Pesto Dinner Rolls
These super soft savory Pesto Dinner Rolls are packed with rich flavor and an incredibly tender texture that makes them completely irresistible. The combination of fragrant pesto and savory parmesan cheese creates a bold, comforting flavor that feels both elegant and cozy at the same time. Every bite is soft, fluffy, buttery, and filled with the delicious aroma of herbs, garlic, olive oil, and cheese.
One of the things that makes these rolls so special is how versatile they are. They pair beautifully with soups, pasta dishes, salads, roasted meats, or charcuterie boards, while also being delicious enough to enjoy completely on their own. The pesto adds vibrant color and deep flavor throughout the dough, while the parmesan creates extra richness and a slightly savory finish.
As the rolls bake, the kitchen fills with an amazing aroma that instantly makes them difficult to resist straight from the oven. Their golden tops and soft pull-apart texture make them perfect for family dinners, holidays, or gatherings with friends.
If you are looking to move beyond traditional dinner rolls and try something a little more unique and flavorful, this recipe is a wonderful place to start. Warm, savory, cheesy, and incredibly soft, these pesto dinner rolls are guaranteed to impress everyone at the table.
The recipe was adapted from talented Erin Clarkson @cloudykitchen
| Ready in: 30 hours | Serves: 10 people |
| Yield: 12 x 65g Rolls | Units: US, EU |
Ingredients
Sourdough Starter
- 7g sourdough starter
- 35 g water
- 35 g bread flour
Tangzhong
- 20g flourÂ
- 120g milk
Dough
- 360 g bread flourÂ
- 180 g milk
- 70 g sourdough starterÂ
- 1 large egg
- 30 g sugar
- 70 g pesto
- 6 g saltÂ
- 0.5 g dry yeast (optional, to reduce sourness)
Pesto spread
- 1 tsp pesto
- 2 tbs olive oilÂ
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
Day 1
Starter
- 10 pm dissolve starter in the water, whisk together, add flour, mix well, cover and let it sit at room temp 74-78F until it increases in volume in 2 or more times.
- Learn how to make sourdough starter from scratch here).
Tangzhong
Tangzhong is a paste of flour cooked in water or milk which is used to improve the texture of bread, making it soft and fluffy.
10 pm Prepare tangzhong by mixing flour and milk, stir to combine.
Then cook the mixture over low heat until nice, thick pudding-like consistency .
Once the tangzhong is cooked, transfer it to a bowl and cover the surface with plastic wrap. This will prevent the top surface to drying up. Let cool off until next morning.
Day 2
Dough
- 8 am in a bowl of stand mixer mix milk, an egg, sugar, sourdough starter (70 g), yeast (if using), pesto, salt, flour and tangzhong. Start mixing the dough on low speed of your mixing machine for 2-3 minutes, or KitchenAid on speed 3 for 3-4 minutes until well incorporated.
- Increase the speed of mixer, mix for 10 more minutes until the dough is well incorporated and comes up together. You will be able to perform windowpane test.
- Cover and let it proof for 3-4 hours at 76-80F/ 24-28C.
- During that time perform 2 stretches and folds.
- The dough should become slightly puffy.
- 12 pm transfer the dough to the fridge for cold fermentation for 6-9 hours.
- 9 pm Remove the dough from the fridge.
- Divide on 12 equal pieces (about 60-65g each
- Pinch all edges to the bottom of a roll, try to round it tightly.
- Transfer the shaped rolls into the baking pan 9×14 inches
- Cover rolls and let them proof overnight for 8 -10 hours 70-72F /20-21C until they double in volume.
Day 3
- 7 am Preheat the oven to 375F.
- Bake for 25-27 minutes until golden brown.
- Prepare the spread my mixing 1tsp of pesto with 2 tbs of olive oil.
- Brush hot rolls with pesto spread and garnish each with shredded Parmesan cheese.
Enjoy!
Pesto Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- 7 g Sourdough starter culture
- 35 g Water
- 35 g Bread flour
- 20 g Flour
- 120 g Milk
- All of the cooled Tangzhong paste From the stage above
- 360 g Bread flour
- 180 g Milk
- 70 g Active sourdough starter levain
- 1 Large egg
- 30 g Sugar
- 70 g Pesto
- 6 g Salt
- 0.5 g Dry yeast Optional: include strictly to accelerate the rise and reduce natural sourdough sourness
- 1 tsp Pesto
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 1/2 cup Grated Parmesan cheese
Equipment
- Stand Mixer Fitted with the dough hook attachment
- 1 Baking Pan 9×14 inches
- Small Saucepan For the Tangzhong paste
- Plastic Wrap or clean kitchen towel
Method
- 10:00 PM: In a small glass jar, dissolve your 7g of starter culture into 35g of water. Whisk in 35g of bread flour until smooth. Cover loosely and let it ferment at room temperature 74–78°F (23–26°C) for 8 to 10 hours until it at least doubles or triples in volume.
