9 Frozen Dinner Roll Brands Ranked From Worst To Best

Isn't it comforting to know you can find frozen dinner rolls to make your meal complete when you're too tired or too busy to bake? Even novice cooks can come across as pros by making store-bought dinner rolls taste homemade, starting with frozen rolls as a secret ingredient. These ready-to-cook side dishes are one of the more convenient inventions of 20th century food production, a solution that's easy to store and simple to prepare while adding fresh elements to your suppertime selections. Some can even solve the biggest dinner roll mistakes you can make by bringing a chic touch to a simple spread with frozen dough that's ready to go.

If you've ever faced down the frozen dinner roll section of your local grocer, you know how daunting it can be to make the right choice. To give you insight into what lies within the packages, I gathered up as many frozen dinner roll brands as my cart could hold, hauled them home, and gave them a taste test to see which options suit your table best. Whether you're looking for honey-topped buns to make a Southern meal more special or in search of straightforward rolls for a holiday feast, this round-up is your guide to the best frozen dinner rolls on the market.

Despite what the name suggests, Sister Schubert isn't a nun; she's Patricia Schubert, called "Sister" by an older sibling. Her frozen roll company grew from a love of cooking fostered by her grandmother and became an on hand problem-solver that gives novice chefs a bag of rolls that eliminates the need for extensive baking knowledge. The company's dinner-style yeast rolls are a straightforward offering, replicating basic buns like you'd find on tables in some of your favorite eateries. Sometimes, straightforward is just the right direction to take your premade bread, especially when time is of the essence and scratch baking is a laughable prospect.

How does it work out for Sister Schubert's? The brand opts for a more square shape, making these dinner rolls a bit more distinctive than their rounder counterparts. The top mottles a bit when baked, though there's no enticing brown top here, though the texture both inside and out is passable regardless of the finished color. But there's an unmistakable chemical flavor that stood out, an aspect I didn't detect in any of the other rolls I tried. I thought adding butter might mask it a little, but even with a generous pat on top, the taste came through. This alone prevented these rolls from being a fool-your-guests home bake that could pass as freshly-made rolls. While much can be forgiven in a frozen dinner roll, flavor is key, and missing the mark puts Sister Schubert's square rolls squarely in last place.

There's always an occasion on the calendar that calls for a more elevated version of whatever you might be serving — an anniversary, maybe, or a milestone birthday that requires a touch of elegance. Rhodes Artisan French Rolls are on the scene to help you rise to the occasion, with a crustier version of the basic dinner roll that feels upscale without being snooty or difficult to prepare. With no need to thaw and prove these rolls, they're a fast fix-up for your last-minute supper or impromptu feast that won't throw a snag in your sudden plans. The potential for Rhodes to give you an alternative that fits the theme of your menu is rich, considering no other frozen roll brand seems to be stepping into the realm of French bread.

However, you might want to think twice about buying a bag. For a crustier bread, these rolls are a fun divergence from the other rolls I gathered. Instead of tanning in the oven, they bake up blonde, with an open split in the top crust called an ear, a flap usually found on sourdough loaves. The appearance is undeniably upmarket ... if only the eating matched the looking. Though these rolls crack open like a baguette, they're ultimately bland in flavor, closer to flour and water than anything yeast-based. Even adding butter doesn't make the experience more enjoyable. I was hoping for these imaginative heat-and-enjoy rolls to top the list. Instead, they barely passed muster.

If you're serving some of the dining scene's most talked-about dinner rolls in your restaurants like Texas Roadhouse does, it would be silly not to offer a freezer-friendly version that lets fans recreate the experience at home. The steak and burger chain tosses out a miniaturized version of its table bread to bring a more polished touch to your home cookouts and backyard get-togethers without having to knead your own dough. Anyone who adores how the Roadhouse does rolls will be ecstatic to pick up a package at Walmart to keep on hand for their next occasion.

