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Free Printable: Low Carb & Keto Food List
Get It NowSoft, Chewy, Golden: My Keto Dinner Rolls Have It All
If you’ve been low carb for a while, these soft, golden keto dinner rolls are just what all your salads, soups, and casseroles have been missing. I created this recipe because so many of you kept asking me for keto bread rolls that actually feel like bread. Here’s why I think this one nailed it:
- Soft, fluffy, and chewy, with real yeast flavor – The yeast starter gives these low carb dinner rolls a boost in both rise and flavor, while the variation on my signature dough makes them nice and chewy.
- Tried and true dough method – This is the same base I’ve used for keto bagels, pizza dough, soft pretzels, naan, and more, except softer and fluffier. And the texture is so worth it.
- Low carb and gluten free – With only 3 grams net carbs each and no gluten, these keto rolls are easy to fit into your macros.
- Perfect with anything – Whether it’s soup, salad, a casserole, or a holiday roast, these go with everything. They sop up every irresistible sauce beautifully, and I also love serving them warm with a pat of butter or dipping into keto gravy.
Grab your food processor and make these keto dinner rolls with me!
“Thank you for these. They are the closest I’ve had to bread or rolls in the 4½ years of this way of eating. I used everything bagel seasoning, and they are great hot and good cold. I even reheated them in the toaster oven, and yum.”
-Donna
Ingredients & Substitutions
Here I explain the best ingredients for my keto dinner rolls recipe, what each one does, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card.
- Wholesome Yum Blanched Almond Flour – The super fine grind keeps the rolls soft and fluffy, which makes a huge difference. Other brands can leave a gritty texture.
- Yeast Starter – You’ll need active dry yeast, plus inulin powder and water to activate it. The inulin works instead of sugar here to make the yeast work, so it’s a crucial ingredient. Sugar substitutes will not work here, because yeast cannot feed off them. The only alternative to the inulin is actual sugar (white sugar, coconut sugar, honey, etc.) — and that’s not keto friendly. In theory, the yeast will consume most of the sugar, so it’s not left in your low carb rolls after baking, but it’s hard to know how much, so I use inulin to be on the safe side.
- Mozzarella Cheese – When melted, it acts like gluten and gives the dough its stretch and chewy bite. I always use low-moisture, part-skim shredded mozzarella, as full-fat tends to be too “wet” for these keto rolls.
- Cream Cheese – This softens the dough, makes it more tender, and adds a hint of richness.
- Egg – Most egg substitutes, including flax egg, work well for keto dinner rolls too.
- Baking Powder – Helps boost the rise alongside the yeast. Don’t confuse this with baking soda, which is different.
- Sesame Seeds – Optional, but I love the classic look and little crunch they add on top. You can also try poppy seeds or everything bagel seasoning.
How To Make Keto Dinner Rolls
I have step-by-step photos here to help you visualize the recipe. For full instructions with amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card.
- Activate the yeast. Stir the warm water and inulin together, then mix in the yeast and set it aside until foamy.
- Process the dough base. Add the almond flour, baking powder, and an egg to a large food processor, then pour in the yeast mixture and process until smooth.
- Add the melted cheeses. Heat the mozzarella and cream cheese together, until fully melted and easy to stir. Add them to the food processor and blend until a uniform dough forms. I usually scrape down the sides once or twice, to make sure everything mixes evenly.
- Chill and shape the rolls. Chill the dough until it’s easier to handle, then divide it into portions, roll into balls, and place on a lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with sesame seeds if using.
- Bake until golden. Bake the keto dinner rolls until puffed and golden brown.
My Recipe Tips
- Use low-moisture mozzarella. This is important for the right texture. Don’t use the white, moist “fresh” mozzarella.
- The yeast should look puffy and bubbly before you use it. This usually takes about 10 minutes, but you can get the other ingredients going while it sits.
- When you pour the melted cheese into the food processor, aim for the blade. It helps everything mix faster. I still scrape the sides and bottom once or twice to be sure it all comes together.
- Pulse just until combined. Under-mixing can leave the texture off, and over-mixing can make the rolls dense. Stop when the dough looks uniform.
- Can you make them without a food processor? Yes, it just takes more time and is a little harder to get the dough to come together. You’d need to knead by hand and ensure the melted cheeses mix into the dough well, with no streaks. If you do want to get a food processor, I have and love this one, and it’s still going strong after nearly a decade.
- Chill the dough before shaping. It will be too sticky to handle if you don’t. Letting it sit in the fridge for 15-20 minutes makes it much easier to work with.
- I lightly coat my hands with avocado oil before touching the dough. It helps prevent sticking. Don’t try using extra almond flour instead — it won’t help as much as you’d think, and can make your keto dinner rolls turn out dry.
