Homemade Savory Bread Rolls - Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Bread Rolls

Make savory homemade bread rolls with this easy recipe! Stuffed with spinach and cheese, these bread rolls are a complete meal in themselves.

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• Why this recipe works
• List of Ingredients
• Step-by-Step Recipe Instructions
• Expert Tips
• More Easy Baked Sides Recipes
• Homemade Bread Rolls

Homemade spinach and cheese stuffed bread rolls are my favorite way to enjoy bread at home! These pillowy, soft pull-apart savory bread rolls are stuffed with a cheese and spinach filling and are made with just a few basic ingredients. I use grated mozzarella cheese and frozen spinach for the filling – ingredients that I find extremely handy to keep around.

What’s more, they are very filling, more nutritious than plain old bread rolls and can be had as a meal in themselves. We don’t need anything to accompany these rolls – although they do go well with a salad or a soup on the side.

I have made various versions of these bread rolls with several variations of filings. Take a look at my recipe for feta and sun-dried tomato stuffed bread rolls for a twist on this recipe. If you're looking for a sweet roll recipe, then check out these easy-to-make puff pastry cinnamon rolls.

Why this recipe works

• Made with easily available store-bought ingredients
• Great for meal planning - can prep in advance and bake before serving
• Easy to customize the fillings

List of Ingredients

Both these spinach and cheese rolls and my recipe for feta cheese and sun-dried tomato rolls use the same basic bread dough recipe. This dough is an enriched dough which means it has egg, milk and butter, unlike in the chewier and crustier ‘pav’ bread. By adding egg and dairy the dough becomes softer, and has more of a rich taste to it.

For the bread dough, you will need:

• Bread flour – Bread flour is always preferable because of its high protein content, but use all-purpose flour if you can't get your hands on bread flour. All-purpose flour is just fine!
• Yeast – I use active dry yeast, but you could also use instant yeast as well.
• Sugar – Always add a little sugar to help activate the yeast.
• Milk – Milk is needed to get the yeast to activate and to bind the dough together.
• Egg
• Butter – Melted butter is used both in the dough and to brush over the top of the dough before baking and right after the bread is taken out of the oven.
• Salt – Salt is needed to season the dough. Use around 1 teaspoon for 500 grams of flour.

For the savory spinach and cheese filling, you will need:

• Frozen spinach, thawed
• Grated cheese – My cheese of choice is mozzarella, but you could use any cheese that you like. I like to add some cream cheese or herb-ed cheese spread for added flavor to the filling.
• Salt to season
• Optional seasonings – I like to add garlic powder, onion powder and white pepper to add more flavor to the filling, but you could play around with this and add seasoning as you like.

Step-by-Step Recipe Instructions

Most bread recipes are made with the same basic steps – make the dough, let the dough rise once (this is called the first proof), shape the dough, let the dough rise for the second time (called the second proof) and then bake.

Here’s how you make these stuffed bread rolls:

• Make the dough:
  The dough is made with basic ingredients (see above for detailed ingredients used). I use a stand mixer to bring the dough together. Knead with your hands if you don’t have a stand mixer with a dough hook. Once the dough comes together, knead for 3-4 mins on a lightly flour-dusted counter. Shape the dough into a ball before you let the dough rise.

• First proof:
  For the first proof or rise, keep the dough in a lightly-greased large mixing bowl, covered with a clean towel. Leave the dough for 1.5 hours in a warm place. Optionally – and this is my preferred method to speed up this process - I use my Instant Pot to let the dough proof. Hit the ‘Yogurt’ setting on your Instant Pot. The dough will need around 50-60 minutes for the 1^st proof in the Instant Pot. The dough should double in size.

• Shape the dough:
  Take out the dough and punch it down to release the air. For this recipe, I have used 500 grams of bread flour which makes 8 stuffed bread rolls. I like to make 2 batches of 4 rolls each. I divide the dough into two parts and roll out each part into a rough rectangle (see image below) using a rolling pin (you can choose to roll out both batches of dough or keep one in the fridge for use later).
  
  Once rolled out, spread the filling out on the dough. Use a pizza cutter or a knife to cut the dough lengthwise into strips. Roll up each strip of dough (see image below). Place each rolled up section of dough (with the seam on the side) in a round cake tin (or use any baking tin you prefer).

• Second proof:
  Once the dough is shaped, it is ready for the second proof (second rise). Let the dough rest again in a warm place, covered with a clean towel for 1 hour. If you are using your Instant Pot, let it proof in the ‘Yogurt’ setting for 30 minutes. Once proofed, the dough is ready to be baked. Brush over melted butter and transfer to a preheated oven.

• Bake the dough:
  Bake the dough for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are golden brown. Take out the baked bread rolls and brush over a little more melted better. Serve warm.

Expert Tips

Prep ahead and bake before serving: These homemade savory bread rolls can be proofed a day ahead, then stored in the fridge and baked before you serve them. Let them come to room temperature before you bake them.

Customize the savory filling: You can play around with the fillings - try various combinations of fillings such as:

• Feta cheese
• Sun-dried tomatoes
• Cream cheese
• Rotisserie chicken
• Cooked bacon
• Ham
• Corn kernels

Bread flour substitutions: Although bread flour is recommended for this recipe, you can easily substitute it for regular all purpose flour as well. For a healthier alternative, use whole wheat flour or spelt flour.

More Easy Baked Sides Recipes

Herb Garlic Smashed potatoes

Instant Pot Naan Bread

Asparagus Casserole

Egg puffs