We Tested 7 Frozen Dinner Rolls and It Took a Tie-Breaker to Crown the Winner

Forget the turkey. We all know Thanksgiving is all about the sides (and, of course, the day-after leftovers sandwich). That's why it's so important to pick the ultimate dinner roll for your Turkey Day feast that's going to please guests the day of—and beyond. Nobody wants a flavorless, dry hockey puck taking up precious real estate on their plate, but which frozen dinner roll is the best? To find out, we baked and tasted our way through all the frozen rolls we could find near us to bring the very best one to you. Read on for our ranking of 7 popular frozen dinner rolls, ranked from worst to best.

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How We Tested the Frozen Dinner Rolls

I called on my team of trusty taste testers who are very choosy about their carbs—my friends Maddie, Samantha, Cherie and Jen—some of the most honest and opinionated people I know. I scoured a few different grocery stores in Chicago for frozen dinner rolls (no bakery section rolls here) and went home to bake them up. I shopped at Jewel-Osco, Meijer, Whole Foods and Mariano's, a small Chicago grocery chain. Trader Joe's, Aldi, Target and Walmart didn't have any frozen dinner roll options, although I checked.

The ones I found were all meant to be put in a pretty basket on your Thanksgiving table, but differed slightly as some leaned more into the French roll category and some were straight-up yeast rolls. We tasted blind, so as to not be influenced by brand or pricing, and rated on taste and texture, as well as how appetizing the overall roll looked when coming out of the oven. (Side note: my house smelled amazing during this entire process. Is there a freshly baked bread candle out there?)

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I had each friend fill out a Google Form as they sampled and later revealed the brands—ensuring everyone would have the perfect rolls for their Thanksgiving tables, too.

I got lucky with baking these off because almost all of the instructions for each of the seven bags said to bake at 350° for about 6 minutes, with two of the brands staying in for a bit longer (and one that required a bit of prep work, but more on that later). The ranking was a close call, so I bravely took on the role of tie-breaker to ensure we had a clear winner. After some tough decision-making, we were able to crown the ultimate frozen dinner roll.

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7 Frozen Dinner Rolls, Ranked Worst to Best

Get your ovens ready for some deliciousness. Here are 7 frozen dinner rolls, ranked from worst to best.

7. 365 by Whole Foods Market Gluten-Free Dinner Rolls

Gluten-free bread has come a long, long way since the early 2000s and if you have guests this year who are GF, this wouldn't be a bad pick. The issue? These were very dry compared to the others with that classic tapioca and potato starch taste. "Dinner roll flavor, but dry and sticks to your mouth," noted Samantha. "Bland, tastes like the bottom part of a pretzel (but not in a good way)," noted Cherie with others saying they were "rubbery" and "mushy." These were also the cheapest dinner rolls I purchased, at $3.99 for six.

6. Sister Schubert's Parker House Style Yeast Rolls

Three out of the five of us weren't crazy about these Parker House-style rolls from Sister Schubert's, noting that they "compacted in your teeth," were "dry," and "kind of dense and too much of a flour taste," with Jen just saying "Meh." Midpriced at $5 for 16, they did earn points for being super easy to heat up in the oven in the included aluminum tin. I found these at my local Meijer grocery store, but this brand is widely available in major grocery stores. (Check out the store locator to find a local source.)

Related: The Easy Dinner Roll Recipe You Need to Try ASAP

5. La Brea Bakery Take & Bake French Dinner Rolls

These rolls were found in both the frozen section and the bakery section at different grocery stores for about $6 for six rolls. I found these at Mariano's, but many Target locations also carry the brand. The ingredients list isn't too long and they do have a sour culture added in if you're a fan of sourdough. They were sturdy and slightly larger than the others, making them a good choice for sandwiches. While some of us noted that the inside was "mushy" and the outside was "too dry," most thought these would be great for sopping up gravy or tomato sauce. "Sourdough!!! Love! Not too crusty on the outside and really nice and doughy on the inside," noted Cherie.

