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These easy homemade hoagie rolls are soft, chewy, and sturdy enough to hold all your favorite sandwich fillings — yet simple enough for even beginner bakers. With just a handful of pantry staples and straightforward steps, you can skip the store-bought rolls and bake bakery-style hoagies right at home.
Made with just 9 simple ingredients, these easy Hoagie Rolls are the perfect base for French dip sandwiches, meatball sliders, pesto meatball sandwich and more!
Why Make Fresh Hoagie Rolls?
BECAUSE YOU WILL BE A HERO.
We make our own hoagie rolls because it goes so fast, it’s easier for me than to remember to run to the store. The only problem is, I didn’t think everyone else would want to make them too, but boy was I wrong!
We received a comment on our french dip sandwiches post saying they would like the recipe for the hoagies and I had stated I would post it, but I forgot and got busy aka side tracked with the gazillion recipes always floating around in my head. And then that recipe has gotten really popular and I not only started getting more comments, but emails too!
One night, we were eating french dip for dinner when, BAM! I remembered that I was going to photograph them. I had hardly any light left and we were literally eating them so I quickly threw the hoagies on a board, snapped a few shots and now here we are.
What’s Needed for Hoagie Rolls?
To make this hoagie bread recipe, you need 9 simple ingredients:
- Warm Water: Activates the yeast and hydrates the flour, helping the dough come together smoothly.
- Instant Yeast: Leavens the dough, allowing the rolls to rise and develop a light, airy texture.
- Granulated Sugar: Feeds the yeast to encourage rising and adds a subtle sweetness to the rolls.
- Honey: Enhances flavor, adds gentle sweetness, and helps create a softer crumb and lightly golden crust.
- Flour: Provides structure and strength while keeping the rolls soft and tender.
- Salt: Balances sweetness and enhances flavor while strengthening the dough’s structure.
- Butter: Adds richness and tenderness, creating soft, fluffy hoagie rolls.
- Egg: Used for brushing the rolls before baking to promote a shiny, golden finish.
- Milk: Combined with the egg white to thin the wash and help create an evenly browned crust.
The measurements for all the ingredients are listed in the recipe card at the end of the post.
How to Make Hoagie Buns
This sub roll recipe is incredibly easy, but it does require some patience as the dough goes through two separate rises.
- Make the Dough: Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, make the dough (**see section below for tips on making the dough).
- First Rise: Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, cover with a towel, and let rise until doubled.
- Shape the Dough: Line a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper and shape the dough into 4-8 hoagies.
- Second Rise: Cover lightly with a towel and allow to rise another 1 to 2 hours.
- Slash: Slash the top of each roll with a really sharp knife or blade and brush with egg and milk mixture.
- Bake: Bake until golden and sound hard when you gently tap the outside. Brush with butter.
The complete instructions are listed in the recipe card. You can also print or save the recipe there.
Tips for Finishing Hoagie Rolls
- I highly recommend brushing the hoagie bread with butter before serving it.
- If you like a little crunch and an added flavor, sprinkle some sesame seeds on the top right after brushing with butter.
- The bread is hard upon removal but quickly softens, so don’t worry that you over baked.
- Let the sub rolls cool for 15 or so minutes before cutting them.
Hoagie Roll FAQs
A hoagie roll is a type of long flat roll used to prepare hoagie sandwiches. A Hoagie is the same thing as a Sub sandwich, hero sandwich, or grinder.
There is no difference. They are the same thing, but they just are called a variety of names depending on where you are from.
In all my research, it’s a little hard to say where the word “hoagie” comes from. There’s a consensus that it comes from the Philadelphia area in the mid 1900s, but where it exactly originates is debatable.
Wrap the rolls well, or place in a zip lock bag. Hoagie rolls will keep for 5-7 days at room temperature.
Yes! To freeze hoagie rolls and buns, place them inside a freezer bag and seal tightly. Hoagie rolls will keep 3 months in the freezer.
Tips for Making the Dough
- Since posting this recipe, we have received several comments about the recipe being wrong, the dough is too wet, the ratios are off, etc. I started to wonder if somehow the recipe had been changed without my knowing it. So I made the recipe again exactly how it is written, and they came out perfectly!
- In fact, they were so good, I re-photographed them and those pictures are the ones you see now.
- The dough will seem a little wet and shaggy at first (known as slack dough which is like a blog and will not hold a shape), but you just have to keep mixing it. As you work the gluten, the dough become so smooth and silky. Patience is key and trust the process!
Homemade hoagie rolls might sound intimidating, but this easy recipe proves just how achievable they really are. Soft, chewy, and incredibly versatile, and homemade is always better. Make a batch for dinner, freeze extras for later, and enjoy fresh, bakery-quality bread whenever you need it.
More Easy Bread Recipes to Try:
- No-Knead Artisan Bread
- French Bread
- Herbed Focaccia Bread
- Classic Potato Rolls
- Homemade Naan
- 7 Up Biscuits
- All of our bread recipes!