- How to make a nut-free version: To make this recipe with coconut flour (which is technically a fruit and not a nut!), replace the 3/4 cup almond flour with 1/3 cup coconut flour and add an extra egg.
- Want taller keto bread rolls? These do spread and flatten more than regular ones. To make them taller, you can bake them in a muffin tin, or bake them closer together so they hold each other up and don’t spread as much. They’ll be a little denser this way and you might need to cut them apart, but still delicious.
- I’ve got a full guide to fathead dough in my Easy Keto Cookbook, including recipes you won’t find on the blog!
- If you can, let the low carb rolls cool a bit after baking. Their texture will improve and become even more bread-like.
Keto Dinner Rolls
My low carb, keto dinner rolls are soft, fluffy, and easy to make, with just 3g net carbs and that classic bread flavor you've been missing.
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Instructions
Tap on the times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer.
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In a medium bowl, stir together the warm water and inulin. Stir in the yeast and set aside for 10 minutes.
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Meanwhile, place the almond flour, baking powder, and egg into a food processor. When the yeast is done proofing and has increased in volume to 1/2 cup (118 mL), add it to the food processor and pulse until uniform.
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In another medium bowl, combine the shredded mozzarella and cream cheese. Heat in the microwave, or in a double boiler on the stove, until melted. Stir until smooth and uniform.
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Add the cheeses to the food processor, positioning the cheese over the blade. Process until a uniform dough forms, scraping the sides with a spatula if necessary.
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Chill the dough in the fridge for 15-20 minutes, until it's not too sticky to work with.
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Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (204 degrees C). Line a 10×15 baking sheet with parchment paper.
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Using oiled hands, form a ball with the dough. Cut it into 8 sections, like a pie. Roll each section into a ball and place onto the lined baking sheet, 2 inches apart. Repeat with the remaining dough sections.
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Sprinkle the rolls with sesame seeds, if using, and press in lightly so that they stick.
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Bake for 10-15 minutes, until the rolls are golden brown.
Did You Like It?
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Maya’s Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1 keto dinner roll
- Tips: Check out my recipe tips above to help you work with this sticky dough, get the best texture in your keto dinner rolls, and how to make them taller if you prefer.
- Storage: Keep these rolls in an airtight container at room temperature a day, or in the fridge for up to a week.
- Reheat: I usually pop them in the microwave for about 15 seconds, or reheat in the oven at 350 degrees F until warm and soft. The toaster oven also works great for a slightly crisp edge.
- Freeze: Pop them in a zip lock bag and keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. I’ve reheated them from frozen, but they taste better if you thaw them first.
I provide nutrition facts as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see my nutrition policy.
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Keto Dinner Rolls
Serving Ideas
Wondering what to serve with keto dinner rolls? Here are some of my favorite ways to turn them into a full meal:
- Soup & Salad – You really can’t go wrong with a cozy bowl of soup, a fresh salad, and warm keto bread rolls on the side. I love pairing them with my antipasto salad and something comforting, like broccoli cheese soup or keto beef stew.
- Casseroles – A lot of my casseroles are designed to be filling on their own without bread, like my keto cheeseburger casserole, but these rolls are the perfect add-on when you do want that classic bread pairing.
- Mains & Mash – These keto rolls go with just about any low carb dinner, but I especially love serving them alongside a juicy sirloin steak and mashed cauliflower. They’re a great way to round out the plate.
135 Comments
Christa
0Can we freeze these?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Christa, Yep! Toss them in a freezer bag and store for up to 3 months!
Christine
0Good taste but little flat. After they chill can they set to rise more?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Christine, This recipe only rises a little. The yeast provides texture and flavor and a little lift, but the dough doesn’t rise as much as a traditional bread.
Viv
0Help! My mixture was a big sloppy mess. 🙁 I used sugar instead of inulin.
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Viv, Did you watch the video in the recipe card? What sort of texture did you get from the dough? Did you refrigerate it for 20 minutes? I would like to help you troubleshoot, but need a little more information.
Viv
0Hi, yes I did! I checked after 20 mins but was still too wet so I refrigerated for another 10 mins. I put blobs of the wet dough on a sheet and cooked anyway and they turned out ok in the end. Do you think I could make the cinnamon roll recipe into rolls?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Viv, I don’t recommend making the cinnamon rolls into dinner rolls. I’m not sure why your batch turned out so wet, but I think the better solution would be to add more almond flour until your dough reaches the correct consistency. Did you use shredded low-moisture mozzarella or fresh?
Maurine
0Pretty good recipe. Easy to make and good instructions! I swapped out 1/4 cup of almond flour and replaced it with vital wheat gluten. Wow! That made a huge difference with both texture and taste!
Lou
0Just made These and they are amazing. I’m lactose intolerant so I substituted the mozzarella for lactose free cheddar cheese and it worked out fantastic.