Related: The 8 Best Store-Bought Whole-Grain Breads, According to Dietitians

4. Sister Schubert's Dinner Yeast Rolls

This one grabbed our attention because of its familiar taste. Samantha noted, "I feel like this is literally the roll they use for the Starbucks Bacon, Gouda & Egg Sandwich. Good but not great. Good texture and consistency." And while we couldn't verify that Starbucks uses this roll, I later found out that Chick-fil-A uses these rolls for their Chicken Minis. "Decent, tastes like a ciabatta roll," noted Jen, with Cherie agreeing that the texture had a "nice bounce." These were also not as sweet as the brand's Parker House Rolls (and not as cute on your table). They're also not too hard on the wallet at $5 for 10 rolls.

I grabbed this bag at Jewel Osco, but you can also find them at some Walmart and Sam's Club locations and at major grocery chains, like Stop& Shop and Schnuck. For more detailed info on where to find them near you, use the Sister Shubert's store locator.

3. RoRo's Baking Company Parker House Rolls

Out of the Parker House rolls, these were our favorite. Warm and nestled inside a cute little aluminum tin, the oohs and aahs from the group when I brought these to the table were audible. "Delicious. I like the size, texture and taste. Chewy and soft but in the best ways. Reminds me of Thanksgiving," said Samantha. "Most traditional roll. Good but basic. Soft, pillowy, great for Thanksgiving leftover sandwiches," added Cherie. Maddie and I noted that they were pretty sweet. These were the most expensive, coming in at $9 for 16 rolls at Whole Foods, but we think that price is fair considering the relatively short ingredients listing and the straightforward warming instructions. If you'd like to grab a pack of these rolls, you can find them at Whole Foods.

2.  Rhodes Bake-N-Serv Dinner Rolls

This one was a bit of a challenge, but well worth the effort. While the other rolls were mostly bake-and-serve, these required some extra patience—a countertop thaw and a rise of three to five hours before baking. (Jen even confessed to having an ancient bag of these stashed in her freezer because she was daunted by the prep work.)

These automatically lost points in the ranking because of the extra work, but the pack of 36 (!) is well priced at $8 (it's giving Costco, though I didn't buy these there). When we baked these up, they were the perfect combo of warm and fluffy on the inside with a thin, golden shell on the outside and they were downright decadent with a swipe of salted butter. Bonus: if you don't want to make all of the rolls, the back of the package gives you instructions about turning the dough into a pizza crust, which of course I did (it was fluffy and delicious).

I found these in the freezer section of Jewel Osco, but they're pretty widely available. Look for them at Walmart, Target, Stop & Shop and Instacart. For more detailed info, use the Rhodes store locator.

1. Rhodes Bake-N-Serv Artisan French Rolls

The winner was the Rhodes Bake-N-Serv Artisan French Rolls over the Rhodes Bake-N-Serv Dinner Rolls only because of the time it took for the prep work on the orange bag.

Both were solid choices and if I had had it my way, the orange bag would have taken the number one spot. I don't mind a little extra prep work for something over-the-top fluffy and delicious. But the tasting panel was made up of more than just me. My friends were pretty turned off by the whole "thaw-rise-bake" idea of these, so the same brand's French rolls took the number one spot in the end.

The French rolls won due to a few things: price ($4 for six rolls), wider availability at many major supermarkets, ease of baking, and taste/texture. It's not too soft on the inside, not too dry without butter and it heats up in 12 minutes in the oven (or 25 seconds in the microwave). This one tasted like the classic dinner rolls you get at every holiday and every celebration you've ever been to, and we all unanimously enjoyed this one with a little butter on top (is there any other way?).

I found these at Mariano's, but they're also available on Instacart and at major grocery stores like Stop & Shop. To find a bag near you, check out the Rhodes store locator.

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