Watch How Each Step of This Recipe Should Look…
Easy Hoagie Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 ½ Cups Warm Water
- 1 Tablespoon Instant Yeast
- 1 Tablespoon Granulated Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Honey
- 3 ¾ Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 Tablespoon Salt
- 3 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, cubed
- 1 Egg White
- 1 Tablespoon Milk
Instructions
- In the bowl of a standing mixer, add the warm water, yeast, sugar, and honey.1 ½ Cups Warm Water, 1 Tablespoon Instant Yeast, 1 Tablespoon Granulated Sugar, 1 Tablespoon Honey
- Allow to foam up for about 5 to 10 minutes.
- Add the flour and using a dough hook mix for 4 minutes on low.3 ¾ Cups All-Purpose Flour
- Increase the speed to medium and add the salt, mixing for another 3 minutes.1 Tablespoon Salt
- Finally, add the cold butter, one tablespoon at a time and mix for another minute or two after each addition. Continue to mix until no pieces of butter remain. This is going to be odd to see that butter slapping around in there, but trust me, as you mix, the dough will firm up and be silky and all butter will be incorporated.3 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
- Place the dough in a lightly oiled (olive oil or vegetable oil is great) bowl, turning over to coat, cover with a towel and allow to rise for 1 to 2 hours.
- Place a silpat or parchment paper on a baking sheet and shape the dough into 4-8 hoagies depending on size preference. I like to flatten each piece into a rectangle, fold one end up like an envelope, turn 180 degrees and fold up the other end over the first. Repeat until you've formed a hoagie and pinch shut the seam and end seams.
- Place seam side down and repeat with remaining dough.
- Cover lightly with a towel and allow to rise another 1 to 2 hours.
- Whisk together the egg white and milk. Using a razor blade, make a slit down the top of each roll. Brush each top with the egg mixture.1 Egg White, 1 Tablespoon Milk
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF, place the hoagie rolls on the baking pan and bake for 16 to 22 minutes.
- Remove from the oven when they are lightly golden and feel hard when you tap the crust.
- Rub with a little butter if desired and allow to cool.
- The bread is hard upon removal but quickly softens, so don't worry that you over baked.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This was my first try with hoagie rolls. The dough itself was great, taste and texture…..great. I would like a little more on the how to shape them. I will definitely need a lot of practice. Thanks Basil.
Newbie in training.
Hi,
I tried your recipe last night, and for some reason it came out too salty. =( I’m not sure if I did something wrong but I followed the instructions. Was one tablespoon salt too much for the recipe?
Hi, 1 tablespoon is correct. I’m sorry it came out salty, it definitely shouldn’t have. Try half a tablespoon an dlet me know how it goes. 🙂
I will try that and let you know, thank you!
You must follow a fairly low-salt diet (Good on ya…) if you found this bread too salty. I routinely add a teaspoon of salt to most bread dough recipes to get the flavor up.
What temperature is the butter when you add it to the dough?
Thanks
Thanks for double checking. Room temperature 🙂
Feel like you should actually mention that somewhere in the recipe.
It isn’t necessary, but I often use room temperature because I’m in the habit from another bread recipe, that’s why the recipe did not state it. In fact, you get a slightly chewier crust without room temperature but that’s also trickier for those who do not often make bread. 😉
it says the butter should be soft…
My homemade hoagie rolls always come out to dense no matter what recipe i use,why is this????
Hi Natalie, it could be the recipe, over flouring or kneading time. It’s hard to tell without seeing the recipe and watching you make them. This recipe is light every time and I tried to make it quite exact so give it a go
WOWWW!!! Made these last night and they are FANTASTIC! I’ve tried a few of these recipes (grinder, subs, hoagies, torpedoes) and to date this is by far the best. They toasted up nicely and held the fillings. They are soft and buttery and just delicious.
I did make my dough in my bread machine so I had to tweak the recipe just a bit. It was a little too wet so I ended up adding more flour and a touch more salt. I also proofed them with steaming hot water in my oven. They came out great. Highly recommend this recipe.
One last note….I recommend staying away from the recipes that claim to be Subway Copycats and try this one.
Thank you so much for the kind words Gillian! I’ve never used a bread machine, but I’m always a little tempted to get one.
I literally have been dying for a simple hoagie recipe and you did it! Bookmarked!
yay!! We love this one!
I need to go make these rolls right now!
Hope you do! Nothing better than fresh bread!
I’m also not understanding the directions on pinching and rolling the rolls.
Just press the dough into 8 rectangles, fold a small piece of the dough over on the long end and pinch it to the dough. Continue to roll like you would cinnamon rolls and pinch the ends shut. 🙂
Thanks! I see it now. Looking forward to making these!
Love the recipe but before I get started just making sure it’s 1 TABLESPOON of salt not teaspoon? Also if you don’t mind what do you mean when you say “pinch the long edge closed”
Yup, 1 tablespoon! And picture cinnamon roll dough, you fold over a piece of dough, press it into the dough that’s flat and then continue to tightly roll. 🙂
Thank you for the visual explanation, sometimes I’m dense when there’s no visual attached.
I totally understand. I wish I had been able to shoot a step by step that day.
My hubby was JUST saying how he really wants french dips for dinner sometime and then, BOOM, you post this. It’s like you KNEW! These look perfect girl! Pinned!
Meant. To. Be.