’re so easy. Thanks, Nikki!
Kathleen says
Potatoes add such tenderness to bread, these are on my menu this week for St. Patrick’s day!
Julie Menghini says
Thank you, Kathleen! I think these are John’s favorite rolls.
Sandra Shaffer says
My mother in law would use leftover mashed potatoes to make these during the holidays. Didn’t think to make these all year long! Perfect with a bowl of soup and I love the sprinkle of caraway seeds. Such a nice addition of flavor.
Julie Menghini says
I love how recipes remind us of people and memories! John just loves these rolls so I make plenty and put them in the freezer. Thank you, Sandra!
Dannii says
I have never heard of rolls made with potatoes before. They look and sound amazing though.
Julie Menghini says
Thank you, Dannii!
Julia says
Will definetly make these for my non gluten family members! What about using this for burger buns?
Julie Menghini says
They make a great burger bun! I would split them into 12 rolls.
Chenée says
I love how you made the recipe so simple to follow! I can’t wait to try these potato rolls!
Julie Menghini says
Thank you! They are really easy to make.
Marie-Charlotte Chatelain says
I was looking for a side for my Irish Apple and Beef Stew and I think these would be absolutely delicious! They look perfect for dunking!
Julie Menghini says
I love stew! These rolls would the perfect roll for dunking!
Chris Collins says
These are so versatile! I think I’ll definitely be using my leftover mash to whip up a batch to go with tonight’s dinner 🙂
Julie Menghini says
Thank you, Chris! We really liked them.
Sue says
Could this recipe be used for hamburger buns? I know it says sliders but that’s a bit different from a full sized hamburger bun.
Julie Menghini says
It certainly can Sue and they would be delicious. You would just want to increase their size and I would just lightly flatten the round before the final raising after you roll them. I also use an instant thermometer to measure their doneness at 190°F. Please let me know if you have any questions.
frugal hausfrau says
I’ve always loved bread recipes with potato – it makes for such a soft beautiful bread!
Mollie
Julie Menghini says
Thank you Mollie! It sure made this bread light and fluffy!
Caroline says
These look lovely and sound delicious as well. And great that you managed to get the slight error to work for you!
Julie Menghini says
Thank you, Caroline! Luck isn’t always on my side with baking, and I’m very happy that this one worked out. Thank you for stopping by!
Jhuls | The Not So Creative Cook says
Good timing! Crisco is on my grocery list! These look amazingly beautiful!
Pavani says
Those potato rolls look amazing. So soft and delicious.
Julie Menghini says
Thank you Pavani. We really liked them.
[email protected] says
Potato rolls are my favorite!! And it is so amazing to see how you made them look so gorgeous. The bottle next to the bread is super CUTE!! Loved every bit of this post Julie!
susan | the wimpy vegetarian says
I love how forgiving breads can be. I’ve had to make changes at the last minute for a variety of reasons, and somehow it always works out. I’ve not yet potato breads, and need to correct this serious oversight 🙂
Julie Menghini says
Thank you, Susan! I did luck out on this one. I’ve had a few epic fails too LOL! This bread was soft and tender and we really enjoyed it.
sharanya palanisshami says
Potato Rolls was my favourite for its softness. Lovely presentation……..
Julie Menghini says
Thank you Sharanya! I’ll definitely make them again!
Mayuri Patel says
I love adding potato to my bread dough as it makes the bread super soft. The first time I made a potato bread, I landed up with a very sticky gooey dough as I had added too much liquid. The potato helps the yeast to ferment more. Now I.m careful. Will try the rolls out.
Julie Menghini says
Thank you, Mayuri! That’s interesting that the potato helps ferment the yeast. Maybe it’s the natural sugars? I just lucked out that my dough was so nice to work with.
Judith Graber says
Simple bread recipes are always good especially when you spread lots of butter on them! I like the towel ? underneath.
Julie Menghini says
Thank you, Judi! I like simplicity too. That towel is actually a flour sack that I found at an antique store! I couldn’t resist.
Judith Graber says
I think I need to go antiquing Julie 🙂
Karen says
How cool that you rescued that sponge and ended up with these beautiful rolls! You are a bread expert!
Julie Menghini says
I consider myself lucky on this one Karen. I will have to try the other method next time and compare even though these rolls really came out nice and were so easy.
[email protected] says
I love potato bread, Julie, and how perfect to make them into these pretty little rolls. The texture looks nice and soft, too. I wish I were your neighbor!!! 🙂
Julie Menghini says
I would gladly share with you, Anne! Thank you! They were really nice and soft.
Sarah Reid, CNP (@jo_jo_ba) says
Love any and all potato bread!
Julie Menghini says
Thank you, Sarah!
Eileen says
Boy do those buttered rolls look tempting. I can see how soft the crumb is. Lovely!
Julie Menghini says
Thank you, Eileen! They did come out nicely especially since I really tried to screw them up LOL!
Wendy Klik says
I have never made potato rolls and I love them. I need to remedy that and this recipe seems perfect for that.
Julie Menghini says
Thank you, Wendy. This was a great theme this month and I’m loving all of the unique recipes. Thank you for coordinating it this month!
Holly says
I would certainly not be able to stop at just one of these little beauties! Potato rolls are one of my favorites to make and I haven’t done so it a while. My trouble is that I eat the whole batch. BY MYSELF. Luckily company is coming in a few weeks so I’ll wait until then and share the goodness!
Julie Menghini says
Thank you, Holly! I’m with you…give me more than one and don’t hold the butter!
[email protected] says
I love the domed tops you got on these Julie. They look great 🙂
Julie Menghini says
Thank you Jess! I was really happy with the way they came out.
Elaine @ foodbod says
I’ve never made any potato breads, does it make the dough heavy?
Julie Menghini says
Actually no Elaine. They came out soft and tender and not heavy at all.
Elaine @ foodbod says
Interesting
Kelsie | the itsy-bitsy kitchen says
Bread is my favorite thing to bake but I’ve never made potato rolls (or bread). I love that your recipe will feed so many! They’re perfect for St. Patrick’s Day or Easter brunch (since we usually have tons of family around at Easter).
Julie Menghini says
Thank you, Kelsie! I love baking bread too and John loves eating it LOL. I’ve put so many things in bread before and loved how these potato rolls came out. I think the mashed potatoes just added moisture and didn’t change the bread flavor. You could make them ahead and freeze them to feed a crown too.
[email protected] says
It’s interesting to discover the way you add the mashed potatoes and also the potato water to these buns. I can only imagine the scent of your kitchen!
Julie Menghini says
Thank you, Ana! They came out really good. I think the potatoes just added to the moisture. They came out really good.
Loretta says
Very nice Julie, and just in time for St Patrick’s Day. Your bread group chose a great theme. I love the knife, you’ve featured it beautifully in the pictures above. Would love the smell of these buns wafting through my kitchen right about now. We’re experiencing some wacko weather on the East coast. What was predicted to be a foot and a half of snow, has turned to freezing rain, sleet and snow, it’s awful! I can see trees crashing into electric poles. Fingers crossed here! This after some of the flowers are budding on the trees 🙁
Julie Menghini says
Thank you, Loretta. I’d rather have a foot of snow than freezing rain. It can be so damaging to electrical wires, trees, and hips! We were supposed to get snow and ended up with just a few flurries but no freezing rain thank goodness. It’s a good thing you’re not in NYC this week! I found that little knife in an antique store that I love to visit once in a while. I found a “butter pat” last weekend that’s just a cute little dish. I find it funny that people used to be even a little fancier than we are way back when.