Mary
0Can you bloom the yeast with sugar instead of the insulin powder?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Mary, Yes. That will work perfectly. The yeast will eat the sugars.
Deborah
0What brand of Inulin powder would you reccomend ?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Deborah, This is the brand of inulin powder I use.
Sarah C
0Cant find inulin powder and want to try these, so what kind of sugar and how much can be used to bloom yeast?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Sarah, Any real sugar will work fine. White granular sugar, maple syrup, honey, coconut sugar. Please use the same amount as listed in the recipe – 1 tsp.
Alessandra
0Hi! Can you use sugar or this options while doing Keto? I haven’t done this because I don’t have inulin and I am afraid to use sugar or other of this options and break the ketosis, can you advise me please?
Thank you
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Alessandra, Yes you can use sugar for this recipe. As the yeast proofs, it will consume the sugar so it should not kick you out of ketosis.
Anicka
0What can you use if you don’t have a food processor?
Wholesome Yum M
0You can use a stand/hand mixer too. The cheese just needs to become thoroughly incorporated into the rest of the mixture.
Alessandra
0Hi! I don’t know what happened I follow the recipe and used sugar instead of inulin, I left it 20 min in the fridge and it was really sloppy I don’t know why this happened? Any thoughts so I can repeat it?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Alessandra, Did you use fresh or low moisture mozzarella? Fresh mozzarella doesn’t work in the fathead recipes. If the dough was made with the correct kind of cheese, then it may need to sit in the fridge longer to firm up. As the cheese cools, it will harden back up some which will help to bring your dough together into a cohesive and workable ball.
Alessandra
0What I meant is the yeast kept growing in the fridge. I did this step previously with the sugar. In the steps adding the yeast is previous to the cheese, am I wrong?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Alessandra, That is correct. The cold should have slowed the yeast activity. That is interesting. Did the yeast mixture and cheese get fully incorporated? That could cause the dough to be runny if it wasn’t fully pulsed together.
Alessandra
0Yes, I did it with shereded mozzarella. I don’t know if the yeast was too much, it kept blooming even in the fridge. Also you have to wait to incorporate the yeast before using the food procesor or you have to mix first with the egg and then when adding the blooming yeast?
Thank you
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Alessandra, Sorry I didn’t catch this earlier – yeast needs to bloom at room temperature, not in the fridge. The yeast needs to bloom with the water and sugar or inulin only, no other ingredients added when blooming. The steps are on the recipe card above – the egg goes in together with the almond flour and other dry ingredients first, without the yeast, then the melted mozzarella mixture, and bloomed yeast gets added last.
Trisha L.
0Hi Maya! My Husband & I loved, loved, loved theses rolls. So quick & easy to make & only one egg was another bonus.
Question: Have you or anyone made these with cheddar cheese?
Lou
0Yes I have with lactose free cheddar.
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Trisha, Cheddar cheese will change the structure of these rolls, so you can’t use cheddar cheese and mozzarella interchangeably. You can, however, use some cheddar in the mixture for flavor variation. If you would like to try that, reduce the amount of mozzarella to 1 1/4 cup and add 1/4 cup of grated cheddar cheese to the mixture. Enjoy!
Nellie Tracy
0They really do taste just like the real thing!
Katie
0Love that these are a keto option! Thanks for sharing.
J.A. Wilde
0What is inulin powdwer? Where do I purchase it and WHAT IS IT?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi J.A., Inulin powder is a prebiotic fiber. Not only does it provide fiber to the recipe, but it also gives strength, texture, and even browning to baked goods. You can get a bag of inulin powder here.
Shireen
0Just wondering, I keep a jar of yeast in my freezer because several times a year I make a huge batch of homemade yeast dinner rolls, especially when requested by friends. I learned a long time ago that you can buy instant yeast, red star or Fleshmans, in a jar just like the regular active dry yeast. The difference is you don’t have to bloom the instant yeast. You just mix it right in with your other ingredients. Since I already have this yeast on hand, would be great to be able to use it instead of buying more. And it would be great to skip the blooming step. Can you see any reason that it wouldn’t work?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Shireen, I don’t see why this wouldn’t work. I think the recipe will turn out fine with fresh yeast. Enjoy!
ac
0Par quoi puis je remplacer l’inuline?
Ils me tentent bien ces petits pains
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi AC, The inulin is necessary to bloom the yeast. You’d need to skip the yeast if you don’t want to use inulin. Enjoy!
BRENDA EGELSTON
0Do you have a preference as to the type of inulin powder? There’s agave, chicory, Jerusalem artichoke. Just wondering if you like one over the others.
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Brenda, They all function the same. Any variety will work fine for this recipe.
Lesley
0Delicious!