If you've ever tried Texas Roadhouse rolls, you might be a little disappointed by what comes out of the oven when the timer dings. These modestly-sized cubes remain mostly pale with a few brown freckles to let you know they're fully baked. The crust is proficient and the interiors are fluffy, but the flavor is quite yeasty without making much of an impression. Even a swath of butter couldn't enhance the taste, which seems odd; the yeast seems to swallow the creaminess, leaving the bread more moist but no more flavorful. Texas Roadhouse fans may be impressed, but there are better buns to place your bets on.

Walmart takes a swing at giving shoppers a more affordable run-up to putting baked bread on the table with its Great Value frozen yeast dinner rolls. The bag holds square slabs of pre-baked bread, providing a quick bake with just a few minutes in a 350-degree Fahrenheit oven, and don't hold up your meal prep process. The square shape helped me imagine them as a natural fit as mini sandwiches for a shower or open house, ready to be filled with meats, cheeses, and spreads that become the focal point. But if you're thinking of loading up a basket for your steak supper or spaghetti dinner, you might be baking up the wrong rolls.

While Great Value will get your dinner rolling along for a modest price overall, you'll only get 10 rolls for just about $3.50 — surprisingly not the best bargain in the batch. Though the square rolls perform adequately in the oven, they end up relatively pale, speckled with darker spots without looking enticingly golden. You may be able to brush butter on top before baking to improve the look, but that's an extra step you shouldn't have to perform. As for the eating, the rolls are tender to tear into with a light crust, but the flavor is far closer to white bread than the more thoughtful dinner rolls you may be used to. Instead of being a Great Value, they turn out to be a mediocre purchase that other brands handily beat.

Rhodes Bake-N-Serv frozen dinner rolls have been bouncing around the freezer section since 1958, offering home cooks easy solutions for their dinnertime dilemmas. These frozen dinner rolls are the sort that require three to five hours of thawing and proving, during which the rolls double in size before they're ready to bake. If you're opting for a premium roll, be prepared for the extra time required to get them finished before the dinner bell rings.

Rhodes frozen rolls are a perfectly admirable bread that offers a mellow flavor, fluffy interiors and a crisp texture that doesn't crumble when bitten into. But they're also not notable for anything beyond the norm, which puts them in the center of the ranking. You could easily spread them with egg salad or cream cheese to incorporate them into the dinner itself rather than keeping them on the side. You can also let the dough thaw and transform it into individual cinnamon rolls to serve for breakfast or dessert without having to start from scratch with your own homemade dough. As a basic dough that's raring to go, Rhodes puts you on the right route. But if you're looking for a stylish table topper to turn up the temperature on a premium meal or turn the heads of your party guests? Rhodes are too rote a take on the frozen dinner roll blueprint to be the impressive rolls you want.  

Sister Schubert's flagship offering were the pull-apart style Parker House Rolls, a pan-baked bunch of bready goodness that began as a family recipe. They're styled after rolls made famous at the Parker House Hotel in Boston in the 1800s. Though this version is so shrunken, it's hard to picture diners even back then taking only one. Perhaps the originals were a little heartier ... it's difficult to imagine they could have gotten any smaller.

Granted, portions may have been more sensibly-sized back in the 19th century, but the diminutive size Sister Schubert's version of the rolls make it seem like Parker House Hotel catered to children. These tiny squares are practically bite-size, which means they need special attention to prevent the bottoms from getting dark too quickly. This is likely the reason for the aluminum pan included in the bag, which is bad news for anyone who isn't interested in baking up the whole batch at the same time — people like me. The single roll I added to the pan with my other samples was perfectly edible, but the darker-than-expected base would probably turn off guests at your Parker House Hotel-style dinner party. What salvages these too-small rolls is the buttery flavor, akin to Pillsbury Poppin' Fresh rolls. If you're intrigued by this roll format, try making your own and save your frozen roll money for a more generous pack.

Sometimes a basic dinner roll is too modest to match the moment, and your occasion calls for something more generous to get your guests circling the suppertime satisfaction zone. For such dining moments, Rhodes Bake-N-Serv Texas Size Rolls may fit the bill. The name is not misleading; these rolls are the Texas of the collection, possibly even closer to Alaska when positioned side by side with the smaller rolls I tried. The difference was like comparing biscuits to burger buns: You get at least twice as much bread in a Rhodes Texas Size roll as you do in the next-largest roll, which gives this package great potential for DIY deli sandwiches and lobster rolls at a fun brunch or dinner party.

