These easy sub rolls can be made from scratch in just one hour! They’re perfect for sandwiches like French dips, meatball subs, and more!
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We love sandwiches like French dips and meatball subs in our family, especially in the fall and winter when savory meals are just what we are all craving. Whenever we need sub rolls, I use this recipe because it’s so easy, takes only one hour from start to finish, and only calls for a handful of ingredients.
If you’ve been around here a while and are familiar with my homemade bread recipes, you may recognize this one. I adapt my uber-popular One Hour French Bread recipe to make these smaller, thinner sub rolls with a sesame seed topping.
They’re perfect for subs and hot sandwiches!
Easy Sub Rolls
The dough for these easy sub rolls is made with just bread flour, sea salt, active dry yeast, and warm water. The bread flour is important because the higher gluten-level helps the bread to rise more quickly, meaning the sub rolls can be completely ready in just an hour.
I like keeping bread flour on hand for this recipe (and the sister-recipe of French bread), for my One-Hour Focaccia Bread (so good and it starts in the Instant Pot!), and also along with fresh ground flour in my sandwich bread and many sourdough recipes too.
The dough comes together quickly, then is immediately formed into four thin loaves. The sub rolls rise in a warm oven for ten minutes, then on top of the oven while it heats to 425 degrees.
If you’ve never made bread before, this is a VERY easy recipe to try! You can also watch how to make One Hour French Bread (the process is almost exactly the same!)
If you try this recipe, I’d love to see! Please share and tag me so I can see! It’s also always appreciated when you come back and leave a review on the recipe. It helps more people know that they can trust it too!
More Like This ::
- Venison French Dip Sandwiches in the Instant Pot
- Make-Ahead Meatballs and Marinara
- One-Hour French Bread
- One-Hour Focaccia Bread with the Instant Pot
- 12 Must-Have Fall Soups for the Instant Pot
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These easy sub rolls can be made from scratch in just one hour! They’re perfect for sandwiches like French dips, meatball subs, and more!
Ingredients
- 4– 4 1/2 C bread flour
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 1/2 Tbsp yeast
- 2 C warm water
- 1 egg
- sesame seeds
Instructions
1.Turn the oven on to warm up and set a timer for three minutes. Turn the oven off when the timer goes off. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat.
2. Measure the yeast out into the bottom of a liquid measuring cup, pour the hot water in on yeast. Combine 3 cups of the flour and salt in a medium-sized mixing bowl, stir to mix.
3. Pour the yeast water into the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until the ingredients are combined. The dough should look shaggy at this point. Add another cup of flour and stir/mix until the dough begins to be less sticky and more smooth. Transfer the dough onto a floured surface and knead (push and fold the dough) until the dough is smooth and no longer sticks to your fingers when pressed. Add additional flour as needed.
3. Divide the dough into four parts. Roll each into a rectangle, about 6″ x 8″. Tightly roll up the rectangle into a long log. Pinch the seam closed, place the log on the prepared baking sheet seam-side down.
4. Cover the sub rolls loosely with a tea towel and place the baking sheet in the warm oven. Set a timer for 10 minutes. After ten minutes, remove the loaves from the oven, being careful not to shake them or set the pan down too hard (and make the dough fall). Place the sub rolls on top of the oven to continue rising while you heat the oven to 425°.
5. Remove the tea towel. Brush the tops of the sub rolls with a beaten egg, then sprinkle generously with sesame seeds. Gently place the sub rolls in the oven as soon as the oven is preheated**. Bake at 425° for 15-20 minutes, until the tops are browned and crusty and a thermometer inserted in the bread reads 180°.
6. The sub rolls will slice best if allowed to cool for 10-15 minutes.
Notes
**Not letting these loaves rise too long is important. If they are left to rise too long, they will fall during the baking time.
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Love these rolls. Make them any time I want to make subs. So much better than the store.
★★★★★
First batch deflated with egg wash. Skipped it 2nd time and they rose beautifully.
I have tried these twice and both times the loaves just don’t seem to rise at all or enough, even when I leave them in warm oven for a couple hours. How much should they rise- double in size during the warm oven time??
They seem to rise a little during the baking process, but I still have very dense and heavy loaves…I’ve used active yeast, but wondering if they would rise better if I used instant yeast and if I did, would I have to change the recipe much??
I’m curious what bread flour you use. I’ve been getting an unbleached bread flour from Azure, but it has more wheat feel to it than I’d like for my French type breads. I love it for load bread, but something like this roll recipie I prefer white flour.
I’d love to know what you use
Would it turn out without the egg and sesame seed? I have a child with egg allergies.
You can certainly leave off the egg wash. Or brush lightly with water and then sprinkle on sesame seeds if you want them.