Upgrading Store-Bought Dinner Rolls Is Easy Like Butter

There's no getting around it — some meals just need dinner rolls on the side. Whether it's a Thanksgiving platter, a succulent chicken roast, or a hearty pot of soup, doughy rolls are a timeless, tried-and-true dinner side. Although scratch-made rolls boast that comforting grandma's kitchen appeal, store-bought selections can just be as tasty without the extra work. But even high-quality store-bought dinner rolls can benefit from a little zhuzhing up. To maintain their convenience while boosting their flavor, brush store-bought dinner rolls with melted butter before warming them in the oven.

Coating dinner rolls in a shroud of melted butter is a small upgrade with major payoff. All it takes is a quick flick of the wrist using a butter-dipped basting brush before they hit the oven to achieve a starchy store-bought side dish with a richer flavor and toastier finish. As they warm, the butter helps in developing a golden-brown exterior that gives way to that fluffy, cloud-like interior characteristic of great bread rolls. Similarly, the glaze that develops on their surface lends a more exciting and satisfying mouthfeel that you just can't achieve by buttering them after they've been warmed up. This way, instead of just getting a mouthful of starchy bread, the final flavor of your butter-kissed rolls is more luxurious, pronounced, and well, buttery.

Making store-bought dinner rolls couldn't be easier. Simply pop them in the oven on a baking sheet and warm them until they're golden brown. Luckily, basting them with butter doesn't complicate the process whatsoever. However, there are a few tips and tricks worth keeping in mind to achieve a star-quality batch of store-bought rolls.

A little bit of butter goes a long way. You only need about 1 ½ tablespoons of butter per roll to achieve a golden-brown finish and a more toothsome flavor. To add dimension to the rolls, use compound butter instead of regular butter. Tomato butter adds a savory brightness, garlic butter provides an extra hit of allium-forward umami, and rosemary butter imparts a fragrant and woody backbone. When serving your dinner rolls, don't hesitate to double down on richness by dunking or smearing them with a little extra butter to bolster their moisture. When reheating them, give leftover dinner rolls a fresh out-of-the-oven appeal by basting them again.