Beyond the sheer size, the quality of these Rhodes rolls is superior to just about every other bun on the block. With a delicate crust, a spongy interior that melts in the mouth, and a sweet flavor that balances yeast and sugar beautifully, it's a premium selection when bread is a big need for the table. This package is also a thaw-and-bake roll, which means the dough needs several hours of proving to double in size before baking. The good news is that you can maximize the 24-count package by using the remaining rolls to make upgraded dinner rolls, handcrafted breadsticks, and personal-size pizza dough for future meals. Rhodes gets bonus points for its flexibility here.

If there's a little empty space in the freezer section between bigger-name dinner roll brands, you can be sure Kroger is going to fill the spot with a store brand option. And so it goes with Kroger frozen dinner rolls, a more price-friendly option that provides a generous helping of bake-and-serve bread in a bag designed to best the competition. The chain isn't playing small here, either; you get a whopping 36 thaw-and-bake rolls per bag, each of which require a few hours of unfreezing and rising before you can pop them into the oven. The good news is that you end up with even more bread dough than you might have anticipated, so you can easily split the rolls into two to make your purchase go even further.

But will you end up with a bunch of bad bread, or does your doubled-up dough adequately rise to the occasion? The answer is a resounding yes. With an elegant, crispy texture, a fantastically fluffy interior and a wonderfully mellow flavor, Kroger gets its frozen dinner roll formula just right. I can easily imagine using these rolls for far more than just the dinner table. Monkey bread, caramel pecan pull-aparts, and fresh soft pretzels all spring to mind as possibilities for getting the most out of the bag. And at under $4, Kroger also puts out the most cost-effective frozen dinner roll in the case, a perfect purchase for no-knead Thanksgiving roll hack to simplify your holiday baking.

Even easier than Rhodes traditional rolls that require rising time are Rhodes Warm & Serve soft white dinner rolls, which can be popped into the oven immediately after being removed from the freezer. The secret to this culinary magic? The rolls are partially baked when they hit the bag, which means all you have to do is thaw them for a minute or two and give them the ol' bakey-bake. You can even toss them in the microwave if your appetite for bread hits anytime other than dinner and have the closest thing available to fresh rolls in a matter of minutes. Bread fiends like me have seldom felt so seen.

These half-ready rolls are already locked into a mounded shape with a perfectly rounded top that bakes up impeccably. They're also palm-sized, which is just the right amount of bread to accent a meal or serve as a stand-alone snack. The interiors are smooth and soft, with delicious flavor that works perfectly even without butter, though they become a bit sweeter when butter is applied. Of all the rolls on the list, Rhodes Soft White Rolls is the only one that finished baking with the appearance of a professionally-baked roll, as ready for the table as a restaurant-level roll would be. You may only get a dozen for the $6 or so price tag, but if your occasion is a special one, the flavor, texture, and convenience offered makes them more than worth the spend.

At first, the similarity in variety among frozen dinner rolls seemed like it would be a challenge to rank. How different from one another could these bakes really be? None have an exotic flavor streak running through the center or a special seasoning to spice things up. So, before even approaching the taste factor, I assessed the package itself, gauging the price and number of rolls in each selection. Sometimes, you can pay dearly for frozen dinner rolls that fall flat before they reach the table. That's an important factor that could steer shoppers in the right direction while they're still in the store.

For the ready-to-bake rolls, I arranged one of each on a pan and baked them for between 15 and 18 minutes, as recommended by the packages. It turned out that 17 minutes was perfect for getting all rolls to the same level of doneness. For the thaw-and-bake, I did the same, leaving them to prove for three hours based on the recommended three to five hours; this allowed them to double in size. Then, I baked them for 10 to 15 minutes per the instructions. With all rolls, I tried a bare test bite first to get the most authentic flavor of the bread. Then, I swiped each with a schmear of plant-based butter to see how it might enhance (or not) the flavor. And after eating so much bread, I finished my test with a nap. Best day ever.