- Make the Tangzhong: In a small saucepan, whisk together 20g of flour and 120g of milk until perfectly smooth. Place over low heat and cook, stirring continuously, until it thickens into a nice, pudding-like consistency. Transfer the paste to a bowl, press a layer of plastic wrap directly onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming, and let it cool completely on your counter overnight.
- 8:00 AM: In the bowl of your stand mixer, add the 180g of milk, 1 large egg, 30g of sugar, 70g of active starter, 70g of pesto, 6g of salt, 360g of bread flour, all of your cooled Tangzhong paste, and the optional 0.5g of dry yeast (if using).
- Mix on low speed for 2 to 3 minutes (or on a KitchenAid mixer on speed 3 for 3 to 4 minutes) until a shaggy dough builds.
- Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and knead continuously for 10 more minutes until the dough gathers together smoothly, clears the sides of the bowl, and passes a clear windowpane test.
- Cover the bowl and let the dough proof for 3 to 4 hours at a warm 76–80°F (24–28°C). Perform 2 separate rounds of structural stretch-and-folds during this window; the dough will become noticeably smooth and slightly puffy.
- 12:00 PM: Transfer the covered dough container directly into the refrigerator for a cold fermentation retard lasting 6 to 9 hours to firm up for shaping.
- 9:00 PM: Remove the cold dough from the fridge. Using a bench scraper and kitchen scale, divide the dough mass cleanly into 12 equal pieces weighing roughly 60 to 65 grams each.
- Pinch all the outer edges of a dough piece tightly down into its bottom center, then roll it firmly against the counter under a cupped hand to form a tight, smooth round ball.
- Arrange the 12 shaped rolls neatly into a greased 9×14 inch baking pan. Cover loosely and let them proof on your counter overnight for 8 to 10 hours at 70–72°F (20–21°C) until they double in volume.
- 7:00 AM: Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C).
- Slide the puffed pan of rolls into the hot oven and bake for 25 to 27 minutes until the tops turn a beautiful, deep golden brown.
- The Savory Glaze: While the rolls bake, mix 1 teaspoon of pesto with 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a small cup until unified.
- Remove the hot rolls from the oven. Using a pastry brush, immediately spread your savory pesto glaze generously across the piping hot top crusts, then garnish each roll with a heavy handful of shredded Parmesan cheese. Serve fresh and warm!
Nutrition
Notes
- The Magic Texture Behind Tangzhong: Cooking a fraction of the flour and milk into a gelatinized pudding paste completely transforms the chemistry of standard dinner rolls. The heat expands the starch molecules, allowing them to trap and lock in twice as much moisture as raw flour. This creates a beautifully soft, airy structure that preserves freshness and keeps your rolls from drying out on the counter.
- Pro Tip for Easier Gluten Development: Because pesto contains a significant amount of heavy fat and oil, it can occasionally slow down your initial gluten mapping if added right away. For an easier mixing process, you can hold back the 70g of pesto until the dough has already kneaded for 4 to 5 minutes and gained early structural strength, then pour it in to tighten the gluten network smoothly.
- The Sourdough Acidity Guardrail: Sourdough starches that ferment over extended periods can develop a distinctly sour flavor note. If you prefer your savory dinner rolls to highlight a rich, buttery herbal profile rather than a sharp tang, adding that optional 0.5 grams of dry instant yeast acts as a rapid gas engine—reducing the natural proofing time just enough to keep the crumb perfectly mild and sweet.
- Handling Highly Hydrated Savory Dough: Do not get nervous if the dough mass feels exceptionally soft and slightly sticky during step 4. High hydration, paired with the natural oils inside the pesto spread, requires an intensive and steady mechanical knead. Trust your stand mixer and keep it running on medium-high for the full 10 minutes—the wheat proteins will slowly bind together and cleanly clear the walls of the bowl.
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I was very careful about weighing all of the ingredients and ended up adding another 200g of flour, because without it the dough was impossibly soft and sticky. If you add up the milk, pesto and egg (50g or so) it comes to 300g liquid, and 360g of flour wasn’t enough.
Barbara, thank you for your feedback!
Sorry it didn’t work out for you.
The liquid from tangzhong doesn’t count, because it supposed to turn into a starchy substance.
The egg usually turns into a powder, during baking, so i wouldn’t count it as a liquid.
It’s a kind of a tricky dough, to handle. But with strong flour, and little longer mixing, it should get together.
I wasn’t counting the milk used in the tangzhong or the liquid from the starter. In the recipe, for the dough, there is 180g milk, 70g pesto and 50g egg, the egg is still liquid when making the dough so that is 300g liquid to 360g flour, that was the comparison. I will be making them again, because they were very tasty and soft.
Barbara, thank you!
I’m pretty sure it will work out next time. Pesto is a fat, doesn’t count as a liquid.
For easier incorporation of ingredients, hold the pesto until your dough will gain some strength. Then adding pesto will help to tighten up the gluten.
I will try that next time. I made sourdough pizza today and used King Arthur’s Pizza Dough Flavor in it. I got to thinking that would be a nice addition to the Pesto Rolls.